Chapter 22

Chapter 22

-Farley-

I was dragged back to the packhouse. I tried to hold my pained grunts in, so that Pax didn't get concerned. His grip was painful, his thin hands felt like metal wire around my fingers. The change in behaviour was so quick, I didn't have any time to prepare for him running away.

He didn't calm down until we were in the house. He barely let me get through the door before he shut it. I sat on the stairs and took some deep breaths,

"What happened?" Caspian asked from the door to the living room. "You two look like- you're bleeding."

I followed Caspian's eyes to Pax. I scanned him, but he didn't seem to be bleeding.

Pax raised a hand to his ear and held it there. "Yeah," he muttered. He pulled his hand away to reveal splotches of red across his pale skin. "I don't think that was an ordinary dog whistle."

He sounded and looked weak. My clothes were too big for him, making him look skinny and frail. His skin was white as a sheet, bringing out the dark circles under his eyes. The blood only added to the defeat he portrayed.

"Pardon?" Clementine asked as she came up behind Caspian, putting an arm casually around his arm. "You look terrible, do I have to kick Farley?"

I huffed at her and stood up. "No kicking necessary." I lifted some of Pax's hair and got a good look at the inside of his ear. "Your eardrum is very damaged," I mumbled. We might heal quicker then normal humans, but we could still cause permanent damage to our bodies. "What was it?"

Pax flinched away from my hand. "It's just something Kian used to do. Use a very high-pitched whistle. You know, since I concentrate more on hearing...my hearing is a little bit better than the normal wolves."

"And you were even considering letting him go back?" my mother exclaimed as she came over and hugged Pax tightly. "He can stay at ours in Farley's old room if you don't have him here."

I would've usually argued about anyone having my bedroom, it was mine and they didn't have any right to say that anyone could stay there, or even step into the door. But I didn't seem to mind the thought this time.

"You don't have to-" Pax was interrupted by another hug.

"Does that mean we can keep him?" Rowan asked from the top of the stairs, he was hanging over the railing. Iris was leaning on the wall behind him with her arms crossed, a frown on her face.

"He's not a pet, Rowan," Iris sighed. "But can we keep him?"

The little amount of Pax's face which was visible had turned pink.

Caspian sighed and ran a hand down his face, looking from Pax to Clementine. The two adult members of my pack had a silent conversation.

After a few nods, Caspian addressed Pax. "If you want to stay, we'll figure something out for you."

My mother didn't look too pleased that there was an option of saying no. Pax, on the other hand, had wide eyes and his mouth had dropped open. "Me, like, me? You're asking me if I want to stay?" he emphasised the word 'want'. "Little, blind, useless in everything, me?"

"He is," Rowan said as he bounded down the stairs.

"We'll work on your confidence later," Iris finished off from the middle of the stairs where she sat herself. "Are you staying?"

Pax's eyes wandered around the room, never focusing on anything. He bounced on the balls of his feet and his hands were clasped together in front of him. "I don't want to be any kind of bother. You know I'm-"

"-allowed to stay here without any worries about anything like that?" I finished off for him. "Pax, we can work it out, somehow. We usually overbuy at the shops, and we own the house, so that wouldn't affect anything."

He blinked several times. "If you're sure, I'm very grateful for what you've done for me so far, and I've never experienced treatment like it, but I also don't have much of a choice."

He was right, his choices were limited to, staying here, moving back with Kian whilst potentially getting into heaps of trouble, or running away and being on his own.

"I'm taking that as a yes," I exclaimed and wrapped my arms around him just like my mother had. "You'll fit right in."

"Yes," Rowan cheered and joined the hug.

Iris joined us too, her skinny arms wrapped around Pax and I's shoulders. The hug was interrupted by a clicking sound.

"I've gotten very skilled at pulling this out during golden moments." Clementine held up her phone. I'd have to look at that later, and potentially delete some things. "But I wasn't in it, so it wasn't as good."

Rowan and I extended our ours with a simultaneous rolling of our eyes, allowing Clementine to jump in.

She dragged Caspian into the hug as well. "Gotta have the alpha here too," she announced.

Caspian groaned playfully but joined the group hug. "They say never to let children into the pack, seems I've got five now."

Clementine playfully gasped and slapped his shoulder. "I'm not a child." Unsure noises erupted from myself and Rowan.

"And I'm more mature than these three put together," Iris pointed out. Nobody disagreed with her, that was one of the truest statements that she had ever said, and I don't think she's told a lie in her life.

Another click interrupted the moment. "You're not the only one who knows how to use a phone," my mother said whilst holding up her phone. "Bit blurry, but it'll do. Now, how about that cuppa?"

We moved into the living room again, this time with cups of warm tea in hand. I took Pax's inside and handed it to him when he sat down in the seat next to the window. He crossed his legs and held the cup in between them. "Thank you."

I flashed a smile and got comfortable in the seat. "Very welcome."

A breeze came through the house, which was a lovely break from the heat which shot through me when we were outside. The twins were sitting on the meditation cushions again. There were certain procedures that we did whenever we had guests, claiming those cushions was one of them.

I wasn't paying any attention to what was being talked about, just the fact that it was on the subject of television programmes. Pax was facing my mother's direction, slowly leaning forward with each word she said. I had to pull him back a few times, or else he would've fallen off the seat. It was adorable to watch, but I was tempted to take his cup away a few times, so he didn't drop it.

"There's honestly nothing on nowadays," My mam shook her head in disappointment. "Only the quizzes, and they're all repeats."

"I don't think Pax knows what a quiz is," I interrupted. "Could you, explain that?"

Pax looked at me with wide eyes, his arm moved to nudge me softly.

"Of course," my dad said, leaning forward and rubbing his hands together. "There's quite a few quizzes on the telly. The main thing is that the contestants-or players- are asked questions. The plays have to get the questions right in order to get far. Sometimes they can pick from choices, but others they just have to use their brains."

Pax nodded slowly. "Right, so they just need to know more?"

My dad lifted up a hand. "Precisely, unless it's one of the other ones. Those are full of cheating."

"They don't cheat," Iris argued. "It just looks like they do. It's the same people who win all the time."

"Which is why he thinks they cheat," my mam informed. "They're always biased towards who wins. Sometimes it's the one who is giving it to charity who wins. It's like on the talent shows, the ones who talk to the camera before the audition are the pens who go through."

"Everyone gets interviewed on those things," Rowan said. "I know a few people who've been on there. They just put the interviews on if you do well or are hilarious."

"Your friends have been on telly?" I asked, sitting forward in my seat. "How'd that work out?"

Rowan shuffled on the cushion so that he was lying on his stomach. "Nah, they didn't get on the telly. They were neither funny nor extremely talented."

Iris hit him gently on the shoulder with a scolding look.

"Talent show?" Pax asked. "Is that as straightforward as I think it is?"

"Yeah," I answered. "They just do things on the telly, hoping to get noticed and make a career out of it."

Pax opened his mouth to answer but he raised his hand to his ear instead. His eyebrows furrowed and his bottom lip became trapped between his teeth.

"Pax?" Clementine asked with a frown. She walked over to us and crouched beside the chair. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

Pax's breathing became laboured, his eyes were scrunched shut, and the hands which were clasping the sides of his ears had turned to fists.

Iris crawled to the window and peeked out of it. "There's someone outside."

Caspian looked through the other side of the curtains. "Fuck," he muttered. "Keep your heads down. I don't really know what could block the sound."

"You could try headphones," my mam suggested. "Some of those could block out any sound."

Good greetings all!

QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER!

Have you guys ever tried (Bullet) journaling? How did you find it?

I think I tried for 2021 and that failed horrifically. I managed to keep track of an actual diary last year- which I was super proud of- and now I'm trying it again-keeping a diary that is- but I am keeping trackof things that I'm reading and my books using a notebook!