Part of the Promise (Book 3 in the 'Part of' Series)

Chapter 43 Resting Up and Another One?

Chapter 43 Resting up and another one?

Aiden's POV

Ralph was able to change back into his human form a week after being cut with the poisoned knife. Everything seemed to be returning back to normal. The packhouse had been trashed, broken furniture lay all around the house and there were even a few holes in the walls. It was quite easy to clean up, most of the wood being used for a fire. Moss and Harlow had already started on making new pieces.

It had been difficult figuring things out. Travis was taken care of by the Reilly's. Karim's birthday is tomorrow. He had made it very clear what his plans are once the clock hits twelve. He was going to take over the packhouse. Dean didn't seem to mind. We ran down to make sure he was alright a few days ago. Apparently Liam had taken off, moving to another country.

"At least I'm the only one around here with this face now," Dean had joked when he told us about the note he received. His words held no sign of a joking tone and his voice was weak.

The children all made it out okay. They were about to start a riot when someone opened the door for them. I was tackled to the ground as soon as the five of them saw me as they returned. It was even worse keeping them away from Ralph, scared that they would injure him more.

His injuries may be healing but he was still rather weak. It was like watching someone with a terrible case of the flu. He constantly coughed and was sick a few times. It was all his body's way of getting rid of the poison.

By the time the week was over, we had made a lot of friends with the other packs. Most of them went back to their own houses, now that they knew the threat had been handled. Arkin and Carme stayed a little while, to make sure everything was settled and we knew how to contact them.

Randall had a blast showing some packs how to use my computer. I hadn't changed the password still so he managed to sneak it out of my sight. He made every pack an email address, even if there was no chance of them having wifi in their houses. It felt strange for an issue which started with modernisation to be concluded with sharing emails.

I had decided not to let the signatures go to waste, the ones about saving the forest. I managed to get enough signatures to start rebuilding the forest. We were able to plant 200 trees. It doesn't sound a lot but it was a start.

I was scared to go home. I didn't know what my father would think or what he would do when he found out that his boss was no longer alive. Harlow nearly had a panic attack worrying over it. That was all for nothing, as we were welcomed home with open arms and grins. My mother was standing on her own two feet again, it was as though the past few months hadn't happened. She now plans to go back to work in a month or two. I would allow my father enough time to look for a new job without worrying too much about money.

We did get scolded for not telling them how long we'd be away from the house though. We told them about the cabins in the woods and the friends that we had made. My father laughed merrily and slapped me on the shoulder when he realised that's why I was so unhappy with the project. The tension had completely evaporated over the house.

We still had some trouble to sort out.

It was freezing outside. We had the fire on in the living room to help keep me and the pups warm. I had learnt much more about werewolf society since we were spending more time together. It filled in whatever I didn't know from the months we had spent together. We discussed Acanite, it's effects and many other things I should be aware of which could damage a wolf's health.

I sat next to Ralph on the settee, leaning into him as he had his arm around me. The children were playing a board game on the floor. We had to constantly supervise their games, some of them being a bit too competitive for their own good. Abilene was also watching over them carefully. We hadn't done muchtraining or running about the past week, most still feeling like their bones were heavy and minds were foggy.

"You went six instead of five," Channon pouted at his twin, who simply stuck his tongue out in response.

"You went four instead of three earlier," Lowell sighed as he rolled the dice. "We may as well not have a dice." I chuckled and shook my head. Lowell reminded me a lot of my father.

"Then we'd all be winners," Oran cheered happily, throwing his hands up into the air with a grin.

"Or losers," Melina whispered with a small smile. I had found out that she spent a lot of time with the little boy back at Ashton's packhouse. Apparently they became rather good friends.

"Or you could start again and play fair?" Abilene asked them with a small smile. She slowly bent down and started to put the pieces back. "We're gonna keep doing this until someone wins, without any tricks, okay?" The children nodded mutely and went back to playing.

"We'll be here all day," Beaumont walked backwards into the living room, holding one end of a table whilst Rhodes held the other. They had been using it as a sort of step stool, as opposed to using each other's backs. "They were raised for tricks."

My phone suddenly started to vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and looked at it strangely, I thought I had turned it off mute. I shrugged and answered it, "Hello?"

"We have trouble," Karim's voice came through the phone. He seemed to be working hard to get the words out, his breathing heavy.

"What's wrong? Is Harlow okay?" Some mumbling came from the background, along with a bit of interference.

"He's fine, we're running." I rolled my eyes at the simplicity of his statement. Everyone was staring at me as I was now sitting with my elbows on my knees, ready to jump up at any moment.

"Why are you running?" I asked after a little bit of silence when I realised he wouldn't explain unless I asked.

"Some of Travis' pack are chasing us. Honestly, it's very annoying." I groaned lightly at his words.

"What do you want us to do about it?" I looked towards Ralph before putting my phone on speaker. It was a lot easier to hear the growling that was in the background.

"Open the back gate," Karim's voice was slightly demanding. I sighed slightly and put my phone down. I stood up and started to cross the living room. "Wait." My footsteps haltered as I turned back towards my phone

The growling got louder. Beaumont looked at me with a raised eyebrow and I shrugged. "Guess they're not too far," I mumbled. Beaumont looked towards Rhodes and nodded. Moss and Elowen were on patrol today, so they were probably on their way there as well.

"What's going on?" Eben walked into the room as my phone turned itself off. Beaumont led the way out of the living room and into the kitchen, most of us following behind. The children and Abilene stayed in the room.

"Karim's being chased," Ralph told his father worriedly and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We're going to see if they're alright, they seem to be close to the gate." Eben nodded and continued following us. As soon as we opened the gates to the rest of the forest, we could see them.

Karim was running with Harlow hot on his tail. They ran hand in hand whilst Emi ran across the path from them in her wolf form. Three wolves chased them down the centre of the road. Something seemed off though, I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

Emi leaped towards the open gate as soon as she got close, tumbling and darting towards the shed. Moss and Elowen darted through the trees as the wolves started to slow down. I watched in tense confusion as Karim slowed and turned.

The three wolves stopped and looked towards the ground before looking at each other with what I could only assume was confusion. Harlow looked back at me from where he was positioned behind Karim.

"Why did you chase us here?" I was surprised when Karim chose to ask questions instead of attacking.

The wolf at the front closed their eyes for a moment before making some other wolfy noises I didn't understand. Karim looked back towards us with a pleading look. "Do we have some towels? Or spare clothes." Eben gestured towards the shed, where Emi was returning from.

"You know they do," Emi replied as she threw some clothes towards Karim. "I'm honestly shocked how much fabric they have." Karim turned back to the three not-so-friendly looking wolves.

"Get changed, then we can talk like civilised people."