In the Eyes of the Wolf

Chapter 41

Chapter 41

-Pax-

My heart was beating erratically as Rowan talked. Every time my parents had been mentioned by anyone but Kian, my body filled with a cold sense of hope and despair. Though the emotions were contradictory, I had always dreamt of my family coming back and taking me away from Kian's hold. The dreams had changed now, as I grew more realistic, but there was still a childish hope in my heart that they could be alive.

"Click on it," Farley said from my left. He leant over me to see whatever was on Rowan's phone. His shirt grazed my bare arm, creating goosebumps. "They look a lot like the pictures you showed me."

"Pictures?" I asked. I was unsure why that was the first thing my mind focused on potentially having photos of my parents, I couldn't see them anyway.

"Yeah," Farley responded. "I'll show you at some point. I should've done it ages ago."

I felt like an afterthought, but to be fair, we had been faced with a lot of danger since I started to live here. We didn't have time to reminisce on old photographs.

"Turn the volume up," Iris said.

I assume that Rowan complied, as a few clicks later, noises of rats scurrying across cement and heavy breathing emitted from where he was.

My shoulders tensed That breathing could be my parents. I would have never thought that could be a possibility. Even if I imagined someone taking me away from Kian, I always believed that I would never see my parents again.

"Are you sure this is real?" Caspian asked.

I wanted to snap at him to not ruin my hopeful mood, but since I was doing that to myself, I found it hypocritical to be harsh about it.

"You can never really tell with these things," Rowan replied. His finger tapped at the screen. "This could be recorded, or it could be someone else, or it could be a loop or something. There's really no way to tell unless you watched it for a while."

"Oh yes, my favourite show, torture house," Clementine responded.

It was as though a syringe had been stabbed into my heart and was injecting boiling water. My hand gripped Farley's in a hold which was no doubt painful.

"We'll just keep an eye on it," Iris said. "Let's not put too much weight on the situation."

I nodded and stood up, letting go of Farley's hand. I quietly picked up everyone's plates and headed into the kitchen. There was a pile of dishes next to the sink, something to take my mind off things.

It didn't work. I didn't smash any plates or cups, but I was very tempted to do so several times. It was peaceful having the backdoor open and washing the dishes at the same time. I was aware that there were people staring at me, but the stares weren't negative. I didn't blame them after everything that happened, they'd done that before the attack too. Each time it happened, I felt pressured to prove to them that I could do this without needing supervision.

People came in and out, leaving their dishes and grabbing something if they were still hungry. Randall had cheered when he rounded the corner, glad that he wasn't the one needing to do the dishes. He got a scolding from his older brother, Ralph, but Randall had sassily responded that their father wasn't there to tell them what to do.

I didn't know what to do after that, other than sitting in the living room and listening to everyone talk about the website they planned to build. They would continue to get in touch with various packs and hopefully gather enough supporters.