Part of the Plan (Book 2 in the 'part of' series)

Chapter 43 Confrontation

Chapter 43 Confrontation

Harlow's POV

It was torture. Honestly I would've prefered to have gone through with the torture rather then to watch it. The grunts of pain were loud through the speakers of the television, I couldn't imagine how painful it was but the noises sent shivers and shocks up my spine. I was surprised that Karim and Ralph were able to be in the hospital room with my mother. The look of pain on Lathen's face broke my heart.

Karim shifted closer to me and held my hand, it was subtle but it was comforting. Emi couldn't bear to watch so she turned around and stared at the wall. "Why are they doing this?" Aiden whispered. "They said we had to be compliant, we haven't done anything wrong."

"They're doing it to prove a point." Karim grumbled back as a response. "They're showing that they can do it." The room then returned to it's previous state, where all we could hear was groans of pain.

"How come Travis can touch it?" I whispered under my breath, The lack of knowing irritated me.

"He doesn't have a wolf anymore." Emi replied to me, turning to meet my eyes. "It means that he can touch wolfsbane and do other things werewolves can't." Ralph chuckled from the other side of the room.

"He can't turn into a wolf though." He added as though it made much of a difference ot our situation. "He's weaker than everyone in this building."

"Which is why he has werewolf minions to do the job for him." Karim pointed out with salt dripping from each word. "He's probably paying them though. It's a shame since not a lot of werewolf cultures would've allowed that years ago."

"Really?" Aiden looked up with interest. "Werewolves have the generation issue too?" He was attempting to make everything better with humour and curiosity. We had been in this cell for a few hours now and the attempt was appreciated.

"I think everything has the generation issue." Emi leant on the wall in order to look at us. "I wouldn't be surprised, my parents are all for earning the most money they can." I nodded slightly, I had seen their house. It was almost natural to assume.

"Dad works for your family." Aiden pointed out with a frown. "You said acanite was common, yeah?" He bit his lip and rubbed his hands together, Ralph moved closer to him. Ralph hadn't really sat down since we got here, nor did he move from Aiden's side.

"It's common." Karim tried to reassure. "Though I'm not saying it's not connected." I resisted the urge to elbow him in the ribs. "You asked a good question earlier.Why are they doing this if we haven't done anything?"

"Does Travis know Lathen?"Emi's question made the room go silent. "Just...make ssense." She gestured with her hands, as though physically putting the idea out there.

"Wouldn't know." Ralph muttered. "Lathen is about twenty to thirty years older than me. I'm not sure about who he knew in the past. He doesn't mention a lot of people to us." Another noise of pain pierced the air. "Other than Liam of course."

"I'd be damned if this isn't personal." Karim moved his neck to the side and I heard it crack. "They could prove a point any way they could think of, they didn't need to torture someone." I nodded slowly, I didn't think that this would be a situation that I ever experienced.

A noise came from behind the door and all of us who were sitting stood up. I knew that my brother and I were useless in this situation but it felt wrong to be sitting when an enemy walked into the room. I was expecting an armed man with a lot of muscle and an intimidating frame.

Instead, Emi's mother walked through the door. "Emerson Reilly!" Her voice was shrill and her heels clicked harshly on the cement. "What on earth are you doing in here?" She stormed over to Emi and grasped her by her upper arm. "How dare you-" Emi pulled her arm away from her mother's grasp.

"How dare I?" Emi laughed bitterly. "How about how dare you?" Her mother took a step back. The anger in Emi's voice was enough to make me flinch a little. "You hit so much from me. From actual werewolf culture, to having to turn frequently to keep your wolf, to the absolutely atrocious way of dealing with people the company dislikes."

"You have no clue what you're talking about." Her mother hissed, looking around at us and becoming red int he face. "They're lying."

"Of course you'd be able to spot a liar." Emi was on a roll. "You do that so often I suppose it's like a second language." Emi sat down where I previously was. "Mother, I'm not on your side so you may as well go back."

"You are." Her mother practically ahd steam coming out of her nose as her nostrils flared. "You will inherit this company. It is not too different front eh life that you believe comes with being a werewolf." SHe crossed her arms over the chest and stared her daughter right in the eye.

"I've seen how a real pack works. I've been told stories ever since I was a child. I know what a real werewolf pack is like. You would know nothing of the sort." Emi silenced her mother with the last sentence. A flash of defeat came over her mother's face before her expression hardened again. The woman stepped forward and, instead of grabbing Emi, went for Karim.

"We will see what you learn after this." Karim was harshly pulled away from me. His hand left mine hesitantly as he was dragged out of the room. I nearly stepped after him in protest but I was stopped. Emi held my arm and looked at me with worry and then to the door.

"What are they going to do?" Aiden asked quietly. "He's your cousin, surely they won't do that to him." He was talking to himself but we could all hear him. "They've avoided the obvious things."

"What's that?" Ralph asked quietly. Aiden gestured between himself and me. I nodded in understanding. "This all seems a little bit extreme." I stepped forward, plaguing one foot in front of the other and walked around the room.

"That's true." Emi mumbled under her breath. "There has to be something more to this that we don't know." Her eyes watched me, A shiver ran down my spine.

"We know that they plan to tear down the forest so they could make it their territory." Ralph said simply. "It seems logical enough in the werewolf world. But why would humans want that? I thought that the...constant territory battles would stop after you lose your wolf."

It made sense and yet none of it made sense. "Unless there's a wolf behind it." I muttered under my breath. "But who is it? Why would they go after your pack?"