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

Chapter 48 Base

Chapter 48 base

Harlow's POV

"This is the stupidest idea I've ever heard." Ralph said as we walked towards the edge of the forest. Some of the wolves struggled, as well as Eben. The sky was getting extremely dark, very unwelcoming.

"But it's the only plan we've got." Aiden pointed out. The tiredness which laced his voice replicated how I felt. "We might get even more answers?" He lifted his shoulders in a suggestive manner.

"Or more questions." Randall muttered under his breath. The wolves who surrounded us were clearly listening into the conversation, sometimes making gestures for the two Sheehan brothers to answer. I wondered how Emi was, I wondered how Karim was. The uncertainty associated with the well being of my two closest friends made it feel like there were bugs in my shirt, I was constantly on edge.

"Emi said that he was suspicious." I muttered. "Maybe he does know something." I ran a hand down my face. I was clutching at straws.

"It's Liam's brother, Liam can't be trusted anymore." Aiden continued. "It doesn't mean that your teacher can't be, it's just strange." I rolled my eyes slightly, Aiden was also taught by Mr.Buckthorn when he went to school, his classes were always a topic of discussion at home.

"A lot of families have more than one boy." Randall said out of the blue as we got to the edge of the forest. "Think about it, Channon and Channing, Oran and Lowell, Alden and Harlow, Liam and ...Dean. Where's the sisters?" I ignored his random rambles as I stared at the tree in front of me. "Hey, I know sweetie." I looked over to see Melina running around.

"You'll be a big sister soon." Abilene smiled at the small pup running in circles, even I had to crack a smile. Melina was adorable and she deserved this happiness and the care-free energy to last. "When did he say he'd be here?" Abilene asked me.

Before I had a chance to answer, a voice came from behind me. "How about now?" I turned around to see my science teacher. He was the double of Liam, but with stubble instead of a beard and more grey in his hair. "What can I help you with?" His eyes danced between us with a kind of sparkle.

"Hello sir." My brother offered a small smile. "We know that you have experience with werewolves and..." He trailed off and gestured to the wolves. "We could do with some help." His voice trembled slightly and he chuckled. The weakness of his voice and the tiredness of his eyes made him seem older then he was.

Mr.Buckthorn clapped his hands together slightly and looked us over once again. "Seems like you do." He chuckled and shook his head. "Follow me, I may be able to help." He started to walk to the right of us.

I looked back to the others, who shrugged lightly. Eben had paled significantly but he didn't say anything as we followed the man through the forest. I tried to focus on the green grass and the wooden bark of trees. I didn't want to think about what was going on.

It took us quite a while to get to our supposed destination. It was outside of the pack's territory. The children were bouncing around with energy that seemed to have come from nowhere.

We had stopped in front of a house which seemed very similar to the packhouse. It was run-down and in utter disrepair. "Sorry it's not much." Mr.Buckthorn said. "It's the last place Travis and Liam would want to be." Ralph had stopped and crossed his arms.

"The old packhouse?" He received a nod in response. "What happened here?" His voice was quiet and solemn. It was as though he was imagining it happening to his own home.

"Disagreements." Mr.Buckthorn shrugged lightly. "Everyone went their separate ways in the world. Though none of them really left the country." He headed towards the door and it nearly fell off its hinges. It was surprisingly clean and well-taken care of inside. "I came back here last year. A bit of a fool's hope led me to do it but oh well." He moved the door out of the way for us. "Might come in handy now."

I shook my head as my eyes trailed the walls and floorS. It was extremely clean considering it was in the middle of the forest and didn't have much of a functional door. "You know the amount of people who don't come into the forest astonishes me."

Eben chuckled. "Thank you, I put a lot of work into that." It caused chuckles to erupt. The wolves were still waiting outside as we moved through the building. It was similar to a fortress. They had gotten through the gate and were able to go around the side to the back. I was a bit too intrigued by the inside, I still felt a little bit claustrophobic.

"Yeah, sending in pictures of wolves spotted, usually drives people away." Mr.Buckthorn nodded as we entered the kitchen.The layout seemed to be the exact same as the other packhouse. "Right then, time to get mister medic out."

It took about an hour for Dean to go around all of the members of the pack and treat their wounds. Ralph and Randall tried to help as much as they could, even some of the children tried to help but Dean seemed to know what he was doing rather well. I called him Mr.Buckthorn once and he corrected me, ti was strange but it eased my nerves a little.

The wolves came in through the door one at a time and were able to get somewhat comfortable in the kitchen where they would be able to rest for the time being. Aiden and I sat at the table. The water wasn't the cleanest around here so I didn't really want to touch any of it.

"What are we going to do?" I muttered as I rested my chin on my folded arms. "I wish I knew if they were alright." Randall reached over and patted my head. "This feels condescending."

"There, there." Randall continued with a slight grin. "I'm sure that everything worked out for Emi and Karim. I'm worried about Lathen." I paled slightly at the thought. "If anyone would get the sharp end of the knife, it'd be him."