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

Chapter 34 Waiting

Chapter 34 waiting

Harlow's POV

Emi and I waited by the door in anticipation for the packs to return. We weren't the only ones who were hanging around there the majority of the day. We were reassured that we'd be informed when they were near, that we'd be able to go on our regularly scheduled lives and didn't need to stay there. Neither of us listened to them. We wouldn't be able to continue our regularly scheduled lives, we were in a place that we didn't know. We weren't really bothering anyone by being there, other than my brother.

"Can't you do that thing with Karim?" I looked towards Emi with a question I had been meaning to ask about all week. She looked at me from the corner of her eye and shook her head.

"I don't really shift, I haven't really tried." Awkwardness and anxiety rolled off her in waves. I couldn't blame her for the emotions she was feeling, I wasn't feeling the most enthusiastic about what was going on either. "At least we've finished school," her words were hopeful, as though wanting to change the subject or offering it as the one silver lining.

"True." I placed my arms behind my head and rested into the chair. "I don't want to imagine what it would be like studying here." I could, but I didn't want to. I had learnt that this entire packhouse was very intellectually driven. There were many class and study rooms for the younger members of the pack to work in. The place was big enough, so it was understandable. The walls were white, the tables were white and the chairs were white. I avoided those rooms at all costs.

"What are you going to do when this is over?" I asked her gently, in a voice which was just above a whisper. She snorted lightly and turned completely to look at me.

"Let's wait until it's all over, yeah?" She raised her eyebrow at me and copied my position on the waiting room chairs. It was like this was a hospital waiting room, we were just waiting for someone to enter the doors and come over to us. "Though, you have a point about learning telepathy with Karim, we should give it a go."

I nodded lightly and furrowed my eyebrows as I thought about the possibility of being telepathic. I wondered how it worked, how much a person would be able to hear of another's thoughts and if it were a direct link. I shook my head to try and rid myself of the intruding thoughts that cept recurring. The thought of someone having a direct link to my brain, my private thoughts, sounded horrific.

Emi leaped forward and put a hand on my knee, she was shaking and had a grin on her face. "What?" I asked her with curiosity. The door slammed open not a few moments later. Everyone surrounding us was on their feet and near the door by the time I had stood up. My eyes looked through the crowd for Karim, but I didn't see him.

"Where is he?" Emi mumbled before grabbing my wrist and pulling me forward. I didn't protest as I was led around the room, looking for the tall brunette. He didn't enter through the same door the others did. We gave the members of Ralph's pack a questioning look, but they all shrugged and shook their heads. The only reason I wasn't panicking was that they didn't seem panicked. He mustn't have been injured if they weren't panicking about it.

Unfortunately for me. This meant Emi was dragging me all around the packhouse. My wrist was in quite a bit of pain by the time we had looked at all the entrances to the house. I thought it was best not to try and converse with her, in fear of her anger being directed at me.

We looked through the entire house twice before Randall caught me by the elbow and started to show me the directions which he had seen Karim wander in. We thanked him with nods and started to head that way. It led us to another brown door that looked exactly like the rest of them. Emi and I peeked inside to see it was akin to a chapel. Our school had one and it wasn't too different from that. We looked at each other before creeping inside.

Karim was kneeling by the front with his head down and he clutched something within his hands. He was still wearing the hoodie which he had taken with him on the journey, now it was caked in mud. Emi and I sat down and waited for him to be finished with what seemed to be prayers. He stood up after around ten minutes and turned to look at us.

"I've gotten a lot of information," his voice was void of emotion but his expression said it all. I walked over to him and looked up into his tear filled eyes. I reached my hand out to him and gently took his as he did not inch away. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge. He showed it to us carefully. "This was mine," he whispered.

The badge was more like a broach than anything else. Something screamed to me that this was important, it would show who Karim is; whether it showed his rank or personality, I wasn't sure. It looked like a rather ordinary scrap of metal which had been carefully treated. The design which was engraved onto the badge was beautiful, it was a wolf howling to the moon. A crown was clear on the wolf's head. The more I looked at it, the more I started to understand why Travis would want to keep it.

Emi walked over to look at what he was holding and gasped. "It's still yours." she put a hand on his upper arm comfortingly. "It'll forever be yours." I didn't understand the significance of the tiny metal badge but it must have been a big one. "I have mine somewhere." She shook her head lightly. "I doubt I'll see it again."

"I've got yours," Karim said plainly. "I hid it in a box at the back of my wardrobe when they were searching your room." Emi blinked at hima few times, her mouth opening and closing before she shook her head and chuckled slightly.

"What else did you find?" Karim shook his head at Emi's question and put the badge back into his pocket. He then pulled out several rolls of paper. One of them held a map, another held a very official letter and the others I couldn't read due to them being at the back.

"I think I got the plans, or at least I got the contract."