My Atypical Wolf (BL)

Chapter 201: Eight Years?

When Caleb opened his eyes he found himself in an unknown room. The moment he was able to comprehend that he was in unfamiliar surroundings he jolted up and looked around. He finally recalled everything and realised that he was in the same cell. What changed was that instead of a wolf he found a human, sitting by the corner, naked, and on a closer look he realised it was none other than Ashton.

A million things came to his mind as Caleb gazed upon his mate, who simply stared back at him with those blank eyes. Unfortunately not a single voice came out of his mouth as he found his voice on the verge of quivering. So it was expected that Ashton was the one to break silence, “You are... Caleb”? He asked unsure. “You look... different” He mumbled. The way he was disoriented made Caleb suspicious that maybe Ashton had no idea that it’s been eight years.

“You haven’t changed at all” through his quivering voice, Caleb mumbled. It was true. It’s been eight years and yet Ashton looked the same as he did eight years ago. It fascinated him and made him wonder how is that even possible, but first and foremost he engulfed his long lost mate in a hug. Without his jacket in this cold temperature, the warm embrace of Ashton felt awfully nice.

“Oh, Ashton” Caleb mumbled in a muffled hug while Ashton simply hugged him back still not over his confusion.

“Where are we? What’s going on?” Ashton asked a minute later into the hug.

Finally pulling away Caleb put both of his hands on Ashton’s shoulders and asked. “What is the last thing you remember?”

“I... I was in this hotel, which was attacked by this wolf who resembled me, but... he.. he was bigger.” Ashton winced in pain in an attempt to recall. “I... I don’t remember anything else. I woke up here and saw you lying there. With your face half buried and with the beard I didn’t recognise you properly. It feels like yesterday to me, but something tells me it’s been a while since that”. He mumbled.

.....

“8 years,” Caleb mumbled.

Ashton’s eyes widened the moment he heard that, “eight years?” Ashton whispered, unable to believe it. “But...how?”

“You don’t really remember anything? But how?” Caleb whispered. “I saw...” he trailed off.

“How can I not remember eight years?” Ashton asked, as his breathing took a hitch. “I.. I used to have memory lapses during my rut. Do you think my wolf has been in control for all these years?” He asked Caleb who simply couldn’t take his eyes off his mate.

“That seems likely,” Caleb mumbled.

“Do you know what happened? Did you ever see anything in the link?” Ashton asked.

“The link hasn’t been there all this time” Caleb mumbled, causing Ashton’s eyes to widen. “At first I thought it was because of some problems in the north. That you are busy or maybe you have finally crossed the range of our limit. After almost 2 weeks when I failed to connect with you, I got... worried. My brother sent a search party but they couldn’t find any clue either” Caleb’s breath hitched. “Everyone tried to convince me you were dead. I didn’t wanna believe them but...” Caleb found himself at loss of words while he struggled to keep the tears in, alas failing miserably.

Ashton, who was himself shocked with the way things turned out, racked his brains to find an answer, to figure out what to do next. He touched Caleb’s face with his right hand and mumbled, “I am so sorry” his voice started to quiver as well. “I shouldn’t have left. I shouldn’t have been so stubborn and obsessed with my past. I shouldn’t have abandoned you. I am so sorry for... abandoning you like this..” and Ashton broke into tears as well. With their bond reestablished, he could feel how devastating it was for Caleb. He could feel a hint of what Caleb felt all these years. The mere fact that he caused his mate so much pain made him loathe himself.

“Hey, hey... look at me,” Caleb whispered to his mate. “Look at me. I know you didn’t mean to abandon me.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that I did.” Ashton huffed. “If only I hadn’t been so obsessed...I... We could have been together. We wouldn’t have lost all these years”. He bit his lips trying very hard not to have a meltdown.

“How would you have known that this would happen? The moment your wolf connected with me, I saw these... flashes of memories. From what it seemed like, you didn’t have a choice either. You were... trapped”. Caleb mumbled.

“You peeked into my wolf’s memories?” Ashton asked to which he received an affirmative nod from Caleb. “What else did you see?”

“I...I saw them trying to kill you. I think... they tortured you as well... or your wolf, because you were not the one in control” Caleb mumbled.

“Who are ‘they’?” Ashton asked.

“Wolves who looked more dangerous than you. They had shades of deep grey and dark brown. But it seemed, they were bigger than you. All I saw was wolves, no humans” Caleb explained. “I think you found them. Valestine wolves. Cause they definitely looked like one”.

Ashton snorted, “At what cost?” He sighed.

“These past eight years have been extremely hard for me, without you by my side.”Caleb declared and took a deep breath. “But I am really glad you’re alive,” Caleb let out a smile. “You’re here” he brought his face closer to Ashton and put his forehead on Ashton’s. They remained like that for a while, crying yet smiling at the same time. Caleb turned his face and put his lips on Ashton’s, giving him a long passionate kiss, expelling all the emotions that built up inside of him for these past eight years.

“Thank you, for coming back to me,” Caleb whispered once he pulled away.

“I am never leaving you again, I promise” Ashton mumbled with determination. This time it was Ashton who engulfed his mate into a hug. They had no idea how long they remained like that, but what prompted them to separate was a sound of metal clunking. They became alert immediately, Caleb more than Ashton as they knew what to anticipate in this condition.

They were relieved to see that it was none other than Christian, followed by Riley, whom Ashton was wary of as he failed to recognize Riley. “It’s getting late, you should leave.” Riley advised.

“I am not leaving him here”! Caleb’s grip tightened on his mate’s hand as he glared at Riley.

“I am not asking you too. Since he looks like a human now, he can blend in. You can just tell others that your mate came here with you”. Riley advised.

“What about the Alpha of this pack?” Caleb mumbled, “won’t he be suspicious. Won’t he wanna know what happened to the big bad wolf”? Caleb asked. Ashton simply stared at them, looking back and forth as they spoke since he legit had no idea on what was going on. The more he tried to think, the more his head hurt.

“Yeah, I need to fake an escape about that” he mumbled. “You go back to your room. It’s next to your brother’s room, here is the key” Riley handed over the key to Christian. “I’ll inform Alpha Miller that when I came to feed the wolf and I saw it’s missing. That will probably cause some distraction.” He mumbled.

“Thank you” Christian mumbled.

“Anytime” He patted Christian’s shoulder before he disappeared. Christian guided them through the other pathway to their guest house. The entire way Ashton maintained his silence, partly because he was asked to and partly because he was worried about what to say.

Once they reached their respective rooms, Christian handed him some of his big clothes hoping they would fit. As it so happens, even if he looked way younger than the Wrisberg brothers, he was bigger than both of them. Once Christian noticed the hesitation in Ashton’s eyes, he said, “I know you have a lot of questions. But they need to wait. First, we have to get you out of here”

“But, how?” Ashton finally spoke.

“That bis something we are yet to figure out”. Christian declared followed by a sigh.