Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Repeat itself?

When Ashton’s mother found out that Caleb was admitted in the pack hospital, she decided to pay him a visit. She was a bit astonished as she didn’t expect the Alpha to have an omega son. As far as she or any wolf were concerned, they knew the Head Alpha had two sons. Due to circumstances Ashton was unable to tell what was wrong with Caleb.

Since as a ‘human’ it would be risky for him to go he decided to give him a card. Mrs Parker mused at his son’s behavior as she had never seen him worry like this apart from his family.

She returned home late that day because she stopped to get groceries and run a few errands on her way back. Being a single mom to three kids was tough, which didn’t leave a lot of time for herself. She never resented taking care of her kids though, she loved them dearly.

On her way back she noticed a few bloodstains on the road and she panicked. She was close to the house, and after Caleb told her the situation of the pack and all about the attacks, she was easily frightened. Maybe the killers don’t know about Ashton, but the wolves here are aware that she has two omega twins. Them being an much more easier target they could be easily attacked.

She ran to her house to see if everything was okay or not. She was trembling with terror and hurry so the key took longer time to get inside the lock. When she finally managed to get inside she saw Ashton coming downstairs with a drink in his hand.

When he noticed the expression on his mother’s face he got worried and to her. “Mom, what’s wrong”? He asked with concern.

“Ariel...Ava...where are they”? She asked him as she tried to catch her breath.

“They are in their room, I asked them to finish their homework”. Ashton replied, still confused about the situation “What is going on “?

She breathed a few times before she sighed with relief. “I saw blood.. in the streets”. She said with concern.

.....

“Here”? Ashton asked skeptically. “No one comes here”. He tried to reason with her.

“I know, which is why I am terrified”. She said in a patronizing tone. “Did you smell anything or anyone weird”? She asked curiously.

After a moment of thinking he shook his head, “No”. He was quiet for a while before he announced, “I should probably check it out”.

He was about to leave when Mrs Parker shouted, “don’t you dare step out of that door”!? Startled, he halted and looked back at her sudden outburst. “If things are as dangerous as they say it is, I don’t want you to go anywhere near it”. She explained calmly.

“But mom-” Ashton began but she cut him out.

“No buts, I have the contact info of the Head Alpha. I will inform him of the situation” she took out her phone. “Give me half an hour, go wash up, I’ll lay the food”. She declared and left. He stood at the door for a while before he went back to his room as well.

Today he didn’t have any homework as such, and with all that going on it was harder to focus on other stuff. He took out his phone to play something in it, but even that failed to distract him.? From his window he stared at the empty road and tried to spot anything abnormal going on. After a little while despite how empty roads were, he could hear howling that could indicate one thing. His mother, already informed and the wolves are here.

He tried getting a clearer view only to be called downstairs for dinner. Seeing the gloomy and concerned faces of the twins he realised that his sisters were told of the truth.

“Ashton, can I ask you a favor”? His mother spoke up in the middle of the meal. Taken aback, he simply nodded at her. He was rarely asked for anything major so he wondered what could it be.

“Can you drop off your sisters to the school until all of this is sorted out”? She asked him earnestly. “I know you are busy at school which is why I didn’t want to bother you, but…” she tried to think of the right words.

“It’s alright” Ashton put his hand on his mother’s hand and assured her that he would love to do it. “Even I want my sisters to be safe”.

“Mom, will we have to move again”? Ariel asked with a frown.

“I hope not”. She told her and wished for it at the same time. Their last move turned out to be much more costly that usual. Right now they didn’t have enough saved for another one.

~~~~

At night he found it hard to sleep. Seeing the fear and concern on their face he realized how much it affected his family. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried for it himself.

When he drifted off, he found himself in the middle of a city. He was late for home because he missed the bus, on purpose. He wanted to stay back and play with his friends. He knew that a good dose of scolding awaited him when he would reach home, but can you blame him? His parents were too strict to begin with.

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If he was late or if he went anywhere without permission they grounded him. He was sick of so many rules anyways, and even if he was far away from puberty his rebellious nature had increased.

When he reached home he was reluctant to get in by making it too obvious, which is why you can imagine how happy he must have felt when he saw the door was unlocked. He slipped in slowly and carefully with soft footsteps, until he reached the intersection between the stairs and the living room. He was about to take the stairs when he caught something in his peripheral vision.

He turned around to find both of his parents lying down on the ground in a puddle of red fluid. With fear he almost fell on the ground, but on the off chance his parents were still alive he mustered up the courage and tried to shake them. With no reaction coming from them he started to panic and cried a lot harder.

He dug out his phone and tried calling 911.

“Hello!! Please save my parents”! He cried into the phone without even waiting for them to begin.

In the reply he heard a woman say? “please calm down and tell us everything”. He was about to begin his story when he heard a faint footsteps coming out of his way. He knew someone else came here to do this, but what he didn’t anticipate was that the intruder was still present in their house.

With courage he turned around and saw the person attack him. With a nine year old kid like him he didn’t need any weapons, he simply choked the little boy while Ashton struggled for air.

He tried everything to get out of that hold, to shake the person off him but to no avail. With that choked feeling he suddenly jolted up and found himself on his bed while his body was that of a sixteen year old.

He breathed heavily as he replayed the nightmare, or his past, in his head again. He buried that part of his life deep into his memories and tried to move on, but they always find a way to come back mostly into his nightmares. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t even a bit afraid of the same thing happening again.

His adopted father was already gone, he did not want the same for the rest of his family to suffer the same fate as him and as his birth parents. After calming down, with no sleepiness in his eyes, he went back to bed and simply closed his eyes.