Chapter 60

Chapter 60: No Memory

Ashton stood there all by himself for a really long time wondering about the consequences of what just happened. Will they be really alright? With the mark will he be able to control himself while Caleb was in heat? These are all the things that kept crossing his mind for the entire night. He went back to the dance and apologised to the band mates for running out like that. He was lucky one of his song was finished, even if he did not get to perform the rest of his songs, their principal praised them personally for the performance.

During the rest of the event he glanced at Caleb many a times, and even caught Caleb looking at him a few times. While marking felt intimate and overwhelming, at that very moment it didn’t feel much different. He was curious how Caleb felt; especially when from his distance it did not seem much different.

~~~~~~~~~

It was late at night so Ashton had no other means of going back home. He decided it would be best to run and even started walking towards his home, until he was at a considerable distance to start running at his wolf speed. After running for a while a red car passed right next to him before it stopped in front of him, blocking his way. While the windows were dark enough to not be able to see who was inside, he didn’t need for them to be down to know who was driving. He was proven right when the window slid down.

“Want me to give you a ride”? Caleb smirked.

Ashton looked at him suspiciously before deciding to decline his offer. He was still not ready to trust himself around Caleb after what happened in the basement. “I don’t need it”. He answered coldly.

“Come on, after today I literally owe you one. Just let me drop you off, your house is quite far”. Caleb insisted.

.....

“You don’t need to pay me back”. Ashton mumbled, which did not escape Caleb’s ears. “I know I don’t need to, but I want to. Now stop being so stubborn and hop in. Besides it’s really dark out here so it’s safer for both of us”. Caleb declared.

Seeing that Caleb won’t let him leave on his own he sighed in defeat and got in car. Ashton tried to hold his breath as much as he could since he was worried about the scent of Caleb and how it would affect him. Despite the ample amount of pheromones, Caleb’s scent wasn’t entirely masked. It was a well known fact amongst the wolves that you can smell you mate’s scent the best, and with the mark it was very much likely that he could smell it too.

After a few minutes when he couldn’t take it anymore he breathed. Once his breathing was back to normal he noticed that there was no scent of Caleb and thus sighed in relief. The entire ride was quite for them and whenever Caleb asked him anything he just replied with either a “Mn” or “Mn-Hm”. The situation was way too familiar to the one when they rode this very car together for the first time.

Once they were at their destination, after unbuckling the seat-belt, Ashton was about to get out when Caleb called him out, “Wait”!

“What”? Ashton asked carefully.

“I am really sorry for making you... do that. If being around me is too uncomfortable I will back off”. Caleb gave him a sad smile.

“I honestly don’t know how I feel”. Ashton mumbled after turning his head to look outside the window. “I hope I...” Ashton trailed off before running out of the car abruptly leaving Caleb confused

Ashton ran to his room as fast as he could and locked each and every entrance to his room. He felt his wolf trying to go wild as he did his best to control it. This wasn’t anything new to him and he knew what it meant. The biannual rut that drove him crazy finally hit him and that too at the very wrong moment. He wasn’t sure if the marking had anything to do with it or not, however his rut was due given how it has been almost six months since his last rut. Given how he was immersed in all that took place since he moved in here, the timing just slipped out of his mind.

It was getting harder and harder to control himself, this time even more than before. His mind kept going back and forth into haze and all he could focus on was the window which he desperately wanted to break and run off. Run off where? Usually it’s nowhere in particular, but this time he felt it was towards Caleb. A few hours ago he was worried about Caleb in heat, and now he was worried about himself in rut.

No matter how much he tried his wolf just tried to escape him. Times like this he wondered if it were any different for any other Alphas. Does being a pureblood influence his rut in any certain way? Make it worse than regular Alphas? Regardless he was on the verge of losing control and thus he made sure to put the lock on the window as well which he had especially installed for purposes like this.

With the way his wolf broke free from his own from time to time is what made Ashton scared of himself. This is one of the main reason he was scared of getting close to someone. What if the wild wolf in him hurt anyone he cared about without even meaning to? He didn’t know how long he struggled with anger, frustration and losing control but he knew before the clock in his room hit twelve he passed out, at least his conscious did.

~~~~~~~~

Finally he opened his eyes when the scorching sun hit his face with vigour. He had to blink many times before he adjusted to his surroundings. He looked up sluggishly to the clock above to see 1:00pm written there. He knew it was late afternoon, but he had no idea what day it was. Usually his rut lasted for a few days and with no pain or uncomfortable feeling whatsoever he was sure that he was over his rut. He looked at himself to see his favourite (and one and only) suit was ripped apart by the wolf. He snorted at his condition before he racked his brains for any memory.

When he tried hard his head started to hurt and he realised that it’s probably for the best that took a little refreshments before he pushed his deranged consciousness beyond its limit. He took out his phone to check the date but found it to be out of battery. Putting it in charge he switched it on and upon checking the date he realised it’s almost been five days since the prom. He became alert since his rut never lasted this long. He stared at screen trying to check if he saw wrong or not.

He stood staring hard at the screen when his phone was flooded with notifications having gained proper access to the network. What surprised him more was most of them was from Caleb (rest were from useless subscriptions which he never subscribed to in the first place). He pondered whether or not to check them but decided to check them anyways.

{Are you alright}

{Is something going on}

{Are you feeling okay?}

...

...

...

{It’s been almost two days, please at least tell you are not in some kind of trouble}

...

...

...

{Nevermind, I got it. Call me when you can. No rush}

These are the messages he noticed because he did not want to go through all 243 messages right at this moment. He recalled that he wanted to verify the date so he connected his phone to the wifi and soon tons of messages flooded one more through his instagram. Again, most of them were from Caleb. If only he didn’t forget to switch back his account to private. Even irritated he felt a tiny smile creep up his face as he realised how worried Caleb must have been to bother him this much.

Turns out it has indeed been five days indeed and he had lot to catch up on. He changed before heading downstairs to find his sisters home, given how it was the weekend. They were delighted to see Ashton back and well and gave him a giant hug. They had a rough idea what was wrong with his these last couple of days so they didn’t pester him much about his health. His mother who spotted him as well smiled at him and served him the lunch she kept aside just in case her son woke up. “Thanks, I am so hungry” Ashton smiled lightly before digging in.

His mother stared at him the whole time he ate. While it was awkward, Ashton managed to finish his food, cause he was too hungry for otherwise, before asking his mother, “What”?

“I am just worried” She whispered.

“Why? This happens to me often”. Aston shrugged. “I didn’t do anything bad did I”? He asked carefully.

“Not exactly. How much do you remember”? His mother asked.

“Nothing after the night of prom”. Ashton mumbled. His mother’s eyes widened at that.

“Why”? She whispered with concern. “It never lasted this long, and you always remembered at least fragments of it”. Ashton bit his lip as he pondered if he should tell her what changed. After a moment he looked up and smiled slightly at her and shrugged.