Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Due to the Mark

Caleb was lucky that he returned home before he got the full blow of his heat. He just had to avoid running into someone and was glad that he managed successfully, until he ran into his brother. “It’s good that you are here, I need to talk to you”, his brother told him the moment he saw him.

“Not now”! Caleb snarled and ran into his Cabin for a painful week ahead. Somehow this time his heat was way worse than earlier ones. Having a sort of mate made it necessary that he had his mate nearby. Of course he won’t ask Ashton for something like this, so he planned to endure it no matter how much willpower it takes.

~~~~~

After almost four days when he started to feel better, he contemplated whether or not he should check what was going on. His mind kept wandering to various stuff when he recalled that his brother did say he had something to ask, should he call him and find out what? He wondered while he kept staring at his screen lock. Suddenly his phone rang and Ashton’s name popped up.

“Hello”, he picked up, wondering why the other called. Ashton was quiet on the other end, which made him wonder, was it a buttdial? Or did he accidentally mute his phone. “Hello? Are you there”? He tried again.

“You are feeling better now, right”? Ashton asked him reluctantly.

“I guess, why are you asking me this”? Caleb scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

.....

“I just... I feel better this morning, so I decided to check up on you” Ashton muttered.

Caleb wondered if Ashton was suffering from any brain injury or anything until he got what Ashton was trying to imply, “wait... you could feel... my heat”?

“In a way, Yes”. Ashton whispered, “Just like you could tell my rut. I think we are connected now, sort of, due to the mark”. He explained. Caleb hummed in agreement before both the ends of the call were covered in silence. “Also, I just wanted to let you know, my mom found out about the mark. She heard us talking the other day”.

“Really? How did she react”? Caleb asked him, intrigued. He told him how things went down exactly which made Caleb chuckle out of relief. “I doubt my parents will be this chill when they find out. They are going to eventually, I just hope they don’t kill me or something” Caleb jokes.

“They will kill me before they kill you, don’t worry” Ashton joked from the other end as well before he said, “I gotta go, I will be late. Take care”, and hang up.

After hanging up, he thought for a really long time about all these effects that both of them were experiencing due to marking. The effects they have experienced aren’t uncommon, but usually such effects do take time to develop. For them it was going at a much faster pace than he had expected and it was starting to scare him. Does it mean something? Or is it simply because they are so rare themselves that their effects are in a manner rare too.

Feeling much better he decided to get out of the cabin and look for something to eat. He was surprisingly a lot more hungrier than usual. On his way he found his brother watching something on the television. “You are back”? His brother noticed him sneaking in.

Caleb wasn’t committing any crime or anything so he tried to act normal. “Yes”.

His brother nodded while he looked deep in thought. Recalling that there was something important he wanted to share with Caleb the other day, Caleb asked his brother, “What is going on”?

Christian looked up at his face and shook his head, “Nothing important”.

Caleb folded his hands while leaning onto the doorway. “Really? You don’t sound so convincing. Try again”. Caleb pestered.

“Okay, I just wanted to ask you....to be careful out there”. He said reluctantly.

Unable to detect any proper reason for that statement, Caleb asked, “I am always careful. What the hell are you talking about”?

“Okay, I did not want you to worry uselessly but... something is going on” Christian paused.

“Like what”? Caleb raised an eyebrow.

“I am not sure about the details, but... I think someone is trying to target the omegas around here”.

Caleb’s eyes widened at that statement, “Why? Its illegal”! He protested.

“I know, which is why we are trying our best to figure out what’s happening. It has been over a month since it started”. Christian sighed. “At first they started to disappear from only one location, Gizek’s Pub. So we closed that place down until we had further information. The owner was definitely not thrilled about it”. Christian snorted.

“How many disappeared from there”? Caleb inquired.

“Around four, I think”. Christian shrugged.

“So, any more leads after shutting down the pub”? Caleb asked.

Shaking his head Christian spoke, “Not really, but... over the past couple of weeks many have been disappearing from various places. Like a few days ago a lady who worked in the daycare vanished on her way home, or at least that’s what’s being speculated”. He sighed. “Then someone vanished in the school picnic”.

“Wait, school? Aren’t they kids”?! Caleb exclaimed, infuriated with whoever was behind this.

“They are abducting irrespective of their ages. Things are getting serious now, and... I am really worried how far it will go” Christian mumbled, clearly indicating his concern towards his brother.

“Anything common between the ones who were abducted”? Caleb asked after a brief awkward silence.

“None of them were mated”.Christian shrugged.

“Wait, you don’t think... it’s trafficking do you”? Caleb asked his brother cautiously.

His brother pursed his lips before nodding slowly, “We are kind of afraid that it might be”.

“People still do that!? That is so sick”, Caleb cringed with a tinge of anger. “Wait, is that why Mom and Dad keep leaving the pack house so often? Why they weren’t present at the graduation”? Caleb asked as soon as this tiny fact clicked him.

Christian nodded at him slowly before he said, “As the head Alpha and Luna it is their responsibility to ensure everyone’s safety. They are busy a lot these past few days and I just want you to be careful out there. It’s lucky that no one knows you are an omega, but still... be careful”.

“I will”. Caleb mumbled. Of course it was pointless given how not only more that one person outside of his family (Matt and Ashton) knew that he was an omega, but mainly because of the fact that he was marked would actually make him useless even if he got caught. That’s when the idea hit him, “What if... we bait em”? He proposed carefully.

His brother scrunched his eyebrows,”What do you mean”?

“You know! Use someone as a bait”! Caleb exclaimed.

His brother stared at Caleb as if his brain cells were dead. “Don’t you see the obvious flaw in the plan”? Caleb shrugged. “Which unmated omega would possibly want to work as a bait. Screw that, which omega would actually want to work as a bait. They are terrified of getting caught, no way someone will step up. Not to mention, it’s not even fair for us to ask that”! He huffed. “And it’s not like we can disguise someone as an omega, cause unlike Alpha pheromones, omega ones aren’t commercially available”.

“Hello”! Caleb rolled his eyes, “We know an omega who would be willing to do this, don’t you think”? He said as if Christian was missing the obvious.

Christian raised one eyebrows before his expression turned into a grave one. “Forget it. Not happening”.

“Why not”!? Caleb whined. “I am the perfect one for this job”! He insisted.

“This is not up for negotiation. Now get out” his brother declared in a stern voice.

“I am not going anywhere, especially not that I am in my heat until you give me a logical explanation of why I can’t do this”? Caleb challenged, getting enraged by the minute. “I am not just an omega, I am a male omega, far more wanted. I am strong enough to push and beat the crap out of them if they misbehave. And they won’t obviously be able to mark me because I-“. Caleb stopped mid rant as he realised he almost gave away his secret.

His brother who caught that slip eyed him suspiciously. He could tell Caleb was hiding something which is Caleb, trying to be smooth he finished the sentence with, “... I am strong so I can stop them”. His brother didn’t look convinced and kept his suspicious gaze intact.

After a whole moment of awkward uncomfortable torture of suspicion Caleb started to regret his decision of ever leaving the Cabin in the first place. “You are hiding something aren’t you”? His brother raised one his eyebrows. Caleb gulped before shaking his head slightly.

His brother left the couch and proceeded forwards, “You are still not over your heat right”? Christian questioned like he does during an interrogation. Not sure why his brother asked him that, Caleb nodded reluctantly at his brother.

“Then why is your scent not that strong? Pheromones can’t hide four days heat” Christian suspicion deepened before he came quite literally face to face with him and sniffed a little bit. “You don’t have any scent around you... ” Christian mumbled before asking him out loud, “What is wrong with you? How can you smell like literally nothing”?

Caleb gulped as his eyes widened with surprise and a tiny bit of realisation. Ashton could control his scent, which is why he rarely releases for the sake of his secret identity. Could it be... that Caleb is affected by it as well now? He wondered.