Chapter 67

Chapter 67: Have you lost your freaking mind!!

The series of expressions on Caleb’s face did not go unnoticed by Christian. He knew Caleb was hiding something big, and usually he would give his little brother a little more privacy, but he was way too worried for him to be calm right now.

“What the hell is going on”! Christian raised his voice slightly.

“What? Nothing, I should probably go now”! He tried to leave but his brother went ahead and stood right in front of him. “Did... did you get marked”? Cautiously, hoping to get an honest no, Christian asked.

“N...no”. Caleb gulped before replying. How the hell Christian landed to that conclusion, he wondered. Christian sighed with frustration, before snatching away the collar on the right side to check for any mark (A/N: right is the usual site of marking, but any side works). He pulled the left side as well before sighing with relief to find nothing. “Let me go, you are making it difficult to b...breathe” Caleb struggled to get out of his brother’s hold.

Christian almost let go of the collar until he noticed something dark, like a shadow on his shoulder. To clear his suspicion he removed the collar further till the shoulder only to reveal a giant brown mark embedded on the pale skin. “Who did this”? Christian asked him in a grave tone before he let him go.

“...” Caleb opened his mouth but nothing came out of his mouth. He couldn’t think of a single thing he could say that would protect Ashton’s secret. Should he just come ahead and confess? The enraged expression on his brother’s face made it hard for him to focus.

“WHO DID THIS”! his brother shouted further at him.

.....

“I don’t know”! Caleb blurted as soon as he flinched. What he meant to say was that I don’t know what to say, which of course wasn’t interpreted that way.

“When I find out who did this, I am gonna skin em alive”. Christian muttered through his teeth.

For a split second he imagined Christian actually going through with his plan and shivered at that thought. He didn’t want Ashton to suffer his brother’s wrath, especially since it was his fault. Usually Christian was a chill guy, which only made him a lot scarier when angry.

“Why? It’s not like I was forced”! Caleb protested immediately.

Christian who was overflowing with anger froze as he stared at Caleb, “are you saying... you gave her or him permission”?

Caleb pursed his lips and nodded, “More like... I was the one who asked him”. He shrugged.

“So it’s a guy”. Christian mumbled. “Who is it? Is it Matt”?

“Ewww!!!Noo”! Caleb’s face changed as if he was about to vomit. “I grew up with that guy, he is like a brother to me. Under no circumstances would I ask him to do this to me”!

“So... you guys are in love”? Christian asked.

“Not exactly”. Caleb tried to explain things in his own way, stalling as much as he could. He came clean to his brother about what happened in Camazur and how he gave his brother’s idea a proper thought and thus agreed to do it.

“You do realise that you won’t be able to choose a different mate? Like ever again”? Christian asked him softly.

Caleb nodded at him before saying, “I know. That’s the point of it, I don’t want any mate. This works perfectly fine with me”. Caleb shrugged.

His brother eyed him suspiciously for a very long uncomfortable minute before asking him, “Who is it”?

There it was, the dreaded question Caleb wished he didn’t have to answer. It wasn’t even his secret, but he wanted to keep it because Ashton never betrayed him when it came to his own secret. “It’s this guy that recently moved into the town” Caleb mumbled.

“Recently”? His brother thought for a moment. “That Sebastian dude”? his brother cringed at that thought.

“I said moved, not visited”! Caleb shouted, frustrated at his brother’s useless assumptions. “Would you stop assuming for a moment? You don’t even know him, he goes to my school”.

“How come we didn’t know a wolf, an alpha wolf is moving here. We keep a check on the immigrants” he mumbled.

“He can easily go undetected. Remember the scent at James murder site? That was him”. Caleb mumbled.

Christian’s eyes widened, ” HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FREAKING MIND”! He shouted so loud that probably the whole pack heard him from their own bedrooms. “Of all the werewolves, you had to chose a pureblooded Alpha”?

“Why? Why can’t I choose a pureblooded Alpha”? Caleb tried to be bold and handle the situation.

“WHY? I am sorry, who was the one who was adamant on not getting an Alpha mate? You don’t like Alphas, and you chose a pureblood one? Are you lying? Is he the one who forced you”! His brother started to rain down upon him.

“No”! Caleb insisted. “Look, I know I say I don’t like Alphas, but what I mean is the way they behave in general. This guy is genuinely nice, alright? He is nothing like those arrogant Alphas”. Caleb mumbled.

“Wow” Christian scoffed. “I know you are different, and that maybe you seek the deviances of personality in everyone, but how can you be so sure he won’t manipulate you? What if everything was an act just to get you, a male omega? You know how Alphas are on rut right? Being a pureblood he is even stronger. What will you do if he attacks you”? His brother challenged him.

“He won’t” Caleb asserted while his brother just gave him a look of haughty derision. “I am saying this experience. He was with me the other day when his rut hit. He made sure to get away from me so that he doesn’t end up doing something I don’t want”.

“What if that was another manipulation? What if he wasn’t actually in his rut? What if he was pretending”? Christian kept on challenging his naive brother.

“Why would he? That incident happened right after he marked me. And I know very well that he wasn’t lying because I felt it too”! Caleb tried to explain to his brother.

Christian started at his perplexed by such attitude, “Just how long have you had this mark”?

“Around a month? Ever since prom”. Caleb gulped.

“And you didn’t think you should tell us? Or at least tell me? I have always been on your side ever since you were young”! Christian’s lips trembled with anger and betrayal. “When you wanted to learn martial arts but mom and dad wanted you to behave like an ideal omega, I was there to go against their wishes and teach you! I have kept countless secrets for you, so that you can do what our parents would never approve of”! Christian scoffed. “And here you are keeping such a big secret from me”.

Caleb was devastated to see his brother like this. It wasn’t his intention to hurt Christian like this, he just didn’t want his brother to worry because he knew how protective his brother is of him. “I am sorry if I hurt you, but I didn’t say anything because it was not entirely my secret to tell. It still isn’t”. Caleb tried to convince his brother.

“I have never met him, but I don’t trust this guy”. Christian declared while shooting glares at his brother. Caleb got immersed in a deep thought to find a way to convince his brother that having Ashton as his mate was not the worst idea. Reluctantly, he suggested “How about you meet him? Maybe then you will be convinced”.

Christian glared at him before barking, “Bold of you to assume that was ever an option”! Caleb quailed, taken aback. “There is no way I will easily accept whoever you choose to be your mate”.

“Okay...” Caleb mumbled. He knew Ashton had a knack of coming off as rude, and there is no way his brother would like him this time. Not to mention, when he actually calls Ashton he was definitely gonna get an earful for letting his secret out. At this very moment all Caleb wanted was to find a hole and disappear in it forever.

“Call him! Now”! Christian snarled at him. Nodding Caleb took out his phone and dialed him, but even before he could hear the first ring go his brother snatched his phone away from him. “Let me talk to him, make sure he understands what would happen if he didn’t show up”.

Caleb stared at his phone with utmost attention and focused his hearing on the ringing sound so that he doesn’t miss anything when they talk. When the call was directed to voicemail Christian was agitated further while a sense of relief washed over Caleb.

Christian handed him the phone aggressively and said in a grave tone, “You tell him to come and meet me this afternoon. Or I will find him and kill him”!

“But...my heat”? Caleb pointed out.

“You have no smell! You are good enough to move! You are not getting out of this one young man, I am very disappointed in you. Now go ahead and call him”! Christian snarled.

“How? He is not picking up! I don’t want to do it in voicemail. What is the guarantee that he will actually get it in enough time to make it”? Caleb tried his level best to avoid the doomed confrontation.

“He is your mate, isn’t he”? Christian smirked. “Link him and tell him. Today, at 2:00pm, we are meeting him”! Christian said before he left. Once Christian was out of his sight Caleb screamed with frustration before he sighed.

“I guess I should get this over with”he mumbled before he tried to link Ashton for the very first time.