Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Self Defense

Ashton sluggishly opened his eyes to find himself lying on someone. He was in a sitting posture and yet quite comfortable. Sitting straight, he looked at the person he was leaning on who was looking back at him with a smile, “Had a good nap”? Caleb smirked.

After a big yawn Ashton spoke, “I think. How long was I out”?

Checking his watch, Caleb replied, “About two hours”.

“Oh my god! Ava-” Ashton started to wonder when Caleb cut him off.

“She is still not awake. Which brings me back to my next question, why were you sleeping here”? Caleb raised one of his eyebrows.

“I wasn’t exactly planning to sleep. I simply came here to get some coffee, I was quite sure I could hold up. When I sat down to check my messages I got drowsy, I guess. Why are you here? And why did you put my head on your shoulder”? Ashton asked sternly.

“Hey! You did it yourself! I just sat next to you. Don’t you remember anything”? Caleb said in a louder voice. Ashton eyed him suspiciously, wondering if he was lying or not before shaking his head no.

.....

“I am not used to staying awake for the whole night, but yesterday I couldn’t sleep even for a second. I guess I couldn’t hold it any longer anymore” Ashton sighed. He looked at Caleb with a soft expression on his face and Caleb looked back at him. “I want to say I am sorry, and thank you”.

“Why”? Caleb scrunched his eyebrows.

“I got mad at you this morning, but you helped me. I know you wanted to save Ava, and did your best” Ashton smiled.

“Of course, I was worried about her too, you know”. Caleb patted Ashton’s back. “Don’t worry, she will be fine”.

Ashton nodded at him and a comfortable silence surrounded them. After a while, Ashton spoke, “I was thinking...” he paused, still hesitant to continue.

Caleb encouraged him to talk by a simple “Hm”?

“How do you feel about teaching my sisters self defense”? Ashton popped the question.

Caleb, shocked, looked at him, “M..me”? he stammered. “Why me? I mean, you are their brother, why can’t you teach them”?

“Because, I myself don’t know”. Ashton mumbled.

“What”? Christian asked, half shocked, half in disbelief.

“I mean, I am strong in general and more or less I can fight I guess. But I never had any formal training”. He shrugged. “I took judo once, but I learned them from humans, so no training part for the wolves. Since you know about all the techniques, I was hoping you can teach them”. Ashton explained.

“Are you sure about this”? Caleb asked.

Ashton nodded, “In any pack I have never seen them train the omegas, they always believe that omegas are weak and thus it’s pointless. But I think it is just them trying to oppress them but I think that knowing how to protect themselves would be much better... So? Will you do it”? He asked with a straight face, but his mild involuntary leg shaking gave away the fact that he was anxious.

“I...I guess I could,” Caleb nodded. “While we’re at it do you want me to train you as well”? Nudging he asked Ashton with a teasing smirk.

Ashton gave him an unamused expression, “Sounds great, but I doubt that would be necessary” Ashton mumbled.

“Why? Because you’re so strong”? Caleb asked him derisively.

“No, because, like I said, I need training about the wolf part. I barely shift. It’s been more than six months since I am here, and I have shifted not more than twice. That too, not for any greater purpose”. Ashton rolled his eyes. “I don’t like to be involved in such wolf business, remember”? Ashton raised his eyebrows.

Caleb nodded, recalling, how sooner or later Ashton will leave for good. Even if Ashton has marked him, it’s not like Caleb can actually stop him. When Ashton called him his mate earlier this day, he felt a tinge of hope but maybe it was nothing but a slip of tongue. Asking him to stay would be too selfish of him, right? “Well, it never hurts to be prepared” Caleb mumbled, trying to hide his disappointment.

“I guess. Maybe someday I will give it a try, but for now, make my sisters the priority”. Ashton said. “I think I should get going. I have been gone for two hours already”. Ashton brushed himself off after getting up.

“Wait”, Caleb called out. Taking a can of cold coffee from the fridge, he gave it to Ashton, “Two hour nap is not enough for a whole night of sleep. Have this”. Handing it over to him, he left.

Finishing his drink he went back to ward, avoiding more gazes than earlier since many families have arrived by now. He found his sister Ava sitting on the bed while his mom coaxed her softly. Wait, did Caleb lie? Or did she just wake up?

Sitting next to Ava, opposite to his mother, Ashton brushed his hand on her hair, “How are you feeling”?

“A little tired. I am just happy to be back”. She smiled despite her deranged appearance. Seeing her strive through so much twitched his heart. “I am glad you found us. So glad”!

“Of course”. Ashton patted her head. That moment Caleb arrived next to them and greeted Ava with a playful smile, hiding his worry quite well.

“Caleb”! Excited she hugged him, making Ashton feel a tiny bit jealous (of whom? Even he wasn’t sure). They exchanged their greetings and chatted for a while.

After the casual conversation was over, assuming a much formal stance he asked, “If it’s alright with you, can you tell me what happened? How did you end up there? And what did you do”?

“Well, that day when Ariel passed out, I went to get help. I saw this man who was nearby, so I asked him. I remember him agreeing to help...but... that’s all I remember the park. The next thing I knew is I was... blindfolded and hands and feet were tied up. I... I would have protested but I heard screams... it was scary. I was worried what they would do to me once they found out... that I was awake. So, I pretended to be unconscious”. She mumbled, gradually lowering her voice as she progressed with her recollection of the events.

Even if it sounded so horrible, Caleb and Ashton both were a little bit proud of her, that instead of panicking like anyone would, she was careful and didn’t lose her mind even in such a dire situation. Taking out his phone from the pocket he showed Ava the picture of the man that Ashton drew earlier that day. “Is this him? The man you saw in the park”? Caleb asked her.

Narrowing her eyes at the pic she mumbled, “No. This person seems young. Whom I found was actually quite old, literally a grandpa. This man clearly looks suspicious, why on earth would I approach him”? Ava remarked with sass which earned her a chuckle from all of her family and Caleb.

An old man? Who could it be? Just a coincidence or part of something bigger. If only Ashton could see inside of her head and draw them another picture. Taking his leave he went to look for his brother, who himself had returned from interrogating another Omega who woke up.

“I know what happened with Ava” Caleb started to tell her story and explained to him everything, including the case with the picture.

“You know what’s odd”? Christian mumbled after Caleb was done. “I showed the same pic to Valerie Durance, she didn’t recognize him either. In fact she never saw anyone’s face.” Christian spoke.

“So, how did she disappear”?

“She came out of her house to take out the trash, and next thing she knew was that she was held hostage” Christian sighed. “Given how close her house is to us, it’s really weird that someone managed to take her without getting noticed, especially when we are on our guard”.

“Do you think it’s someone close to us”? Caleb questioned.

“Could be, could be not” Christian sighed. “I still can’t figure out how someone won’t notice her being taken away. Like literally no one who was on patrol remembers seeing her”.

“How about you ask them if they saw an old man”? Maybe they can at least tell how he looked like, or even describe him well enough to get another sketch.

Chritian beamed, “That’s actually not bad, I will see to it”, and he left.

Turning around he found Ashton looking at him, but luckily his face was covered by the hospital mask. [Why are you here?] Caleb linked him, not wanting to start a verbal conversation there. Without waiting for any reply he dragged him. When they were in a secluded area, Ashton spoke, “I knew you were going to your brother, I wanted to hear what he had to say. Maybe I could have deduced something”. He proposed.

“Okay, don’t take this the wrong way, but now that your sister is back can you try not to get involved? You are only putting yourself in danger. What happens if they find out about you”? Caleb tried to put some sense into him.

“They came after my sister, it’s personal”. Ashton declared. “Don’t worry, I am not going to do anything reckless, but I will kill that b*****d who did all of this”. Ashton snarled, grinding his teeth in the process.