Chapter 207

Chapter 207: Back to the Pack House

Being a wolf of such higher rank, the burning sensation disappeared quite early. What remained however was utter humiliation and anger that was about to burst out of Ashton. Unfortunately, or fortunately Caleb was way ahead of him.

“Dad, step away from him”! He shouted at him. Mr. Wrisberg shot a glare at his son but he did as he was asked. “Why are you slapping him?” He asked his father.

“Why are you defending him?” Mr Wrisberg retorted

“He is my mate”, Caleb asserted

“The mate who abandoned you eight years ago.” Mr Wrisberg scoffed. “What a mate”. He noted sarcastically

“Dad, you don’t know what he has been through. Shouldn’t you give him a chance to explain” Caleb pleaded.

“I don’t care. When he chose you to be his mate he was supposed to be with you. Not disappear out of the blue like that”! Mr Wrisberg raised his voice and yet maintained his calm..

.....

“He is my mate, why are you getting so worked up?” Caleb however found it hard to remain calm.

“Cause you are my son? Or am I not supposed to care about anything at all anymore now that your precious mate is back” Mr Wrsiberg snorted sarcastically.

“When did you ever care for me?” Caleb pointed out.

“You are right. It was just Christian” “Do whatever you want. Maybe you deserve to be miserable after all” And with that Mr Wrisberg disappeared.

“Can you believe him?” Caleb mumbled.

“Yes,” Ashton mumbled. Caleb narrowed his gaze at Ashton so he continued. “He is not completely wrong though. As your mate I abandoned you and that’s not forgivable at all. As your father he has every right to be mad at me”.

“Do not patronize him” Caleb scolded him back. “Let’s go” Caleb motioned him and they entered the pack house. It’s been years since he had been here and yet the ethereal beauty of this place remained nonetheless the same. The intricate details on walls maintained it’s dignity.

A few paintings on the wall had been replaced but that blended splendidly with the background. He walked and subconsciously followed Caleb to his room. When they reached his room he noticed how it was exactly the same and yet, it felt a little dull. Caleb turned around and asked Ashton, “Why did you follow me till here?”

“I... I am not sure if I still have a room here” Ashton admitted honestly.

“As if I would let anyone take it” Caleb snorted smugly. “Lemme get changed, I’ll go with you”.

Ashton sat down as Caleb shifted into something more comfortable. While he was changing Ashton noticed that there was a big scar across his abs on the right side just below his chest. He was curious and about to ask him when a shirt landed on his face. “This is yours. You can wear it” he advised.

“You... had my shirt?” Ashton frowned as he asked.

Cleaning his throat he replied, ” Just this one”.

“Why” Ashton’s frown deepened in confusion.

“Doesn’t matter. You want it or not”? Caleb snapped.

Ashton looked at Caleb’s face then looked back at the black shirt in his hand. “No, you can keep it” he put the shirt on the shirt on the bed. Caleb furrowed his brows at Ashton before shaking his head dismissively. “Come on, let’s go” Caleb gestured with his head and led Ashton to his room.

Ashton’s room was just the same as he left it. Not a single thing has changed. Not to mention how clean this looked. It was as if he had been living here all this time. As if Caleb read his mind he mumbled, “I have this place cleaned once a week. I had it cleaned before I left for the Ice Fountain”.

“Thanks,” Ashton whispered. “You believed in me”

“Yeah” Caleb smirked. “I used to come here, from time to time, when I missed you” Caleb admitted.

“You know what I hate the most?” Ashton mumbled after a whole minute. “That it was so worthless. Eight years of disappearance, and for what? For nothing”! Ashton huffed. Caleb took a few steps towards him and gave him a side hug. They remained like that for a while until they heard a few knocks on the door.

“Come in,” Caleb answered.

“I knew you would be here. I wanted to tell you that Con-” Ariel who started to talk as soon as she stepped through the door froze at the spot when she spotted Ashton. It wasn’t just her who couldn’t believe their own eyes, it was Ashton too. Last time he saw Ariel was back when she was still a teenager. Now? She was a woman.

???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????-????????????.????????????

“Ashton”? She whispered. “I am not hallucinating right? Tell me it’s not a side effect of my meds!” She demanded out loud.

“You are not,” Caleb snorted. “He is really here, This is why I left so abruptly” Caleb explained with a smile bigger than his lips could take.

Ashton remained quiet but he could feel himself tearing up just like Ariel. Without wasting another second Ariel came and hugged her long lost brother tightly and squeezed him till he ran out of breath. But Ashton couldn’t care less about his breath, he simply hugged her back, “Ashton you’re...” She took a deep breath as her voice started to quiver. “You’re... exactly the same” She chuckled.

“Look at you,” Ashton mumbled, putting a hand on his sister’s face. “You have grown so much.”

“Yeah...” She smiled.

“And you have become stronger. That hug, damn!” Ashton commented Ariel gave him a smug shrug before she ended up chuckling through her finally escaping tears.

“You know what, I have some work to do. I will leave you guys to it” Caleb mumbled before waving his hand at both Ariel and Ashton.

“I am sorry, for not being around” Ashton mumbled once Caleb was out of the door.

“Yes, I am very mad at you” She gave him a punch on his shoulder making him wince. “How could you leave us. You adorable sisters and your lovely mom. Not to mention your extremely attractive mate” She folded her hands and huffed.

“You know me, I am stubborn” He sighed. “And I was an idiot,” he mumbled.

“Well, maybe don’t be a bigger idiot and leave us alone once more” She pouted.

“I won’t,” Ashton shook his head. “I already missed eight years, I cannot lose any more. I am never leaving this pack ever again” he declared.

“Good” She cleared her throat. “So, what have you been upto? Why do you look exactly the same? Like you haven’t aged a single day”? Asked Ariel.

“I wish I knew. All I know is that it wasn’t me but the wolf in me who was in control. For me, all those eight years are a blank. For me it’s like it all happened yesterday.” He sighed as Ariel simply stared at him sympathetically. “As for my aging, I think it halted once my wolf took over. It’s one of the phenomena I don’t understand,” “he sighed.

“So, you are still twenty year old?” Ariel asked furrowing her eyebrows to which Ashton simply shrugged. “Wait, that means I am older than you? I am twenty four” She chirped.

“Yeah... no” Ashton shook his head. “No matter what you will always be my little sister”. He declared. Ariel simply scoffed at him in response before their bond ended up laughing lightly.