Chapter 216

Chapter 216: The Wolf in Me

“Hey, Caleb” Ashton woke up and as soon as he noticed the time on the clock was 1:00 o’ clock he jolted up on the bed. “I slept through the entire day”? Shocked, he asked.

“Yeah...” Caleb gave him an apologetic smile. “I came to wake you up earlier, but you seemed... so peaceful. I didn’t have the heart to” Caleb admitted. “Are you okay? Are you getting enough sleep”? Caleb asked him.

Ashton nodded, he shifted his gaze and looked at Caleb directly into his eyes. “No matter what, call me early” He pleaded. He was somehow scared that his wolf will take over him during his sleep ever since those nightmares hit him. “Is everything alright?” Sensing the trouble in Caleb’s expression Ashton asked.

“Yeah. Christian called. He would be here in an hour... he asked for a meeting. I think we should all be there” Caleb mumbled.

“Yeah, give me ten minutes, I will freshen up” Ashton whispered before he headed off to the bathroom. Just when he was about to enter he noticed that Caleb was headed out so he called for him, “Caleb!” With a hopeful expression he looked back. “I have something to discuss with you... is it alright if you stay here?”

“.. I guess so” Caleb nodded after considering it for a while and sat down quietly on the bed which had a strong scent of Ashton. It felt even more comfortable than it did a week ago. Seems like Ashton didn’t restrain his scent while he slept.

It took Ashton a few minutes before he came out with a towel around his neck soaking the dripping water which slid down his hair strands. Since the first time Ashton came back, he looked... refreshed. “Connor”? Ashton asked Caleb.

.....

“In school”

“Your job”?

“I took the afternoon off when Christian called,” Caleb clarified. “What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?” Caleb asked after a minute.

“I saw something,” Ashton mumbled. Caleb furrowed his brows until he felt Ashton linking him. As soon as he did, a feeling of wallow consumed him as he witnessed the nightmare Ashton had the day before. He also saw the glimpses of blood laced faces of Ashton’s birth parents and found himself breathing heavily at the sight. ‘Had to witness this at such a young age’ Caleb said in his mind as his heart broke.

“I didn’t remember most of it.” Ashton declared. “...until yesterday.” He sighed. “All this time I was scared of becoming a killer, guess what, I already am” Ashton mumbled.

“That’s ridiculous”! Caleb shouted at him. “If you didn’t kill him he would have killed you instead. First of all, your attack wasn’t intentional, you clearly weren’t in control. And secondly, it was most definitely self defence! That does not make you a killer”! Caleb insisted.

“I killed him,” Ashton reminded him.

“Because you had no choice.”! Caleb argued back. “I hate to disagree with you but I think the wolf did the right thing”.

“To kill someone”? Baffled, Ashton asked.

“To protect you. I agree you always make your wolf sound like he’s terrible but every time I witnessed him he was actually nice. If anything you two are exactly the same! Which makes perfect sense, since you guys are essentially the same person.

“What did you say”? Ashton clenched his fists. “I am not like my wolf. I will be a killer” He spat.

“Oh really” Caleb raised his eyebrows followed by a scoff. “Who was the one who beat up another wolf to pulp because the wolf tried to attack me?” He reminded Ashton of the time when the omegas went missing and Caleb was about to be one of them. “If I didn’t stop you, you would have ended up killing him”.

“That was different”! Ashton sighed. “I was trying to protect you”! He claimed.

“Because you cared for me. Even back then when we were not mated yet.” Caleb huffed. “Just like your wolf cares for you”

“Of course it does. We share the same body” Ashton sighed.

Caleb opened his mouth before sighing, “I know it’s not easy to have a part of yourself completely out of control. We have it different, our wolves are basically us... but with you, it’s almost equal from both the sides. I get it why you are scared to lose control, but you need to realise that the wolf in you isn’t as bad as you make him to be” Caleb sighed.

“You realise that the wolf in me is what kept us apart all these years right?” Ashton reminded his mate.

“More than you know. I have lived every second of it, and I know how torturing it was, but maybe your wolf had a reason. You might not agree with me, but I am willing to give your wolf a benefit of the doubt” Caleb declared.

“Fine, have at it... let me know what you can find” Ashton remarked sarcastically. They both sighed at that before it went quiet.

“We argued back to back for two days,” Caleb whispered. “What is wrong with us?” he sighed.

“I dunno,” Ashton simply shrugged. “For the record, I hate us being like this,” Ashton added.

“Me too,” Caleb added quickly. “Then why is it so hard?”

“Maybe because it’s been a long time since we have seen each other. I know we are trying to start from where we left off, or at least I am... but after giving it a thought I realised that’s not gonna work. We can’t just reconnect just like that” Ashton sighed.

“Wait are you...” Caleb found himself tongue tied as he struggled to say his next words, “Are you... breaking up with me?”

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Ashton paled, “No!” He shouted immediately. “You are mate, that is definitely not something I want to do”.

“Oh thank god” Caleb let out a sigh of relief. “This is... driving me crazy.” he murmured. “What did you mean by that then?”

Ashton smirked as he took a few careful steps towards his mate, “I was thinking instead of starting where we left off, we start from the beginning. Get to know each other like we are complete strangers. Go on a few dates, hang out a little bit.... Fall in love all over again”. He added. By the end of his proposal he stood face to face with his mate who in turn had a huge smirk plastered to his face.

“You are crazy,” Caleb chuckled.

“So?” Ashton tilted his head.

“Sounds great”. Caleb shrugged. His face scrunched a little bit before he mumbled, “Hold that thought for now though. Christian is here, let’s go” Caleb jerked his head motioning him to follow.