Chapter 319 - 319 The Resort

319 The Resort

For the rest of the day they were pretty much swamped with congratulations and well wishes throughout the day. They saw some familiar faces, but mostly unfamiliar ones. Exhausted from all the attention he was getting, Ashton decided to excuse himself while insisting Caleb continue to interact with others. These people were closer to Caleb anyways.

Finding Mrs Parker in the crowd, Ashton approached her. “Why are you sitting here?” He asked, curiously as she was almost in the corner of the ceremony hall.

“It has a good view.” Mrs Parker noted pointing her finger at the people.

“Of what?” Ashton was puzzled. The main event was already over, so he didn’t know what else his mother was looking for.

“This.” Mrs Parker shrugged. “All of this”. She smiled. “My boy is finally married.” Her smile deepened as she stared at Ashton with pride and content. “I mean, I always wanted this for you… for you to meet your mate, find yourself people who love you… start a family. Now that it’s happening it feels surreal.” she smiled.

“To be fair, I already had a family even before I met Caleb.” Ashton smiled. “Yeah, I acted cold at times, but believe me I always considered you and everyone my family.” Ashton smiled.

“I know.” Mrs Parker smiled. “But nothing compares to finding a mate.” she smiled. “The way having a mate influences you, every wolf, even the ones who have lost all their hope deserve that.” She sighed, turning her head a little, giving a hint of knowing smile, that kind gave her an edge of wisdom. “From the moment you bought Caleb home… I knew that. Even if you didn’t. For the first time I had noticed something different about you that day.”

“Really?” Ashton let out a shy chuckle. “You never said anything.”

“I figured this was something you would figure out eventually.” Mrs Parker shrugged. “As you did.” her smile grew as her gaze landed upon her son-in-law who finally managed to separate himself from the crowd and approached them.

.....

“Not that I hate being the center of attention, but this is too much.” Caleb sighed. “No wonder people elope these days.”

“Given how short notice this was, it’s not that different.” Ashton shrugged.

“Still, it’s a lot.” Caleb shook his head. “I finally understand why you avoid interacting with people,” he added.

“Yeah, that’s called being introverted. What you are is overwhelmed.” Ashton rolled his eyes. “And if this is too much for you… we can leave early,” he shrugged.

“Leave early?” Caleb scoffed. “From our own wedding?”

“Well, we are…wedded.” Ashton shrugged. “Apart from talking to others, what else is left?” he asked.

Caleb laughed out a little. Somehow hearing Ashton say that wasn’t so unexpected at all. “As tempting as that sounds, I’ll wait. Besides, as we have planned, it won’t be much longer.” he patted Ashton’s hand, and diverted another relative from asking too many questions to his unwilling mate/ husband.

Since it was supposed to be a small ceremony, it was over quite early as planned. On their way back to the pack house, when Caleb received a call from the police station to come in if he could, Caleb politely denied stating he needs to be with his husband and his family for the day. Once he hung up, he noticed Ashton gawking at him like a hungry hawk. “What?” Caleb couldn’t help but ask.

“I dunno,” Ashton smiled. “I guess I am still getting used to you calling me your husband.” He smiled.

A smile crept up Caleb’s face as well, “Yeah, I am kind of getting used to it too.” He laid his head over Ashton’s shoulder and took a deep breath while tracing Ashton’s fingers, gracing his own hands over the ring he put on earlier, eventually intertwining his hands with his Ashton’s. Ashton remained quiet and let Caleb do as he pleased, enjoying the moment as he pleased.

“On their way back, Ashton was confused as they noticed they missed their turn from the pack boundaries. “Wait, where are we going?” he asked.

Ashton wasn’t sure if Caleb was awake or not, given Caleb’s eyes were shut, until Caleb replied softly, “Well, our apartment isn’t ready yet… so I figured we could spend the night elsewhere.”

Ashton let out a relieved sigh, as he realized this was probably for the best. They were newly weds, and within the pack boundaries, they barely had any place that could be entirely their own. After another hour or so, they finally reached their destination.

Turns out, Caleb had booked them a resort near the coast. “Wait, is this our honeymoon?” Ashton couldn’t help but ask.

“We leave tomorrow.” Caleb mumbled with disappointment, but for tonight, why not.”

“Man, we’re busy people.” Ashton added with disappointment as well. They were shown to their room on the 27th floor, which also had an attached pool to it. “How much are you spending on this?” Ashton was wide eyed even after their bellboy left.

“Not a penny.” Caleb shook his head. “It’s a gift,” he shrugged.

“From?” Ashton asked skeptically, feeling a bit awkward with the extravagance.

“My brother, Sebastian and a few other people.” Caleb shrugged. “I think you sister’s pitched in too…” Caleb trailed off, “It’s a collective gift.”

“Okay…” Ashton nodded. Somehow that made him feel a little better. “Well, since they put so much effort on this… wanna join me for a swim?” he smirked.

Caleb smirked as well, “I don’t see why not.” he added.

“Are you sure?” Ashton challenged. “The pool is quite exposed, that doesn’t bother you?”

“We’re on the 27th floor.” Caleb shrugged casually. “We’re dots to the people who can probably see us.” he added, as he stripped to his boxers before getting into the pool. “Are you coming or not?” He raised his eyebrows.

Ashton’s smirk deepened, as he followed suit and joined his husband in the pool. The ambience, the scenery was calming and yet filled with a certain enigma that magnified the pull between them, drawing them towards each other. After a minute of playfully splashing each other with water, they simply couldn’t resist each other anymore as they began kissing.

Even in the cooler temperature of the water, they could sense heat amongst them, getting more and more carried away by the minute. Just as Ashton was about to pull on the last piece of clothing Caleb had on, Ashton winced a little in pain. Caleb blinked before asking, “Are you alright.”

“Yeah, I must have drank a little too much… my head hurts a lit- AAaah”! Ashton screamed in pain as he clutched his head too tight.

“Ashton, what’s going on”? Caleb asked, panicking with every passing second.

Ashton struggled for a few minutes before looking up, glaring at Caleb with his red eyes and mumbled only two words, “They’re coming.”