Chapter 27 - Hide It

Caleb found it hard to sneak inside his house. He decided to maintain his wolf form because in case someone spots him as a human, they would definitely notice the bright red spot on his pale skin. His hair, unlike Ashton's, was very short that was more or less combed in a professional manner.  There was no way he would be able to hide it so easily. 

He got inside his room and took a fast shower. When he got out he saw his brother walk in, panicked. "When did you come back"? Christian asked. 

"A while ago". Caleb answered, "Why"? He scrunched his eyebrows. He held the towel, with which he was wiping his head, close to his neck as casually as he could muster. It was probably nothing, but if his brother saw it, he will probably end up attacking Matt thinking it was him.

"I tried calling you but it went straight to voicemail" Christian informed sternly. 

"Sorry, we used up my charge while watching a movie". Caleb lied. "I was late so I forgot to bring my phone. Can you text Matt to bring it to the school for me"? He asked his brother. Last night he purposefully left his phone in Matt's house so that if someone calls he can pick up and make a lousy excuse like he was taking a dump or something. 

His brother nodded at him before calling him for breakfast. Caleb quickly changed into something that was barely exposing. Usually he wore half sleeved T-shirts or something like  that which was comfortable. Today however he chose a black sweater with a turtleneck. 

When Christian noticed the sudden change of fashion on his brother he looked at Caleb suspiciously. "What are you wearing"? He asked. 

"What do you mean"? Caleb asked back pretending to be dumb. 

"We're wolves, why the sweater"? Christian asked him skeptically.

"Wearing a sweater in cold weather will help me blend in with the humans". Caleb shrugged and sat on the chair right next to his brother. 

"It's almost eighty degrees outside. Certainly not the temperature humans prefer to wear sweaters". Christian stated. He kept looking at his little brother suspiciously before grabbed the turtleneck and pulled on it.

"What are you doing"?! Startled Caleb retracted himself. Christian examined his neck and all before letting him go, "Just checking if you have any bruise or not". 

"Why would I hide any bruise"? Caleb asked, pretending to be baffled. Technically he did have a kind of bruise, and he was lucky enough that he was able to hide it with the extra precaution he took earlier.

"I won't be surprised if you ran into trouble and don't want us to know. I know you want to finish high school properly, and if something happened and Dad finds out, no more High School for you" Christian shrugged. The maids served the food (sandwiches) for the breakfast. 

"I hate that he treats me this way", Caleb murmured. "How long does he intend to keep pretending that I can't take care of myself"!. He sighed in frustration. 

"I think it's forever" Christian answered him.

"Nope, he is just waiting for me to choose a mate, or waiting to choose one for me". Caleb rolled his eyes. "I am already eighteen, and I doubt they are okay with it".

"I am twenty one, they never bothered me", Christian pointed out.

"In case you never noticed, they treat both of us very differently". He said and left with a half a sandwich in his hand. He was late enough as it is, he didn't want to delay further.

Today, instead of going with Matt, he went alone. Luckily his father was away for a few days, negotiating about the incidents that occurred during the past few days. If the Alpha found out about this, he would be mad.

He was glad that he didn't get caught this time. When he freaked out about that mark. Last time he checked the mark was pale pink, but still to avoid any suspicion he decided to put a bit of powder.

He was used to all kinds of injuries so he knew which takes how long to heal, more or less. However a hickey was a new thing for him, so he earnestly hoped he wouldn't have to bear with it for more than a day. 

The fact that it was hotter than an usual day didn't make it easy on him. At one point he was literally struggling to breath, which is why he was glad when it was PE. Matt pestered him about the turtleneck too, but he brushed it off by saying he is wearing the tight fitting sweater before he outgrows it.

Since they qualified for the Quarter finals, they had to work harder for the upcoming semifinals. The whole group took a bit of break from the practice to focus on school and projects for the time being, (or at least that's the excuse the team members gave the Captain when they demanded a break).

When Ashton didn't show up for the practice he decided to ask Matt what if he knew why. After what happened last night, even if they talked about it, it would be weird if it wasn't still awkward. In fact somehow Ashton felt worse than Caleb which confused and amused Caleb at the same time.

According to Matt he was feeling under the weather, so he didn't bother asking much. 

He was on his way back from the school when Caleb smelt a familiar smell. This time since Matt was with him he smelled it too. "It's burning my nose, what the hell is it"? 

Caleb hesitated whether or not he should tell him. If Matt was a little less dense he would have figured it out himself that it was a scent of a pureblooded Alpha. What worried Caleb even further was why was Ashton's scent all over the place when he was so good at hiding it.

Ashton would never release his scent if he had any other way, because he was extremely cautious of the werewolves around here. "Let's go" Matt pushed him to drive.

"You don't want to check it out"? Caleb asked him curiously.

"Look, I love my life. Even if we are two Alpha's it's better not to tempt fate. In case you didn't notice so many Alphas are dead already". Matt insisted. "Whatever this thing is, it's clearly targeting the Alphas".

"That's what I am worried about". Caleb whispered low enough to avoid Matt's werewolf ears.