Chapter 166 - In Love

"Why are you smiling?" Warren asked Karolyn. 

"It's nothing. I'm just… I mean I finally get why you were so okay with being a Vamp." Karolyn. 

"Oh"

"Listen, I need to run. But maybe sometime we can hangout?" Karolyn asked reluctantly. 

"How about the weekend"? Warren prompted 

"Sounds Perfect".  She smiled and disappeared. Meanwhile Warren stood on the terrace with a giant smile, the presence of which he was still unaware of. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Ashton was on his way to the classroom when he felt something. Something that terrified him, something that was inevitable. His rut was here. When he moved here he planned on finding a secluded spot to spend his rut in. Unfortunately, with Warren's turning into Vampire and everything he couldn't quite get to it.

When he recalled he had nowhere to go he panicked. Retrospectively speaking, even Panicking itself was another cause of his panic. His emotional instability, especially during his rut, was something that would allow his wolf to take over. Ashton would absolutely hate that.

He tried to run away from everything as fast as he could. He knew it was useless since his wolf would find a way back here, especially since Caleb was here. Speaking of which, Caleb probably knew what was going on with him thanks to their mate bond.

He ran away as far as he could from the university. A wolf undergoing rut wasn't as fast as a regular wolf. That being said he didn't go far when everything went black for him. 

...

When he finally opened his eyes he noticed he was in a bed. He was back to his human form but apparently naked. His lower half of the body was covered. He looked around trying to grasp his unfamiliar surroundings. What was happening, "You are awake". He heard Caleb's voice speak from next to him.

"You're here?" Ashton's eyes widened. "What happened?" Panic stricken he asked.

"How much do you remember"? Caleb asked.

"Not much". Ashton mumbled.

"Well, I found you". Caleb mumbled. 

"My wolf didn't find you"? Ashton asked, surprised. 

"No, in fact it coiled away from me this time. I assumed it was you who was in charge. Apparently that wasn't the case". Caleb mumbled. 

"What was I… it doing when you found me?" Ashton asked hesitantly. 

"Feeding. You killed some animal, I think. It was mauled at such an extent that I had no idea which animal it was. It looked like a deer though, then again deers are rare in a city like this. They are mostly found in the zoo if at all spotted." Caleb shrugged. 

"Maybe that's why." Ashton mumbled. 

"What?" Caleb frowned. 

"My wolf. Maybe it thought you would be disappointed, by its wild nature". Ashton suggested. 

"That's adorable" Caleb  chuckled, however he received a glare from his mate.

After a whole minute Ashton asked, "did I...do something else"?

"Like...to me"? Caleb asked. Ashton nodded hesitantly. Caleb sighed, "I don't want to talk about it". He cringed. 

"Oh my god!" Ashton exclaimed. He stared at his mate with pure horror on his face. 

Caleb ended up laughing, "it's not what you think. Get your head out of the gutter"! He scolded playfully. 

"Then why don't you want to talk about it"? Ashton's guilty face turned into a frown. 

"I'm just messing with you" Caleb snorted. "Man, you should see your face". He ended up laughing. 

Ashton shot him an intense glare before screaming, "this is not funny!" 

"I'm sorry, I am sorry" Caleb mumbled trying his best to suppress his laughter. "Look, a lot happened. How about I walk you through it"

"Alright" Ashton mumbled.

"So, here is what happened… I was on my way back to dorm. I didn't have any classes left and was looking forward to catching up with this show I started. Suddenly I felt… well you. Going into rut."

"You knew, it was me, right away"? Puzzled, Ashton asked his mate. 

Caleb nodded. "Lately I have been getting better at telling if what I am feeling are my feelings our yours". 

"That's, impressive". Ashton mumbled. 

"Thanks" Caleb smiled. "Anyways, I tried to locate you… which wasn't so easy. Linking you, whatever I saw was new to me. I didn't recognize a single thing I saw. So I assumed you would show up at some point. I would hate it if it did while I was in the middle of the street so I ended up at the back of the campus. I waited there for you. I was certain you would show up."

"But I didn't". Ashton mumbled. 

"But you didn't," Caleb affirmed. "I thought maybe you were far away, but it's been hours so that seemed unlikely." Caleb sighed with a disappointed expression. 

"If you couldn't figure out where I was, how did you know where to find me"? Ashton looked at him with a puzzled face.

"News" Caleb shrugged. "Apparently there had been a voracious wolf sighting near Regde Street". Ashton's eyes widened as soon as he heard his mate. "Luckily I found you before they did".

"Yeah." Ashton breathed. "So what happened next".

"Well, you… or your wolf tried to run away from me. So as your mate I tried to catch your attention. You know, the usual pep talk." Caleb shrugged. 

"Did it work"?

"Not at first. Luckily I am faster,  so I could catch up. I tried to restrain you, but… I couldn't hold you back" Caleb sighed. "You threw me over a tree" Caleb winced as he clutched his back.

"The pain is still there?" Confused Ashton asked.

"No, the memory of the pain is. I think I almost broke my neck", Caleb shuddered as the memory came back to him.

"Now do you get why I tell you to stay away from me during rut"! Ashton scolded. 

"Oh please, it's not like you predicted exactly how things would go down" Caleb rolled his eyes. "Besides what happened next… was completely different"

"What happened next?"

"Well…" before Caleb could say further a tinge of blush appeared on his cheeks. He cleared his throat before continuing, "Your wolf came to me."

"And"? Ashton asked when Caleb didn't continue.

"It nuzzled me and licked my entire face." Caleb gulped. "I wasn't sure what it was trying to do, but...it seemed affectionate". Caleb payed attention to Ashton's subtle movements which is why he didn't miss the the slight twitch of his fists despite the blank unbothered stare"

"After that I tried to calm it down. You shifted into human form and th-""

"Wait what? In between my rut"? Ashton prompted. 

"Yeah"

"I don't transform back in my rut". Ashton argued.

"I know. I have witnessed a lot of your rut staying in the cell in our house."! Caleb retaliated. "I assumed you were in control, but when you didn't talk or anything, I realized that was not the case".

"But… why? Why did I change back in the middle"? Ashton mumbled.

"I wish I knew, but I don't." Caleb whispered. 

"What did I do next"? He asked again.

"Well… I tried to talk to you, and you just kept attaching yourself onto me"

"Attach?" Ashton's brows furrowed. 

"Yeah, you hugged me tightly and wouldn't let go. Caught really weird stares on my way here." Caleb cringed. "I brought you here because I didn't think it would be safe to take you back to campus like that."

"What place is this"? Ashton whispered. "This seems familiar, yet it doesn't."

"It's a hotel," Caleb informed. Ashton's frowned as he wondered why a hotel would appear familiar to him. As if Caleb could read his mind he explained, "Remember that time when you came here last year q few times during my heat? This is that place".

"Oh?" Ashton whispered looking around himself. He noticed the similarly and yet spotted a few differences but he simply nodded.

"This is a different room and floor. So I guess, this is different". Caleb sighed. 

"How long have I been… like this"? Ashton asked after a moment of thought. 

"A couple of days. It's Tuesday. You got into rut on Friday", said Caleb. Ashton simply nodded and remained quiet. Getting away from the wall where Caleb was leaning onto all along, Caleb approached Ashton and planted a soft kiss on his mate's lips. 

"I missed you, these past few days" Caleb admitted honestly. Ashton looked at him in the eyes and grabbing his neck he pulled him back for a deep passionate kiss. 

After few minutes when Ashton finally pulled away he whispered "me too".

Caleb chuckled, "You don't even remember anything." Caleb teased. "How could you possibly miss me?"

"I know I don't remember." Ashton nodded. "But the way you make me feel, I am sure I missed you".

"Oh really"? Caleb teased further in response to which he received a sincere nod. "And what is that you feel"?

Ashton blinked for a moment. He wasn't sure what to reply because he felt multitude of emotions for his mate which couldn't be described by a single word. When Caleb's gaze over him sharpened Ashton simply replied, "in love".