Chapter 177 - A Source Of Obsession

""I am confused." mumbled Caleb as he got up the stairs. "Was that a successful interaction"? He asked Ashton who was right next to him physically, but his mind was lost in its own world. "Ashton"! Caleb shook his mate.

"What"? Ashton snapped. He blinked as his connection to reality restored. 

"I am asking what do you think of that interaction? Why are you so lost? Worried about Valestine stuff?" Caleb asked.

"Not exactly."  Ashton sighed and looked away. "I mean, do you think I obsess too much?" he asked.

"Yeah" Caleb shrugged casually making Ashton visibly sad. "But it's okay. It's alright to get obsessed every now and then. You can't always not let stuff, especially something like this, not bother you." 

"Still, we are in this mess because I was too curious," Ashton sighed.

"No, we are in this mess because I took a wrong approach" Caleb corrected.

"Because of me," Ashton pointed out.

"Okay, are we about to fight regarding 'it's my fault, no it's mine'?" Caleb glared. Ashton opened his mouth a few times to say something but no words made it out. "Good, let's wait and watch if Axel comes for Warren or not. I hope he won't, but there is no sure way to know". Caleb groaned. "Honestly, I am horrified by the mere thought of informing Karolyn about this" Caleb sighed.

"Did she ask anything yet?" Ashton asked.

"She did send me a text. I didn't 'see'it yet'' Caleb shuddered. Suddenly a ringing sound startled both of them which happened to come from Caleb's pocket, "Do you think…. it's her?"

"See for yourself" Ashton shrugged and nudged his mate. 

Caleb sighed with relief when he looked at the screen once he took out the phone out of his pocket, "It's Christian." Clearing his throat, he answered Hi".

"Hey, so I did some active research on Valestine. Turns out there is not much to find" Christian informed.

"So, you got nothing"? Caleb asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Well, not nothing, just not much" Christian shrugged. "I widened my search with targeting other packs, turns out most of them even never heard of the word".

"Makes sense, it is considered a myth" Caleb chuckled.

"Yeah, so, one of the packs from the north said that they have encountered one face to face quite recently. Although I doubt 50 years is recent, given it's status of myth I will say that's definitely something".

"Wait, really? They have encountered one face to face?" Caleb's eyes brightened with hope while so did Ashton's as he eavesdropped blatantly on the ongoing conversation between these two brothers. While Caleb was mostly excited, Ashton was a bit anxious regarding whatever he was about to find out.

"Yeah, a Valestine wolf was spotted in the town apparently. It's stature made it look like a werewolf, but it's animalistic nature made it seem otherwise" Christian clarified.

"Were they certain that it was indeed a Valestine wolf?" Caleb asked cautiously.

"They think so. A normal wolf is not undefeatable by us, but somehow that wolf that showed up killed most of them". Christian mumbled in a sad voice. 

"What happened to that wolf then?" Caleba asked.

"They managed to kill it," Christian informed him. "Which brings me to my next point, remember how I said they are wolves who transform into humans, like kind of the other way round?"

"Yeah," A normal werewolf will retain its wolf form if it dies in one. However, a Valestine wolf will revert back to its intended human form. That's exactly what happened with that wolf, ergo, it was definitely a Valestine."

"Whoa…" Caleb mumbled as he looked at Ashton's face, which despite Caleb's better judgement, appeared blank and emotionless. "What happened after that?"

"Well, they said once they send one of their own to explore their origin. You know to find out where it came from, or if they should expect more and stuff. The person never made it back" Christian sighed.

"Did they… kill that person?" Caleb asked carefully while keeping an eye on subtle changes on Ashton's face.

"It's possible, but the person could have been simply lost" Christian shrugged. "It is said that the place Valestine wolves live is somewhat inaccessible to any other species. It's not easy to find. Apparently they are extremely territorial to the point that they never leave their place." Christian shrugged.

"Whoa… the nest" Caleb mumbled.

"The What"?

"What?"

Both Christian and Ashton asked him at the same time. "The what" was said by Christian while the next one was Ashton.

"The nest! When we first met Axel, he said it's rare to see a Valestine wolf outside it's nest," Caleb explained.

"Right, he did say that," Ashton affirmed.

"Who is that?" Christian asked from the other side of the phone, "Is that Ashton? Is he there?"

"Yeah…" Caleb mumbled, unsure of why his brother was asking him that. 

"Okay…" Christian mumbled before taking a deep breath. "Anyways, the way they described the anger, the wild nature of the wolf, it kind of reminded me... of Ashton in rut."

"Yeah.." Caleb mumbled as he noticed Ashton biting his inner lip. "Anything else that might have been significant?" Caleb asked, trying to move on with the conversation.

"Not really. They are quite secretive in nature. As far as I could tell the reason they are considered a myth is because they never show up. That could be the reason why we know so less about them. They want us to know less about them" Christian shrugged.

"Wait, I thought they were wild. Do they have enough consciousness to decide to be that secretive"?  Caleb asked skeptically.

"Who knows, after all most of the things I said are speculations. For all we know that wolf was just a violent one who desired to kill all those wolves back then. Or maybe something more happened that they are letting us know. Honestly I don't know how much to trust and how much not to".

"I see" Caleb mumbled.

"Give the phone to Ashton," Christian ordered after a few seconds of silence. Unsure of why his brother wanted to talk to his mate Caleb did as he was asked. 

"Hello" Ashton voiced reluctantly.

"I assume you heard everything I said?" Christian asked, getting striaght to the point.

"... Yeah" Ashton admitted hesitantly.

"Listen, do not put so much of your thoughts into that. I get it you are worried about it, and I would too if I were you. But make sure you don't jeopardise what you have for something that could have been. You have a family here, don't do anything reckless, at least for them". Christian advised.

"Kay…" Ashton sighed. "Thanks for helping me," he mumbled and shoved the phone back in Caleb's hand, earning a surprised glance from him.

"Okay, I think I'll hang up now" Caleb mumbled into the phone. Hanging up he looked at Ashton and asked, "So? What do you think?"

"Honestly, I dunno" Ashton let out an exasperated sigh. "At this point it feels like a drag. I barely know anything. Whatever I know is either too vague or really not that relevant or not reliable. I think…" He sighed. "I am just gonna give up" Ashton sighed.

Caleb remained quiet and suddenly engulfed his mate in a warm embrace. Ashton, unsure of the sudden gesture, hugged him back and remained like this. Caleb did notice a few people staring at them, but he couldn't give a damn about them.

This time, Ashton was the one to pull away first. "I am fine, really".

"The fact that I didn't ask you and yet you are trying to assure me is not so reassuring" Caleb rolled his eyes. "I am sorry, that this is such a drag" He whispered looking him in the eye.

"Don't be. Thanks to all your help we have come this far. But, I think this is enough now. Christian was right, if I keep obsessing over it too much I might end up bringing unintended problems to my family. Not to mention I am terrified something might happen to you" Ashton sighed. 

"To me?" Caleb chuckled. 

Soon Ashton's eyes widened as he realised he spoke too much. "I mean… I.." Ashton fumbled with words only to be shut up by a pair of lips on his. 

When Caleb finally pulled away he mumbled, "Don't worry. Nothing will happen to me. Remember, you got a tough one" Caleb declared with a smug smile to which Ashton responded with shaking of his head.

"You can be the toughest person on the entire planet and I would still worry about you, cause you, Caleb Wrisberg, are my mate. I love you" Ashton declared.

A smile appeared on Caleb's face as he whispered, "Wow." 

"What?" Ashton frowned.

"Nothing. It's just that… you don't usually say stuff like this. When you do, it's hard not to feel flustered." He chuckled. "But, I get what you mean. I worry about you too. Guess that's one side effect of being mates". Ashton rolled his eyes once more before kissing his mate passionately. 

Unlike other times, what made them pull away from each other was not lack of breath or contentment, it was a familiar burning smell triggering their nostrils which was enough to make them alert.