Chapter 200 - Re-established

"So… is it that wolf?" Alpha Miller asked as he fed a few raw rabbits to the wolf inside the cellar.

"That wolf?" Christian furrowed his eyebrows.

"The one which attacked your pack". Alpha Miller reminded.

"Ahh… it appears so, yes." Christian voiced. "Can I ask? How did things go down exactly?"

"There isn't much to tell. This wolf showed up out of nowhere and out of the blue it started attacking my wolves who were out there on patrol" Alpha Miller explained. 

"Just like that? No provocation"? Christian narrowed his gaze.

"Are you trying to defend this wolf, Mr Wrisberg?" Alpha Miller frowned.

"I am merely using my judgments. According to my observation this wolf is very wild, but it's also simple. It's like it's connected to its primal instincts" Christian noted. Alpha Miller tilted his head so he continued. "I believe that this wolf won't attack until provoked. Can you assure me that no one provoked him".

"I can" If not for a moment of hesitation, Christian would have believed him. But he didn't. If it were his pack he could take some real measures against this guy, but being here, several miles apart from his pack and his family, he needed to be very careful. He shouldn't get too daring.

"Then I guess I am wrong," Christian nodded. "Anyways, what do you plan on doing with him?"

"Kill him", Alpha Miller declared.

"And exactly how do you plan to achieve that?" Christian asked after a moment of deadly pause.

"We will overdose him on Wolfsbane. I don't know the exact dose but if we keep infusing him with it, it is bound to kill him eventually" Alpha Miller shrugged.

In his mind Christian screamed, 'Caleb please hurry up'

"This is a very dangerous wolf, how are you even gonna tame it enough to do that"? Christian asked them skeptically.

"Mr. Wrisberg, this wolf might be dangerous, but he is outnumbered." Alpha Miller declared smugly. "We were gonna do it ASAP, but since it has already been delayed, and now we know we can contain him, we can wait for two more days".

That got Christian's attention. "Why wait two more days"? Christian asked.

"Full moon. Here, we consider anything done in the full moon as a prospect of good luck." He shrugged.

"I see" is all Christian could say. The more he heard Alpha Miller talk, the more it sickened him. He could guess why Riley was skeptical of him. Despite his warm welcome, Christian was starting to feel really uncomfortable by the advances made by Alpha Miller. It was as if anything he said was laid with silent threat in his voice.

He informed that his brother was nearby and that after taking care of stuff he might stop by. Alpha Miller was skeptical but passed the duty to Riley for whatever was needed at the moment. The fact that Alpha Miller would be out this night for patrolling activities was a big comfort to them.

When Caleb finally showed up, the clock in the room showed 00:37. The first thing Christian did upon seeing him was gave him a hug. But Caleb was too frantic to care, "Where is he? Or that wolf"? He asked.

"I… I know a shortcut, but…" Christian hesitated, "I am not sure it would be safe"

"I will help," Riley, who happened to be standing right next to Caleb, offered.

"Thanks", Christian shot him a smile before all of them exited the room. Everyone was quiet the entire way which given their sneaky situation was extremely necessary. When they finally reached their destination, Riley showed him the cell.

Switching on the flashlight, he advised, "The wolf is pitch black in color, so he might get camouflaged. Use this" He handed the flashlight over to Caleb. "It might be a bit helpful" Caleb gave him a nod before closing in on the cell. "Also, don't touch anything here, most of it is laced with wolfsbane. We don't have enough antidote at he moment, so I can't smuggle you some if you end up hurting yourself".

"We will give you some privacy" Christian prompted.

"But-" Before Riley could protest, Christian dragged away. Riley still had some things to instruct, but most of it was be careful and all that so he didn't bother much.

"What are you doing? What if he needs our help"? Riley asked Christian.

Rolling his eyes, Christian answered. "He is my brother. He can link me", Riley blinked before nodding as he helped Christian keep a lookout for anything else.

Meanwhile in the dungeon, Caleb took a few steps towards the cage as he called out softly, "Ashton"?

The wolf as expected did not respond. It didn't even turn back or anything just held still as if it was asleep. It was a bit odd considering how Christian mentioned the wolf is usually awake at night. Now that he thought about it, Ashton was never to stay up at night. Maybe this wasn't Ashton at all.

"Ash?" He called again softly. He felt a bit idiotic for standing here like this talking to that wolf when he had no idea if this was Ashton or not. He wanted to have faith in his brother and wanted very much to believe that this wolf in fact was Ashton. Therefore, when he didn't receive any response from the still wolf, he finally threw a pebble from the ground at him as an attempt to elicit any response.

"Grrr" Finally the wolf growled at him, but paused mid way as soon as Caleb put the light of the flashlight on his face. The hesitation in the wolf's face, was what solidified the hope in Caleb that yes, this was definitely his Ashton. He took another step towards it and noticed all the intricate features of the wolf. 

Caleb had only seen Ashton in his wolf form a few times, and therefore he was more than certain that this was definitely his mate. Taking another step closer he called again, "Ash"! This time, a bit more loudly. The wolf growled at him, but with muck meek intensity before turning his head around. Running out of eight year of patience he finally declared, "If you don't respond to me properly, I am coming in".

Somehow, that seemed to trigger the wolf and he kept growling at him incoherently as an attempt to scare him away. But Caleb was determined. Taking off his leather jacket in this extremely cold weather, he used it to grip the bars in order to avoid contact with wolfsbane and he headed in.

What was surprising that in a moment that instead of taking this chance to escape the wolf came growling at him. Caleb however resisted every urge to recoil and as if he went crazy or something he approximated towards the voracious wolf. "I know it's you," Caleb declared. "I know it's not you who is in control Ashton. But I have met you before, during Ash's rut and in his head. you are his wolf" He declared.

"Do you realise if you stay here like this, they might kill you?" Caleb snapped. "I knew you weren't dead"!  He added "Then why are you so eager to die"? He shouted at the wolf. The wolf recoiled as he heard Caleb. But Caleb continued to take his steps further towards the giant wolf.

"I know you can understand me. But I need to communicate!" He raised his voice. Caleb was lucky that no one walked in as his voice kept getting louder by the minute. "Are you blocking me? From your mind? Is that why I could never link you?" He asked. The wolf who shrunk back at the corner of the wall continued to avoid his gaze.

Finding an insane amount of courage Caleb put his hand over the black fur and spoke, "The only way I am leaving here is that I am taking you with me. Or you kill me. Cause if you don't and I am discovered here, I will definitely be in trouble, who knows they will kill me with you" Caleb shrugged. 

As if something snapped in the wolf's head, it jerked up growling at him. Caleb's back hit the floor and surprisingly enough, that was not the worst pain he had at the moment. He felt his head hurt as suddenly a gush of memories started to come into his head. "Ahhh" Caleb screamed as the pain got unbearable. The link that had been lost all those years ago seemed to be reestablished finally.

He saw flashes of how he got in trouble with the wolves, how he was trapped by other wolves who were probably bigger than him. He saw him getting dragged back as he tried to escape. And he witnessed almost dying as well. All those memories were too vague, too fast for him to comprehend anything, And as the pain in his head increased, his world turned even darker due to collapsing right on the floor.