Chapter 215 - After The Blackout

It was a bit awkward at the dinner table this night. A weeping son, and angry father and a recently found but distanced mate was not something that was easy on Caleb. In retrospect, even it was tougher on Ashton. He never felt so lost in his life. He sat there with the people he loved and cherished the most, and yet these people seemed so different to him.

Eight years is a long time and Ashton needed more than just a day to adapt to the chnages around him. To learn and get accustomed to what was different. To let go of the past that was not his part of his life anymore. It wasn't easy for him, to push away Caleb like he did earlier, but he wanted to reconnect with his mate properly before something happened between them.

Once the long awkward dinner was over Ashton gave his mate a slight peck before heading off to his room. As he laid on the bed in the dark staring at the wide ceiling blankly he struggled to fall asleep. Deep down he feared losing control over himself again. And no matter how much he promised Caleb he won't be gone, he himself was vaguely sure of it. Amidst his thoughts he never realised when he fell asleep, until....

Ashton was late for home because he missed the bus, on purpose. He wanted to stay back and play with his friends. He knew that a good dose of scolding awaited him when he would reach home, but can you blame him? His parents were too strict to begin with.

If he was late or if he went anywhere without their permission they grounded him. He was sick of so many rules anyways, and even if he was far away from puberty his rebellious nature had increased in the last year thanks to his infrequent shifting, which in turn was a rebellion in its own way.

When he reached home he was reluctant to get in by making it too obvious, which is why you can imagine how happy he must have felt when he saw the door was unlocked. He slipped in slowly and carefully with soft footsteps, until he reached the intersection between the stairs and the living room. He was about to take the stairs when he caught something in his peripheral vision. 

He turned around to find both of his parents lying down on the ground in a puddle of red fluid. With fear he almost fell on the ground, but on the off chance his parents were still alive he mustered up the courage and tried to shake them. With no reaction coming from them he started to panic and cried a lot harder. 

He dug out his phone and tried calling 911.

"Hello!! Please save my parents"! He cried into the phone without even waiting for them to begin.

In the reply he heard a woman say  "please calm down and tell us everything". He was about to begin his story when he heard faint footsteps coming out of his way. He knew someone else came here to do this, but what he didn't anticipate was that the intruder was still present in their house.

With courage he turned around and saw the person attack him. With a nine year old kid like him he didn't need any weapons, he simply choked the little boy while Ashton struggled for air.

He tried everything to get out of that hold, to shake the person off him but to no avail. And before he knew everything turned dark for him.

Usually at this point of his nightmare Ashton would wake up. In reality the next thing he recalled waking up at the hospital with a diagnosis of 'collapse due to shock'. He didn't know who saved him, or how the hell did he manage to escape. All he knew was that he was all alone, and in a span of a few hours, he became an orphan. 

However, this time was a bit different. Despite sweating profusely he continued to have the nightmare, only this time he saw something else, something that happened to him after the blackout. Something, which was completely unfamiliar to him

...And before he knew everything turned dark for him, until things came back into focus with a mildly distorted line of vision. The distortion resembled from the time he shifted into his wolf form, Did he shift into his wolf form? But then again he could still see his tiny hand against the hand that strangled him.  Suddenly his nails changed its shape from the one in his wolf form and the guy shrieked in pain as those sharp growing nails pierced his skin.

The man whose face was covered seemed to glare at him, before shifting into a Caramel coloured wolf. The wolf pounded on him, but Ashton transitioned midway and scratched the hell out of the wolf in front of him. It was a pureblooded Alpha as well. And it was evident that both his parents who shared the same blood rank as Ashton couldn't survive this man. There was no way Ashton was gonna make it… right?

The wolf, who had plenty of slow healing scratches growled at him. Aiming at him, ready to take him down any minute. Suddenly there were loud knocks on the door which distracted the killer long enough to pierce his nails right through his carotid. Having sharp nails was a weapon on his own. And as soon as the doorknob clinked he collapsed on the floor.

"No!"  Ashton screamed out loud as he woke up. He was lying shirtless and yet he was covered completely in sweat. But why? What was that nightmare. He always assumed that he was saved by someone else, or by some miracle that day.. What he couldn't believe was it was his own wolf which saved him. What he failed to believe further was that, even though that man was a murderer, it was Ashton who killed him.

That killer was his first ever kill. Of course he had no idea on how or what happened to him afterwards. All he knew was that his parents were dead and the house was off limits and soon enough he was shifting through foster homes. All his life he tried his best not to harm anyone, but he was already a killer at the age nine. He couldn't believe that such a major detail was completely blocked away in his mind.

Thinking back, he realised that it was his first ever blackout before his rut started to happen. That was his first ever blackout and only other blackout which happened to him before this past few years. But why now? No matter what he failed to understand that out of all times why was he having a recall now? How come these are not depressed anymore? 

Did it have something to do with him being under the control of the wolf for eight years? Did it signify that his wolf was fighting for control and Ashton might not be as safe as he originally predicted himself to be? Did it mean that he will recall everything that happened to him in the last eight years?

If all of that was true he didn't know what to feel. It was like a blessing, but at the same time a curse. What is the point of remembering all that if he lost himself once more? 

With all that heavy thoughts he fell asleep only to be awoken in the early morning by none other than Caleb himself shaking him up, "Get ready, we gotta go".