Chapter 1091: Side story: consolation

The emptiness and the loneliness or the void that Calleb felt upon losing his mate had never been filled. He always felt like he was not a whole person anymore.

And despite the mischievous acts or smiles that he showed to the world, Raine could see the sadness behind all of his façade. After all, the two of them were very close.

If it was not for Raine and the fact that Calleb had not yet marked Rossie, there was a high chance that he would have gone feral for real and if he was left in that state, especially when the war was happening, it would have been really hard to get him back to his real state.

However, the damage was evident. The damage upon losing one's soulmate was something that they couldn't take lightly…

Just like this gloomy morning, when the sky was covered with the dark clouds, indicating that the rain was about to pour down the earth, Raine found Calleb, staring blankly into the distance, at the trees next to the pack house through the window.

The Beta didn't even realize that the Luna was just behind him until she tapped on his shoulder which managed to startle him slightly.

"What are you staring at?" Raine asked, while leaning against the wall across from Calleb, facing the same window that he had been staring at.

"Nothing." Calleb grinned, showing his signature wolfish grin, yet this couldn't fool Raine from knowing that he was anything, but fine.

"It had been raining for four days straight," Raine murmured.

"Yes," Calleb agreed. "Maybe we are already in the rainy season…"

"Hm…" Raine mumbled and looked at Calleb intensely. "Feeling sad?"

"Hm?" This time Calleb looked at Raine and a fake smile, again, appeared on his lips. "No. I am perfectly fine."

But, Raine shook her head. "No, you are not…"

Calleb wanted to refute that, but he realized that Raine knew him more than anyone else, thus he just let out a wry laugh and started staring at the floor beneath his feet. He felt defeated…

Seeing how broken he was, Raine walked toward the Beta and hugged him. At first, Calleb tried to avoid her, but in the end, he laid his head on her shoulder and let out silent tears…

The tears that he had been holding for years. His pain that no one could understand along with the sadness that gnawed at his heart.

Calleb couldn't really tell this kind of things to anyone else, since everyone looked up to him as the Supreme Beta. There was no way he could let people see this side of him.

Something once broke Calleb into a million pieces and it was his own sorrow.

Losing someone had never been easy, especially when you couldn't find the best way to vent out your frustrations and could only hide behind a fake smile, also the word 'I am fine.'

"I know, it will be meaningless if I say everything will be fine…" Raine hugged him and caressed his back, feeling the sturdy body of the Beta shuddering involuntarily, without him being able to stop it. "But maybe you can consider a chosen mate?" She asked carefully, worried that Calleb would get offended.

At first, Calleb didn't say anything, he just stayed still in the same position, and it took him two full minutes to gather his bearings and let go of her consolation hug.

"I will be fine," he said curtly. Torak and Raine, even Belinda had mentioned this to him a couple of times. That he should see someone new.

After the war, there were a lot of shifters who lost their mates and maybe, just maybe… Calleb could find someone that could make him feel comfortable…

But, Calleb didn't see the problem this way. It would be meaningless to be with someone that was not destined to be his, though Belinda had said, if he found someone and they ended up together, did that not mean they were meant for each other?

Yet, Calleb was too stubborn to agree with her and stayed like this for years already.

"Calleb…" Raine said his name with sadness, as she couldn't hide her feelings for what he was going through.

Indeed, it was not only Calleb that had lost his mate, and there were a lot of shifters had gone through the same thing, yet Raine was not close to them like she was with Calleb.

"I will be fine, Raine," Calleb cut her words and caressed her cheek. "I promise."

And then from behind her, he saw Aurora, walking toward the two of them with unsteady steps and a bright face.

"Uncle Calleb!" The four years old toddler stretched out her short arms to Calleb, asking to be picked up.

Happily, Calleb obliged to the little creature's demand and Aurora squalled in delight when she was picked up high before she was placed on the Beta's shoulders, grabbing his hairs with her tiny fingers.

"Why do I have to see someone else when I have her that can leave my heart content," Calleb said teasingly. His mischievous smile appeared again and he looked a little bit better while Aurora played with him, hugging his head or covering his eyes.

However, Raine didn't think the same, she folded her arms in front of her chest and stared at Calleb. "Torak will kill you if he heard that," she informed him sullenly, pretending to be upset that made Calleb laugh out loud, while trying to free his eyes from Aurora's palms, which latched onto his face like an octopus' appendages.

"No way." Calleb shook his head. "He love me too much to kill me."

"Well, you can say that to him yourself," Raine replied, concealing laughter in her voice.

"Father!" Aurora squalled and let go of Calleb's eyes. Only then did the Beta see the Alpha walking toward them.

Since Aurora's scent engulfed his senses, Calleb couldn't smell Torak's before it was too late.

On the other hand, Raine laughed and took Aurora away from Calleb while saying, "good luck," and winked at him.

Calleb: Oh, sh*t!