I Claim Your Love novel Chapter 15

The night was growing darker with every passing moment. The sky was black tranquility married to a poetry of stars. It was a special kind of blackness today as there was no moon to throw its light on the dazzling stars or the world beneath for that matter.

Callan veiled his face and covered his body to prevent leaking of his scent. The irony being that nobody except Einar knew how Callan smelled. He strode ahead and passed the sleeping soldiers who were guarding the large dungeons of the King's palace. He quickly made his way to the deep underground spiraling through the pavements where he was met with the horror and brutality of the King and his people. The prisoners here were literally rotting. There were corpses lying all around which drenched of foul sickening smell, others who were alive were either mutilated or were reduced to their bones.

Callan was deeply saddened with the sight he witnessed. He wanted to help them but he knew he was out there to perform an important task. Turn after turn he quickly scanned every prison. He settled on one of them when he saw a blonde haired man who was of a short stature, hugging his knees with water flowing through his eyes constantly. His face said it all and Callan knew that he had finally found his destination.

"Are you Octavius?" Callan murmured in a whisper so as to make sure only the man inside could hear him.

The blonde man slowly raised his head to inquire about the source of the sound. He thought that his end was near. He wiped his tears and scrunched his nose to sit straight and look at the dark figure.

"I-I'm his mate." He said in a shaky yet confident voice.

"Alright. Now listen; stand back and don't make any noise. I'm here to help you out of this. Do you understand?"

The blonde man shook his head in oblivion.

Callan sighed and calmly asked "What is your name?"

"M-my name is L-Lucius Cardin."

"Lucius, I want you to step back and stay quiet. Can you do that for me?"

Lucius nodded awkwardly and forced his body backwards with his legs to meet the far end of the cellar.

Callan knew it was time to use his powers which he learnt with the help of Aurora. He swiftly moved his hand in circular motion and focused very hard on the metal lock of the cellar. In the same instant a strong blow of wind appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the metal. The constant pressure on the lock forced it to detach itself from the bar.

Lucius was dumbfounded with what he witnessed. He quickly made his way to the door and helped the stranger open it. He was constantly wary of the man.

When the metal door opened with a screeching noise Callan was quick to question "Can you find your mate?"

"I can never miss his scent." Indeed the scent was exhilarating enough for Lucius.

The smell brought both the men more deep into the dungeons in front of an isolated cellar. The sight in front of them broke their hearts. Octavius was beaten and bruised for speaking up against the King. His body was scarred. injuries sustained with claws and whip decorated his entire figure. His hands were caned horizontally which supported his body off the ground.

Callan performed the same trickery and opened the doors of the cellar. Both the men released Octavius from the cane and put him on the ground. Lucius was trying to wake him up but to no avail.

"Stand back." Callan ordered Lucius.

He then joined his ring finger to his thumb and focused nowhere in particular. He moved his hands in half an arch and a small water sphere appeared, gradually filling the bubble in mid air. He then rested the bubble above the head of Octavius and released it causing his face to be splashed.

Octavius woke with a sudden want of air to breathe and relaxed after a few anxious moments. Lucius on the other side still could not come to terms for what he just saw.

He was contemplating at the aura and figure of the stranger before uttering." Goodness Luna! You are not a wolf! You are.."

"Lucius." The whispered call of his mate distracted the wolf.

Octavius sat on his knees and hugged his mate as if his life depended on it. He caressed his cheeks and was all glossy before slightly kissing his mate thanking Luna for the fact that they both were safe and most importantly together.

Callan saw the admiration and longing in both of their eyes which was now brimmed with sheer happiness and content for each other.

Octavius turned his back to Callan and said. "Thank you! Lucius told me what you did for us."

"Don't thank me just now. Tidy yourself up we are leaving as soon as possible." Callan said in a hushed voice before he hurried himself for the exit.

Both of them nodded at once and readily followed Callan. Just after passing a few distance Callan asked both of them to mask themselves with a veil which he had brought with him.

After walking some more, the men could see a mist of green air surrounding their route of escape.

"Don't worry. It's a sleep inducing gas. It works wonders on wolves but unfortunately my vision is not as good as you people. So you have to lead the way to the exit."

Octavius happily obliged and marched ahead of the other two. They crossed many a soldiers who were now suffering the effects of the gas and were lying on the floor in a deep slumber.

It was a perfect time for prison escape.

****

Einar's mind was oscillating his thoughts to and fro from the incidents of this afternoon. He was seemingly guilty enough to use his powers on an old man and it certainly did not help that the old man was the grandfather of his true mate.

For every other time Einar's brain was chilly as the mountain ice but when it came to his mate he always lost his cool. This caused only mishaps or hardships for Callan.

He knew his own behavior, he tried to be calm, tried to be cool but then a trigger is flicked and he was least proud about himself for what he does.

What was Callan doing to him?

The wolf inside him which could easily slay the toughest warrior there is, turned into a love lost puppy when it came to Callan. How was this even possible!?

Whatever the reason may be; one thing was for sure, Einar was at fault and he should've apologized to the elderly couple at that moment itself.

With these thoughts in mind and a heavy heart laden with guilt, Einar made his way towards the house of the Ashton's. When he was a few distances away from the house he saw two soldiers who were actually supposed to guard the boundaries of the land, running to the mansion. He recognized one of the guards and was quick to stop him.

"What happened Theodore? Why the rush? Is everything alright at the boundaries?"

"Sire one of our soldiers in the dungeon has alerted us that there is an intruder in the castle."

Who could be so foolish to enter the castle without permission? It must be his death wish thought Einar

"But why are you receiving the call. The call should be answered by the guards of the castle not the soldiers of the boundaries." Einar stated as a matter of fact.

"Indeed sire. The guards of the castle did go to check the matter but none of them came back, neither any of them are responding to our calls."

This is strange. Who possibly could be so strong to keep an entire army of royal guards on hold? I must check on them. With that, Einar retrieved his steps made his way to the dungeons.

Halfway through though, he saw the prisoners from today with an anonymous person who was completely hidden behind a long cloth standing near one of the high ground walls. Einar was unable to figure out who the third person was but what did strike him was the only part that could be seen of the man.

The beautiful forest green eyes!

This could not be the person who Einar thought he would be. To be sure he concentrated hard to sniff his surroundings and was left astounded when he smelled the aroma for which he lived.

The third person was Callan! But what was he doing with those prisoners?

He was about to confront the trio when suddenly a mist of white thick fog surrounded the area. All of a sudden strong winds were blowing in haphazard direction. It was icy chilly breeze everywhere.

The wind blocked vision of every wolf nearby. This caused Einar to grip his position firmly to the ground so as to stay focused on marching ahead but the force of the wind was making it difficult to move ahead.

The atmosphere around became normal after a few moments.

When Einar regained his composure from the beat down, he strode to his mate. By the time he reached the place there was no one to be seen.

They all had vanished.

****

The King was fuming over the unprecedented escape of the prisoners. According to the royal court the greatest sin one could commit was to be in a same sex bond and thus the people acquitted must be punished for this heinous crime. In fact every couple who were caught were sent to jail and eventually punished.

But now there was an exception to this tradition.

Garrick was oscillating on a small run in front of Einar while Einar was standing with his back supported by a tree trunk.

"You know what the King could possibly do! It's not a good sign to be on the bad side of the King. He could turn against our pack and create problems for all of us."

Indeed the King was capable enough to harm Einar's pack but his mate was far more important for him at this moment. How does he explain his side of the story to his best friend. If only Garrick knew..

"I know what I am doing Garrick. I am also ready to face repercussions if any." He looked sideways and exhaled. He turned to face Garrick and intently looked at him "Do you trust me?"

"It's not a question about trust." Garrick rolled his eyes

"Yes it is! Do you trust me?" Einar looked with hopeful eyes.

Garrick sighed in defeat "You know I do."

"Then just believe me on this."

Garrick exhaled and looked down while cursing under his breath for his helplessness. "At least tell me why you want to leave so early. We could have stayed further in this land without any hindrance to the workings of our pack. The pack was ready to wait. Then why the rush?" Garrick wanted answers for his questions.

"Trust me on this one. When the time will be right I would tell you everything." Einar assured Garrick.

Both the men entered the large room where their pack was staying at the moment. Garrick's mood was sour from the events earlier as also the presence of Callan made it even worst, while Einar's mind was filled with mixed emotions right now when he studied every gait, every movement of his beloved.

The very next morning the entire crew was ready for a departure. Callan said his goodbyes to his grandparents and packed a whole lot of stuff which was seemingly a gift from the elderly.

Everyone had taken their seats on the ship. Callan was sharing his muffins made by his grandmother to everyone. When he came to Garrick, he outright rejected the gesture by showing his palm to Callan's face. He used to constantly huff and avoid Callan throughout their journey back home. Einar was worried for this behavior of Garrick which was not going too well with his inner beasts. He loved his best friend but his monsters did not care for anyone else when it came to Callan.

When Einar and the pack reached their land they quickly changed to their wolf forms and raced their way to the pack house in the main village. Callan stayed back taking the responsibility of the luggage behind.

The pack was decorated like it was a grand festival. The lanterns and bonfire had made the night even more exotic. The entire Alpha village and the other village heads were gathered for the arrival of their going to be Alpha.

The wolves howled signaling that they were approaching the Alpha house. Zelda's eager eyes were roaming every tree pass to assure herself of her son's arrival. Soon a large black wolf with differentiated shiny thick fur appeared from the dense web of trees. He extended his hind legs and stretched his body backwards before giving a thunderous howl by raising his neck upwards to the sky.

The black wolf changed in his human form to reveal a tall muscular buff man. The man standing in front resembled both the Alpha couple but yet was so different. The ladies swooned to the pure muscular curves and nerves popping through the god like defined body of the Alpha son while Zelda appreciated the manly growth of her son which she missed in these five years.

Einar soon dressed himself and ran towards his mother embracing her in a tight hug. It was the first time in five years that Zelda was meeting her son.

Five torturous years.

Zelda was smiling and crying at the same time when her happiness had crossed its limits on seeing her son.

"Don't cry mother. I will never leave you now." Indeed it was a promise.

Einar went to his father next who was standing besides Zelda. He hugged his father while Ragnar patted his sons back with a few proud tears of his own.

"You made quite a name for yourself in the elite circle. People have been congratulating me from all over the world. You do really make my chest swell. I'm glad you denied the offer of the King."

Einar was dumbfounded on his fathers statement." How did you know..?"

"I have sources." Ragnar smiled and hugged his son once more.

At this moment Callan had arrived with the whole luggage and the neighing of his horse caught attention of everyone around. Callan stepped to the ground and lovingly moved his hands through the mane of the horse.

Again with the horse. Einar did not really like the caring gesture of Callan towards the mute animal. His eyes were glued to the movements of his mate. The pure bliss of watching the most handsome man in the entire world was making Einar's nerves pump more blood, make his heart race a bit more.

And just like that without caring about his surroundings Einar announced.+

"Father.... I HAVE FOUND MY MATE...!"