I Claim Your Love novel Chapter 23

Everyone stood at the front of the funeral with their heads down. Callan held Aurora's shaky hand the entire time. Elder Odulf was a mentor and like a father to her. His death broke her completely. People said their prayers to the Luna and the body was buried according to the rituals. They paid respect to the last rites of the man as he was the head of the elders.

Einar on the other hand kept a factitious face of despair and ache for the entirety of the funeral. He really wanted to feel bad for the elder but deep inside he felt nothing. The elder knew what was coming for him. Whatever the reason, Einar was aware that killing the man only brought fear to his fellow pack members. This wasn't how he thought his reign as the new Alpha would begin.

To make matters worse, his mate was constantly dangling between Aurora and Viola. Either he was busy consoling the witch by giving her a shoulder to cry or he kept fondling his lover's face as an act of his affection. Callan was paying attention to everyone around but he never spared a glance for the Alpha. This infuriated Einar even more. He drew up various scenarios in his head to kill everyone who was dear to him. This way Einar would be the only person who he sees, who he cares about.

Garrick was quite worried for his friend. He could not apprehend what Einar had became. He knew that the Alpha was creating a façade only to please his pack members but deep inside he seemed relived to have killed the elder. This wasn't the Einar he knew. His friend would never harm anyone intentionally, killing was a different game altogether. Though it was not as if he had never killed before but he always felt remorse where it mattered. This man right in front of him was different. Einar was mostly uninterested in interacting with the people in position. He had shut his mind link while he stole glances at Callan. On occasions his nostrils would flare and he fisted his hands. Since Garrick had experienced the same vehemence, he knew what his emotions signified.

****

It had been one whole week since the funeral. In the absence of elder Odulf, Aurora was handled the responsibility to be the head healer of the pack. Both Callan and Viola had resumed their pack duties and managed their together time with great efforts. On the other hand Garrick and Einar had been drafting schedules for the upcoming trials and preparing the lists for the nominees. Einar was overwhelmed by the work and duties as the new Alpha. The first entire week he visited the villages and their chiefs and surveyed his pack area.

But Einar's mind had been distracted..

The newly crowned alpha always used to think what his mate was doing and then his train of thoughts went to his lover Viola. Just the thought of them together made his blood boil. He also came to know that Callan had requested an audience with him but he thought the probable reason for this meeting would be to discuss the unfortunate incident at his place.

Callan on the other hand had been sleepless for most of his nights since the blue moon. The constant nightmares had deprived him of his slumber. Moreover the passing of his horses had saddened him deeply. The one good thing about it all was his constant companion- the raven. Since the full moon the raven seemed to be more attached to Callan. He was at his side for the most of his time.

He decided to visit Aurora to find a cure for his nightmares.

He entered her cottage and shouted her name trying to locate her. After repeatedly calling her he concluded that she was not present in the premises. He decided to wait for her until she came. He sat on a nearby chair with his eyes glued to the entrance. He was finding it difficult to kill time and so he decided to explore the place. A door near a large table caught his attention. It had been a long time since he had visited the room so he decided to spend some time there until Aurora came back. He enthusiastically went forward and entered the room.

The place had been the same since Callan last visited. A large tree stood in the middle of the room whose branches were trimmed to the roof whereas its large trunk had some intricate designs carved out beautifully in the middle. One side of the room contained an open almirah where books of various kinds were stashed while the other side contained all her utensils and appliances used to make different kinds of decoction.

However, Callan's eyes zoomed to the wall where five pots of different colors were lined up and lay hanging in the air without any support. What made him curious though was that the five pots were colored in the same way his bracelet reflected. Blue, Brown, Yellow, White and Black.

Was it just a coincidence?

The man decided to delve further. Out of curiosity he slowly marched to the pots to discern the contents in it. With each step he took the colors of the pots sparkled. It was like watching dazzling stars on a new moon night. The glittering and sparkling of the pots fascinated Callan's mood more and more. When he was about to close the gap he heard distinct footsteps and he knew for once that Aurora had arrived. He stepped back and hid behind the entrance door of the room, he watched a shadow appear through the door. As soon as the lady entered her foot in the room Callan appeared out of nowhere and screamed in his loud voice taking the poor lady by surprise. Aurora was startled with the sudden onslaught and she screamed in fear, the bags in her hand fell while she closed her eyes and covered her ears.

Fat tears rolled down Callan's cheeks as he laughed his heart out. His laughter was so free, so childish despite his adult years. On the other hand Aurora's heart beats increased, her rhythmic palpitations accelerated and she put hear hands to her chest probably making sure if she was still alive.

She angrily smacked him "How many times have I told you not to ambush me in such a way. Goodness Luna the heart of a poor lady!"

"I-I am sorry. Its always fun with you." Callan said between his hysterical laughs.

She gave him his own sweet little time to come out of his guffaw. She collected her bags and looked up to him. "So, what brings you here?"

"Can't I just come to visit an old friend of mine." He narrowed his eyes and pouted like a kid.

"Yes you can." She sighed and started emptying the contents of the bag. "But I can assure you, you are not here to just meet me. Are you?" She put her bags to a nearby table.

"Well you are right on that account."

"So get going with it."

"Well.." Callan continuously ticked his forefingers "I don't know how to tell you but I am having these strange dreams lately."

This caught Auroras attention and she asked curiously "What kind of dreams?"

"Its actually just a single dream, more of a nightmare i'll say but it has kept me awake all nights since the blue moon."

Aurora knew that Callan's dreams were no longer a coincidence. She knew that the dreams signified something. Either it could be the occurrence of the past or the visions of the future. So it was necessary for her to know what was transpiring in that mysterious mind of Callan. "Full moon day you say.."

Callan nodded. Aurora grasped his arm and took him near the trunk of the tree in the middle of the room. She closed her eyes and muttered some verse. When she touched the tree trunk it opened its chest and a book engulfed by thick green vines appeared from it. It slowly released it leafy creepers and the book opened itself. Callan remembered the thing as he had seen it before.

"It is the book of the ancients." He raised a brow.

"Very good Callan. Now just stand ahead and try to remember what you saw."

Callan did as he was told. The book flapped its pages until settling for a random one. It glowed a light in the air and a white cloud was formed vertically upwards of the book. The clouds slowly became transparent and images started appearing out of nowhere. Callan was confused by the trickery of the book but soon he realised that the book was picturising the events from his dream.

And then he saw it.

It looked like the skies were angry. There were thunderstorms and the ground beneath was shaking. The gravels from the earth were uplifting themselves and vigorously rotating. All of a sudden these fine particles were moving in a particular direction like they were attacking someone. A loud roar could be heard as a black wolf made its appearance piercing the thick fog. He looked angry and ready to kill a person who was standing a few distances away. He glued his bloody red eyes to his perpetrator and growled in anger. The wolf then launched itself in the direction of the person but was held midway and thrashed to the ground by an unknown force. He tried to stand on his four legs but was unable to do so. The wolf struggled before finally transforming into his human.

It was Einar.

The person in front of Einar took slow measured steps towards him. Blood decorated his face as wounds and bruises covered his entire body. He limped slowly but painfully towards Einar as the once forceful winds now were completely calm. Einar looked to his tormentor with a stoic face maintaining a brave exterior. He snarled when the person was close enough indicating him to stand back, to warn him. The bruised person stopped in his tracks and narrowed his swollen eyes. He slowly lifted his right hand fingers to circle it. As he did the motion, Einar's face became red, the veins in his body bulged and it appeared to make its way by tearing the flesh. He was breathless as he tried to soothe his neck by rubbing his hands frantically up and down. He felt strangulated like the air was leaving his body. He was struggling to survive..

The clouds puffed and disappeared all of a sudden leaving the images in a blur before clearing out. Callan was amazed by how vivid the pictures were. It was exactly what he had been dreaming. He closed the book and looked at a distraught Aurora. Her face mirrored horror while her eyes could not stop the beads which soaked her cheeks. Her mouth lay hung open while her body was trembling with fear. She could not believe what she just saw.

Callan was about to kill Einar!

This is not what was supposed to happen! Einar and Callan were the two most powerful entities in the entire world. This clash of titans would only result in a catastrophic destruction! They would kill an entire pack. But why would they end up fighting? Weren't they supposed to complete each other? The Luna paired them for a reason so what could let them going for each others throat? Nobody knew what the future holds but if Callan was seeing this than things were serious.

"Is this what you see in your dreams?" Aurora cautiously asked him.

Callan looked intently at his friend "Yes. The same for the past several days."

"Have you told anyone about it?"

"Archer." Callan nervously smiled at Aurora. She sighed and lowered her head "What's wrong? Was I not to tell him?"

She shook her head. Letting people know about this dream was a bad idea. It may cause greater consequences. But right know she wanted to know the reason why this fight occurred in the first place. "Tell me Callan when you see yourself killing Einar, what do you feel? I mean what were you going through?

"What kind of a question is that!"

Though she was being absurd but it was necessary to know Callan's emotional state at that moment. This way she could try to understand the situation better. "Please Callan, it is important for me to know." She pleaded.

Callan narrowed his eyes and looked to the ceiling "I don't know. I wasn't happy; but I wasn't sad either." He looked at her and almost whispered "Like him living or dead just means nothing to me."

"Any remorse." Aurora almost choked.

Callan thought over it for a moment before saying "No actually." His reaction was not well taken by Aurora who was now fidgeting her fingers while her face was an anxious mess. "But why are you so bothered by it. It is just a dream. How can a person like me ever stand up to a person as powerful as Einar." He raised a brow and shrugged.

Aurora was skeptical to reveal Callans true identity to him. She wanted to badly tell him how wrong he was to undermine himself. Callan saw the worried look on her face and tried to ease her tension. "I don't want to die young." he chuckled. But this act made the witch even more nervous "Relax! The dream has no significance." he tried to assure his friend.

Aurora caught hold of herself as she knew she had to present a brave front or else Callan would be suspicious "You are right. Just wait here."

She quickly went to her cupboard to collect some of her decoctions and handed it over to Callan "Take these before you sleep." She then took out an intricately designed hollow triangular bar to give to him "And put this besides your bed. It will keep the bad dreams away."

By the looks of it Callan knew that Aurora was stressing herself too much so to divert her attention he thought about shifting her focus to something else. "By the way this bracelet of yours is behaving very strange these days." He pointed to the ornament in his arm.

Aurora gave him confused look "Strange as in.."

"Blossoming flowers, chilly winds and some times even thunders. Just about yesterday the gravels on my way moved aside to make a clear path for me. I know it is supposed to help me but this is too much.. Just imagine if someone sees it. It would be hard to explain."

She nodded "Indeed it would be hard to explain." hard to explain that the bracelet had no part to play in these strange happenings at all. She knew a situation such as this would arise sooner or later. "Well I have something prepared for you in the meantime." she took out another wristlet from her bag. The ends of the knot had eagle faces carved out of gold while the metal seemed heavy from the previous ones. "Take this."

Callan was fascinated by the metal piece but was in dubious mind whether or not he should accept it. The past few days have been really strange for him. Something had changed in him. He felt like a different person, like a sudden surge of power has emanated from his very core. It made him uneasy. "I think I should not wear it anymore. No offense but these bracelets are making me uneasy nowadays."

Aurora smiled "Consider it as a present for your upcoming birthday."

Callan could not refuse it. He returned the old bracelet and wore the new one with a smile. He remembered his plans to mate Viola on his birthday and an innocent blush flushed his cheeks "Oh I am going to give myself a really good present this birthday." his eyes widened all of a sudden and he pursed his lips "Oh my goodness!" He exclaimed in panic "I totally forgot. I had to visit the Alpha chambers for the meeting. I'll see you later Aurora." He took large strides and made his way out of her house leaving a bewildered Aurora behind.

****

Einar was sitting in his desk attending to the various duties he was allotted. He had been very busy of late as not only he had to look after the pack but also he had to understand all the work and formalities of being an Alpha. Since the trials were yet to happen he was left with no option but to work with the people serving the previous Alpha- Ragnar. On the other side Ragnar, Peter, Justus and the others were trying to help the new Alpha get through.

Einar submerged himself in heaps of papers which mainly belonged to the treaties, transfers and various other orders requiring urgent attention from the Alpha. His look of helplessness and boredom amused Garrick and he chuckled "Its different to see you this way."

"Tired and sulking?" Einar scoffed.

"Yes that." Garrick snickered "And taking responsibility. Its refreshing to see you this way."

"Don't worry. Your going to join me soon in this misery. You know I have been..." he left his words hanging mid sentence when the faint sweet aroma of a certain person fragranced the room. He glanced at the door and saw Callan talking to his father. He had worn a light blue shirt today while his sleeves outlined his muscles. His hair was combed perfectly while his smile brought fluttering to Einar's stomach. And then there were those green eyes! Those orbs were the most beautiful features of Callan's beauty. Einar could never take his eyes off him.

But he remembered what Callan had done.

Einar huffed and quickly recomposed his features. He was happy that his wolf had been eerily quite even when Callan was near. He got tensed when he saw that the father-son duo were looking in his direction and approaching him but he could not fathom the emotions of his mate. He looked somewhat tensed and furious or maybe he was a bit disappointed.

"Greetings alpha." Einar was so mesmerised by Callan that he did not notice when his mate showed up in front of him. He just kept staring at him with an unknown expression. Garrick realised his friends unresponsiveness and tapped his shoulder.

"Uh.. what?" Einar was startled.

"Callan is here for the meeting." Garrick replied.

"Oh y-yes.. Go ahead."

Callan scrunched his nose and heaved. For some reason he was so angry with the man in front of him that he wanted to punch him in his perfect face. His breathings were levelled when his father rested his hand on his back to mollify him.

Callan sighed and said. "Alpha I request your time and patience to discuss two matters which are close to my heart."

Einar dipped his head to the papers on the table and resumed his work. He uninterestingly replied. "I already have a lot on my plate Ashton. I suppose you can handle your bullying issues on your own. You are not a child anymore."

This only fuelled Callan's anger. Firstly, he always handled his bullies and never complained about it to anyone. Secondly, Einar seemed to take no interest in what he had to say..

"I am not here to rattle out anyone. I have come to discuss something relating to me alone." Callan's anger was soaring.

"Can't it wait?" Einar scoffed.

"No it can't alpha." Callan gritted his teeth seemingly unhappy with Einar's behaviour. He just stared at the Alpha and refused to back down. He was so pissed at him that he almost forgot that this could ire the wolf and he could see it as a challenge. Einar on the other hand was hanging his patience on a loose thread. He did not wanted to harm Callan but he could not accept behaviour of this kind mate or not.

Ragnar saw this predicament and interjected "Son, Callan is a part of the pack. He requested this meeting five days ago. He even gave a prior intimation about it. This must be something serious he wants to talk about, just listen to him."

His fathers words calmed him a bit and he heaved a sigh "Continue.."

Callan took some pages from his hand and quietly kept them on the Alphas desk.

"What are these?" Einar huffed in ignorance.

"This is the list of nominees for the trials."

"So?" Einar picked those papers and tossed them to his trash bin.

The rude behaviour of the Alpha was not going down too well with Callan but he knew that Einar was incharge and he had the power to do whatever he wanted. Callan took a few breaths before saying "So. Why am I not named in this? There is no mention about Callan Justus Ashton. Why?" he asked accusingly.

Einar was getting all worked up with the disrespectful tone of Callan. His wolf was not having it. He wanted out and show him his place. He snarled and before he could do anything else Garrick squeezed his shoulder and interjected. "You know how the trials work, right Ashton? There are hundreds of candidates eager to face to you in the open field. Not everyone likes you."

"Oh I know that." Callan chuckled "But that still doesn't mean that I should not compete."

"Do you know how many people have listed for the head warriors post. It is one hundred and three! Even a wolf cannot compete with so many people, you are just a human." Garrick tried to reason while Einar supported him "You wont last after the fifth match."

"I wont back down from a fight even if it means I lose my life." Callan said with finality.

This bold confidence of Callan was irritating Einar even more. Who did he think he was? Einar knew that his mate would not last after a few matches and he could get injured but he also knew how stubborn he was. Callan would die fighting for his pride but wont back down. This was foolishness. "Not going to happen Ashton. No arguments."

"It is my right Alpha." Callan thumped his hands to the table. "And what do you have to lose. either I display my proficiency as a fighter or I die as a fallen warrior."

The rising tension between his son and the Alpha propelled Justus to intervene "If I may intrude Alpha Einar. I know you are worried about my son but it has been the tradition of the pack for generations. After me, the responsibly of the post falls directly on the shoulders of my heir. He has the first claim."

"He is right Einar. You cannot deny what rightfully is his. Let him fight and defend his position. If he wins he will prove his mettle to the entire pack which I'm sure of. However if he loses, than you can do what you deem fit." Ragnar added.

Einar knew that every argument that was made was justified but how was he supposed to tell them that he cannot see Callan in a battlefield! That he does not want him to get hurt or worse kill himself! That his own life depended on how long Callan lives! He knew he was cornered and there was no more counter arguments, otherwise they would get suspicious and ask him his reasons for not letting Callan participate. He ran his fingers through his head in frustration and sighed. "Alright then. He may have his chance but I will not be responsible for what happens in the battle field." He gestured his hands for Callan to leave. "If you are done here you can leave at once Ashton."

Callan was happy that he finally got acceptance to participate. Since he was at it, he thought of getting another permission. "I just have one more request Alpha."

Einar threw his pen in irritation and crossed his arms leaning back to the chair. "Now what?"

"The next full moon is..."

"Is my birthday. What about it?"

Callan gritted his teeth. How self conceited and selfish one could be! How was he suppose to respect him as his Alpha when all Einar thought was only about his big ego. However Callan knew that he had to please this thoughtless and inconsiderate being in front of him to get things done. He calmed himself and said "Yes Alpha but what I was saying was that I have decided to accomplish an important life event which affects me deeply."

"Just say it Ashton." Einar hissed through his teeth.

Callan looked to his father who nodded in approval before meeting the eyes of his Alpha "I want a ceremony on the full moon day to announce Viola as my chosen mate."

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