I Claim Your Love novel Chapter 41

Sun sank lower in the sky, giving way to the velvety dark of the night. Looking above one could see the first star of the night. The shadows of the trees were changing its intensity while the creatures of the night were buzzing their melody as they welcomed the darkness.

The group of people followed a definite path as they headed for their destination home. Einar had shown great restrain up until now. He was adamant to stay away from Callan throughout the day. He never communicated with neither did he glanced at him at the slightest. He conveyed his messages through the beta or any other person.

He was able to control his physical being but his mind was treacherous.

Even though Einar was sitting in a room filled with people he still felt lonely. The voices he heard through his ears were not reaching his brain. He tried to focus on the meeting but his mind was wandering, thinking about the green eyed man who was standing at a comfortable distance with the luna.

Einar watched Callan with the corner of his eye but was reluctant to turn his face completely. He was holding himself but barely.

He was not in favour of tagging in Callan not because he was a human but because he would unintentionally be the centre of attention of the entire group. It was something the handsome man had no control over. People gawked at him with lust for they desired him or either they stared at him with envy. In any case the wolf inside Einar would have only been agitated.

Einar knew that ordering his men to walk all the way was not justified but he was helpless. He was worried for Callan’s safety. Moreover the closeness of his luna and his true mate these days was unnerving him. Rosaline’s persistent nature to be with his mate was not going too well with Einar. Though he knew that the woman had no ill intentions but still the proximity was unwelcomed.

“How are you holding up?” Einar’s thought process was interrupted by Garrick who walked with him side by side.

Einar hummed “So far so good. I don’t think the beasts would create any problems.”

Garrick looked behind his shoulders and pursed his lips. It is the full moon tomorrow. Have you taken your decoctions?

Einar sighed as he slightly opened the pockets of his trousers. Garrick could see a lid and some part of the transparent bottle I carry it always.

Is Rosaline suspicious about it?

She doesn’t know.

Garrick in the next moment closed his link and was pensive for some unknown reason. Einar could feel the tension surging within his best friend as he looked at a disturbed Garrick.

What is it? Just tell me..

Garrick again looked behind his shoulders to make sure no one was suspecting. The rumours have started Einar..

What rumours?

You haven’t marked Rosaline with your scent. I heard some men talking about it in the pride.

Einar nodded absentmindedly. In retrospect he always knew that such a moment would arise in the future. For Rosaline to have the scent of the alpha, Einar had to have intercourse with woman.

When would you consummate the relationship Einar. It has been quite a while for your coronation.. It is not normal in our world.

Though Rosaline being his mate was a fake arrangement, it was a no brainer that both of them had to go through all the rituals which their customs dictated. It meant that Rosaline had to be marked sooner or later. Physiologically and emotionally the pack was a close knitted affair. Before people could start their guessing game Einar had to jump in the action.

But how would he convince his conscience?

Like every other wolf in the world, Einar had saved himself for his fated mate. Callan had committed adultery with every woman he had a relationship with. All this while Einar had never even been kissed. He was pure as the rays of the sun. He hated this fact about his mate.

Callan could have waited. He should have waited! Waited for his special someone. Never giving up hope. But his eagerness to be loved forced him to find solace in other arms.

They were supposed to have their firsts together. Their first hug; their first fight; their first kiss..

But then again, destiny wasn’t with them. For Einar had himself closed all the doors for any future with the handsome man.

When the thought of Callan crossed his mind Einar realised something. He halted his steps and sniffed the air vigorously. His eyes widened in horror cause the air was free of the sweet aroma. Callan was not with them!

He turned back in a flash and frantically scanned the area through his eyes. His men were puzzled by the sudden behaviour as Einar’s nostrils flared and an anxious growl left his lips “WHERE ARE THEY..?”

In just a matter of a few moments Einar’s demeanour had changed completely. From being the uncaring, tough man he became the anxious, worried mate. Callan’s sudden disappearance was making him mad.

He ordered his men to follow the scent of their luna for he knew that the wolves would be unable to track Callan.

He backtracked his steps and followed the faint aroma that was slowly disappearing. It was the desperation in him that forced him to use his senses to their limits. While his men searched the other parts of the track, Einar was led to a cluster of stomped grass nearby. He could see the distinguished footsteps and without any delay he followed them religiously.

Halfway through, he could smell Rosaline and a few other wolves. What surprised Einar though was that he could also sniff arousal in waves. Like an erotic festival was going on somewhere. He followed the scent against his will which took him near the small pool of water. The first thing he noticed was that every one of the wolves was entering the water in a slow steady motion. They were not blinking; it seemed like they were dazed. It was as if they were enchanted by some magic. On a closer look Einar could deduce that the people were following someone.

He went a bit further and halted his strides. He could see the reason people were entranced. It was the beautiful man; his beautiful man..!

Einar could see the look of lust; the hunger within the people. He could see the gushing carnal desires in their guts. They all wanted his mate.

Einar’s anger was boiling up within him as his wolf wanted to suck every eyeball which was glued to his mate. He wanted to tear their bodies, sever their heads for even looking at Callan inappropriately.

His nails grew, his canines elongated while his eyes were bloody red. Unable to hold his anger anymore he roared in a deafening voice “NO ONE DARE TOUCHES HIM OR I WILL KILL YOU ALL..”

The life threatening growl from their alpha brought everyone out of their daze. They fumbled and wobbled in their feet. Everyone of them bowed to their leader and prayed to the goddess for their life. They came out of the water as fast as they could and kneeled in front of Einar begging him to pardon their lives. But Einar was not having it..

His wolf would only be satiated when he slaughtered every being in front of him.

As if on cue, Garrick and the other warriors reached the scene and witnessed the frightened people beseeching him to not kill. The animalistic figure in front of them raised their heart beats and they were sure that this would be the end of the innocents kneeling in front of him.

Garrick intervened to save his fellow packmates “Einar please calm yourself. I know what you are thinking but you would regret yourself deeply.”

The animal in Einar was unfazed. He kept an angry stature and growled in defiance to what Garrick said. The roar was such that even the beta was on his knees in the very next instant.

Calm yourself Orcus.

A sweet little voice reached Einar’s ears as he vigorously snarled and shook his head. He closed his eyes and exhaled long breaths. After a few anxious moments his eyes were the normal brown and his features were somewhat serene.

Einar looked at the wolves and snarled. He ordered everyone to stand and without any filter he uttered in a stern voice “I hope you know what you were doing. All of you leave at once before I change my mind.”

He looked at a frightened Rosaline who was standing in one of the corner and biting her lips in anxiousness. “You too Rosaline. We will have a talk in the alpha house.” She fearfully nodded at once and clothed herself before running away from the scene.

The swirls, the splashes of water was what caught Einar’s attention next. He marched ahead and saw his mate’s beautiful body submerged inside the colorless liquid. Einar’s mouth went dry. His mates curved bottom and the bare muscular back was making Einar crazy from within. However in the next instant he smelled faint arousal emitting from his warriors who were gawking at Callan.

Einar growled through his mind link Stand back and turn around. He ordered his men.

Einar crossed his arms to his chest “What are you doing Ashton?”

Callan stopped his strides and floated in a stationary position looking at his alpha. Einar was thankful that he was standing at such a distance that Callan’s groin area was blurred by the distorted water.

“I am relieving my body of the stress it suffered from all the walking.” He shrugged

“We have all been walking the same distance as you.” Einar gritted his teeth “Do you see any one of us entering the water to relax.”

“Well..” he smirked “I am not stopping anyone. You can join me if you want.”

The words took the alpha by surprise. The offer was enticing. To be with his mate all alone was his dream all along. His heart was compelling him to delve in and embrace his mate at this moment. Two naked bodies inside a confined space embracing each other; feeling each others heart beats; sharing their carnal heat..

The thought flustered Einar and he regained his composure. He narrowed his gaze and cleared his throat “Stop this nonsense Ashton and get out of the water.”

Callan grinned and bowed his head “Yes alpha.”

Callan cautiously landed his feet on the ground beneath the water and bounced a bit. He took a few steps ahead and pressed his palm backwards through his head to extract the water from his hair. Einar was staggered for a moment when he saw the naked torso appearing in its full glory. He quickly enquired “Where are you clothes?”

Callan stopped again and pretended to look all around “I suppose they were there.” He pointed to the farthest tree from where Einar was standing. In reality though, when the alpha had made his appearance the handsome man cleverly used his powers and submerged his clothes to the darkest depths of the water.

“I don’t know why does that even matter. I can walk to the alpha house naked and maybe..”

“NO!” Einar pushed forward his palms in a defensive position with his eyes wide while Callan pursed his lips as he was trying hard to contain his snicker. Einar stood firmly and blinked his eyes rapidly to contain himself “I-I mean no. I will call someone for your clothes.”

Callan nodded briskly and took a step ahead when Einar interrupted his walk again “What are you doing?”

Callan narrowed his eyes “Getting out of the water. I can’t wait here all night long, Can I?”

“Stay right there.” The alpha undressed the long coat he was wearing and carefully kept the fabric at a distance from the shore, in front of the man. He kept his gaze low while he retreated his steps and turned his back to the beautiful man.

“Wear it.” He ordered without looking at his mate.

Callan smirked mentally as he got out of the water and dressed himself. Though Einar and Callan were of the same height, the alpha was slightly bulkier than the man. Callan could feel the excess material surrounding his torso and hugging each other a bit more.

With hushed movements of his bare feet, Callan moved forward and crossed the alpha as he stood before him. He bowed his head “Thank you for the coat.”

All of a sudden Einar took a large intake of breath. He clutched his chest with vigor. It felt like someone was squeezing his heart from the inside. He fell to his knees as his veins popped up the red liquid in a force, trying to liberate itself from the skin. His face was changing color while his voice constricted.

“G-Garrick.” He uttered through his stifled jugular.

The beta was with his best friend the very next instant. He carefully held Einar by his arms and ordered his men to help him carry their alpha. Callan was concerned for the sudden pain Einar was facing. He gave a lending hand but it was angrily jerked away by Garrick “Just go home Ashton. You have already done enough!”

Callan had no choice but to nod in agreement. He watched the men carry the alpha to the main village as he silently followed them with dejected eyes.

****

Einar stood in front of his window gauging the amount of damage done yesterday. His fingers gently pressed into his upper arm as he waited for some news which could ease his mind. He kept his eyes on the rectangular opening but his ears were alert of any slight action which could occur at any moment. He was anxious, he was scared.

The incident that took place yesterday must have spread among the people of the pack by now. Einar had been angry. Most importantly his outburst was more or less because of his mate. At that moment he could not think straight. But now when he had his senses attuned he was restless for he knows not how to avert the disaster.

People had noticed his strange behaviour, he reprimanded everyone then excluding his mate. He even went on to give Callan his own piece of clothing to cover himself. This would be news. Questions would arise for why he didn’t even bother to look at the luna? Why he didn’t care that Rosaline was in the water with other men and still their alpha didn’t care? Why he didn’t want Callan to come out of the water? Why he threatened to kill them if they touched the handsome man?

The gentle movement of knocking on the door increased his heart rate for he knew the answers had arrived. He exhaled a breath and retreated his steps to take a seat on the chair near the large table. Garrick’s face was stoic has he entered the room and looked at his friend intently. He stationed himself across Einar “It is not that bad.”

“I still want to know.” He said nonchalantly.

Garrick pursed his lips as he hesitated “I talked to everyone of them. They all said the same thing.”

“What?”

“They couldn’t control themselves.” He narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice “There was something in Callan that attracted them towards him. It was like a trance.”

Einar rebuffed the thought for he knew the effect his mate had on others. Though his beasts were never comfortable with the aspect of Callan being the centre of attention. The fact was that the handsome man had no control over it.

“Were they suspicious?”

“There were questions initially...” Garrick stopped midway and sucked his lips. He hesitated a bit before uttering “Cassandra hailed you as a great alpha.”

The alpha caught hold of Garrick’s uneasiness to speak. He was sure that his friend was hiding something from him “Your confusing me..”

Garrick bowed down for a moment before rising his head as he took a breath of confidence “The wolves could not understand your ardour. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t seen you furious before but yesterday your anger was directed at the pack members because they were near Callan. They wanted to know what caused your ire and one thing led to another. They felt like you were siding in with Ashton. Thankfully before any of it could go any further Cassandra came up with a theory.”

Einar squeezed his brows and nodded at his best friend to continue “She said that the wolves were falling prey to the curse. That finally Ashton had awakened his devil and was taking in everyone to the doors of hell..”

“This is preposterous!” He slammed his palm to the table angrily. He was about to say something more but then he looked at the nonchalant face of the beta. Garrick was not able to hold his gaze. He pursed his lips more so than often.

“Don’t tell me you have the same views.” Einar huffed at the stoic face of his beta “Come on Garrick, he is not evil!”

“Aren’t you even a tiny bit suspicious..? Though unintentionally, Callan was attracting everyone towards him. People were in a daze! They did not know what was going on around them. Everyone thirsted for him..”

Einar growled in jealousy and annoyance.

“Don’t tell me it has something to do with his beauty. Because we were there and we were unaffected by it all. There is something not right with Ashton..”

Einar ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He could not believe that his own best friend would be superstitious and have faith in the fallacious words of the old hag “I don’t know what people are talking about but you are a sensible...”

His words were left hanging when a faint voice mildly jounced the feeble muscles of his ear Come find me..

Einar sat upright from his seat and squeezed his eyes. He frantically moved his head around to locate the voice. His mouth was ajar while his eyes showed the uncertainty about what was happening. He looked at a puzzled Garrick “Did you hear that?”

“What?”

“The voice..” He whispered in trepidation.

Garrick mimicked his friends action but to his surprise he found nothing out of the ordinary. He raised his brows and shook his head “There is no voice Einar. It is just you and me.” he shrugged.

I am waiting for you..

“It spoke again.” Einar stood from his place and screeched his chair in a jiffy. His heart beat raised and he looked at every nook and corner of the room. He roamed his eyes through the floor, through the walls, through the windows and even through the crevices.

“How can you not hear that?” Einar asked, panic clear in his voice.

The alpha was pensive for his thoughts were now captured by the mysterious voice which boomed in his ears.

But where was it coming from? Who’s voice was it?

Einar could not recognize the sound which entered his ear but the fact that only he could hear it was more frightening yet fascinating for him. He quickly recalled the decoction which he consumed in the afternoon. However the strange fact was that the medication had not shown any ill effects up till now. He had been consuming it for a long period. But what if the medication was the reason behind his hallucination? Was it even a hallucination in the first place?

Einar’s mind was filled with confusion and unease. An unknown fear was creeping its way through his spine. He wanted to focus somewhere else but his mind kept repeating those whispers. He snarled in frustration as he looked at his best friend in desperation “Go have a look outside Garrick. I just want to clear my doubt.”

The beta agreed at once and rushed his footsteps out of the door. Einar in the next moment decided to confront the person who was responsible for his curative liquid. He took two steps forward when the voice spoke again.

Daragor...

All of a sudden Einar’s eyes were blurry. The whispers gave him palpitations as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. In the same moment the fire in the lamp posts flickered unevenly before dozing off completely. A dark mist rose from the floor and faintly swirled in the atmosphere. The faint whispers were hammering his head. He could hear the shattering of a glass, guttural voices, the clanking of chains, the hissing of winds.

Einar clutched his head and gritted his teeth. The sounds in his head were making him crazy. He desperately tried to link someone, anyone to aid him but he failed. He opened his mouth to call for help but his trachea could not formulate any voice. He desperately ran his hands through his neck but it was of no use; he became completely mute. Panic rushed through his blood as he breathed hoarsely. He compelled his feet to march for the door but as soon as he reached for it, the door closed with an eerie susurration.

Einar’s eyes widened and he retreated his steps in horror. His terrors mounted even more when the mist beneath his feet was making multiple shapeless figures. Those figures were dark; those figures had terrifying glow in their orbs. The uncontrollable anxiety within him was surmounting as he felt the walls moving inwards and closing their distance with him.

The darkness surrounding Einar was making him fear the confined space. He dragged his feet to the only source of light; the window. As he moved forward to the light, he stumbled and fell down. He breathed unevenly and moved his body sideways to face the window where he could see the moon radiating its glow. His skin was ashen before he arched his back and gasped loudly. He fell unconscious.

In the light which bathed the room Einar lied in front of the window. He stayed still as a corpse, barely breathing at all.

The mist engulfed him completely as Einar opened his eyes. The once brown eyes had turned black resembling the darkness of the night while his mouth stretched wide in an eternal scream..

********