I Claim Your Love

The drops were steady and soft yet they managed to dwell on the land as the king. The water threads that stretched from the sky to the earth were weak but were significant. It resembled the shattered state of a broken heart; of Callan.

It had been two days since his best friend had been locked up inside of the dungeons. His screams and yells were tormenting Callan’s heart deeply. Although he had been on the brighter side of things, for up until now he had a companion to share his thoughts and feelings but not any more.

His one and only respite had departed for the next world.

At the peak of the afternoon when the sun should’ve been shining the brightest, it was dull. The past two days had been disastrous for as far as the weather was concerned. No one could understand the sudden fearsome lightings or the downpour that followed thereafter. It was to the point that the rains did not stop even after its usual run.

Aldous and his group were all ready to do what was necessary to take away the departed soul. Since the man was a prisnor, his funeral was to be done in solace, without anyone’s knowledge. Though Aldous was busy instructing his men about the procedure he could not help but notice the man right across the prison.

Callen was inconsolable.

His eyes were red with all the crying. The disheveled hair were covering his forehead, perhaps hiding the creases of his turbulence. He sat hugging his knees and sniveled very often as the tears made its way through his eyes continuously.

Aldous felt pity for the man. He excused himself from the procedure and entered the doors of Callan’s prison. It wasn’t as if Callan was unaware of the wolfs presence, it was just that he was too tired of any confrontation. Aldous stood there dumbfounded, trying to find words to calm the human. He tried hard but nothing came out.

“Keep this with him.” Callan said all of a sudden. He handed a small ring of gold to Aldous “It was dear to him.” he kept his eyes low and resumed gawking at his dead friend.

The wolf handed over the ring to a fellow wolf and he was near Callan once again. His raised heart beats and fidgeting fingers were proof that the man was nervous.

“Do you have anything to say Aldous?” Callan asked without looking at him. Aldous parted his lips to speak but remained silent as he shook his head.

“Then leave.”

Though he was at a loss of words Aldous knew that Callan needed someone at this difficult time. He gathered his energy and blew a lot of air from his mouth before kneeling down “You are broken.” he almost whispered in a sad tone “I haven’t seen you like this before. Can I help you in anyway?”

“Sorry that I am bothering you. Like you.. Even I wish that I were dead!”

The words stung the wolf and retorted quickly “I don’t want that.”

“Your friends surely do. The entire pack wants me dead.”

“You have never cared about them before.”

“Things change...” Callan paused as he pursed his lips trying to hold his tears back “People change.” he snickered “Do you know how it feels when the person you love the most deceives you? When you think that you are in a safe cocoon but rather he is drowning you in a pool of betrayal? It hurts. It hurts so much...”

Aldous was finding it difficult to see the man in this condition. Whatever adversaries he had faced in the past, Callan had always been bold enough to stand through his difficult times. However today the man seemed completely shattered. It was like a force pressing down on him; telling him to quit.

“You cant waste your life for a single someone.” Aldous palmed his hand onto Callan’s very carefully “I believe that there is a purpose for everyone.”

“My life has no meaning anymore.”

“Yes it does. Think about the people who love you.”

“Nobody loves me..”

Callan’s heartbroken words seeped deep inside of Aldous. He felt shameful. The pack had always hated the presence of the man and they showed it every time they could.

“Maybe not in the pack.” Aldous lowered his eyes as he spoke softly “But think about the people who will be affected without you. Rather than crying for that person I think you should focus on your future. Your parents would’ve definitely wanted that for you.. to be happy.”

The words stirred something inside of Callan. The mention of his parents rallied him into his past memories where he remembered the beautiful moments he spent with his family. His parents were his mentor, guide, friends and even his own small pack in a way. His father had thought him bravery while his mother taught him to be just. His parents would’ve been too sad to see the sorry state of their son.

Callan wasn’t a quitter.

He realized that the greatest mistake he did up until now was to see things through his own need. Love enables empathy but his love triggered greed. He wanted to be with Einar whatever the cost and in doing so he neglected the motive of his very existence. He now understood that Einar was never the key; it was always he, himself.

Callan gritted his teeth in determination. He decided to be happy on his own terms. It was high time that the world realized who he was and where he belonged.

Callan slowly turned his head and looked at a confused Aldous. “You wanted to help me?” The wolf nodded cautiously “Will you?”

“It depends on what risk you will put me through.” Aldous looked at him and smiled with a smug face.

****

The witches cottage seemed as if a storm had broken out inside the four walls. Her paperwork was dispersed all around while her artefacts were randomly decorated on the floor. The wolf cautiously took his step forward as he led the woman’s hand in his, guiding her towards their destination.

“What have they done to this place! As if imprisoning Aurora in the alpha house was not enough by your people.”

“We only obeyed our orders. I am sorry.”

“I still cannot believe that we are working together.” Fayette said with surprise and with a hint of irritation in her tone.

“Why?”

“I know everything that you have done to Callan!”

Aldous frowned and sighed in regret “It was in the past.”

“And what changed?”

The wolf picked up the table and its contents back to its place and rubbed his palms before replying “He saved my sister when it should’ve been me.” he said in a low voice “He stood for her. He tried to protect her from the abuse and I.. I being the older brother could do nothing.”

The glint of repentance on Aldous face made Fayette sympathetic towards the man “I am sorry.”

Aldous nodded “She had hoped that her big brother would be her savior. Imagine her pain when I refused to pay attention to any of her words. She must’ve been devastated.”

“You are repaying Callan’s kindness.”

“I am.” the wolf smirked “I know he is up to something but I will help him with no questions asked. I owe him a debt of a lifetime.”

Fayette pursed her lips and the conversation died down soon after. She realized that if Callan had chosen the wolf to do the job than he must be trusted. Soon the duo reached the depths of the cottage and saw the big tree trunk right in the middle of a spacious room. Aldous was just about to get over his shock when his eyes registered the mystical pots rotating and revolving around the tree trunk.

“Wow!” he exclaimed at the earthen pots hanging mid air “How are they hanging up there?

Fayette shrugged “Magic.”

“How do we get them down?” Aldous tried to reach the pots but they were at an unreachable height. Just as he was looking for stair to climb, the flapping of wings caught his attention. The room was soon filled with ravens flying above the pots, trying to assess them. The birds then held the opening of the pots by their beak and slowly placed them before the wolf one by one.

Aldous was stunned by what he saw. However he was more dumbstruck when all the birds created a whirlpool before transforming themselves into a beautiful lady with long black hair

“Who are you?” Aldous asked with his mouth open in astonishment .

“That doesn’t matter wolf.” Isadora looked at Fayette “Time is running out and we need to work faster.”

“You look terrible.” Fayette said in a worried tone.

Isadora’s features were more or less feeble. She looked drained while her eyes were baggy. Her appearance was dull while it looked as if she was maintaining her stance just to preserve her energy.

“It is master.” The raven said “His emotions and powers are overwhelming my spirit. If it goes on I don’t think I can handle it for long.”

Both the visitors looked at the bird with worry in their eyes but said nothing. As was instructed, the three of them carried the pots near the banks of a distant river. Aldous was responsible for clearing a patch of trees to make some space for the procedure while Fayette kept filling the insatiable blue pot with water. Isadora on the other hand carved out markings on the plain ground which Aldous just cleared.

She drew a large circle with a square inscribed in it. On the corners of the square were four small circles with respective colors of the pot while all of them were connected by dots with the small circle in the center.

“What do we do now?” Aldous asked as he waited for Fayette to show up. Isadora gestured for the procedure to start. Aldous soon chopped woods and burned them inside of the yellow pot. The more wood he dipped in the more hungrier the pot was. Isadora whooshed a tornado with her wings as she flapped her wings rigorously to pour more air to the white pot all this while Fayette kept stashing the brown pot with small pebbles.

The bird saw the exhausted look of the both of them and decided that it was not worth it to stretch them anymore. “I think this should be enough.” Isadora said as she turned into her human again.

“Place each of the pots in their respective colored circle.” She directed them.

Aldous and Fayette did as they were told. “What about the black one?” The wolf asked in curiosity.

“Place it in the center.”

Aldous did what he was told and returned to his position “What is next?” He asked again.

“We wait.”

At this point of time he had no other option but to wait. The plan seemed complicated and somehow was related to Callan. The wolf just couldn’t figure out the connection between the two. He was more curious about the mysterious lady and her relationship with the human of the pack. Aldous was already stressed about betraying his alpha and his people, however he had made up his mind. Whatever it was he had to repay Callan’s kindness even if meant that he had to sacrifice his life.

The translucent shape in the sky was glowing to its maximum. The clouds had finally uncovered its most hidden treasure as the moon shined in the serene night. The rays of the moon kissed the earth below and slowly spread its circumference to a larger area. It was just a matter of time before the the light penetrated the open mouths of the pots and the earthen containers dazzled.

“What is happening?” Aldous asked in trepidation

“Are you scared wolf?” Fayette teased “Don’t be.”

Aldous was irritated by the audacity of the human but he kept his mum for the scenario in front of him was blowing his mind. The pots vibrated in its place as the dots joining them glowed in respective colors of white, blue, yellow and brown. All leading to a single destination to the center of the circle.

Isadora took the opportune moment and held both the visitors in her arms before transforming and wrapping them in her large wings. The pots raised themselves above the ground before emitting lights high above the ground. Soon the lights of the different pots merged into one and a black circle of dense fog formed above the central pot. It rotated vigorously around its axis before taking the other pots in its area of comfort. The tornado thus formed smashed the pots against each other as a loud boom echoed the area and the black light dazzled to the fullest.

The atmosphere changed suddenly as the fog disappeared to the sky. The bird carefully unwrapped her wings and delightedly looked at the two accomplice.

“Thank you. My people would be always indebted to you both.”

****

The decorated flower pot on the table kept changing its positions. Einar kept juggling the things on the platform randomly at will. It was his anxious nature that was forcing his mind to work differently. With every motion of his hands he kept gawking at the door. His impatience bothered even the man who was sitting in across the table.

“He will be here.” Garrick said

“I know.” Einar sighed “Which date did the elders choose?”

“Tomorrow...” The beta pursed his lips “There was no other way. The wolf would summon his energy from the moon and you would have an advantage.”

Einar nodded silently. The last sentence would have irked Einar for he never wanted to rely on his wolf. However this case was different. “I cant believe I’m saying this but the bear is a real challenge.”

“We have seen many men of his species but no one has been this strong. You will have to be more careful tomorrow.”

“What good are these words when we know that one of us wont make it!”

As the time of fight approached near Einar was becoming more sad and anxious to say the least. The fight determined a winner by ending the life of the other. This was inevitable.

“Is there..” Garrick said with hope.

“There is no other way.” Einar paused “He can ask for my life if he wishes but not Callan. I wont give him my mate.”

Garrick was pensive again. He was worried for Einar. In the zest to get his mate he had already damaged their relationship to a great extent. Everyone Callan loved dearly were more or less dead because of Einar. The only solace for Callan now was his friends, one of which was going to bid goodbye to the world soon.

“This wont be fair.” Garrick said worriedly “Although unintentionally, you are hurting him.”

“I regret that.” Einar lowered his eyes in shame “I never wanted any of this to happen but Callan matters to me more than any one else.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The day the Ashtons were attacked, I managed to interrogate one of the ferals. Although he resisted at first but it didn’t last long. He told me that the attack was never meant for the pack. They were instructed to kill the entire family.”

“They came after his parents?” Garrick was stricken by shock and surprise “How!? Why!?”

“It was to hurt Callan.”

The alpha went to the small wooden box and retrieved some papers “My father had been gathering evidences of Callan being unique. I wanted to know why he thought so and then I found these.” He forwarded the papers to Garrick.

Garrick studied the papers thoroughly and summarized “The list of attacks our pack had.”

“When everyone in the pack believed that the attacks were planned to harm me, my father was unconvinced. He delved into the matter further and came closer to the truth. Do you remember Galen?”

“The rogue alpha who died a couple of days ago?”

Einar nodded “He warned my father that the human boy is susceptible to threats and he needs saving. He believed that the likes of the boy were being hunted down from every species and if my father didn’t up his guards the boy would be next.”

“And alpha Ragnar just believed him? This is strange”

“Elder Odulf sided by this theory and hence my father had no choice but to believe him.”

This got Garrick thinking again. He remembered all the days of the past when the pack was put on high alert. His father had always talked about how the pack was more susceptible to threat since the birth of Einar. How his people had to suffer due to outside interventions. Umberto had once said the frequency of the attacks was more than the pack had ever seen. “The dragon attack, the attack of the ferals on your birthday..”

“They were planned for Callen. Even Lothar’s attack on the blue moon pack was for Callan.”

“But Callan was in the human village that day and hence he was saved.” Garrick could not wrap up his mind with this information. Callan was just a human after all. Why was he the target? Why did the alpha tried to save him in silence without revealing the truth to anyone? The questions were baffling “What is so special about Callen?”

“A lot of things.” Einar was quick to reply with a smile.

“I wasn’t implying in that sense.” Garrick rolled his eyes “Did you never suspect him?”

“Sometimes I couldn’t understand him. At impossible situations he seemed confident enough like he would change things with a snap of his fingers just like that. Even for any ordinary human it seemed odd. I brushed those thoughts aside because I never cared about them.”

The room was silent once again. Garrick was finding it difficult to understand the human. Of course he was considered different more probably in the wrong sense of things but what of things were not what they looked like. What if Callan was more than they thought him of.

The knock on the door alerted Einar and Garrick at once. Arthur was carrying a bag and some papers in his hands. Einar eagerly instructed him to enter

“Greetings alpha. Garrick.” The gamma bowed his head to the both of them in respect.

“I hope you have some news Arthur.” the alpha rubbed his palms in excitement.

“My men searched the library as you told.”

“And?”

“You were right alpha.” Arthur paused as he put one paper to the table “The name Orcus is familiar because he was the chosen one.”

“The chosen one?” Garrick asked in surprise “Do you by chance mean the alpha from the war of Jodatain?”

“You are right beta. Orcus was the most fierce and the most brave warrior amongst the wolves. Owing to his attributes the goddess Selene blessed him with powers and he led his men to victory. He was unitedly chosen as the first ever king of the werewolves.”

Einar fidgeted his thumbs. This was not the information what he was looking for. He seemed confused “What does this have to do with us?”

Arthur just shrugged to that question. “There’s more to it.” He retrieved some papers from his bag “The parchments in the library indicate that Orcus belonged to the Riverium pack. It had thirteen villages spread across a large area. When we compared the maps we concluded that they are similar with the map of the blue moon pack.”

“Do you mean?”

“Blue moon pack was once the Riverium pack.”

Shock and surprise crossed the face of both the friends. While Garrick was taken aback by the information Einar just couldn’t digest the fact that his pack was once the kingdom of the wolves. He now understood why his pack was so big or why the alpha house resembled like the kings palace.

Arthur continued “Werewolves thrived in prosperity under Orcus’s regime but his death saw the downfall of the pack.”

“How did he die?”

“There are many legends. Some say that he was stricken by grief while others say that he was killed by a demon.”

“Demon?” the word got Einar interested.

“Apparently the demon was in love with the alpha’s mate and hence they were at loggerheads.”

Einar’s heart beat was on the rise. He gulped before asking his suspicion “Did the demon have a name?

“Uhmm.. yes I guess.” Arthur knitted his eyebrows “I suppose it was Daragor.”

Einar was in distress with the name. It was like a nightmare of his had come to life. He was terrified. If what the legends say is true than he has inside of him the two most powerful beasts of the past. More shockingly Callan had known about them all along. He did try to tell Einar about them but he always rebutted it thinking that Callan was playing around. Now he knew that the name had significance for it wasn’t Callan that had named him, it belonged to the beasts forever.

“I am not sure though I need to check again.”

“No need Arthur.” Einar said at once “What about the witches house? What did you find there?”

“Mostly her artefacts and ingredients related to her medicine. However we found a strange book which refused to open.”

“Interesting.” Garrick said in a low voice

“The more interesting fact was the hanging of those five pots.”

“Huh?” both the friends exclaimed in surprise at once

“There are five strange earthen pots distinguished by different colors. All of them were hanging mid air without any support.”

“Did you claim them?”

“It is protected by some sort of spell. The more we tried to reach it the further it went from us.”

Einar was more stressed with the information he received. The witch was always a close confidante of his mate. She must’ve have known secrets about Callan from the start. However what concerned Einar more was the connection between him and the beast form the past. He was building a scenarios of possibilities in his head but he had to be sure.

“Did you find anything about the mate...? The mate of alpha Orcus?”

Arthur was quiet for a long time before hesitatingly uttering in a low voice “It was a man!”

Garrick’s mouth was wide open while Einar closed his eyes in disbelief. He was suspicious about the theory but never thought it would be true. His mind was running wild in anxiousness and he was hoping that Callan was not related to the past by any chance.

“By the scriptures we can understand that alpha Orcus’s personality needed a more proficient person in tranquility.”

“Anything else?”

“The man seemed to have some powers.” Arthur presented the final parchments from his bags and laid them on the table in the front. The papers spread were all depicting images of a person with a white robe and a white macule on his forehead. Around the man were the forces of the nature, like he was summoning them. Einar slowly moved his finger to the image and was in a deep thought. Somehow the image was reminding him of Callan. But why?

“He was worshipped by many species and called by several names. The popular being the ‘Supreme one’. I found these hidden safely in the lockers. Though I couldn’t understand it first I am pretty sure these describe the man we are talking about.”

Einar’s brain had stopped functioning at that moment. It was too much for him. The man of his dreams had a deep secret hidden inside of him. If the beast of the past were related to him than it was a higher possibility that the powerful being must have a connection with Callan but Einar had to confirm this before taking the next step.

“So the witch knows something.” Einar sighed and looked at the ceiling. He took a deep breath of confidence and looked at Garrick “Alas! it is time for confrontation.”

********