I Claim Your Love
Meeting The Ashtons

The old woman was short with a fair complexion. Her wrinkles and grey hair clearly showed that the woman had crossed her peak long ago. But still one could see the spirit and enthusiasm in her as it was a special day. Among the many grandchildren she had, she admired Callan the most and he was with her today. Not only was he kind and loving but also he would regularly visit the old couple every chance he got.

The old Ashton was not still; she baked and had conversation with her grandchild simultaneously. But what stood out most was the happiness and content which she was experiencing in her otherwise mundane life.

She served him a full meal of beef, pork and her famous muffins. Callan was surprised at how the old lady could still manage to perform her duties in the kitchen. He savored every bite of the meat with hunger, eagerness to consume it all. He moaned and rolled his eyes every now and then indicating how delicious the meal really was.

After the meal, both of them went straight to the garden where the old lady was eager to show the man her new plantations and the blossoming flowers when Callan suddenly asked.. “Why don’t you come with us grandma? I miss you so much! I feel really bad when you can’t visit me on my birthdays.”

“I wish it was that easy my child. When your grandfather passed on the mantle to your father he really was not relieved from his duties.” The old lady replied.

“How can that be possible?” Callan was puzzled as to what the old lady was referring to.

“The King invites people around the world who have relinquished their positions to their successors. Every couple of the esteemed high ranks has got to stay in his lands.”

Callan sighed and said “I know about this grandma but father told me that it was your choice if you really want to go or not then why do you wish to stay here?”

The old lady chuckled “Believe me my child if it was really a choice we would have never chosen to be in this place. The King does not ‘enforce’ anyone to be a part of their land. Not directly though.”

She snorted with her head hung low as if she remembered something unpleasant. “He wants the high ranks to join him so that he would always have an upper hand on their respective packs. The elders of the pack are a treasured lot due to their knowledge and experience and without them most of the packs would collapse.”

She plucked some flowers and deposited them in her basket. She stepped ahead of a beautiful violet rose and closed her eyes smelling the divine essence of the flower. “When it came to the blue moon pack, Ragnar’s father and Umberto’s father, the then Alpha and beta were martyrs for their land as they died saving all of the pack. Both Ragnar and Umberto had to take the responsibility of being an Alpha and Beta at a very tender age. Thankfully he did not change the positions of the other ranks for quite a time until which he mastered himself on all accounts through administration and warfare.”

She looked at her grandchild and smiled weakly. “The King was getting impatient because there were no representations from the blue moon pack as Ragnar refused to appoint new people as the successors of the respective jobs. The King deemed it as defiance to his laws and started creating problems for Ragnar. He forced other packs to revoke their treaties. The blue moon pack was disbanded from attending the royal palace. Means of livelihood and trade were disrupted systematically while the King refused any help to the pack in case of adversity.”

She moved one step further and caressed the cheeks of Callan with admiration and love. She lowered her gaze, turned her back to pick out some more fresh flowers. “Ragnar was brave enough to overcome all the difficulties without any outside assistance. He successfully created a strong army and with the help of his shedim spirit he never lost any battle. He created job opportunities for his men in the pack itself. The pack was self sufficient and prosperous all on its own. It was strong enough to face any army; even the King’s!”

Callan huffed and asked “Then why are you still here?”

The old lady sighed, she paused for a bit and then said “Zelda was pregnant for the very first time. Everyone was excited for the arrival of the baby; the future Alpha; the heir to Ragnar’s throne.” She closed her eyes and a tiny drop escaped her eye.

“What happened?” Callan asked worriedly at the disheartened look of his grandmother. She slowly opened her eyes and gathered her strength with a deep breath.

“Zelda’s pregnancy news spread like wildfire everywhere and with that followed a systematic attack routine of the ferals and some rival packs alternately. It was like everyone of them wanted to eliminate Ragnar’s child. And that is what happened eventually!”

Callan stopped in his tracks when he heard the sentence. “W-What do you mean?”

“In one such battle... Zelda lost her first child.”

Callan gasped in shock and pictured a distraught and shattered Luna Zelda. This meant that Einar was not the first child of the Alpha couple.

“The entire pack was devastated, especially Ragnar. That was the beginning of the series of misfortunes the pack had to endure.”

“You mean there were more people who died! Who?”

The old lady weakly nodded “The loss of the child brought bad luck to the pack. There were no new mate pairs as not a single pack allowed their members to associate with us. The hunting grounds became limited due to encroachers as also the water source was almost depleting. In this great apathy it was poor Zelda who had suffered the most. After her first child she lost three more children..!”

Callan could not believe his ears. His eyes were wide while his mouth remained hung open in shock. There was only sympathy and compassion within him for the Luna. Unknown to him the weather around the place suddenly become cloudy with light showers pouring on the land.

“We elders took a tough decision and decided to accept the offer of the King to reside in his land to save the pack of some misery and bad omen. Ragnar and Zelda revolted against our decision. They urged us to stay and be united in those adverse times but we had made our minds. It took weeks to make them see reason but they finally understood our plight and let us go.”

The accounts of the King from his grandmother and the people around were quite ironic. While every other person praised the emperor the Ashtons were not impressed by him it seemed. “You always say that the King is not to be trusted. In fact you have always warned us to be careful for our every visit. Is it something to do with what you are telling me?”

“Stanislas is a great liar. He wants to create fear among his peers and all the packs around the world. Every elder knows that this man wants to rule the world and would not shy from going to any lengths to achieve his dream. He has created hatred among people about a particular community and united the rest of the people. Now he is misguiding them into believing his every lie.”

She put her basket on the ground and sat on the ground with her knees folded “For long we suspected that the King had something to do with the attacks on our pack. In fact there were a few evidences that Stanislas was behind this conspiracy but the other packs refused to believe us. The ones who did were scared for their own lives. Hence we could do nothing to confront him.”

“I never knew that Alpha Ragnar had to suffer through all of this. It must have been terrible for him.” Callan sat beside his grandmother a bit sad thinking about the ordeals alpha Ragnar had to go through as the leader of the pack. “I still don’t understand. Why does he have you here still? I mean the pack does not possess any danger to him anymore. Then why?”

“You could say that the elders are a provision or a protection against the threats from their respective packs. As long as we stay in this land no respective pack will dare to attack the King.”

She sighed and realized that it had been too long since her mate had left for the market. She connected him through her mind link and requested him to be home as soon as possible.

****

It was difficult to chase Callan as he was not a wolf and for some reasons he did not have any scent on him but this did not deterred Einar from replaceing his way. He chased the smell of the horse which Callan was riding on his way here. He was led to a small cottage wherein he again got the whiff of the faint but exhilarating smell of his mate. He was happy that he finally found his beloved but his nostrils also detected presence of another being very close to Callan.

It is definitely a female Einar thought but who could she possibly be? He frowned at the thought of someone being this close to Callan It doesn’t matter.. As long as she is after my mate she deserves to be killed!

He was about to crash the entrance when he was dashed by an elderly man with all the strength he could muster. This movement caused Einar to step back a little. He saw an elderly man standing in front of him staring in his eyes.

“I will ask you just once... STAY BACK.” The old man warned Einar.

Both the men were standing face to face but one could see that Einar could easily overpower the old man in every aspect. Still the elderly was not moving and adamant in his stand while his wolf was forcing him to submit in front of a greater force.

Einar’s wolf saw this as a challenge and he growled. His sound creeped fear into the spine of the old man and he realized that the man in front should not be messed with.

But it was too late..

Einar grabbed the old man by his collar and thrashed him towards the nearest wall. His hands curled around the old mans weak jugular.

Callan's grandma sensed her mates pain and she boomingly moaned attracting Callan's attention. He was near her the very next instant. Her stature was collapsing before she weakly pointed her index finger towards the door. Callan panicked and was worried for his grandmother. He followed her direction and opened the door.

The sight he saw made his eyes wide with disbelief.

“STOP IT! You are killing him! Just stop it...!” Callan pressed one of his hands on the chest of Einar and the other one on the arms of his grandfather trying to separate the old man from the future alpha.

The very touch of Callan brought flutters to Einar and he was out of the murderous glare immediately. He blinked his eyes rapidly to gain composure while he rubbed his locket to calm his beasts.

Callan's grandfather sank to the ground and kept his breathing heavy. He was having a hard time keeping his eyes open but thankfully the old man survived the assault as his veins were still pumping blood.

The once worried features of Callan were now turned into a red hot furious face. He stood up and turned to look at the culprit. The wind was now blazing in haphazard direction like a storm was near.

And indeed it was.

“Are. You. Out. Of. Your. Mind.” With every word uttered Callan smacked Einar’s chest hard which pushed him back. Callan could not believe how Einar would possibly do what he did. How could he attack a man of this age? There was no compassion within him.

The very touch of his mate brought excitement and anger to Einar's wolf. He was about to confront Callan when a small petite hand on Callan's shoulders stopped him from hitting Einar.

“Don’t be angry son.”

“But grandpa..” Callan protested. This made Einar realize that the special person Callan was about to meet were his grandparents! That the special female was none other than his mates grandmother! All his anger and jealousy evaporated and were replaced with utter shame and regret.

“SShhh.....” The old man silenced his young lad.

The old lady was out of her house to see the drama unfold; she recognized Einar by his looks and communicated her mate about the same. He felt guilty and angry about himself as he could not recognize his packs future Alpha.

“I am truly sorry son of Ragnar. I could not recognize you. I thought of you as an intruder who came here to hurt my mate. I’m really sorry for misjudging you.”

Callan was furious and unapologetic towards the behavior of Einar. It was his grandfather after all. Moreover Einar should have considered his age before even thinking of attacking him.

The hatred and anger in the eyes of Callan made Einar guilty of his deeds while his beasts were cowering inside of him with shame and disgust. Instead of apologizing he could only utter “It-It is alright Mr. Ashton” he held his head low “I-I think I should leave.” He turned his back and strode hurriedly. Shame was stinging his soul as he knew that he had hurt his mate with his possessive nature.

All the three of them went inside while the old lady nursed his mate with Callan served soup to him.

“Why was he here?” the old lady asked.

“I don’t know.”

The old man then embraced his grandson with his admirable strength. “My boy! How have you been? You look even more handsome with your every visit. Surely the girls must swoon on your every move.” The old man chuckled and slapped his shoulder seemingly teasing him. Callan could not help his cheeks changing color.

Callan's blushing smile vanished when his grandfather asked “Have you found your mate yet?”

Callan pursed his lips and lowered his eyes while his silence answered the question.

“Don’t worry my child you will replace her soon.” The old lady consoled the man.

“Or is it a he?” the question took both Callan and his grandmother off guard.

“What are you implying?” the lady asked seemingly offended.

“I am just saying that it could be possible that Callan's mate might be a male. There is a possibility for that and you know it.” The old man tried to reason with his mate.

“But I can’t feel anything grandpa. Every sign that people experience I have felt none, neither with any woman nor with any man.” Callan almost whispered as he had lost all his hopes for replaceing a mate.

“Why are you saying this all of a sudden?” Even Callan wanted to know why his grandfather was broaching this subject out of nowhere.

“When I went to the nearby village today I heard some news about two male wolves claiming to be mates and were presented before the King!”

The old lady gasped with one hand on her chest. She understood what this meant for the poor couple. “This means...”

“Yes my love.” The old couple did not have to use the mind link to understand what the matter was.

Callan was confused about the whole thing; he squinted his eyes and asked. “They will be sentenced to jail. Right?”

The old man shook his head with sadness and negation. “Worse..! They will be hanged tomorrow morning...”

It took Callan several minutes to register what his grandfather just said. He was always told that the people from same gender were forbidden to enter a partnership. But no one told him why. His father had always told him that such couples were sentenced to imprisonment for life away from the pack and the people. He was never satisfied with the treatment meted to these couples just because they were different. He himself had suffered the pain and trauma of being isolated and tyranny of the people around him and now to hear that these people were actually executed like it was a norm was really sickening to him.

His heart was pure with compassion and love. He thought that couples like this should be given a chance to survive, to live, to be happy.

“What are you thinking about son?” his grandmother asked worriedly.

Callan was brought out of his chain of thoughts. His curiosity got the better of him and he was eager to replace answers. “Do you think it is bad omen to be in a same sex relationship?”

“No dear. We do not think so. Though not everyone share the same opinion as we do.” His grandfather snorted.

“Why do they hate these people so much?” Callan asked again.

The old lady looked at her mate for a moment and answered “There were these notions many centuries ago, you could say that it was sort of a prophecy that a same sex couple in the future would bring havoc to the entire werewolf clan and wipe out the entire race!”

Callan was bemused upon hearing this. But found it ridiculous to the tradition of punishing every couple because of an assumed superstition. “Do you believe this notion?” Callan asked both of them.

“We don’t believe them but people do. They are really scared for themselves and their families. Moreover the King has united all of the people on the pretext of saving the clan by making these couples a target.” The old man replied.

“My child, for as long as we have lived there might have been countless couples like these and not everyone had the courage to come out and claim each other but they still lived and did no harm to us.” His grandmother added.

The old lady was now besides her mate and caressing his shoulders. “Moreover punishing them just on an assumption which holds no ground is morally wrong.”

“Have you been in contact with any of such couple?” Callan asked.

The old man looked towards the sky as if he was remembering something “There were these two couples which we sheltered back in our pack who pretended to be husbands and wives. It so happened that the real couple were actually the pair of the men and the women. For a very long time we kept their secret but when our Alpha knew about them he ordered them to be sent away.”

“That was not a nice thing to do.” Callan whispered to himself.

The old man defended his Alpha “He was doing so just to protect the pack. In those days invigilation was very strict. The Enforcers used to pay a surprise visit to check whether any such couple existed and if found the Alpha and his pack were blamed and punished by the King for not notifying the matter to the royal court.”

Callan did not know what to think. It was not justified and was morally incorrect to punish someone without their fault. He knew for a fact that even his pack members were of the same opinion that same sex couples should rot in hell.

He wanted to do something about the wrong happening around him but felt helpless at the same time for he cannot compete the King and his army neither he could go against his people.

He then just asked his grandmother a question to clear up his mind. “Let’s just say that destiny has pitied me against a male mate. Will you be accepting of the fact that I don’t have a Female as my mate? That I may not be able to give this family an heir.”

The question surprised his grandparents who actually looked at each other for a long time.

His grandmother quietly sat beside Callan and caressed his cheeks. “My love. For us you will always be our grandchild irrespective of your mating to a male or a female. We will always love you no matter what.” She kissed his forehead and said “Yes we do hope to have great grandkids from your side some day but not at the cost of your happiness! As far as an heir is concerned you don’t have to worry about that because you have your cousins to do the job. You just live your life to the fullest and be always happy.”

“Remember my child. Whoever your mate may be in the future don’t turn them away. Always cherish the bond and make your mate happy for this is truly a gift from the Luna. Always love your mate.” The old man patted Callan's shoulder.

This brought tears to Callan's eyes and many of his questions were quenched with satisfying answers. He excused himself from his grandparents and went on to do what his heart wanted him to do and what agreed with his conscience.

But the consequences to his actions could also cost him his life!

********

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