I Claim Your Love
Invitations

The entire open field was stunned by the revelation of their future Alpha. Ragnar and Zelda were inexplicably happy while the entire pack congratulated the Alpha through their mind link. Unbeknownst to everyone around, Einar was still looking intently at somewhere in the jungle with an innocent smile and happy eyes. Garrick was happy for his friend but when he tried to link him, Einar did not respond to any mind link calls as he was consumed in his own thoughts.

Garrick was eager to know what was causing Einar to block him. He quickly looked around to see what his friend was possibly seeing but found nothing intriguing. He looked again and found the only person in his line of sight at that moment was CALLAN.

Callan was standing near a faraway tree with his mother and was merrily having a conversation with her. Whenever Callan laughed or smiled Einar's eyes glowed with content. This behavior of Einar was certainly taking Garrick off guard. He was amused and confused at the same time.

Ragnar then hugged his son and patted his back once more which made Einar to focus on the current situation in hand unwillingly.

“Words can’t explain how happy I am today! You have given me a bundle of reasons to cherish and celebrate. I am glad you can finally take what rightfully belongs to you.” Ragnar was teary eyed but had a constant smile on his face. The tears of joy made everyone around him emotional including Einar.

It was the turn of his mother next. She hugged and kissed her son with absolute delight.

“Now I can finally expect a few grandchildren from you.” Einar's smile faltered while the ladies around were giggling and the men smirked gleefully at the state of Einar's facial expressions.

“Let the child breathe Zelda.” The Alpha chided. He stood besides his son and signaled Peter to do his job.

Peter howled to gain everybody’s attention. The Alpha then cleared his throat. “On this auspicious day of my son returning to his pack and replaceing his mate I hereby announce that we would have a grand celebration on this coming full moon day.”

The crowd erupted in cheers and howls expressing their joy and congratulated the Alpha and Luna once again. People gathered around Einar to pay their regards but Garrick could possibly see what no other person had yet noticed.

Einar was not happy.

Einar was trying very hard to keep a constant face but his eyes gave him away. Being with him for almost all his life, Garrick could detect that something was wrong with him. But instead of interrogating him about it, he thought to give some space to his friend. He presumed that Einar would explain himself when the time was right.

****

It had been a week since the return of the future Alpha and the pack was already booming with joy and excitement everywhere. The preparations for the grand feast were already on the way while it was decided that the coronation ceremony of the Alpha be carried out at the earliest.

Callan was having breakfast with his pet bird and his mother when his father hurriedly barged through the door.

“Hey honey. Why are you in a rush?” Mary asked her mate.

“There is a lot to do with a very limited amount of time.” Justus picked up some papers from his shelf and was heading back to the entrance door.

“Atleast have something to eat.” Mary pleaded her mate.

“I will eat later honey.” He kissed Mary’s forehead, looked to his son and said “Cally, make sure you visit the Alpha on time.”

“I’ll be there father.” With that, Justus quickly made his way out of the house.

Callan knew that he had to participate in the celebrations but the fact that these were carried out for Einar made him less excited for the event. It was hard for him to accept the rude man as their new Alpha. Moreover he could not forget what transpired at his grandparents place.

With a heavy heart he made his way to the Alpha house to resume his duties.

****

The entire dining room in the Alpha house was buzzing with people. It had just been the morning but the table was already full with variety of delicacies and fruits. The Alpha headed the chair while Einar was sitting somewhere in the middle with his best friend Garrick and the gamma to be Arthur.

Einar suddenly zoned out from the conversation when the sweet voice of his mate fell upon his ears. Garrick and Arthur were having a laugh while Einar remained unaffected as he was concentrating hard for his mate’s arrival. Garrick tried calling Einar but he did not respond.

Garrick narrowed his eyes when Einar formed a tiny smile on his face while his eyes were glued at the door only to realize that Callan had arrived. It was seemingly becoming difficult for Garrick to understand this unruly behavior of his friend and he decided to have a talk about it later that day.

“Hello my boy, come join us for breakfast.” Zelda said politely putting her hand on Callan's shoulder.

Einar's interests perked on the mention of Callan sitting with them for breakfast. This would be the first time that Einar would be in the same dining table as his mate.

“I already had it Luna but thanks for asking.” He bowed to the Luna and shifted his gaze to the Alpha. “I am at your service alpha.”

“Yes my child. Just give me a moment.” The Alpha screeched his chair and gathered some papers from the nearby table. “Einar, Garrick, Arthur” he motioned to the three men who were sitting beside each other “Come with me.”

With a side glance to his mate Einar reluctantly went after his father. Each anxious step of his was heavier than the previous one. He just wanted to keep his eyes on Callan or rather stare his mate forever. His inner conflicts between his heart and his mind made him frustrated.

Einar sighed with happiness when the Alpha stopped suddenly and said “Callan, why are you standing there alone? Come with us I will explain matters to you in my office.”

Being in the same space as Einar was always a bad thing for Callan as he did notice that Einar would always stare at him by joining his eyebrows or would growl all of a sudden like he wanted to attack him. Callan knew that Einar despised his presence but he had to deal with his abhorrence if he wanted to survive in the pack.

Callan kept his eyes low and followed the men from a distance. On entering the Alpha office he witnessed that a lot of people had already gathered. He found a suitable place to station himself and sat there while the other men were intently listening to the Alpha instructions. Einar however was more interested on the man who was sitting diagonally, right behind the alpha. Unknown to Callan he was being stared in disguise like a hawk.

Soon the meeting became more strenuous for when Marden ,Tusker, Richard and Aldous joined them. Each one of them snorted derisively when they passed through Callan. Richard went even further and slightly kicked the chair to catch Callan off balance. Callan was surprisingly swift in his motions to keep him from falling but when Tusker followed the same routine it made Callan loose his balance and he fell to the ground.

The entire room of men except the Alpha and his son, were laughing at the fallen man. Even Garrick chuckled a little.

“Looks like you have found your right place Ashton. Suits you.” Aldous made a snide comment and hysterically laughed with the other three friends.

Einar was fuming with immense rage. He grabbed the arms of the metal chair which had to suffer the wrath of the going to be Alpha. His hold was so intense that at a point his claws and arms had constricted the width of the chair arms. He could no longer hear the taunting laughter within the room and was about to behead the four men when he was out of his murderous glare as the Alpha roared his command “THAT IS ENOUGH!”

The entire room fell silent while the Alpha lent a helping hand to the fallen man. Callan stood uptight and steadied himself. The Alpha then reprimanded the four friends and threatened dire consequences if they did not change their attitudes towards Callan.

The four men glared at Callan and apologized to the Alpha while they took their respective positions. The meeting resumed and went on for quite long. Tired of boredom Callan fell asleep for a quick nap.

Einar was mesmerized with the sleeping angel he saw in front of him. His dark thick hair had fallen onto his eyebrows while his lips were curved a little with his hands crossed against his abdomen. It was a pure bliss to watch the rhythmic rise and fall of the chest of the beautiful man.

Garrick for some reason kept a close look on the hidden scenario. He was furious with Einar because something was definitely wrong with him. He kept smiling and snarling too often whenever he was around Callan.

It was strange.

The Raven entered through the open window and sat on the shoulders of Callan. It nuzzled its beak at Callan's cheek which awaked him, seemingly making Einar frown again.

“Alas! You are awake. Can you come near the table boy?” The Alpha asked Callan.

Callan rubbed his eyes and stood from his place. he took measured steps and went straight ahead to the table. He caressed the creature on his shoulder and also kept soothing him with his lips.

He was halted by an angry growl.

For now it was too obvious for Callan to recognize the growl. The Alpha and others were bemused for Einar's sudden reaction. He again snarled when the bird was screeching its voice and glaring at the future Alpha. It was unfazed by the raw power which Einar projected. The power which made even the Alpha wary of his son.

It soon turned into a staring contest where both the participants were not ready to back down. Einar was agitated and his eyes were now turning red.

The Alpha had to intervene. “Callan could you please let the bird out of the room.” Without thinking twice Callan whispered “GO.” The bird circled the room and made its way out of the window.

“I'm sorry Callan but Einar's wolf saw the bird as a challenge and a wolf especially an Alpha does not likes to be disrespected. I hope you understand..”

Callan nodded curtly.

Einar rubbed his locket and breathed heavily while Callan stood besides the Alpha away from Einar.

“The reason I called you out here was because I want you to personally invite the head of the mountain bears and the chief of the human villages along with their respective families for the coronation ceremony of Einar.” Callan smiled at that statement as he was a frequent visitor to these lands and he loved to visit these places. “I wanted to pair you with Robert but he is busy doing some other stuff so Garrick will join you there.”

Hearing Garrick's name made Callan speechless for a moment. Garrick despised Callan and to spend such a long time with him would prove difficult. Garrick on the other side frowned and looked sideways. He huffed and linked his best friend.

I don’t want to go. I can’t stand him.

Einar's wolf was uncomfortable sharing Callan with anyone but Einar would be relieved if Garrick would be around him to ensure his safety like his father once did.

I understand you my friend but you know that no one would want to be with him willingly. Moreover these are the Alphas orders so you are obligated to follow.

The alphas order is to accompany him. That means I can strangulate him on my way there and..

Einar growled threateningly at his best friend at the thought of Garrick hurting his mate.

Callan however assumed that the tension arising was due to his presence. He quickly uttered “Garrick be ready tomorrow before sunrise and meet me at my house.” With that Callan did a final bow before leaving the Alpha office. Upset by Einar's behavior Garrick too bowed to the Alpha and stormed out of the office without even glancing at his best friend. Einar palmed his face and sighed.

****

The next morning, Garrick reached the Ashtons as was decided the earlier day. On entering the house he could see that the Ashtons were seated around a circular table with another man sitting with them having breakfast. They were engrossed in their talks and were laughing at some old memories. The loud chirping of the raven brought everyone's attention to the door.

“Welcome Garrick. I have been waiting for you for quite some time now. Please have a seat” Justus offered Garrick to sit with them for which he reluctantly obliged. He could see that everyone had resumed their talks and were happily feeding themselves.

They were a family. A family which Garrick had longed for almost five years.

Garrick noticed that the buff man was quite comfortable with the surroundings and was also eating quite a lot. He even had a cheerful banter with Callan. Infact the two of them looked really close.

After their breakfast Callan stated that they would be heading to the mountains to meet the head of the mountain bears and said his goodbyes to his parents.

All the three men stepped out of the door when they were halted by Garrick's sudden interjection. “Why is he joining us?” Garrick directed the question to Archer.

Archer was about to smart mouth Garrick when Callan interrupted “I asked him to be with me. I guess we never introduced you to each other.”

Callan pointed at Archer. “This is Archer. He is a were-bear and my best friend. He will accompany us as he is well aware of the mountains.”

He then looked at Archer “And Archer...”

“Yeah yeah I know who he is. He is the best friend of that egoistic maniac!” He uttered before Callan could stop him.

Garrick growled at the slandering from the were bear. Callan pinched his nose and shook his head in embarrassment.

“Watch your mouth bear. You are talking about a going to be Alpha. You disrespect him, you disrespect the entire pack.”

“Ohh! rest assured. Your going to be alpha doesn’t deserve any respect infact he should...” Callan shoved Archer and glared at him to which he huffed and threw his hands in the air. He moved towards a nearby tree and rubbed his back.

“What is all this nonsense Ashton? You bad mouth Einar behind our back! That’s a new low even for you. I’ll make sure I report this to the Alpha.” Callan sighed and nodded and then shook his head again.

In just a matter of few minutes the idiot of a friend had actually caused him trouble.

The three men then walked to the human village with Garrick clearly keeping his distance.

Garrick had never visited a human village before so it was quite unnerving for him at that moment as also his anxiousness grew more and more as he reached near the gates of the village. He felt so uncomfortable that he stopped at a point right behind Callan and Archer.

“What happened? Why did you stop? We are yet to reach the main house.” Callan asked at the abrupt halt of Garrick.

“I think you should carry on with the invitation ill stay put here.” Garrick was anxious while his wolf was on guard like a danger was nearby.

“Don’t worry wolf. Unlike you, these people don’t bite.” Archer smirked sarcastically wiggling his eyebrows.

Garrick was furious with the were-bears behavior. He was even close to attacking him at one point. But he knew better.

Garrick released a long breath to calm himself and motioned Callan to move ahead. Callan nodded and pulled Archer with him.

The border line of the human village consisted vast lands of cultivation. There were homes which were at a considerable distance from each other while the borders and surrounding areas were guarded with nothing but large trees. What surprised Garrick even more was that there was no security or fringing measures to check trespassing or any sudden attacks.

A few distances ahead, the homes were becoming more visible and were gradually increasing in the line of sight. Marching ahead they soon came to what Archer and Callan liked the most about this place- the market.

The market was filled with hustle-bustle. There were people of every shapes and sizes. What surprised Garrick more was the fact that traders, sellers and shoppers alike were busy doing their own job and were hardly noticing a stranger intruding their land.

Somehow the crowd made Garrick even more curious and short of breath. It was suffocating him.

On the other side Callan and Archer were busy looking at the weapon artifacts which feasted their eyes. For a moment they forgot why they were here in the first place.

A light tap on his shoulder forced Callan to turn back.

Standing before him was a tall girl with ocean blue eyes and ebony long hair. She was smiling with dimples on both her cheeks. She squeaked and embraced Callan in a hug.

“Where were you? I was waiting all day for you to show up. I also saved a piece of the cake for you but this fatty..” she hit Archers shoulder “He ate it all.”

“I'm really sorry Fayette, I was busy with some important work at that time.”

“Oh common! You always make excuses. By the way every girl in here is looking at you.” When Callan circled his head from left to right he definitely could see that he was being watched. He assumed that the glaring must have been stopped a long ago but he was wrong. The list of his admirers were increasing every day.

Looking at the flushed state of Callan, Archer intervened “Why don’t we go to your house and have a little chat.”

“Sure! Common I have to show you my new clay items.” The girl slid her hands in the arms of both the men and turned them to walk away.

“Oh wait. I have a guest with us.” The girl furrowed her eyes and gave an upward jerk to her head as if to ask who Callan was talking about.

“Fayette meet the future beta of our pack Garrick.” The girl released her hands and bowed with a smile to the stranger. But her smile soon evaporated as she became concerned.

Garrick was barely holding his own. He was sweating all over while his breaths were not in rhythm. He looked like he was inhaling through his mouth while his eyes moved frantically around him.

His eyes roamed everywhere until they reached a particular spot and he growled with his might before falling unconscious to the ground.

********

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