Chapter 53
?Chapter 53: Marked?
Caleb felt the grip on his neck loosen as he fell on the floor. His eyes were closed while he still struggled to breathe properly as to care about anything that was happening around him. All of his surroundings were a blur to him at that moment as he came to realize that his worst fear almost came true. He wasn’t even sure at that point whether or not he was marked yet.
By the time Caleb could focus on what was happening he saw four wolves one against three going at each other. Next to him sat Matt who kept patting Caleb to calm him down. “Are you okay”? Matt asked softly but received no reaction from Caleb who was too busy staring at that fight.
Caleb tried getting his act together which is why he managed to get up despite feeling dizzy. Matt continued to pat his back as he gained back his composure. While in a four against one match it was obvious the four would win, those four wolves were drunk and all of them were betas fighting with an Alpha in rut.
That Alpha wolf feeling outnumbered ran away as soon as he found a window to escape. They tried to chase after him but they lost him faster than he expected. They turned back to their human forms and approached Caleb who still haven’t said a single word.
“Should we go back”? Matt suggested. Rest of them nodded while they went back to the hotel. On his way, once he felt a bit composed of himself he asked, “How did you guys know where I was”?
“Well we were skeptical why are you so late so we went out there to check out what is taking so long. Besides I recalled that you don’t have an ID so sending you was useless in the first place” Duke, who has sobered up quite a lot since the fight spoke.
Before Caleb was about to get inside of his room, Matt stopped him. “Will you be alright all by yourself”? He questioned. Caleb gave him a forced but convincing smile before he nodded. Matt gave him a tiny nod of acknowledgment before he went back to his room.
Caleb once all by himself collapsed on his bed as he recalled what happened with him. The fact that he was not even in his heat and yet still got attacked like this proved how poorly omegas were treated in this world. He had promised he would fight if and when required but somehow he still failed to do that. He was confused whether he was scared or ashamed of himself.
.....
Usually he avoided going to the territories outside of his own pack and to those that belonged to other wolves for the very same fear. It goes without saying that Caleb was tougher in general, but he was still an omega, which means he was still prone to all the abuses an omega usually grows through. He wants to fight against it, but it just keeps getting harder and harder for him as the time passed by.
Not having any strength to move Caleb took out his phone. Opening the front camera he checked his neck for any marks. He had no idea what exactly happened as he struggled back then. He was relieved when all he found was purplish bruises circling his neck due to the pressure. The bruises would be healed soon and his neck would be left without any mark. At this moment he was just relieved that there was no mark, and yet somehow he felt like breaking apart.
He was staring at the screen when a notification popped up of a call by Ashton. He was not in the mood to talk right now so he hung up. After a while the call came back again. To avoid getting irritated further he picked up the call and spat, “What”?
Ashton was taken aback for a moment by the sudden attitude so he asked different question instead of his original one, “Are you alright”?
Caleb sighed before he replied, “Yes, I am fine. What do you want”?
“I wanted to ask you... do you have any weekend plans”? Ashton asked hesitantly. Despite Caleb telling him he was alright, Ashton was sure that was not the case. Over time Ashton realised while Caleb loved to overshare with him, maybe because he hated hiding his true self as he was not fond of showing his vulnerable side with others.
“I don’t know, why”? Caleb asked him. The hint of annoyance was back in his voice. Not to push him further, “Nevermind, call me when you are feeling better”. Before Caleb could reply to him that he was fine Ashton hung up. While he was a bit frustrated, he was also glad because he did not want to deal with all this any more.
At the time of the dinner, Matt knocked on his door to get him, “We are leaving for dinner”.
“I am not hungry” Caleb replied to him. “Well, if you don’t want to come with us it’s fine. Want me to get you something”? Matt asked him. After a moment of thinking he replied, “Get me a pineapple shake”.
~~~~~
For the dinner most of them chose a place that was secluded than usual. “Why did we run into a wolf here”? Melanie popped the question when she noticed no one was around. “We are here, I don’t see why can’t someone else be here” Duke shrugged.
“It still doesn’t make sense though at least we didn’t attack anyone on purpose” Matt protested.
“I agree, it seemed like a rogue wolf to me. Do you think there are more of them here”? Camilla asked. Duke shrugged before replying, “Even I don’t get the situation, but I think we should inform the Alpha about what happened here. Whatever that was, he should be prepared”. He put a bite of his food in his mouth.
“I am close to his family, how about I tell them”? Matt offered. He knew that Caleb’s parents would freak out if they find out about the attack which is why he intended to keep it a secret while he narrated the events. He wanted to modify it so that his parents don’t go crazy.
~~~~~
The whole night Caleb was unable to fall asleep. Everytime he drifted off he would see the hungry wolf attack him and he would end up waking up with cold sweats all over his body. More that he was scared of what had happened, he was scared of what would have happened if his friends did not show up at that time. He simply lied down in his bed, staring out of the window as he waited for the sun to rise so that they could go back home.