Chương 16: Deal

Caleb was on his way to history class, one class he was really looking forward to because he could finally sleep peacefully when someone pulled him into the Janitor's closet with a strong force. Without even looking, as a reflex he tried to get out of that tight grip, but when he couldn't budge at all and his arm was starting to hurt, he looked up to find Ashton giving him a death stare.

"What are you doing"? Caleb whisper-yelled at him.

"Did you tell anyone what I am"? Ashton asked him, cutting straight to the point.

"What?No"!! He answered while still trying to free himself from his grip. "Let go of me" he finally ordered him unable to take that strong grip anymore.

"What did you tell him" He asked with anger in his voice.

"Whom"? Caleb asked confused.

"Your friend, Matt," He replied with much distaste.

"Nothing. Besides I am pretty sure you heard us"Caleb rolled his eyes and finally managed to get out of that grip. "What is wrong with you"! He whisper-yelled at him.

"I heard him suspecting something about me…" Ashton told him, "tell me what it is"

"What"? Caleb scrunched his eyebrows for a moment before he realised what Ashton was referring to.

"Ohhh… it was nothing. It had nothing to do with your blood status" he said softly.

"How can I trust you"? Ashton raised his eyebrows suspiciously while Caleb rolled his eyes at him.

"Cause you know a secret of mine as well" Caleb shrugged. "How about I make you deal, you don't tell anyone about me, and I don't tell anyone about you". He raised one of his eyebrows.

"Deal" Ashton nodded at him. "So what was he suspecting then"?

"It was nothing, don't worry about it". Caleb shrugged.

Caleb tried to leave but once again Ashton grabbed his hand tightly and prevented him from leaving.

"Ouch"! Caleb shouted in pain.

"Tell me" Ashton asked in a grave voice.

Caleb took a deep breath before he finally said "I swear to god, let go of me or I will kill you" he threatened.

Ashton, flabbergasted, withdrew his hand before he tried a little nicely, "Sorry, but will please tell me what he said about me"?

"Fine".Caleb sighed. "He was asking if you are…" he paused for a moment "...my mate".

"What"? Ashton asked him flatly, "why would he think that"?

"Because I keep defending you all the time"? Caleb shrugged.

"Why"? Ashton asked him.

"I don't know, apparently that's how his thought process works" Caleb shrugged.

"No, I meant why do you always defend me"? Ashton clarified himself.

"Oh, because I… " he trailed off for a moment. "It's my job to look out for everyone here. It's just that you get in lot of trouble, so helping you has become quite evident"

"I see" Ashton whispered. "You don't have to though. You know I can take care of myself"

"Will you though"? Caleb asked him retrospectively. "You want to hide who you are, I don't think you will fight. Which is ironic given your usual behavior which can be really infuriating".

"You are the same, wanting to hide your true self" Ashton accused him instead.

"I know" he shrugged. "Looking after people, fighting the ones who bully also helps me keep my identity safe. In a way, it's a perfect arrangement for us" he shrugged.

"But they are starting to misunderstand you" Ashton told him with a gloomy expression.

"I don't mind though" Caleb simply shrugged. "If people think we are together, they will actually stop bothering me. It's tiring to turn down dates all the time. Some of them even start crying at the spot" he cringed at the memory of it.

"I see". Ashton nodded awkwardly.

"Unless of course you mind. Then I will try to clear any misunderstandings that happen" Caleb offered.

"No, it's alright. I don't even want to date anyone here. Maybe pretending to be in a relationship will save both of us some extra trouble" Ashton shrugged.

"Okay, next time someone misunderstands us, I won't bother correcting them". Caleb shrugged.

"Deal" Ashton replied with a smirk before they exited the Janitor's closet.

Both of them left the Janitor's closet at the same time. While the hallway appeared clear, a girl with a pixie cut saw them emerging from there. Imagine what kind of idea one will get when they see two high school students, coming out of a closed closet in the middle of a period. Since the girl was human they failed to detect any presence.

After all the classes were over the soccer team decided to do a final practice before they called it a day. They needed to save their energy for the main game, so after the game Caleb and Matt bought everyone refreshments. (It was mostly Caleb).

First round was played by the main players while the next round they asked the standbys to take position. Caleb stared at the whole team while Matt gave them instructions. He was feeling guilty enough for ruining practice, he just hoped that he could make up for it. He watched the game, and he had to admit Ashton was a great player. Maybe his stamina came from being a wolf, but the skills were purely him.

He was lost in the game when he felt a vibration in his pocket. He checked to see it was his brother calling him.

"Hey, what's up"? Caleb answered like anyone usually would.

"There is a bad news, you remember Mr Stetson? He was found dead this morning by the bayou". Christian told him.

"What? How"? He asked in a louder than usual voice.

"I don't know, but it matched the pattern with James' death, same claw marks and everything". His brother told him. That grabbed his attention. The moment he heard that his eyes went to Ashton. Sure he said he wasn't the culprit, but he still was the pack's prime suspect.

Ashton was busy in the game. From a distance he seemed pretty innocent. In his heart he wanted him to be innocent. He knew very well the types of punishments their pack offers for crimes like this. While he was certain it won't kill anyone, that's a lot of pain and torture for any werewolf.

"What about that Alpha, was his scent there"? Naturally he asked this question. His eyes were still on Ashton, and as soon as he was asked the question Ashton gave him a quick suspicious glance before he focused back to the game. With the hearing Ashton had, it won't be surprising if he actually had heard him.

"No, it wasn't there this time. It was some other Alpha's scent. This time it wasn't that strong so I am guessing not a pureblooded one. I think they are using the commercial scents to sabotage our investigation". Christian told him with frustration.

"But that's silly. They want us to believe it's a wolf, then they leave a lot of wolfsbane… the killer seems really amateur". Caleb told him. Caleb was always keen on looking at the bigger picture instead of judging instantly, which is why his brother always valued his judgements.

"I agree, be careful on your way back. The killer is attacking strong Alphas. You can be attacked easily given you are at school". Christian expressed his concern.

"Sure". Caleb hung up. He wanted to solve this case as soon as possible. It wasn't upto him, but if the person was attacking the strong wolves his friends were definitely in danger.