Chapter 765 One Goal

Ashleigh furrowed her brows. She sat up and looked at him.

“Relieved?” she asked.

Caleb smiled back at her and nodded.

“I thought that you were hesitating to tell me because something bad happened… that maybe a stranger had somehow taken my pack…” he said. “But… Galen?”

Caleb laughed.

“You couldn't find a more deserving wolf,” he said. “Not even me."

Caleb smiled to himself as though he were seeing a fond memory.

"I think I was a decent Alpha..." he continued. "I did my best, and I think I was pretty good... but at the end of the day, I was Alpha because of the family I was born into.”

He sighed.

"Your pack loved you," Ashleigh said.

Caleb smiled and nodded.

"I know," he said. "And they love him too. Galen never would have wanted the role for himself... he never would have considered the possibility. But, he was always right for it."

Ashleigh watched Caleb’s expression, his genuine relief and contentment.

“You really… don’t mind?” she asked.

He met her eyes. She could see and feel the mix of emotions coming from him. He was being honest, but the relief he felt was laced with tiny threads of sadness.

Caleb licked his lips and swallowed.

“No longer being Alpha… I can’t say it doesn’t hurt. That I don’t feel any disappointment from it,” he said. “But… I don’t know… mostly, I feel proud and happy for Galen.”

Caleb paused, smiling to himself as he thought of his brother.

“I know the man he is, probably better than he does,” he smiled. “It wouldn’t have been easy for him to take it on. Hell, getting him even to accept the idea of it was a fight…”

Caleb chuckled, and Ashleigh couldn’t help but think of her argument with Galen about his becoming Alpha. He had insisted it was what Caleb wanted, but Ashleigh couldn’t hear it then.

“My family has always been the one to lead and guide Summer… For me, there was never a doubt of who would take my place if something happened,” Caleb continued, a warm smile on his face. “He’s my brother after all.”

Caleb took a deep breath.

“I’m just grateful that he was willing.”

Ashleigh took a deep breath and looked away.

“I didn’t expect this…” she whispered.

Caleb looked carefully at her. She looked away from him, but the softness of her voice told him that there were tears in her eyes. He reached over and gently turned her chin to face him. She allowed him to turn her but refused to look at him as a tear escaped her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked gently.

Ashleigh chewed on her bottom lip.

“I just thought…” she began.

She paused, trying to calm her anxious heart.

“I didn’t want to tell you… because I thought it would break your heart,” she continued. “I thought that not being Alpha anymore would make you feel like… everyone had moved on... like they’d forgotten you.”

Caleb took a deep breath.

“Ash,” he whispered.

Ashleigh looked up at him.

“I would’ve been disappointed if they hadn’t,” he whispered.

Ashleigh furrowed her brows.

“But…” she said.

Caleb tilted his head, observing her.

“My family, my pack, everyone else… they needed to move on… and I’m glad they did. I wouldn’t have wanted them to spend their lives waiting for me,” he said softly. “The world was never going to stop. I know the life I had is gone…”

Caleb leaned in toward her.

“I need to apologize to you,” he said, a sigh escaping his lips. “I never realized just how selfish a man I was until now…”

“What?” she asked.

He paused before he answered.

“I know how hard it’s been for you,” he said, “how strongly you have held on to me… how much you have agonized over seeing me again… you never moved on… you never stopped mourning me.”

Ashleigh swallowed as he seemed to inch closer with each word.

“That… was my choice…” she said in an almost breathless whisper. “Why would you apologize for that?”

“Because…” he whispered back.

His hot breath danced along her lips and sent a tremble through her body.

“… It made me happy.”

Ashleigh closed her eyes, releasing a soft gasp as Caleb surprised her by moving away from her lips and kissing her jaw.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered against her throat between slow kisses. “You suffered for me… and as much as it hurts to know… it also fills me with such a perverse joy I'm almost ashamed to admit it…”

Ashleigh turned her head, exposing more of her throat to him as she let out soft pants. His warm lips against her skin made her heart race.

“I don’t need anyone else to mourn for me… to think of me…” he whispered, trailing his tongue up the length of her throat. “I only ever needed you, Ash… only you.”

The memory of Caleb’s firm hands and warm mouth continued to play out in Ashleigh’s mind. The dull ache of her face hitting the door in front of her finally awakened Ashleigh to her surroundings.

She looked around to be sure no one had seen her before hurrying into the guest room she often used when visiting Summer.

Axel and Alice had gone back to Winter. They wanted to give Caleb and his family the privacy they deserved. But Ashleigh knew well that they would be back soon. They and all the others.

She sat down on the bed and took a deep breath.

For five years, there had been only one goal. Find Caleb and bring him home.

She had found Caleb, and now they had returned home.

Ashleigh was overjoyed to have him back. And to see him reunited with Fiona and Galen was indescribable. She knew that each reunion would only fill her heart more.

Yet, as she sat alone on the bed, she couldn’t help but wonder, what was she supposed to do now?