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His roommate who was reluctant to let him go as he still needed some guidance with all this supernatural stuff. Caleb wouldn’t mind helping Warren but he needed to take this break which is why he simply asked him to contact Karolyn in case he needed any urgent help.

The twins literally hugged both of them as soon as they saw Caleb and Ashton. They didn’t spend a lot of time with Ashton, but nevertheless they missed him. Caleb on the other hand was very fond of the twins, and vice versa. “I hope you guys are not slacking off now that I am away”

“Are you kidding, not only we are improving a lot, Christian even let us train the newest recruits. How cool is that”! Ava exclaimed, unable to hold her excitement any further.

“That is so cool” Caleb ageed. Even a smile crept on Ashton’s stoic face as he witnessed his sister’s gleeful face from the behind.

“How have you been? Ashton?” Ariel turned around to ask her brother.

“I am..” Ashton sighed. “I am good. Still adjusting to everything.”

.....

“Did you miss us”? Ava prompted.

“Did I miss two annoying little girls annoying me every time I managed to gain an ounce of mental peace”? He asked them only to earn a scowl from both of them. “Guess what? I did”. He added turning their frowns upside down.

“Why don’t you guys catch up. I will see you once I freshen up”. Caleb suggested. They nodded allowing him to take his leave. While he was headed towards his room he saw his brother coming out of his room. “Christian” Caleb called. It’s better to ask him now, right?

“Caleb” Christian offered him a giant smile. “You didn’t say you would be back”.

“Yeah well, I decided to come at the last moment” Caleb shrugged. They talked for a bit, exchanging their greetings and all. When Christian was about to leave for wherever he was headed to, Caleb stopped him abruptly by calling out his name. “Can I ask you something?” He asked looking around to check if anyone was around or not as if he was a criminal who was trying to spread the word.

“What”? Christian frowned.

“I was wondering... if you remember anything about Valestine?” Caleb asked.

Christian’s eyes widened the moment he heard those words. “Where did you hear that word?” He asked, with a terrified expression. His face made Caleb contemplate whether or not it was safe to tell him. He couldn’t help but think that his brother would react negatively if he found out that Ashton was a prospect for Valestine.

“I heard... Karolyn mention it”. He mumbled his friend’s name as she was the only supernatural creature he could think of whom his brother might not be wary of.

“In what context?” Christian pressed.

“I dunno” Caleb shrugged. “I just remember the word felt familiar. I couldn’t remember where I heard that, but I was hoping you could tell me”

Christian sighed. “Fine, I will give that a try. Valestine are a subset of cursed creatures. Creatures that resemble werewolves.”

“Wait! So they are not... werewolves.” Caleb frowned, confused. How can Ashton be one of them, Ashton was a werewolf right?

Christian tilted his head as he thought of an appropriate way to phrase it. “In most aspects, they are... but there are certain aspects from where they are different. Like how we are humans who can turn into wolves, they are wolves who can turn into humans.”

“The difference being”? Caleb wondered.

“The difference being that most of them spend their entire lives as wolves unaware of the fact that they even possess a human form. Remember our grandpa? He never turned into a werewolf in his entire life right? Ité because he never tried to shift. Just like that he never unlocked other traits of being a werewolf.” Christian tried to explain.

“Yeah.. he lived almost like a wolf. It’s a surprise mom turned out to be an Alpha.” Caleb chuckled.

“Shifting of parents has nothing to do with anyone’s blood rank. Take yourself for an instance”. Christian reminded him.

“Right.” Caleb nodded. “So... they are like wolves who can go without turning into a human”.

“Precisely.”. Christian confirmed. “They are known to be the wildest of our lot. Their human sides lack a lot of civilised social skills which makes them quite dangerous to even common people. However, their instincts of the wolf are the most superior. They can smell danger even before they appear.”

Caleb went silent for a while. He contemplated Ashton as a Valestine. Was he really supposed to be that wild. Remembering his wolf form he recalled how scary it can look. There were times when his wolf form took complete control over his human form. He always assumed it must be the case for any pureblooded Alpha, but was it really so? It’s true Ashton had control issues but what was the source of it?

He wondered if all that’s true whether he should feel impressed by his self control or sad for Ashton that he had to deal with so much without even knowing why. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what it’s like not knowing who you are. It’s true Ashton blended in as a common werewolf, but.... He did show some signs of Valestine as well. Was he really one of them? How did that scrawny vampire deduce Ashton is one? He wondered.

Caleb asked, “Where are they found?”

“I don’t... think they are found anywhere.” Christian mumbled, earning a curious gaze from Caleb. “They are supposed to be a myth. Honestly it’s one of the potential characters that can exist from our legends. You know, like all the tales of moon goddess and lycanthrope. We don’t have much evidence of their existence, but they are accounted for in our tales.”

“Wait... so all this just for a myth”? Caleb frowned.

“You know how it is. People are more scared by myths than the truth. What you can’t see is always scarier than what you can”. Christian sighed.

“Well...” Caleb sighed, “I suppose that’s true” he nodded. “Tell me something, how would I recognise a Valestine”?

“You wouldn’t” Christian scowled. “That’s the point. You can’t recognise something that doesn’t exist. That’s the point.”

“I know... but in those myths, is there a mention of the physical attributes that are different for them”. Caleb asked.

“Well...” Christian thought for a moment. “I am sure there is something, I don’t know much about that though” Christian shrugged. “Why are you so interested in Valestine?” Christian asked suspiciously. “Did you run into some wolf claiming to be one? Is your friend Karolyn one”? He asked.

“What!?” Caleb laughed. “Noo”

“Did she run into one”? Christian asked once more.

“No, not really” Caleb confirmed. “We were just discussing werewolves so it popped up”. Caleb lied.

“So... why didn’t you ask her about it”? Christian’s suspicious gaze strengthened.

“I did, even she said she barely remembered,” He declared without skipping a beat.

“Alright then,” Christian gave him one final look of suspicion before his face softened. “Anyways, I should get going. You want to explore more lycanthropic mythologies. I say you go ahead and read some books from the pack library” Christian advised and left.

“That’s actually a great idea” Caleb mumbled.

Once he had freshened up he decided to go check out at the library. What Christian told him affected him deeply. Even if his brother insisted it was a myth he wasn’t convinced entirely. After all, even werewolves are myth to normal humans, who is to say this is any different. In fact most of their legends were derived from some original tales, which is why he was more absorbed by it.

He scoured the entire mythologies section for the word Valestine. Under a book of lycanthropic history he found a mention of a tale suggesting a massacre that took place in a small town. It said that apparently the curse on them spread to the entire town upon confrontation. It turned the usual werewolves into wolves for eternity causing most of the wolves to die out as they were hunted in the later years.

The problem is, it wasn’t a documented event, but simply a tale that was often prevalent in the medieval times. As time went on such stories disappeared nonetheless. He kept looking further when he finally found an article on them in another book citing various creatures over the course of time, including the ones that were extinct.

The moment he saw the hand drawn picture on that page Caleb let go of the book in a scare. Somehow that picture looked exactly like Ashton’s wolf, bulky, fierce and savage. The resemblance was way too uncanny for his liking. As he stared at the picture intently he couldn’t help but wonder... Who was his mate?