A Place To Call 'Home'

Morning had came too early. The brightened rays of the sun, deeply penetrated through the transparent curtains. It entered the windows and lightened the room to its fullest. The melodious chirping of birds indicated that it was time to bid goodbye to the soulful night.

Arthur stretched his arms to shed away the indolence in him. He flapped his eyelids a few times before removing the blanket from his naked body. He sniffed the air around him and a strange surge of happiness flooded his mind. In the very next instant he tilted his body a little to witness a beautiful woman with long black hair, lying besides him and staring lovingly right at him.

Arthur was slave to his urges and hence it was proving difficult for him to focus somewhere else. He occasionally flickered his eyes from the woman’s lips to her long hair, to her fabulous skin. As if on instinct, the woman leaned ahead and kissed the man passionately. Both of them cocooned each other in their arms as their lips danced to the tunes of their desires.

They parted lips after a few moments to energize themselves from the wonderfully tiring activity. Arthur smiled at her and spoke the words which were on his mind for long “I want to introduce you to my parents.”

Isadora’s smile faltered and she scowled at Arthur; trying to decide the right words through which the wolf’s feeling are not hurt. “It is not the right time.”

Isadora could see a dramatic change of expressions in Arthur’s face. He looked angry, he looked disappointed. He sat upright and leaned his back to the headboard. “You have been saying that for the past several days. Will I ever get to tell my parents about us?”

“I have already told you the conditions of our mating.” the woman sat upright and folded her hands to her chest “I did tell you that we are different from other pairs. You agreed back then. Why is it so hard for you now?” she tried to convince Arthur in a low voice

“It pains me to imagine that you are at the beck and call of some person.” Arthur gritted his teeth “Like he is in control of your life. I hate it.. Cant you escape this slavery?”

Isadora huffed in anger “Don’t call it that!” she raised herself from the bed and started wearing her clothes in a haste “It is a service. You don’t know how fortunate I am.”

Arthur mentally smacked himself when he realized that he upset the woman he loved. He followed Isadora and embraced her from behind “I am sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He kissed the shoulders of the lady to ease her anger and waited patiently before saying “This master of yours... Cant he free you?”

“It is not in his hands.” Isadora sighed “My tribe is destined to serve his kind. It is our duty to protect him and his community.”

“From whom?”

“The entire world.” The woman untangled herself from the hands of Arthur and went ahead to fetch her arm bracelet “My master is special and hence everyone wants him for some or the other reason.”

“What makes him so special?”

“I cant tell you that.”

Arthur exhaled a long breath “Does he know about us?”

“Yes. I never lie to him..” she curved the side of her lips “By the way.. He is really fond of you. He was the one who encouraged me to live my life with the person destined for me.”

“Wow!” Arthur exclaimed in surprise “This makes me even more curious to know about the man.”

“I wish I could tell you more.”

Isadora turned around as she closed her eyes. Her hair, eyebrows and her nails darkened. Her hair strands grew even further while it shined like the sparkling diamonds. When she turned again to look at Arthur she could see the lust in his eyes.

The wolf was stunned. The beautiful lady mesmerized Arthur. She smiled at him and bowed her head before she headed for the window. However her footsteps were halted when Arthur held her hand firmly “Come stay with me please. I agree to every of your conditions but it only seems fair if you are here with me. It will keep me satisfied.”

“Satisfied.. or satiated?”

Arthur was slightly embarrassed by the question. His cheeks flushed and he cleared his throat “I just want you to be around. Is that too much to ask?”

“I have to seek permission.”

The wolf huffed in disbelief and raised his voice “Is there anything you could do by yourself!” he took even breaths to cool his anger while the woman stood there watching the helplessness and angst of the man.

“Ever since I have discovered you, I crave your attention and probably your time but I hardly get any.”

“I am on a mission. ”

“So you have time to roam with your master but not with your mate.”

“I fly alone. My master doesn’t like it when I shadow him”

Arthur looked confused “If you are not with him then who is protecting this person of yours.”

Isadora chuckled and kissed the cheeks of the man “He has found someone.”

****

The chirping birds of the morning sang along the melodious humming of the beautiful man. All this while Einar kept gawking at the Elemental with love and adoration. He was wrapped up in a cocoon of arms to Callan’s chest. Every few moments he would look up and blushingly smile at the beautiful man.

“It feels like a dream.” Einar whispered.

The words caught Callan’s attention and he looked down at the happy face of Einar in confusion “What?”

“You... Here with me.” Einar pursed his lips as his cheeks became red “I am in your arms... playing with those tiny hairs of your chest.”

Callan smirked “What a weird coincidence! The tiny hair of my chest had the same dream last night.”

Einar sat upright as he smacked Callan’s arm playfully for mocking him. The two of them laughed out their heart before the sudden silence. It was like a staring competition. Both of them looked at each other with joy and admiration.

Callan leaned ahead to kiss Einar on his lips. He surprised the muscular man with his question “When do you think you fell in love with me?”

“What is with that question?″ Einar furrowed his brows

“Come on! Tell me.”

Einar cleared his throat and looked at the sky. He racked his brain to think the right words and explain Callan his feelings for him “I always thought that you were perfect. Your hair; your skin; your peculiar forest green eyes. It was hard for me to not gaze at you. That brightened smile of yours would raise my heart beat and make my hands clammy. The first person I loved to see in the morning was you..”

“When did this all start?”

“Since I was little.”

Callan mouthed an ‘O’ in shock and surprise “I never knew that.”

“After the dragon incident my emotions went erratic. There was confusion all around. I was angry and pained and suddenly I would be jealous of the little things which concerned you. It was the hardest time for me.”

“You couldn’t tell anyone about yourself.”

The handsome man sympathized with the wolf in a way. For Callan, he was always around his friends who he could rely upon. Whatever the matter may be, he wasn’t the one to hide anything from his friends. He always welcomed some constructive feedback from them and tried to improve himself.

But Einar’s situation was different.

Although he was surrounded by people he was always alone. As a teenager his emotions were overwhelming him and he was terrified. With no advisor, he was forced to develop a defense mechanism against the feelings he had for Callan.

“Imagine my situation.” Einar chuckled in sarcasm “Hiding my feelings, creating a façade to please everyone. My bottled up emotions were ready to blast on my sixteenth birthday. It was all because of you.”

Callan looked at Einar accusingly “What did I do?”

“You touched me.”

“So you went out of control just because of a touch? That is unbelievable!”

“The wolf craved you and wanted your company. I tried my best to avoid you but the beast was too powerful. He created a scene that day, didn’t he?” Both the men gave a soft chuckle “I was ashamed at myself for how I behaved. Uncle Umberto was dead and it added to my guilt. I decided it was best for me to leave. I thought the space between us would make my mind clear of your thoughts.”

“Did it help?”

“Initially yes. I did think about you but it wasn’t the powerful urge to be around you constantly. I was able to control myself to an extent.”

Callan apologetically smiled at Einar.

He knew the strong desire a wolf had, to be around their mate. He had seen mate pairs all around who would go crazy without the sight of their other half. Callan could not imagine the torture Einar had to go through. Callan was fortunate to receive guidance and encouragement to love himself and be happy. On the contrary all Einar had to do was live under the influence of the pack and please his people. The constant pressure to prove himself worthy, to fit in a certain role had robbed him of his very existence.

Callan rubbed Einar’s arm to comfort him “It must be hard for you.”

“You cannot imagine! I knew that till the time you are not in my peripheral vision, everything would be fine. However my assumptions went for a toss when you came to see me on the kings land. You rendered me speechless. I was completely mesmerized by you. I wanted to kiss you so bad that day.”

“Why didn’t you?” Callan winked an eye playfully

“You know what i thought at that time.” Einar chuckled and rolled his eyes “All was perfect until you showed up to ruin everything. All those emotions, those feelings that were caged inside my heart wanted liberation. I wasn’t able to control myself anymore. The more I tried to be away from you the more I was falling in the trap of love.”

“You were stubborn.”

“Speak for yourself. You were hell bent on maiming my ego.”

Callan playfully pinched Einar’s nose and whispered “It worked.”

“Yes it did.”

Callan’s attention was diverted to the black bird hovering at a distance. He was thankful that Einar was unaware of its presence. However he felt a little apologetic about hiding some important facts about him from his mate. He hugged Einar and gestured the bird through his eyes to leave them in peace.

At that very moment Callan realized that it isn’t just him.. Einar had been hiding things from him as well. Though the muscular man was trying to be honest for the most of the times, Callan felt that Einar was keeping things from him.

Callan pursed his lips and hesitatingly asked “You never told me what made you open up your heart to me.”

Einar opened his mouth to speak as he lowered his eyes “The month apart from you, I was a complete mess. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat. I was just existing. I realized that I would soon die at this rate. I just thought to myself that I would rather die in your arms than to spend any more day in solitude.”

Callan was apprehensive about the reason Einar gave. He knew that Einar was hiding something. He could feel it in his guts but he didn’t want to force Einar.

The muscular man on the other hand washed away his apologetic face and transformed his feature into a bright and charming one “Now its your turn.”

Callan gasped in surprise and blushed a little before answering “Initially I was mad at you for how you behaved. When everything came out in the open it was the sheer rage inside of me. I wanted to kick you so bad.”

“I am sorry. If you want you can kick me now..”

Both the men laughed. An uncomfortable silence followed when the laughter died down. Einar looked worried while Callan was unsure if he even should go ahead. He breathed in a lot of air and smiled unconvincingly at Einar “It was Daragor.”

“Hmm?”

“Your demon.” Einar’s eyes were a little wide as he nodded his head in understanding “The extent to which he loved me made me think... All he wanted was a chance! For him to have that chance I had to deal with you because Daragor’s existence depended on you. I was fine by that.”

“This means that you wanted the demon alone?”

“Quite frankly yes. Because you are insecure and the wolf in you is a barbaric maniac. Daragor is the most sensible of all the three of you.”

“I can be sensible too.” Einar said with a pout on his face.

“Yes you can be...” Callan chuckled at the disappointed look on Einar’s face. He ruffled Einar’s hair and kissed his cheek “The day when the wolf attacked the pack, I interacted with him.”

Einar’s eyes widened “Really?”

Callan nodded. The muscular man was taken by surprise by the revaluation. The incident had been mapped in his head for eternity. Though he was remorseful about the events from the day and wanted to forget it all, he was always curious as to who was responsible for dousing the fire of rage of his beast.

“He thought that the pack was separating the two of us” Callan continued “Hence he wanted to demolish the root cause. The wolf was suffering because you were keeping him away from me. I then realized that he loved me too.”

Einar gritted his teeth as a sense of jealously masqueraded his smiling face. Although he knew that it was his mistake largely and wholly, he couldn’t get over the fact that the wolf and the demon seemingly had established a strong bond with his mate. Perhaps he was late to make some space in Callan’s heart. Perhaps he was third in line when it came to love for Callan.

Einar grinded his teeth again and awkwardly smiled all at the same time. He was feeling a little lost for he thought that his love was now divided. It didn’t cross his mind that he was actually competing with himself. He was a little mad, a little jealous and a little unhappy that Callan favored someone else rather than him.

“So it was the demon and the wolf.” He huffed with difficulty trying to keep his face straight “You weren’t sure about me?”

“Actually I was.” Callan retorted. His answer brought a sweet smile across Einar’s face as he lit up like the stars of the night. Callan was aware that Einar was doubting their love. He wanted to make sure that there was nothing for which Einar had to worry about. He scowled his eyes and bit his lips for a moment before grasping Einar’s hand firmly “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?” Einar asked surprisingly

“Don’t ask questions. Just keep your eyes closed.”

Callan pulled out the scarf he was wearing on his neck and blindfolded Einar. He held his hands and made him follow.

After crossing a number of hurdles on the uneven path, Einar was getting restless “Have we reached yet? I am not liking it at all!” He could deduce that they were around a waterbody. He could hear the gushing of water, the chirping of birds and the swooshing of trees. He concluded in his mind that they were perhaps somewhere deep in the forest.

“We are here. You can open your eyes.”

Callan redirected his steps sideways and looked at Einar with excitement. The anxiety in Einar forced his hands to work faster as he took out the blindfold in a jiffy. The moment he took in the bright light of the sun, Einar narrowed his eyes on instinct.

Although his eyes were normal but his mouth was left ajar by what he saw.

The first thing Einar could notice was that he was in the forbidden part of the forest. Most intriguingly, he was standing in front of a newly constructed house, adjusting perfectly to the calm of the nature. With tress all around and a waterfall right behind the house, it looked like heaven had descended on earth.

The entrance of the house was symmetrical with the large arched windows to its sides. The porch was decorated with seasonal lilies while a beautiful swing was attached right besides the door. A small garden with infant plants lay on the area behind the gate. The foundation of the house looked strong to stand generations. The house was modelled as such so that it could raise anyone’s spirit.

“Whose house is this?” Einar asked in surprise

“Ours!”

Einar hastily turned to look at a cheerful Callan. His lips moved but he couldn’t utter the words in his mind. All he could say was “I don’t get it.”

Callan closed the distance between the two of them and held Einar’s hands in his. “You remember the time when we went to meet the seers?” Einar nodded briskly “I heard everything you said that night in the tent when we were camping.”

The enormity of Einar’s shock was unmeasurable. He blinked his eyes a bit too much while his heart beats were raised. He willed his lips to move but no concrete words came out of his mouth. Callan had heard the confession that night! This was really huge!

Callan deduced the state of mind of his mate as he cupped Einar’s cheeks “I may not provide kids for you but we can surely have a place we can all home. This will be our escapade. No judgmental wolves, no pack. Just you and me.”

“This is incredible! When did you built this?” Einar almost whispered in surprise.

“When we retuned from the seers.” Callan smiled “You wanted to grow old with me and I thought why cant we make that happen. We love each other and so we deserve a place to call a home.”

Einar was rendered speechless with the huge gesture of love by his mate. His face was tensed and it looked like he would cry at any moment.

Callan decided to cheer up Einar “You don’t have to worry about anything. I can cook for you, I can can do the cleaning and other household stuff. When you arrive from a busy day at work I can offer you a hot beverage.” He pecked Einar’s lips and bewitched him “See.. I am the best mate you can get.”

“You surely are.” Einar whispered in delight.

“I have made some more rooms, in case if ever our parents or friends decide to show up. The house needs some final touches but I will ready it as soon as I can.”

“You don’t have to..”

“Of course I do! You presented me the wolf and that was really precious to me and so I questioned myself, what would match that gift..? And here we are! Consider it my present to you. Do you like it?”

Callan was taken by surprise when Einar’s mouth was on his in the very next instant. The kiss was gentle and full of passion. Callan held Einar’s hair while the muscular man rubbed the back of Callan gently. Both the men parted their lips while Einar kissed the neck of the handsome man. He was overwhelmed by the happiness that flooded his mind. He could never imagine that someone would go to such a length to make him happy.

He giggled but at the same time, tiny tear drops rolled down through his cheeks. He gasped and chuckled and cried all at the same time. He pecked the lips of the handsome man once more and with a broken voice he said “It is perfect! You are perfect!”

Callan was happy to see the smiling face of Einar. He narrowed his eyes when Einar held his hand and walked towards the gate.

“Where are we going?”

Callan’s question baffled Einar as he stopped midway “To see the house.”

Callan released his palm and folded his hands across his chest “In some cultures when the mates first enter their new home they do so by carrying the other in their arms.” he pursed his lips and stretched it wide while blinking his eyes rapidly.

Einar raised a brow “You just made that up.”

“Don’t doubt my intelligence.” the handsome man winked at his mate “Now just hop on so I can get you in.”

“I thought you said that the mate carries their other half in his arms.”

“You are heavy.”

Callan squatted his legs and waited for his mate to get on his back while Einar was amazed by the wit and stubbornness of his mate.

With eagerness to consume this joy, Einar quickly made his way to the back of the handsome man. He giggled and laughed and cheered the man as both of them crossed the entrance gate to unravel their world of dreams.

********

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