Enjoy :)

Chapter Quote:
"He no longer needed me to be his protector, but he still wanted me."
~Wolfsbane
__________________________________  

Chapter 19

Caleb

"How's everything over there?" I asked my sister while I walked into the safe house the Searchers had lent us. Lily and Spencer were at the dining room table on their laptops doing work. I put my phone on speaker so they could hear.

"Everything's going all right. Graduation is going to be here in a couple days and I'm graduating summa cum laude, as is Josilyn. Thea is graduating magna cum laude. Actually, Josilyn is our valedictorian so she'll be making a speech," she explained.

"I'm so proud of my little sister," I said.

"I'm proud of my girlfriend," Spencer added with a slight hint of amusement in his voice. He knew it still bugged me that my beta was dating my little sister but it only bugged me because I knew we weren't going to stay in Estes Park forever. If they really did have a relationship, it would only end in hurt and sadness for the both of them.

"Hi Spencer! Wait am I on speaker?"

"Yeah," I told her. "Lily is here too."

"Hi Lily!"

"Hey Elsa! I bet you're excited to graduate!" Lily said.

"Oh you have no idea. I can't wait to get out of there. Mom is going to be bringing me on sales calls next week, like having me give tours of our hotel to potential big clients. She thinks I'd be good at it. Josilyn is handling the gardening stuff, landscaping it and stuff. Hunter is handling the finances with Noah. I'm not sure what everyone else is doing. I mean the hotel isn't our only business but it's definitely our most profitable one. Jake, Riley, and Dmitri are proposing we create a touring business to see wildlife in the park, mostly us wolves. Mom and dad aren't buying it though."

I snorted. "I can't imagine why. How's mom by the way?"

At this my sister hesitated. "She's been... quiet recently."

"Why's that?"

"Um, she always gets like this when it's this time of year."

"That's not answering my question."

"Caleb, what happened eight years ago?"

I paused for a moment, trying to rack my brain to figure it out. However, it was Spencer who actually said the answer. "Caleb ran off."

"She's never forgotten it... none of us can ever get her out of her slump. We just have to wait a week for it to pass."

"Caleb, why can't you at least call your mother and tell her you're okay?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows at me.

"Because she'll come find me. I don't want her to," I replied.

My girlfriend shook her head. "She's your mother. You should be grateful you have one, especially one who loves you so much. You don't have to talk to her long, just tell her you're safe or something."

"I'll... think about it." I quickly changed the subject. "I wish I could be there for your graduation, Ice Princess."

"I wish you could too, but I know y'all have a lot going on there. H-how many people died?"

"Three: two kids and a woman. Forty-seven were injured. We paid for the funerals and attended them, and then we're paying for all the medical bills."

"I'm sure the families appreciate it."

"They've all been very kind to us. I'm hoping they don't hate us."

"It wasn't your fault. It was a terrorist attack."

"I know, but still, it was still our hotel. Listen, I have to go but I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Okay. Love you Caleb. Bye Spencer! Bye Lily!"

My packmates said bye and I hung up. Sitting down at the table, I asked, "Do you think there's any way we can get down to Estes early?"

"Way ahead of you actually. I was looking at our schedule and we have no more reason to stay up here. I already have my suitcase packed. We leave tomorrow. We'll get there the day before her graduation. I thought you could surprise her," Lily said.

I kissed her on the cheek. "You're the best."

"Yeah, I know."

Later that night, I was lounging on my bed. Lily was sitting next to me, reading her book. It was ten when our phone rang. Lily and I looked at each other. Who would be calling at this time of night? I started to get up but Lily did so before me, answering the phone.

"Hello?" A muffled voice could be heard on the other end but I couldn't understand what was being said. Lily's face seemed slightly surprised and definitely conflicted. "Um, why don't I give you to a person who knows him better than I do. Hang on."

Lily nodded for me to come over and take the phone from her. "Hello?"

"Hi, this is going to sound crazy so please don't hang up on me but my name is Arya Laroche. Someone sent me this number with the message not to call while anyone was around me and that it was the number for the initials 'CL'. I didn't understand why until I realized my son's initials were 'CL', for Caleb Laroche. This is probably wishful thinking but if he's there, may I please speak to him? And if not, could you maybe give him a message for me?"

I forced myself to keep my voice steady as I told her to give me the message. My heart was trying to beat out of my chest. I sank down into the chair next to me as my mom began giving me the message: "I don't know where to begin honestly. Um, tell him, first and foremost, that I love him and that I miss him every day. Everyone here does. Elsa especially. She and Josilyn still go into his room on his birthday and place flowers in there. Second, tell him it wasn't his fault. We don't blame him, we never have. I know Ren never treated him the same after Anna but it wasn't because he didn't trust him or anything like that, it was because Ren didn't want to lose him too. Third, tell him... tell him he's always welcome home. If he has a girlfriend or a new pack, he can bring them. We'll take them in too. God knows we have enough room to and if it means he'd come home... Fourth, tell him that if he decides to call me back, that I will not come searching for him. I know he doesn't want to be found. I just want to hear his voice. Lastly, tell him that whatever the man he's become, I know he's good and strong and that no matter what, I will always be proud of him. And I'm sorry I couldn't help him more."

I couldn't speak. If I did, I'd start crying. I covered my face with my hand, feeling something wet rolling down my cheeks. Lily placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" My mom asked hesitantly. Lily took the phone from me and replied, "Yes, he just went to tell Caleb. He's going to go... find him for you. Mrs. Laroche? Just so you know, your son does love you. Very much so. And I'm not just telling you that to comfort you. It's the truth."

"Thank you, miss. I should get going, make myself presentable because I don't want my husband to find out what I was doing. Goodbye." Arya hung up. I set the phone down and knelt next to Caleb. I'd never seen Caleb cry, not even when the Hunters had blown up our house.

"Do you want to see her?" she whispered.

I nodded. "But I can't. It would just cause hell. I know my mom would want me to stay and then we'd have to split up the pack and you can trust me when I say that not everyone would be happy about me returning. Hunter in particular. Because that would mean he had a challenger for alpha status and he wouldn't want that. It's best this way. I'll send her flowers though. Ones with-"

"Meaning," the two of us said simultaneously.

"I just need to do some research. I'm going to go downstairs. I'll be back up later." I kissed her on the cheek and left. I needed some time alone.
__________________________________  

Elsa

I sat impatiently in my seat, waiting for my name to be called up to go on stage. For such a small town, there was a surprising amount of teenagers in my graduating class. From my family there were only three: me, Josilyn, and Thea. At least it wasn't like Riley and Jake's graduation. They'd been the only ones graduating in their year from our family. If Caleb had still been here, he and Riley would've graduated together. Hunter's class had had the most graduating from our family with five kids including himself.

"Thea Fray, Magna Cum Laude!" the teacher announced. I heard my family cheering for her, particularly Diana, Barry, and Riley. I smiled up at my family. They took up the entire front row of the auditorium.

"Elsa Laroche, Summa Cum Laude!" I walked up onto the stage with a big grin on my face, mainly trying not laugh at Hunter yelling: "That's my little sister! Woo!"

Josilyn was soon to follow. When we returned to our seats, I felt my heart pounding. I was almost done with high school. Josilyn, as our valedictorian, walked up to the mic and said, "Congratulations everyone! We did it!"

We all took our hats off and threw them into the air. Mine landed back down at my feet. I picked it up and put it back on my head. While we were exiting the auditorium, Thea and Josilyn finagled their way over to me. I draped my arms over their shoulders.

"We did it!" Thea cheered.

"No more classes!" Josilyn laughed.

"No more homework!" I added.

"And no more annoying human drama," Thea declared.

We picked up our actual diplomas and headed outside. We'd barely walked a foot out the door when some called my name. I turned around. My mouth dropped open when I saw Spencer standing there in a sharp black suit. I ran up and threw my arms around his neck, unable to believe he was here because if he was here, then it meant someone else had also come with him.

"Josie, Thea, tell mom and dad I'll be there shortly," I said. The two girls didn't argue and left me to talk to Spencer freely. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you graduate, along with two other people," he replied with a grin. A pair of arms wrapped themselves around my waist, lifting me up in a hug.

"My little sister graduated!" Caleb exclaimed. "I'm so proud of you!"

I hugged my big brother and Lily before asking, "When did y'all get here?"

"Yesterday. Caleb didn't know we were coming down until after he talked to you the other day because I knew he wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret from you," Lily remarked.

"How long are you going to be here?"

"As long as possible, meaning until we catch those Hunters and since that's not going so hot right now, it would seem we'll be here for a very long time."

"Good," I said firmly. "I missed all of you way too much."

"We shouldn't keep you much longer lest dad comes searching for you. I know you'll be too tired to come see us tonight so tomorrow, why don't you come over for your second graduation party?" Caleb offered.

"I'd love to," I replied with a smile. My brother and Lily hugged me goodbye, disappearing into the crowd. Spencer walked over to my family with me.

"Spencer, you're back!" Ember said, giving him a hug.

"Hey there, Ember. How are you?" He greeted. Leaning in a whispering, "Did Noah ever get that stick out of his ass?"

Ember answered, "I'm good and no, he didn't. Not around me at least."

"Hello Spencer. Nice to see you again," My mom said, coming up to us. "When did you get back?"

"Hello Mrs. Laroche. Nice to see you too. I got back yesterday. I thought I'd come surprise Elsa."

"I'm sure you did. Did you come alone?"

"No ma'am. My sister and boyfriend came too but as usual, business calls. I'm the youngest in the group so for now I don't have too many responsibilities. For our hotel, I mainly work in the sales and marketing department. They say hi though."

"I'd like to meet them one day. Come to lunch with us. That way you and Elsa can catch up," mom said.

"I'd love to. And I promise I won't leave prematurely this time," Spencer said with a sheepish smile.

Mom placed her hand on shoulder. "No worries. I understand the business calls you get every time of the day. Come! You can ride with us. There's plenty of room in the car."
__________________________________  

Incredibly, my parents were very civil to Spencer this time, meaning no embarrassing questions because my dad barely spoke to him. In fact, dad seemed quiet in general. He listened in on conversations, smiled and laughed when necessary, but I could tell his mind was elsewhere.

Ember was very pleased to have Spencer. My sister thoroughly approved of my 'boyfriend'. Hunter was always pleasant and polite, but now that my parents were more willing to allow Spencer into our group, he'd become more stern around him.

At the end of the lunch, I'd hugged Spencer goodbye. For the rest of the day, my family and I spent the day at our house, celebrating our graduations and having fun.

It was eleven at night. Hunter, Ember, Noah, Josilyn, and I were playing poker. Josilyn was kicking our butts at it although always humble, she continued to say she had no idea what she was doing and that she was winning because of luck.

"I say we play the game BS because that's something I might actually have a chance to win at," Noah commented, grinning at his sister. "Also, we're going to Vegas on your twenty-first birthday."

"You're good at BS-ing a lot of things," Ember muttered under her breath. If he heard her, he didn't say anything, but I gave her a questioning look. I didn't know what was going on with my sister lately. She'd been distracted a lot, always on her phone or on her computer. Whenever I asked her what she was doing, she'd always reply with 'work'. That excuse was getting old now.

Hunter was about to deal the next hand when someone knocked on our door. We all froze, staring at each other. Who the hell would be at our house at eleven at night? It wasn't my dad because although he was at the hotel right now to take care of something urgent, he had a key to get back in. Even if he had forgotten his key, he'd just call one of us and tell us to let him in. So who was it?

The person knocked again, this time shouting, "Help! Someone help!"

I scrambled up to get the door but Hunter yanked me back, putting himself in front of us and any danger that might be coming from the person at the door. Upon opening it, I felt my mouth fall open from the shock of not only seeing my dad bloodied and beaten, but also from the fact that Spencer was the one supporting him.
__________________________________

Hope Ren's okay! Reviews would be lovely people :)