Caleb walked with a confident swagger as he headed back towards the village. He was very aware of Lola behind him as he walked the knowledge was almost painful to him. He kept up his swagger until he could no longer sense her behind him. The moment Caleb was absolutely sure she was gone and no one else was around he leaned against a tree and let his legs give out from under him.<br/><br/><br/>Caleb sat against the tree and curled up into a ball as a wave of nausea passed over him. He had cheated on Maria. What happened to all that shit he had said to Lola.<br/><br/>“God damn’t Caleb! What the fuck are you doing!” Caleb yelled out as he slammed his fist into the ground in frustration.<br/><br/>“That’s a very good question.” The sudden voice coupled with Caleb’s complete obliviousness made Caleb jump to his feet. His muscles relaxed ever so slightly as he found himself looking at his mother. Letting out a sigh Caleb leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes.<br/><br/>“That is a very odd way to react to your mother Caleb. What’s going on? Why do you smell like blood and Human and silver?”  Chloe spoke to her son with both concern and alarm in her voice as she looked at Caleb. Caleb shook his head and smiled at his mom.<br/><br/>“Oh you know. The usual. Being an Alpha. Protecting the pack.” Caleb pushed away from the tree and started to walk past his mother. Chloe reached out an arm and easily pulled Caleb into her embrace and gently stroked his head. Exhausted both physically and emotionally Caleb had no strength to resist her motherly warmth.<br/><br/>“Caleb. Whatever it is, I love you.” He didn’t know how long he stood there letting his mother hold him but a sudden wave of pain splitting his skull destroyed the moment too soon. With a gasp Caleb fell to the ground his body spasming. Caleb lay on the ground unseeing as the pain swept him away. Slowly it receded so very slowly. When Caleb came back he felt tears running down his face his mother knelt over him concern written across her face. He smiled weakly at her as he levered and arm underneath himself and sat up.<br/><br/>“Caleb! Are you ok!?” Chloe helped him sit up and pressed her palm to his forehead. “You’re burning up!”<br/><br/>Caleb shook his head and pushed his mother’s hand away as he stood up shakily. With a yawn he smiled at his mom.<br/><br/>“I’m ok. I just haven’t been getting much sleep lately. It’s been a busy week.” Caleb felt guilty as he spoke it wasn’t really a lie but it was far from the truth. Chloe frowned at Caleb but nodded her head knowing she was unlikely to wring any more from him. She stood up and patted Caleb on the shoulder and motioned towards the village.<br/><br/>“C’mon, let’s go. Your father has been looking for you. The omega has escaped.” Caleb froze in his tracks as Chloe spoke. The omega had escaped? When? How? Maria! Caleb broke into a sprint running full on towards village making enough noise to embarrass any of the pack. His mother jogged after him,  moving in a stark contrast. Where Caleb was careless she was graceful barely leaving a trace of her passage while Caleb left a trail a mile wide.<br/><br/>Caleb sprinted through the village ahead of his mother and up the stairs of his front door throwing the door wide and nearly slamming full force into his father. Caleb paused out of breath and looked up at his father.<br/><br/>“The. Omega. Escaped?!” Caleb spoke between breaths as his father’s eyes looked down at him with a cold anger. Jake let out a very quiet growl as he looked down on Caleb. He spoke low and forcefully as he motioned Caleb to precede him outside.<br/><br/>“Yes he escaped. Once we find him and kill him we can talk about just where the hell you have been. And why you are covered in your own blood and the smell of human and silver.” Jake spoke in the tone that brokered no argument. No matter what Caleb did eventually he would have to explain himself to his father, and it had better be a good story. Caleb sighed and nodded his head more important things would have to take precedent, Caleb could say I told you so later. Caleb watched a slight smile spread across Jack’s face and knew immediately that his mother has just fallen under his gaze.<br/><br/>Caleb shook his head gently, his mother was the only thing that could make his father smile like that. Caleb carefully held back a chuckle as he turned to watch his mother approach. It all seemed to happen at once. A gray blur streaking out from behind one of the house and crashing into his mother, a single strangle scream ripped from her lungs, and then Caleb was propelled through the air as his father sprinted forwards. Caleb hit the ground with a grunt of pain just as his fathered charged into the wolf tearing at Chloe.<br/><br/>Caleb jumped back to his feet and rushed towards his mother. His father now had the wolves lower jaw gripped in one hand and his snout in the other. Caleb didn’t even flinch as his father ripped the lower jaw off with a sickening crack. He slid to a stop next to his mother and rocked on his feet numbly as he stared down at the bloody remains of his mother. Caleb numbly fell backwards the image of his mother frozen in his mind, the blood gushing from her torn throat, her face a mask of pain and fear. Jack disgustedly dropped the wolf’s corpse and jaw and stumbled over to Chloe's corpse falling to his knees next to her. He gathered her body to her and held her tight tears falling from his face.. Caleb felt tears course down his face as he watched his father clutch the body of his mother. How could something so horrible happen so quickly.