赤裸裸的滑稽故事

[Present]

"Wait…" Caleb said, interrupting Ashleigh's story. "Axel actually tried to unite the packs?"

Ashleigh smiled and nodded.

"Wow," Caleb chuckled.

He thought back to a few different conversations. Ideas tossed back and forth. Some accusations, judgments, and assumptions. That was how he and Axel had developed their friendship. They started at the bottom and worked their way up.

"We talked about it, just a little bit. It was after I went to Burning Ember," he said. "As we planned our alliances and learned more about the packs already taken by Autumn. We talked about how much easier we could have made each other's lives if we had just found a way to be united."

Ashleigh listened as Caleb spoke. She already knew the story. Axel had been the one to share it. It didn't surprise her back then that Caleb would have agreed to the plan or even helped to think of it. What surprised her was that she hadn't known about it. Even now, hearing it from his own lips, it stung to know that others had known him better than she had.

"I remember when he told me about the changes he had made in Winter, the sort of committee-style leadership across the territory. I was shocked. Wyatt never would have agreed to it. Hell, I probably wouldn't have either," Caleb laughed. "But Axel knew what he was doing. He had better long-term vision than either of us ever had."

Ashleigh nodded.

"I thought he was being reckless, maybe even lazy, at the time," she admitted. She took a deep breath and looked away. "I always thought I knew so much more than him."

Caleb put his arm around her and pulled her close.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

She smiled and nodded.

"It's all water under the bridge," she said. "Axel and I have… worked through a lot in the past few years. We've made our apologies and moved on, but I guess some things still linger."

Caleb turned and kissed her head. She looked up at him.

"How come I didn't know?" she asked.

"Know what?"

"About the things you guys talked about… about wanting to unite the packs?" she said.

"Oh. It wasn't a real idea or plan at the time. There wasn't a need to discuss it," he said. "We were preparing for war. You were struggling with Lily and the evil alphas in your mind. I mean, other more pressing things were happening at the time."

Ashleigh looked down and nodded, but Caleb knew she wasn't comforted by his words.

"Ash, it wasn't something I was trying to hide from you," he said, turning her chin to look up at him. "I would have told you when it became something real."

"I know," she said, giving him a sad smile.

"Then what's wrong?" he asked. "I know you, Ash. I can see and feel that there is something on your mind."

Ashleigh stared at him for a long moment before letting out a sigh and a soft chuckle.

"You do know me," she whispered. "You always did."

"Why is that a source of sadness?" Caleb asked. He felt a deep tug at his heart from their bond.

"It's not," she said. "But, realizing that I don't know you the same way is."

"What are you talking about?" he said. "Of course you know me! Just because I had a conversation with your brother you didn't know about doesn't mean you don't know me!"

"I didn't know your birthday," she whispered.

Caleb swallowed.

"Ash, I told you…." he sighed. "That was my fault. I don't celebrate it, so I never told you."

Ashleigh nodded.

"I know," she whispered. "But I didn't know what day it was. Not until the vigil."

Caleb felt his heart sink into his chest.

"Ash…"

She smiled sadly, her eyes shining with gathered tears.

"Fiona kept calling and calling. She wanted me to come to Summer, but I kept refusing. I wasn't ready to be there without you," Ashleigh began. "To see everyone else just accept that you were gone. I was too angry. Too heartbroken."

He knew she wouldn't let him hold her, but he desperately wanted to. So instead, he took her hand. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she didn't look at him.

"When I woke up in that hospital, the only thing that mattered was you…." she began.

[Five Years Ago]

Ashleigh woke to an empty room. Her tired eyes moved across the ceiling, down the walls. It was a hospital room. The monitor beside her let out a soft beep as if to confirm that she was right.

Her throat felt dry, and her body was weak. How long had she been here? Where was she? The last thing she remembered was riding the wave of the ley line.

That was when her heart stopped, and she was overwhelmed by panic as the memory flowed over her.

His fingertips grazed hers as she tried to grab hold of him. Her eyes were wide in fear as she stared back at him.

"I love you, always," he whispered as four long vines flew up from behind him, surrounding him and wrapping around his body.

And then he was yanked back into the darkness, fading from her view.

"Caleb!!!!" she screamed. "Caleb!!"

The monitor beside her echoed her screams as her heart raced. She thrashed in her bed as she saw him disappearing into the darkness, as she saw the portal sealing behind her.

She heard Myka's voice telling her that the ley line was gone, that he was gone. Her screams became guttural and painful. Her throat was raw and strained as though it were tearing. But she couldn't stop.

The door burst open as several people ran in. They all tried to calm her, to talk her through what was happening. But Ashleigh couldn't hear them. She couldn't listen. She couldn't do anything. The screams just kept coming until they were forced to sedate her.