I Claim Your LOVE

A Birthday to Celebrate

2 years later

It was cold on the mountain top as the icy wind was dominating the entire region. Callan stepped every foot cautiously. After walking a few distances he could clearly see his destination. Two flag posts on either side of a large cave. This place was home to a small population of grizzly bears. It was Callan's favorite place in the world. As soon as Callan crossed the flags he was crushed by a hug and he fell down.

"You are finally here. I had told Mother that you will visit today but she said that you would rather spend your day with your pack and I told her that you can never ditch your best friend but she said....."

"Can't breathe." Callan said in almost a whisper, it was difficult for him to speak. His face was red as his best friend had bottlenecked the air supply.

"Ohh! Pardon me. Sometimes I forget that you are a non-shifter. Here you go." He released his friend while Callan exhaled a large breath he was holding up thanks to his friend. He got himself up and dusted all the ice from his clothes.

"You really should stop doing that Archer. By the way Happy birthday my dear friend" Callan twitched his nose and hit Archer on the back of his head playfully.

"That hurts." Archer groaned.

"Exactly my point." Archer and Callan continued their playful banter as they rolled over the ice and wrestled each other. Archer's ears perked up when his father whistled from inside the cave.

"We should go inside, Father is calling us. By the way happy birthday to you too." Callan smiled and followed his friend inside the cave.

The cave inside resembled a dome structure. It was essentially carved out to fit a family of eight bears. The Kemps resided to the nearest boundaries of the western region of the blue moon pack. After Callan moved to his new home he was finally able to make some new friends who were uncritical and less concerned with his inability to shift. One such dear friend was Archer who stumbled upon Callan when the latter was returning home after fishing while Archer in a pang of hunger had consumed all his catch on his way home. Archer had no time to go back to the river and catch any fish. It would require tremendous effort and his precious time. So Callan selflessly gave away all his fish to Archer so that his family could feed and Archer be saved from the scolding of his father. That was the beginning of an affectionate confraternity between the boys.

As soon as he entered the cave, Callan was assaulted with the aroma of delicacies which were served on the table for everyone to eat.

"Callan my boy. How have you been?" Callan was again squeezed tightly in the arms of Archer's father. Archer was a true copy of Lancelot, the only difference being that the father was buff and hirsute while Archer still had his boyish charms. Another common thing with the family was that they were always in their bare essentials to cover themselves. They hated clothing.

"I'm fine thank you. Mother has sent her wishes and has asked you to visit us someday." He quickly grabbed a box of berries from his pocket and handed over to the chief of the house. Lancelot appreciated the gesture and set the box on the table besides all the food.

"You are finally here. I hope the ice has not bothered you much, soon it will be winter and the weather up here can be severe." Callan was greeted by a lady of his height. She closed the gap between them and embraced Callan." I wish you a very happy birthday dear Callan. I hope your special day brings you lots of happiness and fun. You deserve them a lot." Callan could see the merry and delight in Myla's eyes.

The table was decorated with different kinds of cuisine ranging from hare, deer, boar and fishes to puddings, tarts, custards and patties. It was a lot of food on the table.