Chapter 160 Chapter 160

Chapter 160 Chapter 160
CRYSTAL’S POV

I couldn't fall asleep.

No matter how many times I closed my eyes, sleep refused to come.

Instead, my thoughts wandered.

Back to Covenant City, the way they did when I found myself wishing things could go back to normal, even though I was more or less miles from that road.

I thought back to the tiny apartment I'd once believed I'd never leave.

Back to Vincent.

A bitter laugh almost escaped me.

How strange it all felt right now.

Only a few weeks ago, I would've given almost anything to return to that life. To wake up in my own bed, go to work, and pretend everything was normal.

But now...

I wasn't so sure.

Somehow, a library hidden deep within a forest filled with a raven shifter, a demon, a tiger cub, and a werewolf Alpha felt... safer than home had ever been in the years I've spent in the city.

Life really did have a twisted sense of humor.

Like how did I even have the courage to ask Asher to share the bed with me?
I shifted onto my side, careful not to disturb the man sleeping beside me now.

The candlelight had long since burned out, and now the moonlight spilled through the window, painting pale silver across his face, making him look like a sculpted statue you'd place in the center of a garden.

But something felt off. His brows were drawn together in a slight frown, like he was troubled about something.

Could it have been a bad dream?

A low groan escaped him, and I slowly sat up in bed with a worried look of my own.

"Asher?" I called out to him softly at first, but he didn't answer. He just continued to turn, and with each second that passed, he looked worse.

Another strained breath left him as his fingers clenched the blanket beneath him.

Then another quiet sound left his throat.

It wasn't exactly a pained groan, but it was more like someone struggling against a terrible nightmare.

I thought of all the things that could terrify a man like Asher and could only conclude that he was probably having a nightmare about the day he lost his mother. That had to be it, right? Because what on this earth could make Asher squirm in his sleep?

Slowly, I crawled across the empty space between us. The mattress dipped under my weight, and I held my breath, terrified I would startle him. When I was close enough to feel the heat rolling off him, I reached out, my voice barely a whisper.
"...Asher?" I called out again, but just like before, I got nothing.

His breathing was coming fast now, ragged, as he tossed his head slightly, jaw tightening.

A faint sheen of sweat glistened across his forehead, and my stomach twisted.

I hesitated at the last second.

Maybe I should leave him alone.

Maybe...

Another pained groan escaped him.

I swallowed. Then, with all the caution I could muster, I reached out to shake him awake if the dream was truly that terrible. But my fingertips barely brushed the warm skin of his chest when a hand shot up, startling me to the point my own heart jumped into my throat.

Strong fingers wrapped around my wrist and I gasped.

"Asher!"

His eyes still remained closed.

"Crystal..." He spoke my name through clenched teeth from somewhere in between sleep and being awake.

His grip continued to tighten, and a sudden pain shot through my wrist.

"Asher, you're hurting me."

It was as though he hadn't heard me. Because instead of letting me go, in one swift movement, my world flipped and just like that I was pinned firmly against the bed.

A startled cry escaped me as Asher rolled us over.

The mattress dipped beneath his weight.

Before I could even process what had happened, I found myself pinned gently but beneath him.

His arms trembled with each deep breath he took, and it unnerved me as I tried to wiggle my way out of his grip. But the second his eyes opened, I lost my breath.

His amber eyes bled golden, and the pupils were like slits. Nothing at all like the eyes of a wolf.

"A... Asher?" I hated how my voice trembled, but tried as I might, I couldn't get free. "Please, Asher. You're scaring me," I whispered.

"I'm..." His voice cracked as he squeezed his eyes shut. "...so sorry."

The words sounded painfully forced.

As though every syllable was a battle.

His grip tightened just enough to let me feel how close to the edge he was, but not enough to hurt. He shifted, pressing his body heavy and solid against mine, and inhaled deep against my neck when he leaned in, like he was breathing in every part of me before his entire body went rigid.

"No..."

His voice was barely audible.

"I can't..."

The sharp edge of one elongated canine grazed the sensitive skin beneath my ear, forcing a tiny yelp from me.

"Asher..."

His breathing hitched violently.

"Just..."

Another shaky breath.

"...one taste."

His body shook.

"I swear...it'll be quick."

Panic flared hot in my chest—not because I thought he would hurt me on purpose, but because I saw the war tearing him apart.

This was not Asher. Or maybe this was the part of him he'd been so desperately trying to keep hidden from me.

The realization sent a chill racing down my spine.

Yet even now...

Even while pinning me beneath him, the rational part of me screamed at me to make this stop. Another primal part of me reacted to him in a dangerous way as my gums ached at the canines.

I soon found myself doing what he was doing. I took in his scent, which somehow smelt stronger now. It was intoxicating and my body became sensitive with each touch.

And somehow, that was even more frightening than what he was about to do to me.