Chapter 16: _ Asher

Chapter Sixteen

Asher

Imaginary twigs broke under our feet as Jackson and I walked away from Devon. Devon, who’d seen my wolf, proven she existed, and whose own beast called to mine like a siren lured sailors to the rocks. I hated how turned on I still was, how hard my nipples were under my bra. Jackson didn’t say anything as we continued down the path together. His clenched jaw and stiff posture said it all for him. He was pissed.

“It was just a wolf thing, that’s all.” Using every ounce of strength I had, I kept my voice from wobbling. I’m not sure why I felt the need to explain myself. He was the one who pulled the disappearing act. I didn’t owe him a damn thing.

He stopped, turned those amber eyes on me, and raised one eyebrow. “A wolf thing.” Each word came out clear and slow. Like he was trying them on to see how they fit. “Did you like this wolf thing?”

How could I answer him truthfully and not be admitting something out loud I didn’t want to hear? “My wolf did.”

“And how does your wolf feel about vampires?”

I sucked in a tight breath, the weight of his gaze affecting me just as much as Devon’s attention, maybe more. “I don’t know about her, but I like them. Except when they ghost me.”

“You don’t understand.”

Flinching when he reached for me, I powered past him. “I understand plenty. You can’t be with me. Your family forbids it. So you moved on to someone more suitable, but you can’t deal with me showing anyone else attention. Well, newsflash, Fang Boy, I kissed Cian and let him see my boobs. What do you have to say about that?”

He was on me before I could process he’d moved. Fuck, vampires were fast. Jackson ’s cool hand encircled my throat as he pinned me to a wide tree and stared hard at my mouth. “I should put you over my knee for your insolence, little wolf. Show you exactly why your body craves my touch, my gaze. It kills me that I can’t.”

“Does it? Because from where I’m standing, you had your chance and blew it. At least I had the courage to reject the mate my family chose for me. I’m sure you and Callie will be sublimely happy together.”

He dipped his head, breathing hard as he released my neck. Then those perfect lips of his trailed along my throat until he reached my ear. “But it’ll be you I’m thinking of if I’m forced to be inside her. How does that make you feel? Knowing that I’ll fuck her like a good little heir but fantasize about you while doing it?”

I shivered from the rough husk of his voice rasping over my skin. “It doesn’t matter how I feel.”

His large palm that was gripping my waist moved up my belly until he cupped the weight of my breast. “Oh, but it does. I want you to ache for me as I do you.”

God, I did. I burned for him, and I couldn’t answer because if I did, I’d lie to him.

“I feel it in my bones. You’re meant for me,” he whispered.

“Is this because you gave me your blood?”

“Maybe. I can’t be sure. But all I can tell you is, if you choose him over me, it’ll be the biggest mistake you’ve ever made.”

The beacon hanging between my breasts heated rapidly, burning through my shirt and glowing bright white. Jackson pulled his hand away, the skin there now red and angry as he swore.

Behind him stood Callie, a wicked smile on her too-perfect face, her own beacon glowing to match mine. “Oh, good, darling. You’ve found my next plaything.”

Standing up straighter, I steeled myself for a fight. My wolf was riled up, awake but not released from her prison yet, and I was horny as hell. If I couldn’t get my release by fucking, I might as well get it by fighting. And there was just something about the idea of smashing in that pert little upturned nose that seemed endlessly appealing. Sure, it wouldn’t do permanent damage, but it’d hurt, and it’d shut her up for a little while.

Jackson placed himself in front of me, posture protective even though this was part of our lesson. “Move, Jackson . I need to do this.”

“You don’t know how strong she is. She’s a vampire.”

I rolled my shoulders and sighed. “And I’m a shifter. I can take her. Give me a chance. I don’t want to fail this assignment.”

Though it was obvious in every move he made that he didn’t want to, he acquiesced and moved aside. His beacon held a faint glow, a reminder he had his own partner to find and spar with. A rustle in the brush behind me had me turning toward the sound, and when Devon broke through, eyes feral and burning with determined anger, I flinched.

He wouldn’t really try to hurt me, would he? I’d won our match. But Jackson snarled and leaped from where he stood, his beacon glowing white and Devon’s matching.

“Jackson !” Fear sprang to the forefront of my mind, worry that he’d be hurt, that Devon would rip him to shreds, overwhelming me.

My wolf stirred, pacing and pushing at her restraints, restraints neither of us knew how to break. She wanted to defend her mate. Devon. Oh, hell, this was going to be impossible to deal with. Fuck Devon for waking her up.

Without warning, something crashed into me, laying me out and leaving me gasping for air as the wind was knocked from my lungs. Callie clawed at my face, her nails sharp and deadly.

“I can smell your fear. It’s delicious. At least you’re smart enough to recognize when you’re outmatched.”

I didn’t realize it was possible to hate someone so quickly and so completely. Until now. “I’m not afraid of you. You’re nothing but a blow-up doll with fangs for Jackson to distract himself with since he can’t have the woman he really wants. Why do you think he came back to find me?”

I kicked out, launching her into the air with all my strength. She hit a tree hard enough to shake loose a few large branches. As they rained down on us, I did my best to dodge them while she let out a low, menacing laugh.

“Oh, good. I was afraid you were going to make this easy on me.”

“You’re the only one who is easy around here.”

“Says the bitch spreading her legs for every wolf, vamp, and Viking she can get her horny little hands on.”

We took up fighting stances, both of us tensed and ready to attack as we circled the clearing under the tree cover. “So is that all you’ve got? One good surprise attack, and you’re done? No wonder Jackson is bored with you. I could go all night.”

“It’s no wonder, with all that practice you’re getting. But I’ll tell you one thing, he might be having his fun with you now, but I’m the one he’ll be taking home to his parents. You’ll never be anything more than his dirty little secret.”

Something in me snapped as she spat the words that so closely echoed my own deepest fears. My jaw clenched, my nails sinking into my palms as I balled my hands into even tighter fists, wishing it was Callie’s throat they were closing around. I stalked forward, my energy building, gathering in my center, fueling my strength as I pushed her back. Loose tendrils of hair that had escaped my braid whirled around my face even though there was no wind to move them.

Callie’s eyes widened, fear sparking in them. “What the hell are you?”

“Your worst fucking nightmare.”

Before she could escape, I snagged her throat in one hand, my grip tighter than I thought I was capable of. She panicked, her fingers scraping at mine, desperate to get me to release her because, vampire or not, if I tore her head clean off her body, she’d be nothing but a pile of dust.

“Do you submit?” I snarled, barely recognizing my own voice.

Her face was turning purple, mottled with fear and rage. But I saw my victory in her eyes.

“Y-yes,” she gasped.

“Say. It.”

She closed her eyes and released every ounce of fight left in her. “I submit.”

I squeezed her throat just a bit tighter, not a big enough person to win gracefully, before I flung her to the ground. Callie connected with the forest floor hard enough the ground beneath my feet tremored. Dust and pine needles lifted into a cloud, and when the air cleared, she was there, in a crater made by her own body.

The shock of it was enough to pull me out of whatever dark, unrecognizable fugue I’d been lost to.

The clapping came first, just loud and obnoxious enough to be heard over the roar of my blood through my veins.

“Brava, little wolf. Seems you were right. You didn’t need my help, after all.” Jackson smirked. “You certainly put her right where she belongs.”

My gaze snapped to the place where Jackson and Devon stood. Jackson barely looked rumpled past the smudge of dirt on his cheek and uncharacteristically tousled hair. Devon was worse for wear, leaves clinging to his hair and shirt. A dark bruise bloomed across his cheek. Part of me was surprised to learn the Alpha-to-be had submitted to the vampire. The other part wondered if that had more to do with an unlikely truce while they watched the chick fight taking place right beside them.

Callie was alive; I was sure of it. She was bleeding from her mouth but breathing slowly. She remained unconscious as the scene we were immersed in melted away and became nothing more than a cold, sterile space made of four walls and gray paint. Everyone else in the class came into view, all disheveled and many sporting bruises, sweat stains, and torn clothing.

Professor Sanderson appeared in a cloud of purple mist, her gaze trained on me. “Everyone stop. Remove your beacons and place them at your feet at once.”

Oh, no. What had I done to earn that look of reproach?

“Asher Callaway, shower, collect your belongings, and return to your dormitory. You spilled blood during this exercise even though you were instructed not to. Following instructions is paramount for the safety of all students when we are in mixed-species classes. You’ll attend sessions with Father Sylvester Saturday at sundown. Do you understand?”

Callie sat up and stretched, a saccharine smile on her face as she wiped away the blood that had trickled from the corner of her lips. Lips I never once hit.

“Professor, I didn’t—”

“Don’t argue with me, sugar. You did what you did. Now get out of my sight.”

As I tossed my beacon on the floor, I looked back at the two men I’d been in the middle of before my fight with Callie. They both stood with their arms crossed over their chests, frowns on their faces. I wondered if they knew just how much they resembled a pair of faithful guards.

Callie got to her feet and offered me a little wave. “See you around, Asher.”

She’d marked me with a target that all but said, watch your back. She might not have said the words, but her message couldn’t have been any clearer.

This wasn’t over, not by a long shot.