Chapter 161

Chapter 161
Asher's POV

Morning came, but the light didn’t lighten up my mood. The light that slipped through the window was dull and lifeless, like the world had lost its color overnight. 

I sat there, unmoving, my hands clenched so tight they ached. I kept seeing it again. Phina slipping away from me, her presence fading like something I could not hold on to. My chest tightened every time the memory hit, like something inside me refused to accept it.

“I should have known,” I muttered, my voice rough. “I felt it… and I still let her go.”

The words tasted bitter, heavy with blame I could not shake. The room stayed quiet, too quiet. Even the air felt still, pressing against my skin, making every breath feel heavier than it should. My fingers curled tighter, nails digging into my palm as if pain could clear my head.

A soft sound broke through the silence. Zayn stepped closer, careful, like he was approaching something fragile.

“Asher,” he said, steady but firm, “you need to pull yourself together. Sitting here won’t bring her back.”

I let out a dry laugh, one that didn’t carry any humor.

“You think I don’t know that?” I shot back, lifting my head just enough to look at him. “I’m trying, Zayn. I just… I don’t know where to start.”

He didn’t back down. Zayn rarely did.

“Then start with what you do know,” he replied, crossing his arms. “She was taken. That means someone planned it. That means there’s a trail.”

I stood abruptly, pacing a few steps before stopping again. My breathing was uneven, my thoughts scattered, refusing to line up the way they usually did.

“And what if I’m already too late?” I asked quietly. “What if every second I waste here makes it worse for her?”

Zayn’s voice softened, but it didn’t lose its edge.

“Then you stop wasting time blaming yourself and start thinking like the Alpha you are.”

He stepped closer, his gaze steady.

“Phina needs you focused, not broken.”

His words hit harder than I expected. I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling slowly, trying to steady the storm inside me. The room still felt heavy, but something shifted, just enough to let me breathe a little easier.

Before I could say anything else, a knock echoed through the room. It was sharp, sudden, breaking whatever fragile moment we had. I turned toward the door, my jaw tightening as a bad feeling settled deep in my chest.

“Come in,” I said, my voice low, already bracing for whatever was about to walk through that door.

The door creaked open, and the two alphas stepped inside like they owned the air they breathed. Their presence filled the room with a quiet tension that made my skin tighten. I didn’t sit. I didn’t offer anything. I just watched.

One of them cleared his throat, his tone sharp and measured.

“We bring a message,” he said, glancing briefly at Zayn before settling his gaze on me. “Jason has Phina. That much you already know.”

My jaw tightened, but I said nothing. The words hit, even though I had been expecting them. The room felt smaller, the dull light pressing harder against my eyes.

“He’s willing to spare you,” the second alpha added, voice colder, almost amused. “You and your entire pack walk away untouched.”

He paused just long enough for the silence to grow heavy.

I took a slow breath, my fists clenching at my sides.

“And the price?” I asked, my voice low and controlled. I already knew there would be one. There was always a cost.

The first alpha smirked slightly.

“Simple. You come to his territory. In front of everyone… you kneel.”

He let the word hang, sharp and deliberate.

“You acknowledge him as the superior Alpha.”

The silence that followed was crushing. I could hear my own heartbeat, loud and steady, pounding in my ears. My jaw locked so tight it hurt, and I tasted something bitter at the back of my throat. Zayn shifted beside me, but I barely noticed.

My focus stayed on them, on the calm way they delivered something meant to break me.

“Say that again,” I said quietly, my voice carrying a dangerous edge.

The second alpha didn’t hesitate.

“You kneel,” he repeated. “You submit, and your pack lives. Refuse… and what happens next is on you.”

His tone was flat, but the insult burned like fire.

A laugh slipped out of me, low and humorless.

“So that’s his game,” I muttered, shaking my head slowly. “He takes what’s mine… and expects me to bow for the privilege of keeping the rest.”

The air felt thick, charged with something ready to snap. My fingers twitched, every instinct screaming against the idea. This wasn’t just a demand. It was humiliation, a strike at everything I was.

“You should consider it carefully,” the first alpha said, folding his arms. “Pride won’t save her. Pride won’t save your pack.”

I lifted my head fully then, meeting his gaze with something dark and steady. The anger I had been holding back stirred, rising fast, pushing against the walls I had barely kept intact.

Something inside me snapped.

The moment the words left his mouth, my body moved before my mind could catch up. I closed the distance in a heartbeat and drove my fist straight into his face. The crack echoed through the room, sharp and sudden.

He staggered back, but I didn’t stop. Rage poured through me, hot and blinding, and I hit him again, harder this time.

“You think I’ll kneel?” I growled, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him into the wall. The impact shook the room, dust falling from the ceiling. “You think I’ll bow to him after he takes her?”

The second alpha lunged at me, trying to pull me off. I turned and struck him across the jaw, sending him crashing to the floor. My chest heaved, each breath rough and loud, my pulse roaring in my ears.

They tried to fight back, but I was faster. Stronger. Every blow I landed carried the weight of everything I felt, grief, anger, guilt, all crashing out at once. The sound of fists hitting flesh filled the room, dull and brutal.

“Stop!” Zayn’s voice cut through the chaos, but it barely reached me. My vision had narrowed, focused only on the man beneath my hands.

I gripped his throat, tightening slowly, watching the fear creep into his eyes.

“This is what he sends?” I hissed, leaning closer. “Messengers to insult me in my own territory?”

My fingers tightened, and his struggles grew weaker. The air felt thick, heavy with sweat and violence.

“Asher, enough!” Zayn shouted, grabbing my arm. His grip was strong, but I resisted, every instinct screaming to finish it.

My breathing was ragged, my body trembling with the force of holding back.

“He deserves it,” I muttered, my voice low and dangerous. “They all do.”

The man beneath me choked, his hands clawing weakly at mine. Zayn pulled harder this time, forcing me back.

“If you kill them, you start a war we are not ready for,” he said sharply. “Think. Phina needs you thinking, not losing control.”

His words hit something deep. I froze for a second, my grip loosening just enough for the alpha to gasp for air. The room spun slightly as the anger crashed into something heavier, something colder.

I stepped back slowly, my chest rising and falling hard. My hands shook, still curled like they wanted to strike again.

The silence that followed felt louder than the fight itself. I ran a hand over my face, trying to steady myself, but the storm inside me refused to settle. Every path ahead felt wrong, twisted, impossible.

“What do I do now…” I muttered under my breath, my voice rough with everything I couldn’t control.