Chapter 13

Asher's pov

I lay on the bed, a smile was on my face and sweat dripped down my body. At this moment, I was extremely satisfied.

I felt warmth by my side as Amelia snuggled up to me. I close my eyes, remembering the last few weeks. I remembered the walks, the games and the cuddling. I was deeply in love with her and I found myself falling even deeper every day.

I heard her sigh, my head tilted as I looked down at her. I asked if she was okay, and she smiled, telling me she was.

My brows furrowed, my heart aching. I knew she was lying. For some time now she hadn't been okay and it was really bothering me.

At times I find her staring off into space, sadness clouding her features. I had wanted to pressure her into telling me what was wrong, to get in her head. I loved her a lot and I wanted to know what was going on.

I wanted to be there for her, to let her know she could always count on me. But I decided to give her space. She's had a terrible past and I get that something like that was going to leave its own mark.

She just needed time to heal, right?

Sigh, or maybe I should just pry her open, and force her to talk to me. Although it might have some negative effects on our relationship, maybe it will at least help her heal. A little dent in our relationship couldn't affect us, if it did then that would mean that the relationship was never solid to begin with and I dreaded that thought.

I looked at her, ready to pry the information out of her, but then a knock interrupted us.

I sighed, wondering what the matter was. My subordinates knew better than to interrupt my time with Amelia.

“Come in,” I said, deciding to postpone the talk between me and Amelia until later.

The head maid walked in, smiling and bowing to greet both of us.

I nodded internally. I had been worried about Amelia, wondering if my subordinates would accept her and love her and respect her as they did me. I knew they were worried about me, after all, I hadn't had any stable relationships ever since Isabella.

I knew they might not like her, they didn't like any of the others I brought after all. But it seemed like all of my worries were unwarranted.

Ever since Amelia arrived, she had been treated with respect and adoration. The maids and guards seem to have heard about her past. This made them go easy on her and before they knew it, they liked her.

Amelia had a good personality, was more beautiful than any of the other ladies I've brought over and was well-mannered; what was there not to love?

The maid looked at me, her expression turning serious. My eyes narrowed, I knew something important must have happened.

“You have a very important guest sir.” She said

My brain ran a list of guests that was high enough in ranking for the head maid to deem important. A few came to mind, but none that made me especially concerned. But the head maid's expression made me suspicious, so I decided to ask,

“Who is it?”

“It's Uriel sir.” She replied, the respect and gravitas in her voice making my bones chill.

Uriel was Damien's butler and guardian. He had a nice personality and he was very caring. He had been and was still like an uncle to me.

Although Uriel looked like an easygoing person, in fact, he acted like one, he was also very dangerous. He once had a moniker, ‘sage wolf’. The moniker was two-sided; the first meant an old wise wolf, one that abstained from mortal things like battle and bloodshed.

The other meaning emphasized the wolf. He could have been called a sage only, but people felt the need to add the wolf part, because no matter how wise he was, how gentle, he was still a wolf, a brutal and savage one.

When I was younger, I knew nothing about his past, but when I got older, I found out that his deep blue eyes which were as vast as an ocean and as deep as the abyss housed lots of skeletons at the bottom.

Now I knew why no matter what me and Damien did when we were little, only wolves from our generation challenged us. He was our shield.

It has been a long time since I've last seen him, and with how the relationship between I and Damien was, I didn't know how to treat him.

I stood up from the bed, dressing up and preparing to leave.

I looked back, pecking Amelia on the forehead and promising to be back as soon as possible. On getting to the front of the castle, I spotted Uriel standing not too far.

He was just like I remembered, stoic and upright, his aura almost non-existent, his face housing a carefree smile.

That smile used to annoy the hell out of Damien. He hated whenever Uriel scolded him, he felt like it was a challenge to his authority and he would try to fight Uriel only to be given a good beating.

I smiled as those memories flooded my mind, nostalgia blooming in my heart as I walked forward. Those were happy days. I and Damien had been inseparable then, best of friends in fact, until she came.

As I walked forward, nervousness filled my heart and I couldn't help but wonder how Uriel would act. Would he still be like before, warm and fatherly or will he have changed, just like Damien?

When I got to his front, I stared at him, at a loss for how to greet him.

He stared at me for a while, not speaking. His carefree smile was still on his face. There was tension in the air but it felt like it was only from me.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward.

Then he looked away from me, staring off into space or at least that was what I thought.

I sensed something behind me and I turned to look, I noticed that he was staring at a window. That spot, that window, it was the window to my room, and in front of it or behind it was Amelia.

My senses sharpened as my vision zoomed in on her. She was panting, her body trembling, her heart pounding. I immediately knew what was happening. It was Uriel's eyes. It happens to a lot of people when they meet him for the first time and it isn't something he could control.

He always concealed his aura, but his eyes held an aura of their own, and when people gazed into his eyes, they saw a vast ocean as a result. An ocean that was calm on the surface but deadly deep down and just like any other ocean, the more you look, the more you'd drown until it was too late.

I felt my mind go black as anger clouded my senses. I knew I shouldn't have reacted the way I did but I couldn't control it. Adding my love for Ameliatoh to the present awkward atmosphere, not to talk of my wariness towards him, I lashed out.

My aura bloomed as I shielded Amelia, the distance not mattering. My inner wolf growled as my eyes narrowed. I stared at Uriel coldly, my eyes telling him all he needed to know; ‘I don't care about your prestige, I'll attack you right here and now if you try anything funny again.’

He shifted his gaze to mine, a strange emotion flashing through his eyes as he looked at me. Then his aura bloomed, pressing down on me and suffocating me.

My bones chilled, I never knew he was this strong, but the strange thing was the fact that no one else around me could feel the aura, I was the only one experiencing it.

‘This damn old man–’ I cursed internally, about to fight back when the aura suddenly vanished.

“I know you are not exactly on good terms with Damien but that doesn't allow you to disrespect your elders. I taught you better than that.” Uriel's aged voice resounded in my ears and I calmed down.

I realised that I was wrong. Uriel had never been one to take sides, not even when we were little. He treated me and Damien the same way and disciplined us just as equally.

I looked at him, his eyes softening up when he realised that I was calm. I smiled a helpless smile.

“I'm sorry Uriel, I just didn't know what to expect.”

“We'll have our reunion later, for now, I bring urgent news.” He said, pausing for a bit, his expression turning serious.

“Damien wants his property back.”