Chapter 25: _ Asher

Chapter Twenty Five

*Cian*

“What am I supposed to do? Just stand here like this?” Devon asked, twirling a piece of hair on his finger. He glanced down at the curvy frame he sported. “On second thought . . .”

“Attack.”

Asher narrowed her focus on Callie’s doppelgänger and balled her hands into fists. “I don’t want to kill him.”

“You won’t,” I promised. “Focus on your movements, not your emotions. When your anger pushes you to react, I want you to ignore it. At least for now. The purpose of this exercise is to subdue, not harm. Just like in class.”

I ran my fingers up the sides of her neck, working the muscles to center her. I could feel her pulse beating like a caged bird fluttering in vain for freedom, but she nodded. “Subdue, not harm. Got it.”

Devon seemed to settle into his role after my little speech. He began taunting her with a surprisingly good impression of the vampire. “You pathetic little nobody. You think you’re remotely on my level? On my worst day, you aren’t even close. Jackson ’s taking pity on you. All he wants you for is your blood.”

The air around Asher crackled with energy, a feeling akin to the atmosphere just before lightning struck. The ends of her hair lifted, just enough I noticed, and with a calming palm between her shoulders, I murmured against the shell of her ear, “You can do this, Kærasta.”

Everything stopped the moment the endearment fell from my lips. Why was I calling her that? It wasn’t a word used lightly. For the men in my family, hailing all the way back to my grandfather’s time, it was the term reserved for their true mates. The woman who called to their soul. I had absolutely no business using it with Asher. Did I?

Her rage didn’t ease as it should have because I lost my damned focus and had taken my hand off her. Before I could fix what I’d broken, she lunged, a wild growl tearing from her chest. I released the magic keeping Devon in the form of Callie to give him a fighting chance at subduing Asher.

Devon, thankfully, seemed to realize something had changed because he dropped all pretense, his body language shifting as he prepared to intercept her. Amber flashed in his eyes as his beast merged with his human form.

“Asher,” he growled, his voice lower and filled with authority, “stop.”

He’d used an Alpha’s command, I realized. But he wasn’t Asher’s Alpha. And she wasn’t obeying.

“No. I’ll never stop fighting you. All you want is to command me, control me.” Asher pinned him, possessing a strength she shouldn’t have. Devon was the next in line to take the position of prime Alpha of his pack. He was more powerful than most wolves, built to defend and protect. But the small, curvaceous woman straddled him and held him down. “I can’t stop.”

Well, this didn’t go as expected.

^Asher^

Anger boiled in my veins, uncontainable and near painful. My skin felt like a live wire had touched it, an electric current racing across every exposed inch. All I knew was I needed to dominate this threat in front of me. Devon was here to take my freedom, just like everyone else in my life had done from the time I was born. I wouldn’t cave to him.

A growl ripped from somewhere deep in my chest as I gripped his shoulders and pinned him to the ground. Searing pain burned through my fingertips where they dug into his skin, making his eyes widen.

“Asher!” Cian shouted in panic.

“Stop. I’ve got this,” Devon said. “Just go. You’ve done enough.”

Cian’s palm hovered over my shoulder. I could feel his energy even though he didn’t touch me, wasn’t in my line of sight. It should’ve unnerved me that I knew he was right there without seeing him. But I was too focused on the wannabe Alpha in my grasp.

“You’re still a cocky asshole, Devon. Even when I’ve got you beat.”

Devon’s eyes narrowed, that powerful jaw clenching before he closed his eyes and took a long breath. One tattoo-covered arm lifted, and I tensed, ready to tear him to shreds if he tried anything, but he cupped my cheek gently, making me uneasy. Then his eyes flicked open, and that penetrating gaze of his locked onto me, his wolf talking to mine. I relaxed just a fraction, my nipples doing the opposite, responding to my wolf’s call to take him as hers. His large palm slid down my body, between my breasts, until he rested at the curve of my waist. When he brought up the other hand and rested them both on my hips, I couldn’t help but take in a sharp breath.

“That’s it,” he whispered encouragingly. “Focus on my wolf. You don’t want to hurt us, Ash.”

He was right. The haze of rage and the need to fight began trickling out of me. But I still couldn’t let him win.

Devon must have read it in my body language. A shudder ran through him, as if he’d reached a decision he wasn’t entirely sure about. Then, still holding my gaze, he slowly tipped his chin up, baring his throat to me in submission.

My heart fluttered, frantic and wild. He’d submitted. Wait. He’d submitted? Holy shit.

“Only for you, Asher.” His words were breathy, as though this had cost him everything.

“What the hell just happened?” Cian asked, his voice low and cautious. “You just let her dominate you? You’re an Alpha. I’ve never seen it done.”

Devon looked over my shoulder at Cian, a growl working its way up his throat. “You can leave now. I don’t have to explain anything to you.”

Cian hesitated behind me. I could still feel his presence looming.

“It’s okay,” I told him. “We’ll be fine.”

The weight of Devon’s hands on me, the way his fingers dug into my flesh, paired with the obvious erection in his jeans, had me wondering if what I’d just said was true. Would we be fine? Or would I do something I’d regret?

“If you’re sure . . .”

“He won’t hurt me.”

Emotion flickered in Devon’s eyes, there and then gone. “I would never hurt you, Asher. You’re my mate. All I’ve ever wanted to do was protect you.”

Why did that strike such a chord inside me? I hadn’t ever let the idea of him as my mate take hold because it wasn’t going to happen. I was damaged goods, and once he realized it, he’d send me away. Replaced and disgraced. But now? Every word he’d just said rang with absolute truth and honesty.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words escaped. I was too swept up in my confusion.

Cian must have realized he was definitely intruding on something more than wolf dynamics because I heard his footsteps as he walked off. “I’ll check in on you later,” he called. But it felt more like a warning for Devon than a promise to me.

“Alone at last,” Devon murmured, rolling his hips a fraction.

I was ashamed to admit how much my wolf wanted to respond, to let him claim me as his mate.

“As much as I enjoy the experience of you on top of me, maybe you could do something about those claws? I have plenty of body piercings already.”

Glancing down to where my fingers were dug into his chest, I gasped at the sight of his blood seeping through the thin gray Henley he wore. How the hell had I done that?

I pulled my hands away, my heart racing when instead of fingers I saw long, sharp claws.

“What the fuck?”

“You know what it means. Only Alphas can partially shift.”

No. I wasn’t an Alpha. While I’d been born a beta, I’d been treated as little more than breeding stock and political fodder once my wolf refused to appear. “But I didn’t know I was doing it.”

He sat up, me still straddled across his lap, one arm around my waist, holding me close.

“Doesn’t matter. Your wolf knew what she was doing. She’s trying to come out. You need to free her. She wants me to help her . . . to make her mine.”