Chapter 100- It's Time.

“You’ve met your mate? Since when?”, Asher could not hide the hurt in his voice,

“Since he turned sixteen, I was twenty one at the time”, Darian confessed, unable to look at his best friend.

“You’ve had a mate for that long and you didn’t even bother to tell me?”, pain spread through his features- his best friend had held something so precious from him for so long,

“How was I supposed to tell you when you were always bothered about yourself and only yourself?”, Darian spat angrily, “Besides, you do not get to point that accusatory finger at me! Your mate was my sister and you never deemed it fit to tell me!”,

Asher scoffed at the calling out, “My case is different in many ways! I was with your other sister and we were happy. I didn’t want you to hate me!”, he yelled,

“Wake up Asher! Neither of you were happy. Both of you were just two miserable and pathetic people who found comfort in each other’s company”, Darian took a step closer to Asher, challenging him, “If you don’t realize it, you’re not the only one going through hard times, other people just don’t scream in around like you do”, a dry laugh escaped Darian’s lips, “You think you’re the only one having an issue with acceptance? Well, I have to meet my mate in private and I can’t even show him off because he is a man! Nobody will accept us, nobody!”.

“I will accept you”, Asher said after a while, “No matter how you feel about me Darian, I will always be your best friend and I will support your decisions no matter what. Stand down”, Darian still looked furious, Asher’s calm words were not working. “Stand down”, this time, his tone had a warning to it- there was only so much an Alpha wolf could take and the last thing he wanted right then was to hurt his Beta. “Please, stand down”, his wolf wanted to take the fore front and ‘take care’ of the lower wolf who dared to challenge him but Asher was pushing him down- with much difficulty.

Without an alarm, Darian snapped, he wanted to bury his fists in his Alpha’s skull but before he could complete a step towards Asher, Viola held him back. His head immediately whipped in her direction and she shook her head- don’t do something you would either live or die to regret.

He calmed down and fell into his news, his head down as he bowed before Asher, “I apologize Alpha, I do not know what came over me”, his words sounded robotic, clearly, he knew exactly what he was doing- then and there, he wanted nothing more than to punch Asher in the face for all he had done to his family.

He was a fucking selfish prick and he hated the fact that he still saw him as a best friend. They had been through so much together and twenty two years wasn’t something that could just be thrown away as if it was nothing.

So yes, his best friend and Alpha was a complete asshole with a horrid attitude but he had sworn to stay by his side no matter what, so that was what he would do.

Asher sighed and went to stand in front of Darian before kneeling down as well, “I know I’m a tough nut to crack and I appreciate that you have stuck with me for this long. It’s high time I do something for you. I will get your mate back even if it’s the last thing I do- you have my word.

Asher stood to his feet, “Get the men ready”, he said to a guard, “This fight might be taking place today”, he turned back to Darian who was pushing himself off the floor, “Can you tell me where their hideout is?”,

“I’m coming with you”,

“No, I need you to prepare the men for battle”, Asher spoke, as he started moving towards the house.

“How are you so sure that this is happening today?”, Darian asked, following him,

“Because they think they are unpredictable. They will probably run here when things start to get ugly”, Asher stopped in his tracks and turned to Darian, “I need you to stay here and make sure there are no fatalities- I trust you”.

Darian sighed and nodded his head in acceptance, “Should I prepare a team for you?”,

Asher shook his head, “I would be going with my brothers alone…”,

“I’m coming too”, a feminine voice came from behind Darian, causing Asher to groan and pinch the bridge of his nose, “She’s my sister!”, Viola exclaimed, she wasn’t going to let Asher talk her out of this, not this time.

“Bringing emotion into this will ruin everything we have worked for”, Asher pointed out, causing Viola to scoff and shake her head in disbelief,

“I should be telling you the same thing”, she smirked, “If this was a case of ‘emotions ruining the plan’, you would be the last person to be on this mission, don’t you think?”,

He let out a low grunt before turning away, “Fine”, he spat harshly, “Do what pleases you”, with that, he walked away.

Once Asher was out of hearing range, Viola turned to Darian, "Is it true? Is Imogen really with... her?", to her dismay, her brother nodded his head, "Addilyn is one cunning bitch!", she spat, "She had planned this all along, I was just a decoy!", tears coated and brimmed her eyes, "What on earth has Imogen gotten herself into?", She bit her lower lip,

"She has made a deal with the devil V and its time for her to dance to her tunes", Darian spoke rather harshly. He replayed the scene that had been stuck in his head for the past few hours. He remembered watching from the trees as Addilyn came out of the building they were seeking refuge in, he recalled the way his aunt looked at his mate and it made him furious. Addilyn had turned back and said something and that was when she came out- his sister, a traitor. He watched in disbelief as the person they had been worried sick over was laughing with their enemy.

"There has to be a reason!", this all did not make sense to Viola, "Imogen is not that kind of person. She would betray her entire family before betraying Asher", yes, her sister was a bitch but she did not believe for even a second that she was capable of betraying Asher. Maybe Darian was right and they were miserable together but she knew for a fact that her sister did in fact love Asher and would go through any length protect him and keep him safe. She scoffed at how ironic she was being- she should want her sister crucified but yet, she just couldn't bring herself to believe all this.

"Believe what you want, it doesn't change the fact that I saw it with my own two fucking eyes", he spat, it was quite clear that he was exhausted and wasn't in the mood for this conversation- it was touchy and draining and the more he thought about it, the more it made him want to bawl his eyes out and curl himself up in a little ball as he cried himself to sleep but no, he could not have that. He had to be strong, after all, that was his job as the Beta, right? Be strong for everybody even when you are going through a tougher time- his somehow now evil sister had captured his mate, it was a tough one to digest and he was nearing the brink of insanity, "I don't want to feel anything", he admitted,

"She is your sister, Darian, it's okay to feel things", Viola stated and moved closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder in a reassuring manner,

"I want to feel numb but my heart, I feel like its burning into nothing- the pain is too much to bear", tears had started to fall freely from his eyes and he wasn't going to stop them this time- he couldn't stop them even if he wanted to. "I trusted her so much", Viola immediately pulled him into a hug, his head resting awkwardly on her shoulder and his arm flailing uncomfortably at his sides. He couldn't care more or less though, he just cried, staining his sister's shirt with his tears and somewhere in the middle of his fit, he wrapped his arms around her and screamed into her shoulder, the sound muffled by her body. She just stood there though, not caring that the sound had nearly shattered her eardrums.

She rubbed soothing circles on his back, encouraging him to let the river flow freely. He had a lot to cry about and it was finally time for his to let the dam fall, "There, there", she whispered almost silently, "Let it all out", this made him cry more and even though he willed himselof to stop, he just couldn't. He was a full grown man, crying in his younger sister's arms in the middle of his Alpha's living room- yes, he was a mess. A complete and utter mess who just wanted to catch a break from life.

They suddenly heard footsteps coming down the stairs and they pulled away from each other, Darian wiping his entire face with his sleeves, although, that as only good enough to wipe his tears and not the fact that his eyes were red, raw and blotchy or the fact that his face was as red as a tomato. Whilst, Viola adjusted her shirt pushing the damp area of her clothing to the back were Asher wouldn't be able to see it- somehow, they were hoping that Asher wouldn't be able to tell that Darian was crying but his face alone was a dead giveaway, luckily for them though, he did not point it out or bring it up, "It's time", was all he said.