Alpha Asher by Jane Doe (Alpha Asher & Lola)
Chapter 189
I softened my voice, knowing he’d hate it, but it was all I could think to do.
“You scared me for a minute there. When you came into the bedroom, you weren’t yourself. It was like your wolf had taken over, but there was something wrong with him.
I know he’d never, ever hurt me, but this was different. You were both different.” I explained, glancing at the two-way mirror where I knew Zeke was currently watching.
Asher went still, his muscles growing taut where he sat against the wall. He closed his eyes and turned his face away from me.
“I f0rced myself onto you, didn’t I?” His voice dipped low, laced with rage and disgust.
“No, not exactly.” I shook my head, placing my hand on his arm.
With his lip curling, he pulled away from my touch. I tried not to let it get to me, but rejection stung in my heart like a shard of glass. Anger had me reaction, along with frustration for everything we’d been through.
There was no way in hell I’d let him beat himself up over this. This, of all the things we’d endured together, would not be what caused us to drift apart.
Snarling softly, I pushed off the cot and slid onto his lap, wrapping my legs around his waist. The feel of his solid form, a wall of muscle against my soft skin, lit my insides and filled me with a comforting warmth.
It took concentration not to let my mind stray to the fact that he was n*ked, or that he’d been the only one not to finish earlier.
“Look at me, Asher.” I demanded, placing my hand against his cheek, feeling the rough stubble beneath my fingertips. “There’s so much more to this than you know.”
He turned and looked at me, his eyes guarded and closed off in the way that I hated so much.
“Is there? I felt your fear, and I liked it. Zeke and Brandon had to pull me off of you, didn’t they?”
“The only time I was afraid was when I realized you were going to hurt me.” I retorted, my voice sharpening at the disgust that tinged his words.
“You wanted death and blood, but somehow that changed, and you started wanting…something else. I only fought because when I looked down our bond, your wolf had completely taken over.
Whatever caused it to take over also made it feral. When you started…doing things to me, I quickly stopped fighting.”
I had to f0rce the last bit through gritted teeth, glaring at Asher as my face turned beet-red. He’d better not f0rce me to elaborate any further, because if he needed me to spell it out for him, I’d definitely die of embarra*s*sment. Just then, Zeke’s voice chimed in on the speakers, deepening my blush until I contemplated never leaving this cell.
“Trust me, man. You uh, you weren’t hurting her…” He said, chuckling lightly. “Brandon and I did have to pull you off to get you into the cell, which we only did because you’d gone feral and spent the last six hours as a wolf sprinting through the woods on a one-man mission to get back here.
I think what’s more pressing is why this happened and what made you come all the way back here.”
Some of the ire faded from Asher’s eyes, but there was still a note of disbelief that lingered.
I sighed quietly and opened my mind to him, replaying the events in my head from the moment he’d placed his hand over my mouth, up until his brother and best friend barged into the bedroom.
Asher watched the memory to its conclusion, hearing every one of my thoughts and feeling the rush of sensations that overtook me.
Trapped beneath me, I felt his c**k stir and watched as his eyes darkened, swirling with flecks of glittering gold.
‘You little liar…’ His raspy voice trailed across the bond, flowing through the mind-link. ‘I did f0rce myself on you, what you didn’t mention is how much you enjoyed it.’
I startled a bit at the sound of his voice, clearing my throat even though I had no intention on responding out loud.
‘Look, I’m still working through that fact myself. Maybe we can revisit that part at a later time.’ I replied, flushing as I looked away.
Asher’s eyes, still swirling with gold, pinned me in place. His hands found my hips, squeezing gently before letting go.
Believe me, we will. Once we’ve figured out what happened to make my wolf go feral, we’ll have a long conversation about this.’
Just then, the cell door slid open, and Zeke’s head appeared around the thick metal. His eyebrow was already raised, and his lips twitched as he took in Asher and me.
“As much as I hate to interrupt this moment you two are having, I don’t need any more reminders my s*e*x life is severely lacking.
Seeing as I no longer have to worry about my closest friend k*il*ling me, I think it’s safe to let you out.” He smirked, and the expression only deepened as he took in my heated face.
Asher’s face twisted into a grimace. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I could go feral again and actually hurt somebody.”
“I don’t know, man. I think you’ll be alright. Nothing like this has happened before, which means if magic is involved, then it’s because of something recent.
Once we figure out what triggered it, we can find the cause.” Zeke shrugged, “Until then, this pack needs it’s Alpha.”
For a moment, Asher was silent. Seconds passed and just when I thought he’d refuse a second time, he answered the one question we’d all been thinking.
“I think Lola is what triggered it.” He stated, not a hint of doubt in his voice. “I heard her scream for help, and something just snapped.”
Zeke tilted his head, “You screamed for help?”
“It’s a long story, but yeah.” I nodded, “Breyona actually came to the rescue.”
“How? Isn’t she hours away with Giovanni?” Zeke questioned.
Asher hit me with a pointed look, one that said we’d talk about my impromptu mission to the Vampire Lair later on. With little more than a huff, I pushed myself off Asher’s lap and held out my hand.
He was a bit reluctant to take it and leave the cell, but I knew that Zeke was right about this pack needing Asher Together, the three of us sat at the metal observation table, the ancient book on my family line wedged between us all.
Without wasting any more time, I launched into what happened when Tristan and I left the pack in search of the Vampire’s Bridgette had told us about.
Leaving no stone unturned, I recounted everything, from the warning’s the witches had uttered, to the way Breyona seemed to explode from the shadows.
At the conclusion of my story, Asher’s snarl split the air.
“We’ll slaughter them all before they get the chance to enslave you.” He ground out, his eyes flaring, and jaw clenched.
Seeing the look of worry on Zeke and I’s faces, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “It’s alright, I’m in control. The witch said you made Breyona into a shadow creature?”
Zeke chimed in, reluctantly dragging his eyes away from Asher. “Don’t you have to make deals with them to get them to listen to you?”
I shook my head. “No, lately they’ve been following my commands. Honestly, I don’t think it has to do with my power as the Vampire Queen anymore.
I think it’s the witch side of my family that’s allowing me to do this, but with the way those witches were talking, it sounds like there’s a lot more I can do than just control the shadows. Which is exactly why I brought this.”
I gestured to the book in front of me, with it’s leather -bound cover etched in solid gold that arced and swirled in a delicate looking pattern.
The spine of the book had the same design and was free of any words that might allude to what’s inside.
Asher’s hand found my own as I cracked open the cover, an everlasting source of comfort I knew I could count on.
He was still battling his own demons, the ones that continued to weigh on him and provoke his protective nature, only now he had to swallow the fact that he himself had almost caused me harm.
As terrifying as that still was, separating from each other would only make things worse, that much I was sure of.
The light scent of dust permeated the air, mixing with the slightly sweet and bitter scent of aged leather. Each page sparkled as I turned it, the thick edges dipped in a gold paint that mirrored the cover and spine.
The first fifty pages were nothing but names, dates, and times, each one scratched within its own little box.
“It’s birth and death records.” Asher murmured, tilting the book towards himself to read some of the names written down. “Celeste Renaldi, Tamara Renaldi, Anastasia Renaldi…they’re all ancestors of yours.”
“Goddess, this thing goes back thousands of years. Look at that, this is from the 14th century. See how many of them died in Europe? Cause of death says’ sickness.’
That has to be talking about the Black Death. It wiped out millions of humans and werewolves alike.” Zeke murmured, his eyes wide.
Both Asher and I paused, craning our heads to look up at Zeke at the same time. Seeing the expression on both our faces, he scoffed.
“That’s right, I can be smart and s*e*xy.” He retorted.
It wasn’t impressive that he made me laugh, but that he managed to coax a chuckle out of Asher, lessening the severe look on his face.
The records of the Renaldi witches continued for another couple of pages. Starting at the earliest point in history was a family tree.
There were some dead ends where the names were scratched out or erased altogether, but that wasn’t what we were looking for anyway.
Finally, after flipping through another fifty pages of my family tree, we came across something different.
The page in itself was plain, but it was the words scrawled across the middle that piqued my interest.
‘Magic of the Renaldi Witches/’
My heart skipped a beat as Asher turned the page. At first glance, the layout looked similar to the magical textbook Cordelia and Rowena had me studying from.
The various types of magic were laid out in bold handwriting, and I was proud to say that I recognized each one.
The page started with protection magic, before working its way to natural, divination, sigil, blood, spirit, and finally, elemental. Each of the seven types was covered on just a couple of pages.
I’d just about given up hope of finding anything new when Zeke turned another page and made a small sound of surprise.
“Oh, look. There’s an eighth type of magic.”
I snapped forward in my seat, Asher as well. The coffee in my hand was long forgotten when Zeke tapped the page, right where the word ‘Conjuration’ sat in bold, blood-red letters.
“There are only seven types of magic, though. That’s all Cordelia and Rowena said existed.” I shook my head in denial, but the words were printed right in front of my face.
Zeke bit down on his lower lip, his expression morphing into what I liked to call his ‘thinking face.’
“Mm, no it says it right here.” He murmured, tapping the page a second time.
“An eighth type of magic known to very few, dangerous and uninhibited in its absolute power, is Conjuration. Apparently, it’s run in the Renaldi line for years, but it’s only given to the first born.”
I stared at the page, wondering if this was the magic the witches were so terrified I’d master. The whole dangerous and uninhibited in it’s absolute power’ bit was worrisome, but that didn’t mean it was the solution we were looking for.
The more Zeke read, the more I began to eat my words.
“What’s this magic do?” Asher asked, leaning in, and staring down at the book.
I was the only one flush against the seat, my spine rod straight as I watched the two of them. There was something twisting and turning in my gut, growing more impatient as time passed.
I had no name for this thing, but if I had to guess, I’d say it was my magic. It knew we were close to getting answers, and somehow, I knew that those answers, they would change everything.
Both the guys stiffened at the same time, locking eyes over the withered pages of the book before swiveling their heads in my direction.
“What?” I snapped, my tone harsher than I meant but the two of them were just staring at me, both open mouthed with a mix of awe and worry in their eyes.
Zeke swallowed, “We found out what Conjuration is, and I see why the witches are scared sh*tless of you learning to use it.”
“What is it? What can it do?” I asked, my heart pounding furiously in my chest.
Asher blinked, a look of pride softening the harsh angles of his face.
“That’s why they’re so desperate to have you under their control. Conjuration…it can do anything.” He murmured, “it says here that you can quite literally shape reality. Your wants, your dreams-even your nightmares, you can make them happen.”