Asher

Asher

Istare and stare at the carved-out flowers on Audra’s door that Elaine had just shut on my face. Of course, she would think I was being unreasonable! The girl was hearing about werewolves for the first time in her life since she had only lived as and with humans.

A sigh pushes its way past my lips and my forehead almost bumped against the wooden door while I shuffled my weight from one foot to another. Maybe I could knock again and be nicer?

Yesterday afternoon, when I had met with Audra to discuss a few things my father had told me, she had warned me that no pack should approach Elaine at any cost. It was absurd as it is. What’s weirder was that Audra had given no explanation at all. She switched topics, refusing to tell me why no pack should approach a wolf shifter.

Maybe I should knock again.

A twig to my left and behind a few trees into the woods snaps. The sound was small enough to pass as a squirrel rushing up a tree. I knew better. My ears perked up and the smell of another being infiltrated my nostrils. Was Aunt Audra expecting somebody?

Even if she was, the ’guest’ wouldn’t hide in the woods.

The light bulb in my mind went off so I ducked my head, placed one palm on my nape to at least look sheepish and apologetic. Something told me this person or creature had no good intentions against Elaine. She was alone in the house, unaware of the existence of so much.

My skin crawled with the feeling of being watched and yet I couldn’t do anything about it just yet, so I turned around and left in the opposite direction with a disappointed sigh. Whoever it was, must’ve taken that as me leaving. What a well-executed plan.

I walked around for another minute just to make things a little more realistic before using all my strength to run back in from the woods. The man or woman, whoever it was, I had heard was on the left side, which meant the back of the house. From what I remembered the first time I saw her; her room was in the same direction.

Oh, hell no!

Panic made its trails clear on my face; Elaine was in danger!

When I finally came to a stop in front of the house again, this time huffing and panting no matter how much I tried to stay silent. Just like I had expected, there he was. A man clad in a black hoodie, approaching the house with wicked hunched shoulders. From his back and the distance between us, I could make out that he was just as tall and bulky as me.

"Hey!" I called out and the guy turned around, eyes widening in horror for a minute before he recomposed himself and scanned me up and down. "Who are you?"

Once again, he only looks at me with clashed brows. There was depth in his eyes, a kind of sickness you can make out from the way a person looks at others. The air smelled of tension and jealousy. Did I know him? Why was he jealous of—?

Oh. A wolf.

"None of your business," he grumbles, deep and reverberating.

I almost thought I knew him but there was no way he was from our pack. I would know, obviously.

"Everything is my business in this town," I tell him, drawing myself closer with a few long strides. Usually, a wolf would know that I was the Alpha’s son but this one, he stank of jealousy and disrespect. "Tell me your name," my demand wired a dry chuckle out of him and it made my blood boil.

"Justin," he says eventually. "The name is Justin, better remember it."

Confusion grows in me but my anger and senses told me that Elaine’s safety right now was more important than how I felt. More important than Justin’s whereabouts. I needed to know his purpose.

"You’re going to ask me what I’m doing here, aren’t you?" The man smirked and my fists closed involuntarily. I could sense he was getting angry, too.

"What do you want?" I ask ,instead. "What is your purpose to be around here?"

"Why?" Justin scoffs cockily. "Can’t people walk around town anymore, Asher?"

My name.

"How the hell…" I stepped closer. "Do you know my name? The only pack in this town is mine. You better return to where you came from or it’s going to be a wreck. For both you and me." Justin stood his ground, shedding his hood and maintained eye contact with me.

"I’m not here for you or your pack. I’m here to see my mate." My face falls and he takes notice of it. Elaine had a mate? A wolf mate? How could she not know about wolves then?

"You’re lying." I scoffed in disbelief, head jerking back with surprise when he chuckles dryly.

"Let me prove it to you then."

The thing about surprises is that they don’t come in waves or parts, it comes all at once and in seconds, so before you have the time to react or fight against it; it sweeps you away. That’s exactly what happened when Justin’s claws shifted out, his jaw locked, and eyes swirled with golden.

For a second, I only watched him. I watched him as he shifted into his true wolf form. A predator and I was the prey. Justin’s brown coat of fur, same dark eyes reminded me of something I hadn’t thought of in a while but I shook it off just as soon as it came into vision.

He was already charging at me, with everything having happened in a matter of seconds, I had no time to shift. Justin in his wolf form was far stronger than my human form and he easily pinned me down by the shoulders, aggressively scratching down my neck and chest.

"Who on earth are you?!" I screamed, finding it too hard to escape his grip and bodyweight upon me. It was when the smell of my own blood hit me hard that I growled, my wolf jumping desperately just to win. I gathered enough strength to push him out so I could shift, too.

Justin only howled in response to my question, a snickering sound of his throat fueled my shifting faster and further. Soon enough, my clothes had ripped to the damp soil in the woods and white fur shone brightly against the dull color of blood over my chest. I howled and growled at him in anger before charging with full power at the black wolf.

He snarls wild and free when my teeth scraped against his throat but fought back. His strength was neck to neck with mine, which was just as surprising despite my wounds. Who exactly was he to hurt the next Alpha like that? I thrashed his wolf against the rough tree trunks. He landed with a thud, but didn’t waste time in catching his breath.

The very next moment his claws peeled bits of skin off my back and I was once again on the ground, mewling and moaning in pain. The cackles of laughter I could make out were his and for the moment that my vision blurred in pain, all I could think about was Elaine.

As if on cue, the door bolted open. Elaine stood, trembling and shaking with her eyes red in fear. I tried to push Justin off and reach out to her, but like I had expected, she didn’t recognize me, only cowered as she stood frozen at the door.

The black wolf took it as his opportunity to attack the girl while I was still trying my hardest to stand up and protect her with my wounds. "Elaine! Run!" I wanted to scream but it only came out as a loud growl that scared her further.

I run up, try to get in between both of them, but Justin delivers a strong paw to my head. Once again, it was enough to knock me unconscious for five to ten seconds. What I saw next made my heart stop for a moment, Justin’s claws were digging into Elaine’s wrists, holding her in place while he bared his teeth against her unmarked neck.

This meant that he definitely wasn’t her mate!

I trudge up back to my feet and was just about to run towards her but my feet were weak with the blood still oozing out from various wounds. My head was spinning. My ears shot up at Elaine’s pained yell of something I wasn’t expecting.

"Asher! ASHER! HELP ME! PLEASE!" She had pleaded.