Chapter 183

I ran across campus, with Aimee and Nicole close behind. I knew it was dangerous for the baby, but I couldn’t help it. If Asher got hurt… If anything happened that he couldn’t take back…

“Keep going,” Lilith said in my mind, worry in her voice. “I will protect the baby until you get there.”

It would strain Lilith to do so, I knew that, but if she was willing, I had to get us to Asher before something terrible happened.

We raced toward Asher’s dorm. We found the quad just out front, and the growing, gathered crowd told us where the action was.

I pushed my way through the crowd, following the sound of the familiar, deadly growl I knew so well.

“Asher!”

Asher was partially shifted, halfway between wolf and man. His long limbs held Lamar to the ground. His sharp teeth snapped at him.

He was terrifying yet beautiful. A wild, deadly Alpha.

“Asher, stop!”

I stopped at his side, but was unsure if I should try to touch him. Like this, I wasn’t sure if he even knew his own name.

No, that was unfair. In whatever the form, Asher would never harm me.

I stepped forward and wrapped both of my arms around one of his. I tugged.

“Asher, please. Stop!”

His icy blue eyes, the same in every form, fell onto me. With his strength, he could have easily shrugged me off or ignored me entirely. Instead, he followed where I pulled him, away from Lamar.

Free, Lamar scrambled to his feet and backed up several steps. “That… animal. You all saw it! He attacked me!”

I pressed my hand to the side of Asher’s face. It was a gruesome sight, with his body caught mid-shift.

“I’m here, Asher,” I said, keeping my voice gentle. “Come back to me.”

“Cyn...thia…” he rumbled.

“Yes, that’s right. I’m right here. Shift back, Asher. Please.”

He closed his eyes. I watched his strain, as he fought to pull his wolf back.

“Cynthia,” Lamar called, from a safe distance away. “Get away from him before he hurts you!”

“He won’t hurt me,” I said, never taking my eyes off Asher.

Slowly, his animalistic features retracted, and he returned to his fully human shape. His eyes remained dazed, like he didn’t quite know where he was.

“You are safe,” I told him.

“Don’t… go… with Lamar…” As he spoke, every word sounded like a struggle. He growled at himself. “Cyn…”

“It’s okay. You are okay.”

“Cynthia, don’t stay near him!” Lamar called, fear quaking his voice.

“I have to talk to Lamar now,” I told Asher. “You are okay. Just stay here.”

“N-no…” Asher wrapped his arms around himself, as if he fought to control himself.

“I’ll be right back,” I promised. I didn’t want to leave Asher, but I had to talk with Lamar and find out what had happened. What could have provoked this strong of a reaction?

I backed away from Asher and went to Lamar, who immediately grabbed my arm in a vice grip. He seemed to have no intention of letting go.

“You’ve seen for yourself now what he’s like. This attack was unprovoked. I was just standing there. I didn’t do anything.” Lamar was talking almost too quickly to follow. “He’s so possessive of you, Cynthia. He wanted to kill me just for knowing you.”

That couldn’t have been how it happened. Asher would not have attacked someone just for that.

“Are you sure you didn’t… say anything?” I asked, trying to be sensitive. I noticed now, the bruises and cuts that marred his skin. Whatever the cause, Asher had roughed him up some.

“He’s like this when it comes to you, Cynthia. He hides it from you so you don’t know, but this is how he is.”

I wasn’t sure what to believe.

Asher was very protective. And he could be possessive.

If this fight had been about me…

Asher had hurt him, even if these wounds weren’t deep or serious.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” I said. It was the least I could do. I felt responsible. “Then we can talk about it.”

“Okay,” Lamar said.

I glanced back at Asher. He was on his knees. He looked exhausted. Aimee and Nicole were beside him, though. I knew they would help him in my stead.

I would check on him after talking with Lamar.

Lamar pulled me toward the dorm, and I went with him.

I went with Lamar to his dorm room. He removed his shirt and sat on a chair, while I worked to clean out his scrapes and cuts.

As I had initially suspected, the wounds were superficial, and though they might have stung now as I cleaned them, they would heal soon without much issue.

I asked Lamar again for an explanation, but his answer this time was just as unsatisfying as the last.

“He went crazy. All I did was walk by him.”

“You didn’t say anything at all?” I asked.

“What could I have said that would have justified that reaction, Cynthia?”

Very few things would have justified it, exactly, but I still had serious doubts that Asher would attack unprompted.

“I’m just trying to understand,” I said.

He frowned at me. “You don’t trust me.”

“It’s not like that. But I’ve known Asher longer than you, and he wouldn’t just –”

“He would, Cynthia. I’m telling you he would. He doesn’t want anyone else to have you.”

I shook my head. “We don’t have that kind of relationship.”

I pressed the cleaning compress to his scuffed elbow. He hissed.

“Sorry,” I said, but didn’t let up. Even superficial, if the wounds weren’t properly cleaned, they could cause an infection.

Lamar forced himself to relax. “It’s fine… Thank you for taking care of me.” He leaned toward me. “You are a good nurse. Your touch is very gentle.”

“You don’t have to lie,” I said. “I know it hurts.”

“Yeah, but you make it hurt less than it would if someone else was doing it.”

I didn’t believe that, but I stayed quiet regardless, accepting the compliment he was trying to give.

After cleaning the last of the wounds, I applied one final band-aid to a red scratch, then stepped back to appraise my work.

It was amateurish, at best. His arms were covered in tiny little bandages. He looked ridiculous. But at least, the wounds were cleaned and protected.

Lamar just smiled at me. “Thank you, Nurse Cynthia.”

I rolled my eyes at him, then took the dirty washcloths into the bathroom to run them under cold water before the blood stains could set in. I hung them on the towel rack.

When I returned to the main room, Lamar was standing just beyond the bathroom door. He hadn’t put a shirt on yet.

He looked at me… strangely. Determined, almost. A bit heated.

He kind of seemed possessed, like he was out of his own head.

“You okay?” I asked, stopping in the doorframe.

“Yeah,” he said, smiling again.

I huffed out a relieved breath and approached him.

“I was thinking of ways to repay you,” he said.

“You don’t have to do that.” Especially when the fight had been all my fault to begin with.

“I want to make it up to you, all the same. Please let me.”

“What did you have in mind?”

He inched closer to me, closing the distance. I thought to back up, but that would put me back into the bathroom.

Maybe he just wanted a cheek kiss or something. So I kept myself still.

He leaned down, pressing his lips near my ear. “I want to go down on you.”

I froze, startled beyond comprehension for a moment. Surely I had misheard. “What?”

He lifted a hand and traced a line across my shoulder, brushing back my hair.

“I want to make you feel good,” he whispered. “And if it helps you forget everything about Asher, all the better.”

He couldn’t be suggesting this. This couldn’t be real.

“I can’t wait to show you how good I am with my tongue.”

“Lamar…”

“With my skills, Cynthia, you’ll forget everything but me.”