Chapter 48

A blizzard waged in the depths of Asher’s eyes. His upper lip curled with his snarling.

He looked absolutely feral with anger, and all of it was directed at Joseph.

“Asher,” I said, stepping in the way of his prey. Because that was what Joseph was to Asher now, if I didn’t intervene.

Asher’s cold gaze focused on me and marginally softened.

“Come, Cynthia,” he said, his voice deep and rough, animalistic, like he might shift into a wolf form at any moment.

I wasn’t afraid, though. Asher would never hurt me.

So I stepped toward him.

“Now, wait a minute,” Joseph said from behind me. “Cynthia is my date.”

Asher froze over once more, returning his attention to Joseph. “You stole a kiss from her. You did not have permission.”

“I wasn’t aware I needed your permission,” Joseph snapped. Though, when I glanced back at him, I saw that his hands were shaking. His bravery was a façade.

“You needed hers.”

Joseph laughed. “And I suppose you had her permission when you kissed on the Ferris Wheel, huh? Hypocrite.”

Joseph didn’t know that Asher did have my consent. That I had wanted more than a kiss on the cheek when we had been together in that ride car.

“Asher,” I said again, reclaiming his gaze. “I just want to go home.”

“You don’t need to go with him,” Joseph said. He started to move closer to me but Asher’s growling raised in volume and threat, stopping him.

“It’s okay, Joseph,” I said, hoping to get him to back off. Couldn’t he see how volatile Asher was? Hadn’t he learned from the last few encounters with Asher’s wolf?

Asher, like this, would tear the world apart to protect me.

If Joseph antagonized him now, Asher would rip him to pieces.

“He’s going to take me home,” I told Joseph. When I saw he still looked defiant, I added, to appease him, “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

The truth was, I couldn’t wait to get away from him. He had forced that kiss on me, then tried to press it further even when I did not reciprocate.

I felt dirty. I didn’t even want to look at him.

But that didn’t mean I wanted Asher to maim him.

Joseph, finally, huffed out an annoyed breath. “You’d better.”

Relieved, I held out my hand for Asher.

He took it, and led me away.

Only when we neared the carnival exit did I remember Asher’s date. But when I asked him, he shook his head, impatient.

“She’s already found someone else. They have my blessing.”

He’d told me he and his date were merely casual, but having the confirmation lifted a heavy weight off of my chest. I felt I could finally breathe properly again.

By the time we reached Asher’s car in the parking lot, his murder-level seemed to have decreased, but his body still buzzed with barely-constrained fury. With the threat gone, his anger had nowhere to go.

He couldn’t drive yet, like this. So he dropped my hand and paced like a caged animal, to burn off the excess energy.

“I’m okay,” I said to soothe him. That had seemed to work the last time he was like this, when his protective instincts had nearly unleashed his wolf.

“You are trembling,” he said.

Was I? I lifted my hand and watched it tremor. Oh, I guess I was.

“I didn’t like what he did,” I admitted. “But I’ll be okay.”

Asher shook his head. “You have to stay away from him, Cynthia.”

I knew his words came from a place of caring, which made me feel warm all over, but I couldn’t agree. Joseph was and would always be my baby’s father, whether either of us liked it or not.

“I can’t,” I said.

“He keeps pushing you. He won’t stop.”

“I can handle him.”

Asher shot me a skeptical look. I understood it, I hadn't exactly stopped Joseph from crossing the line tonight. In fact, I had even agreed to kiss him on the cheek when I hadn’t really wanted to.

“You don’t understand,” I said. “I need him.”

Asher stopped dead in his tracks.

“I want my baby to have a family, Asher.”

Asher’s dangerous steps forward brought him closer to me. He towered above me, glaring down. Yet I still wasn’t afraid.

“I volunteered to be the baby’s godfather,” he said. “That offer still stands. You do not need him.”

Accepting Asher’s offer was tempting, now more than ever. He had already proven himself a determined protector, time and again. He would keep my baby and me safe against anything in the world.

But he would never love me.

Not the way I wanted.

“I want to be in a loving relationship,” I said, willing him to understand. “I want my baby to look at their parents and know what love is supposed to be.”

“You believe you’ll have that with him?” Asher was incredulous. His face showed much more emotion than usual, twisted up in disbelief and anger.

I couldn’t answer his question. Joseph wasn’t perfect. Any lasting relationship between us would have so many problems. I still wasn’t sure he could be fully trusted. And now I didn’t know if he would force more of himself on me.

But there was still a chance he could soften to me, maybe once the baby was born. We might be able to love each other someday.

Watching my face, Asher’s disposition darkened. “You deserve better than him, Cyn.”

The nickname set my heart fluttering. I had to struggle to calm it again.

Asher wouldn’t love me.

Maybe no one else would either, once my secret was exposed. Like Aimee, I would probably be ostracized and ridiculed. I’d be an outcast.

I swallowed down my fear and my sadness, but it still escaped into my voice when I said, “Who would want me like this?”

I waved at my stomach. “Who would stand by me while I gave birth to another man’s baby at eighteen years old? Face it, Asher. Joseph is my only chance at the kind of family I want.”

Asher’s entire body shifted at once, anger melting away into something much softer. It was almost like pity, which stung, but there was something else there too. And that something else soothed the stinging like a balm.

Slowly, he placed his hands onto my shoulders. His wide hands with long, deft fingers, were strong enough to break bones in two if he let the wolf out. Yet they could also be gentle, like this, holding me like I was as delicate as glass.

I loved the duality of him: the fierceness he showed the rest of the world, but the tenderness he saved just for me.

“There are good men out there, Cyn. Men who wouldn’t think twice about your condition, they would just want to protect you and cherish you.”

I shook my head. Aimee’s pregnancy had come to light and everyone turned on her. She had no one. Why would I think I could be any different?

I was so grateful for what Asher was trying to do, but I hated the tiny bud of hope he was attempting to cultivate. I didn’t want to believe him and then be disappointed later when I wound up alone.

“Don’t lie to make me feel better, Asher. Please.”

“I’m not lying. These men exist.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t want to cry. “Name one.”

He was silent so long, that if I didn’t still feel the weight of his hands on my shoulders, I would have thought he left me.

I peeked open my eyes.

His face was determined. His gaze was on me, steady.

He inhaled a breath, and said, “Me.”