Chapter 67

Asher

I gripped the pendant at Cynthia’s throat so tightly the sharp edges of the crescent moon cut into my skin, drawing dual pinpricks of blood.

I was nearly lost to my wolf. It raged at the forefront of my mind, begging to be unleashed.

“How dare someone else attempt to claim Cynthia? She is ours. Ours!” it shouted, its voice echoing across the stretch of my mind like it was pacing.

She isn’t ours, I thought bleakly, in a desperate effort to reclaim my own thoughts. It hurt though. I wanted her to be mine.

“Ours to protect. Ours to adore. He marred her skin with this trinket. We smell her blood. Destroy. Revenge. Protect her!”

“Asher?” Cynthia called for me. Her voice was gentle trusting.

I tried to pull myself back to the front. I had to stay in control. I didn’t want to scare her.

My wolf relented somewhat, inching backwards. “She should never fear us.”

In control once more, I felt at once the unusually heavy weight to the pendant in my palm. No wonder the chain had dug marks into Cynthia’s neck.

“Does it hurt?” I asked, glaring at the line of red on her skin.

“Sometimes,” she admitted. Her gaze fell from mine. “But I made a promise to Joseph.”

“What promise?”

She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “I told him I would always wear it. I’m trying to be good.”

“Good? For him?!” My wolf raged.

I shook my head, clearing it. A pendant this size should not be this heavy. Unless it wasn’t just a pendant.

“There’s something wrong with this,” I said. “It doesn’t feel right.”

“I know,” she whispered softly.

“Can I look at it?”

“Will you break it?” Her gaze returned to me, and there was a mixture of both hope and dread there. Did she want me to break it?

“I might take it apart. I can put it back together, after.” I lied. I was definitely going to take it apart, and, if what I found what I expected inside, I would only return it in pieces.

With my false assurances, she unfastened the necklace. With me still holding the pendant, she let the chain drop.

I took the necklace to my desk. I retrieved a small utility knife from my desk drawer, and traced it along the side of the pendant, searching for a groove. When I found one, I pressed the sharp edge of the blade inside, cracking the pendant in two.

Some electronics spilled out. I was no engineer but I recognized what I was seeing. A tiny camera. A microphone. Even a tracking device. Some kind of wireless emitter. And a battery to power it all.

This wasn’t just a symbol marking Cynthia as Joseph’s, as I had initially suspected. No, he was watching her, listening to her conversations, tracking her whereabouts, and sending it all to himself wirelessly.

He was stalking her.

A low growl escaped my throat. It wasn’t just my wolf this time.

I wanted to tear Joseph apart, limb from limb.

“What is all that?” Cynthia whispered, but I heard the small tremor in her voice. If she didn’t know, she suspected.

I looked at her.

“It isn’t… It couldn’t be…” Fear shook her voice, and I would do anything to stop that.

Turning back to the remnants on my desktop, I lifted my fist, and smashed it all.

I thought I’d feel better with it in pieces, but the metal remained intact, mocking me.

Even the pieces reminded me what Joseph had attempted, what I had allowed by not following my instincts upon first seeing the damned necklace.

I should have smashed it then. I should have ripped Joseph’s throat out the first time he had hurt her.

“Ours to defend,” my wolf repeated, again and again. “Ours to protect!”

Destroying this trinket was not enough. I would take my blood vengeance from Joseph’s hide.

But… my feelings for Cynthia twisted inside me, holding me back. She wanted a life with this worm, for the sake of her baby.

I couldn’t maim him too terribly.

More, I couldn’t let her see me do it.

“Go home, Cynthia,” I said, not recognizing my own voice for how feral it had become. “Don’t follow me.”

I didn’t wait for her reply. I scooped the broken fragments of the necklace into my hands and headed for my door. I kicked it open, ripping the hinges from the wall.

I’d regret that later. To hell with it now.

I stormed down the hallway. I could guess where Joseph was. In the lounge, the soccer team was having their weekly meeting. I’d take on the entire team if they threatened me.

Sure enough, Joseph was sitting at a table with some of his teammates. The more likeable players were absent, thankfully. Now I wouldn’t have any guilt for smashing in all of their faces.

When Joseph saw me, he paled and stood, but did not cower.

I wanted him to cower.

I threw the pieces of the pendant straight at his face. He caught some of them as they fell down like rain.

“Explain yourself before I unleash my wolf,” I said, barely holding it back. It growled threateningly behind each word.

Joseph eyed the pieces, and then let them drop. When he looked at me, even the fear was swallowed by the intensity of his malice. His hatred. It permeated into the air, souring it.

“I wouldn’t have had to do this if you could keep your damn hands to yourself,” Joseph said, with a growl of his own. His wolf was nothing compared to mine, a fact he would realize if he dared to challenge me. “Or if Cynthia was worth trusting!”

Joseph’s teammates smartly rose from the table to create distance between them and us.

“All you do is lead her on,” Joseph continued. “You sabotage her every relationship because you can’t stay away, can you? You want her, but you don’t. You want to use her, just like I did.”

My wolf raged. I lowered myself, ready to pounce. If Joseph wouldn’t shut the hell up, I was about to make him.

But then, my wolf stopped, whining.

Cynthia had stepped between Joseph and me.

“Asher would never do to me what you did!” she shouted at Joseph. “He’s only ever been a friend! It’s me who wanted too much, who wouldn’t listen when he rejected me.”

“Cynthia,” I tried, to get her to back off.

She shook her head at me before glaring back at Joseph. “But even with that… Even with everything untrustworthy I’ve done, this is still too much, Joseph. How could you do this to me?”

“I will not be cuckolded because of this asshole!” Joseph pointed at me, then that same finger moved to Cynthia. “You are my girlfriend.”

“I’m not. I never agreed to that.” She was so brave, standing up him.

My wolf preened within me. “Our Cynthia is worthy of us.”

I agreed wholeheartedly, forgetting for a moment that she wasn’t mine.

She was starting to break down though. Beneath her courage, that fear remained. Her hands trembled.

The itch to protect outweighed the bloodlust for vengeance. I had to keep Cynthia safe, no matter what. For my own sanity as much as her protection.

So I gently took her by the shoulders and led her away from Joseph’s shouting form. He said terrible things about her, but I would shield her.

“You fucking whore!” Joseph screamed from somewhere behind us.

I moved faster, not stopping until I had her in my dorm room again. I righted the door as best I could with its broken hinges.

“I’m sorry,” she said to me, like she had any fault in this. Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m always putting you in the middle of all these situations.”

I started toward her, eager to offer comfort. I didn’t care about any of this. I’d throw myself off a cliff if it meant keeping her safe. Dealing with Joseph was a nuisance, but only that.

Her safety was paramount.

But she slunk away from my touch when I reached for her.

Startled, I stilled. Had I done something wrong? Miscalculated somehow?

“Fix this,” my wolf rumbled within me. “She cries!”

“You must be so sick of dealing with my drama,” she said. She covered her face with her hands but could not hide her falling tears from me.

“Ridiculous,” I said.

I wanted to tell her more, everything that she made me feel. But I couldn’t have her the way I wanted. And telling her that would only hurt her further.

So I did the only thing I could think to help her. To give her a sense of all she meant to me without saying the words.

I darted forward and pulled her into my embrace.