Chapter 19

—Third Person POV—

Sienna had kept such a huge secret from Asher, a pang of hurt spreading through him. She really didn’t trust him at all, did she?

This explained why she hadn’t reacted in any way to their mate bond — fake or not. Anyone with a wolf in them would have had some kind of response to their union.

Her wolf must be dormant, Asher thought internally, scanning Sienna’s face for any hint to this.

There was a difference between dormancy and disappearance. Dormancy meant the wolf just needed time to recover - usually in the aftermath of some tragedy or life event.

Disappearance meant being entirely wolf-less for good, and such instances were extremely rare. Only a few in history had lost their wolves forever, and it took an awful lot to make it so.

Sienna couldn’t possibly fit into the category of disappearance. The betrayal from Julian, the sudden change, all the pressure sitting on her shoulders — that was enough to push her wolf into dormancy.

Broken trust often did that.

Wolves thrived especially on loyalty, and when it was broken, just in the way it had been for her, everything could shatter.

I want to piece her back together, Asher’s mind whispered.

Then maybe don’t divorce in six months, his wolf muttered, again, out of the blue.

Asher didn’t respond.

Instead, he focused on Sienna, sure that her wolf was only dormant. He could almost feel it huddled away deep inside her, healing, needing the right person to drag it back out.

Could Asher be the right person?

Something buried deep inside him screamed yes.

“Do it,” Sienna said cooly, turning her eyes to Asher’s. “Bite me.”

He stared at her for a moment, glancing at a wild eyed Julian, who clearly thought this was going to crash and burn right in front of him.

It won’t, Asher’s wolf pitched in. We both know it won’t.

“Hate to shatter your psychotic world, Juls,” Asher smirked, knowing he had the upper hand in every way.

Julian twitched at Asher’s prideful tone, wincing at the little nickname he threw in.

Asher leaned in to Sienna’s neck with the whole audience present, the silence so loud you’d hear a hairpin drop onto the floor.

Julian watched with hungry eyes, Sienna frozen in time, her breath on hold.

When Asher’s canines made contact with her neck, digging in deep, she made an almost imperceptible squeak. He bit down extra hard, a small form of punishment for keeping this all from him.

Him, of all people.

Asher pushed away the irritation at the fact that Julian had known first, even if he’d just guessed. Not once had it crossed Asher’s mind that her wolf might be dormant.

He pulled his teeth back from her neck, leaving a small, crescent-shaped mark in the tender skin. For a beat, nothing happened, and Julian’s smile grew so wide it could split his face.

But then Sienna gasped, collapsing limp in Asher’s arms, overwhelmed by the effects of the mate bond.

The bond that was also sending her into heat.

“You got the proof you whined so heavily for,” Asher directed his words at Julian, ice coating his words, shifting Sienna in his arms so she pressed against his chest, unconscious.

Then he addressed the crowd.

“As you can see, Alpha Julian here is quite incapable of controlling his emotions. He seems to think Sienna and I are a fraud, and we’ve proven otherwise. I hope you all can resume your night — we’ll be back in a bit.”

Julian stood in silence, his fists clenched, jaw so tight it quivered. “She’s faking it.”

The hum of the crowd slowly picked back up, covering Asher’s next words to Julian. “I’ll let you know after the sex, which, thank you, by the way.”

It was almost like steam exploded from Julian’s ears, and Asher couldn’t contain his laugh, turning his back to him.

“Her wolf is gone — ” Julian snarled, grabbing at a limp Sienna.

“I will tell the whole world what you did,” Asher warned softly. “And ruin you.”

His eyes had darkened, his protection mode activated to its fullest extent.

“But I think you’re going to ruin yourself before I even need to try.” Asher shrugged Julian away, calling back over his shoulder. “Got to attend to some private matters now, Juls — we won’t ever forget how you treated her today though.”

The crowd nearest them heard his last words, cheering in agreement.

“Yeah, you’re gross!” One Luna called out. “I used to look up to you!”

The condemning continued, picking up in energy as Asher left the ballroom behind.

“You’re supposed to be a leader - looks like we were wrong!”

“A sad excuse for a man.”

“You’re the one incapable of leading! Resign!”

“Resign now!”

Asher didn’t need to look back to know Julian was retreating, the yells of disgust following his every move.

Upstairs were a hall of guest rooms, and Asher chose one at the very end, furthest from all the activity of the Ball.

He locked the door behind them, seeing Sienna starting to shift, her body temperature rising from the bite, the heat firing up every part of her.

When a bonded pair shared a bite like that, it woke up the connection between them, always leading to lovemaking. Such bites would often happen on honeymoons to kick off the pleasurable festivities, making it all the better for both parties.

“Asher,” Sienna mumbled, panting softly. “My wolf — ”

“It’s just dormant,” he murmured to her, placing her on the plush king bed of the guest room, her dress flaring out across the entire thing.

The only sound she made in response was a soft sob, her hand gripping his in an iron grasp, so full of relief.

“I want you to unzip me,” she breathed, her eyes flaring with arousal. “Get me out of this dress.”

“We don’t have to,” Asher said, quite reluctantly, not wanting to take advantage of her.

“I’m not drunk. I’m completely sober. Take me,” she groaned through gritted teeth, pawing at the zipper on her back that she couldn’t reach.

The only way to cool the heat was to release it, so…

Asher certainly needed to release his growing heat — the hardened ache between his legs was becoming overwhelming.

He leaned down towards her, lifting her up slowly to unzip her dress, which she started to squirm out of as quickly as she could.

“Think everyone’s down there wondering about this? It was quite the show,” Asher murmured, but she swatted him away.

“Who cares what they think,” she sighed, shoving the mass of fabric to the side, left only in her undergarments.

He could immediately smell her arousal, and it tipped him over the edge, tumbling him full force into satisfying his needs.

“I want you to go all out,” Sienna whimpered as his hands made contact with her bare skin, his tuxedo dropped to the floor.

The desire for her was so intoxicating that Asher could think of nothing else except filling her, coaxing those sweet moans from her perfect lips.

She’s beautiful, he admitted to himself, his fingers brushing the strap of her bra.

“You’re sure?” he whispered impatiently, needing that last approval from her.

“More than sure,” she groaned, ever so softly, at the way his hardness pressed between her legs.

Oh, I’ll take you like I’ve never taken you before, Sienna.