Chapter 26

Sienna’s POV

This was exactly where I wanted him, but I hadn’t thought about just how awkward it was going to be.

In my head, it’d been more embarrassing for him than me. This was so much worse — it was horrific for everyone.

There he was, swollen and so hard, having just been wrapped in my grasp, moaning for me. Giving himself to me in the most intimate of ways, and I completely ruined it all.

“Um — ” There was so much hurt and confusion in his eyes — of course there was — and I immediately felt terrible. Why did I do this to him?

All I had to do was ask him about it. I could have at the table, but no — I chose to seduce him, faking a drunken haze, and make him look like a fool.

What on earth are you doing, Sienna?

I was just driving the stake further into the crack of our relationship. Falling far too close to tactics someone like Julian would resort to.

That sure didn’t feel good at all.

I wiped my hand on my leg, erasing any trace of him before scrambling back. At this point, I couldn’t back down. I couldn’t apologize.

So I had to get an explanation.

And I really needed him to cover up. It was impossible not to keep glancing down at him, thinking about how, if I hadn’t ruined this all, he could be inside me right now.

“I want to know,” I said firmly, begging my voice not to tremble. “Because I saw your file and you just sort of…appeared here. No record of parents, or where you came from.”

“Do you think I’m a traitor?” Asher asked point blank, obviously hurt by the accusation. He quietly reached down and tucked himself into his pants again, and I found I could relax a whole lot better.

“I didn’t say that,” I defended myself, crossing my arms over my chest. “It was just suspicious, and I think I deserve to know your history, considering you’re in my pack.”

“And married to you.” The tiniest smirk flickered at the edges of his lips, quickly erasing itself when he saw how serious I was.

“I want to know.” I set my steely gaze on him, not breaking eye contact until he took a deep breath in, my explanation imminent.

“Listen, Sienna. I know it looks weird — and I know it looks suspicious. But there’s a story to it.”

He gulped, and I wondered if this wasn’t going to be a very pleasant story.

“I haven’t had the easiest life. Coming to Nightwind saved me, truthfully. I wanted to leave my past behind me for good, and your parents helped me do that.”

My curiosity spiked, and I stayed silent, waiting for more.

“When I was younger, my parents sent me to the capital city to study under the Elder’s. I showed a lot of potential at a young age, always having beaten out my classmates at every subject — excelling at things a lot of people my age couldn’t.”

Tooting his own horn a little, I see.

But his expression was hard, no sign of a joke anywhere in him.

“I met Lucius there during my studies, but not long after, news came that my parents were dead.”

My breath caught in my throat.

“I was so young, and to be parentless at that age…it wasn’t easy.” His eyes met mine, a strange sense of understanding wafting between us.

“Of course it wasn’t,” I whispered, knowing exactly how he must have felt. Only he’d have been so much more afraid than me, even, having barely entered his teen years.

“When my parents died, I was pulled back to the pack, and that’s where I’ve been since.”

“Your parents didn’t die here though — there was no record of them in Nightwind.” It didn’t feel good to dig when this so clearly hurt him to discuss, but I’d made it this far, and I was getting my answers.

“My parents moved around a lot. I never saw them much, never really knew them very well. They never chose to settle anywhere permanently.”

Asher’s eyes averted, and I swore I saw tears lining them.

“I’m sorry,” I croaked out, imagining him as a young boy, losing his parents.

“So Nightwind took me in,” he continued, “and became my home.”

“And my parents sort of filled the void yours left,” I filled in for him, knowing it was true.

“They cared,” he murmured, shrugging his shoulder like it was no big deal — but it was a huge deal. “It’s just not a story I go around boasting about.”

Sure, the timings lined up for him to have something to do with Alaric — yet as I looked at him, I had this nagging in my gut that said he had no part in it.

The way he told that story, so pained and traumatized, told me that what happened was entirely true. While he hadn’t gone into much detail, I hadn’t expected him to.

He’d never seemed nervous, like he’d been lying. He spoke with confidence and experience.

So he was either the most amazing actor on the planet, or it was all actually true, and I’d just made myself the fool in this situation.

“Asher, I — ”

“I get that you’re scared, and you want to find these traitors — and Prince Alaric.” His eyes met mine, a new guard posted within them. “But I’m not either of those things.”

It was like the wind gushed out of my sails, leaving me struggling to take a breath.

I took a good look at him, the way his skin was so rugged, covered in a number of different scars. He looked nothing like a prince, that was for sure.

He was always so casual, his mannerisms relating in absolutely no way to anyone raised as a royal. Even having spent time in the capital city, where the Lycan King ruled, didn’t mean he would come out with a polished etiquette.

What it all truly boiled down to was this: I simply could not see him as a traitor. His eyes were too honest and true.

Funny, considering how much you haven’t trusted him. You’re just now seeing he might be capable of being trusted? About time.

“And, honestly,” Asher started, swinging his legs over the bed, his words dismissive. “You didn’t have to drag me in here for all this.”

He stood up, running a hand through his sweaty hair, and strolled towards the door, opening it wide for me.

Telling me it was time for me to go.

I stood from the bed, my head hanging low. “I’m sorry.” My words trembled, tears trying to battle their way out.

There was so much else I wanted to say, but I couldn’t. My words were stuck in my throat, the embarrassment burning hot in my face.

As I reached the door, I stopped in front of him, chilled at how dark and disconnected his expression was to me.

“Your immaturity is really showing,” he said sadly. “Please leave.”

The stake dug into that crack for the final time, shattering any hope of mending the chasm between us.

I’d really messed this up.

Big time.