Chapter 28

Sienna’s POV

I sat in silence in my room, so disappointed in myself for what I’d done to Asher. For almost the last hour, it’d replayed in my head, over and over and over.

The horror on his face when he realized I’d lured him in there like that.

That would haunt me for life.

What was I thinking?

My phone vibrated loudly, yanking me out of my regrets.

Of course, it was from Julian.

This time, though, it was a civil message, and that gave me goosebumps. Why the sudden change of attitude?

The real question was: what did he have up his sleeve?

Sienna, I’d like to meet at the boundary tonight. I think we should talk.

I could only stare at the message for a long moment, my eyes narrowing in suspicion. Clearly he had an ulterior motive, but it wasn’t like I could say no to his meeting.

Sure, I responded, seeing him immediately typing.

In an hour.

I glanced at the clock. It was already dark out, and that made me nervous.

That’s fine. I’ll be bringing Asher.

Julian sent a thumbs up, another chill running down my spine. Asher wasn’t even back yet — he might not even come back tonight, for all I knew.

As I worried to myself for a few minutes, I heard the sound of the front door opening, like a perfectly timed miracle.

Asher was back.

I leapt off the bed, ripping my door open so I could catch him before he went to his own room, but instead, I found him about to knock on my door.

“Hi,” I whispered, unable to stop the smile that crossed my face.

“Hi,” he said back, the edges of his lips twitching up too.

“I want us to talk,” I started, “but Julian wants to meet at the boundary in an hour, and I’d like for you to be there.”

Something dark crossed Asher’s eyes at the mention of Julian.

“Of course I’ll go. We’ll talk tonight.”

“Thank you,” I said softly, forever grateful for him, no matter how long he was here for.

I stepped out into the living room, taking a steady breath in.

“We could head over, get there first — just take it slow,” Asher offered, and I nodded. The boundary was, at most, a twenty minute walk.

“Let’s go.” I locked the door behind us, the air cool against my skin. The last thing I wanted to be doing right now was talking to Julian.

Asher and I walked in silence for a while, listening to the distant chirp of crickets along the forest path.

“Thank you for not making me do this alone.” I finally broke the silence, wanting to hear his voice.

“I’d never let you do this alone — especially after all the bogus with him specifically.” There was a protectiveness to Asher’s tone that made my heart flutter.

He cares, even after you painted him out to be a fool.

“I’m nervous to see him,” I sighed, needing to shake out some of the tension. “He’s sent so many psycho messages.”

“Well, we certainly aren’t trusting him.”

I glanced over at Asher, peeking through the strands of my dark hair, suddenly only able to see him the way he was a few hours ago — exposed, vulnerable, and betrayed.

My eyes quickly averted, a stab of guilt hitting me square in the chest. I wanted to apologize, but we needed to do that in private, where there was time.

Right now I was gearing up to hear whatever nonsense Julian was about to spew at me.

“I’ll be at the treelike,” Asher said as we approached the spot I’d always met Julian at. A fleeting memory passed by — the jealousy Asher showed that night he found me with Julian.

I gave him a single nod, trekking out to see Julian already sprawled out on a rock at the waters edge.

“I see you brought your little guard dog,” Julian yawned, not even bothering to sit up as I approached.

“Why are we meeting?” I was impatient, already tired of looking at his face. A face I once thought was so intensely handsome, but now gave me nausea to look at.

“You’re ignoring my messages.” He finally sat up, his eyes boring into mine.

“Huh, I wonder why. Maybe because you sound like an angry, whiny child, perhaps?” I crossed my arms across my chest, rolling my eyes all the way back in my head.

“I thought they were rather threatening,” Julian grinned smugly, his hair falling messily across his forehead.

He didn’t look the best, if I was being entirely honest. His usually swept back hair was loose, quite tangled, which was very unusual for him.

Julian had always prided himself in staying clean and kept up, so this was entirely out of the ordinary. His mental state really was deteriorating.

Good, I whispered to myself with pride. Take him down.

“You’re pulling all the partnerships out from under me as revenge for the Ball,” Julian spat, his anger rearing to the top, just as I expected it would.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I scoffed, keeping a good distance between us in case he tried to lunge at me. “Show me the evidence of that.”

“I — you — ” He was stuttering, and I couldn’t hold back a snide laugh.

“Exactly. I’ve done nothing to your partnerships - it’s all on you, Julian. Get over it.”

He really didn’t have any evidence — if the blame should be pointed at anyone, it should be Lucius. But Julian would never dare stand up to someone like Lucius, so he tried for me instead.

Because he seemed to think I was weak.

“I meant it when I said I was going to take you down,” Julian growled, making me roll my eyes yet again.

“If that’s supposed to scare me, it doesn’t. I dare you, Julian, to come at me, and see what happens to you.” My eyes narrowed, and I took a single, careful step towards him.

“You’re already under fire for what happened at the Ball. The way you accused me.”

“I told the truth,” Julian shrugged, a complacent smile on his lips. “We both know it.”

“My wolf is perfectly fine, and this conversation is over.”

I couldn’t do this anymore. He was impossible to talk to — absolutely delusional beyond belief.

“You can’t walk away,” Julian snarled, trying to reach out for me but finding I’m too far.

“I can do whatever I want.” I spun on my heel, trudging for the forest line, where Asher waited for me. “Goodbye, Julian.”

“You can’t walk away, bitch!!!” he screamed, and I really thought he was going to come sprinting after me.

Asher stepped out of the trees, glaring in Julian’s direction. “He’s lost it,” he mumbled.

“I just want to go home,” I muttered, beelining it for the cover of the trees. “I’m over this.”

Julian’s shouts echoed behind us, finally dissipating into nothing, leaving me in peace.

The remainder of the walk back was in silence, my annoyance running high. We stepped back into the house, and the exhaustion hit me.

“Asher, I want to talk…but I need to rest. Tomorrow, okay?” I sighed, a headache building in my temples.

“Of course. Goodnight, Sienna.” He gave me a single nod, heading to his own room without another word.

The next morning, I was awoken by a rapping on the door. My head was pounding, but I couldn’t’ ignore whoever the company was.

Opening the door with a little bit of bedhead still, I blinked at the unfamiliar woman in front of me.

“Hi,” she beamed with perfectly white teeth. “I’m here on behalf of the Council.”

“Sorry?” I kept blinking the sleep from my eyes. “I didn’t know anyone was coming.”

“Right, sorry about that. They send us out unannounced on purpose. I’m Mia,” she said politely, and my heart skipped a bit.

It was just a coincidence, right?