Chapter 41

Third Person POV

For days, Asher had been trying to capture Sienna alone, though it proved to be entirely fruitless. She was nowhere to be found.

You’d think it would be easy, since they lived in the same house — but no. It was not easy.

She was skillfully avoiding him, almost like she’d memorized his entire schedule, expertly planning her own day around his. Gone before he could leave his room or return to the house, even when he tried to arrive earlier than normal.

Somehow, she was still never there, or she was locked up - literally - in her parents’ office, refusing to be bothered.

It was getting to be very frustrating.

At this point, any lingering hope of their heart to heart was fading. Enough time was passing since so many things went down that it almost wasn’t worth talking about anymore.

After all, wouldn’t Sienna just say, once again, that their six months was up soon and that was the end of it? She always resorted to that excuse.

Two could play at that game though, couldn’t they?

Asher left the Alpha House, unable to turn his mind away from Sienna. What was she even out doing, anyway? They used to share their schedules, back in the beginning, but it was obvious that massive walls had been put up between them now.

Now they just kept more and more secrets from each other. The list continued to grow.

He isn’t ten paces from the house when Mia prances into step beside him, her scent invading his nostrils, trying so hard to take him down.

“Out alone, I see,” she observed, keeping up with his brisk pace without a problem.

“Don’t start,” Asher muttered, wanting none of her nonsense. All she ever did was try and start things with him and Sienna, and truthfully, she’d succeeded way too much as of late.

It’s also obvious that she hasn’t given up on flirting with him. The flirting emanates out of her every pore, made even more obvious by her shifting scent.

“What?” she asked innocently, fluttering her long lashes.

She damn well knew what, and still, she’d force it out of him verbally.

“Sienna and I don’t have to spend every second together, you know.”

“I never implied that,” she laughed, that maddeningly dismissive giggle, and Asher’s eye started to twitch.

“Okay,” he smiled back, wanting to diffuse his growing irritation. Now was not the time for this kind of fight.

There’s never a time for it, he muttered to himself.

“You don’t get lonely, doing this whole life thing by yourself?” It almost sounded like she cared, but no, of course she was just trying to egg him on further.

“Well, no, because I’m not alone.”

“I’ve been seeing Sienna and Lucius out an awful lot lately, laughing and smiling. She’s always touching him in some way, too — resting a hand on his arm, stuff like that.” She paused, a slow smile spreading over her face. “I’d touch it too though.”

“Sienna is allowed to have friends,” Asher shrugged, desperately trying to hide his emotion.

“I’m saying it looks like more than that.”

Asher stopped in his tracks, his eyes narrowing at her. “Mia, why are you telling me this? I’m fully aware of their friendship — and it’s just that. A friendship.”

“Look, Asher, I just want to warn you about her.”

“You don’t know her well enough to warn me about her,” Asher scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest like Sienna always did when she got annoyed.

“Have you really known her all that long, either?” Mia raised an eyebrow skeptically, mirroring him by crossing her arms, too.

“Yes.” Asher gave her the single word answer, hoping she’d get the hint that the topic was off the table for further discussion.

She did not get the hint.

Mia reached out, resting her hand on his muscular upper arm, her voice turning into that sexy purr he’d once found irresistible. “Asher…”

“Off.” Asher pushed her hand from his arm, resisting the urge to flex his muscle for her.

“I’m just watching out for you,” Mia said defensively, taking a respectful step back. “Sienna is heading straight for a fiery downfall.”

“No thanks to you,” Asher said bitterly. “Your report tore her apart.”

“My report was honest.”

Asher held up a hand, shaking his head. “I’m not talking about this again. We’ve gone back and forth on it enough.”

He took a step back, his eyes guarded. “I’ll see you around, Mia.”

And with that, he headed back to the Alpha house, not once looking back. Maybe this time, he’d catch Sienna at home.

As Asher approached the house again, he could hear laughter bellowing out from inside.

Laughter that most definitely belonged to Lucius. The man had a booming laugh when he let loose and relaxed.

Asher’s teeth clenched, his jaw tightening.

I’ve been seeing Sienna and Lucius out an awful lot lately, laughing and smiling, Mia’s words echoed through his head.

Instead of talking to him, Sienna chose to open up to Lucius. It felt a lot like betrayal to Asher, considering Lucius was his childhood best friend before he ever knew Sienna.

What bothered Asher even more was the way Lucius was starting to look at her. Men often looked at Sienna with hunger in their eyes, but Lucius looked at her with…admiration.

A really intense admiration.

Asher braced himself outside the door, sure that Lucius could probably already smell his scent. The laughter had toned down, the soft hum of their voices blending together like a perfect harmony.

Why did their voices sound so good together?

He finally stepped inside, his eyes resting on Lucius and Sienna at the table, sitting so close their shoulders brushed.

“I’m glad our schedules finally aligned to see each other,” Asher said to Sienna, trying his best to keep the sourness out of his tone.

“Asher!” Lucius grinned, standing up to greet his oldest friend like nothing was wrong. Maybe to him it wasn’t.

Lucius wrapped his arm around Asher, guiding him to the open chair where he’d been sitting.

“Join us. We’re discussing my charity event next week.” Lucius sat back down, his eyes bright with excitement.

Sienna briefly met Asher’s eyes, her own very guarded. Before he could even allow his lips to twitch up in a smile, she’d looked away.

Still getting the cold shoulder, I guess, Asher mumbled to himself. He wasn’t going to stoop to her level and treat her the same though.

“How’s the planning going?” Asher tore his attention from Sienna, who wasn’t laughing or smiling one bit now that he’d arrived.

“Fantastic,” Lucius beamed, looking down at the paper laid out across the table. “We’re making the seating arrangements.”

“I assume everyone is attending?” Asher asked, glancing quickly at Sienna.

“Yes,” Lucius sighed. “Everyone.”

So Julian would be there, of course. All the Alpha’s usually attended charity events like this, so it made sense.

But he’d hoped there might be an exception.

Sienna and Lucius share a glance, and Asher’s blood began to heat up. He still couldn’t quite understand why this affected him so deeply — it’s not like anything had happened.

Though he was starting to think it was only a matter of time before it did.