Chapter 46

Third Person POV

Asher could barely focus on whatever Mia was saying because of that fact that Lucius had bid on his own necklace.

And he was absolutely positive that Lucius was going to give it to Sienna.

The crazy thing was that Asher easily could have outbid him, but he couldn’t let that secret out. It was enough knowing that he could have, in the end.

“Are you even listening?” Mia said in annoyance.

“Sorry,” Asher mumbled, tearing his eyes off Julian. Mia, sharp as ever, caught him in the act.

“Jealous?” Mia smirked, tossing her long dark hair over her shoulder. Asher’s eyes almost drifted down to her tiny waist, but he stopped himself.

He didn’t bother to answer, noticing Sienna and Julian whispering angrily to each other near their table. The tension was definitely rising between them - not only could Asher’s wolf sense it, he alone could.

Julian was absolutely reaching his breaking point.

A moment later, Sienna breaks away, catching Asher’s eye. He sees her gaze slide over to Mia, a scowl forming on her lips.

She looks absolutely amazing in that dress, Asher sighed, completely forgetting about Mia lingering next to him.

Sienna strides over anyway, giving Mia a cool look. “Can we talk?” She focused on Asher and Asher alone, tugging at his wrist to guide him to privacy.

Asher nodded, giving Mia a brief glance before following Sienna to the edges of the crowd, who had now dispersed to look at the next set of auction items in a neighboring room.

“Julian is at wit’s end,” she said softly, glancing over Asher’s shoulder for a moment.

“I don’t think it’ll be much longer before he makes a move.” Asher studied her face, noting the crease of her brow. “Are you okay?”

“Eh,” she shrugged, trying to brush it off, though he knew her better than that. She was absolutely stressed out.

“We’ll get through the night. It’ll be okay,” he smiled, hoping it would comfort her at least a little.

It didn’t seem to this time.

“Sienna!” Lucius voice from behind them ripped her attention away, and Asher couldn’t help but clench his fists.

He turned to greet Lucius, who strode over in all his confidence, that beautiful necklace in his hand.

“You bid on your own necklace? Why?” Sienna laughed, the envy so obvious in her eyes. Lucius had to notice it too.

“Well, see, I had this thought that the necklace of the allies would be perfect on you.” Lucius eyes twinkled with that damned admiration again, and Asher suddenly felt like an awkward third wheel.

“Me?” Sienna asked in shock, her eyes widening. “Absolutely not. I can’t accept that from you.”

“You can, and you will.” Lucius held the necklace, in all its glory, out to her.

“You paid so much for it,” she said, shaking her head vigorously. “No!”

Asher continued to stand there, feeling more and more awkward.

“She should accept it, right, Asher?” Lucius grinned, looking to Asher for assistance.

“Absolutely,” Asher deadpanned, not a single ounce of emotion anywhere on his face.

“You are the symbol of an ally against the rogues, Sienna,” Lucius said gently, pushing the necklace closer to her. “Please take it — think how it’ll look on you during your speech.”

Asher knew Sienna would cave and take it after a little more objection. The way she’d looked at that necklace convinced him of it.

“Lucius…” she sighed, her will to fight already fading. She wanted it — badly.

“It’s a thank you for everything. And a symbol of hope for the fight we’ve got coming for us.” Lucius kept holding it out, waiting for her to take it.

“Okay,” she croaked, her eyes watering up, relief flooding her eyes.

“Here,” Asher interjected, taking the necklace from Lucius — not missing the sharp look Lucius gave him as he snatched it. “I’ll put it on you.”

The necklace fell against her chest like it was made to be there, settling just above her breasts perfectly. No one else could have worn it any better, and the message behind it made it all the more important.

“Perfection,” Lucius murmured dreamily, and Asher had to swallow a growl that threatened to rip from his throat.

“Thank you,” Sienna whispered, her fingers thumbing over the rubies of the necklace, tears still glistening in her eyes. “Truly.”

Asher’s wolf was a fiery ball of fury, snarling away at Lucius from the back of Asher’s mind. It wanted to shift and rip Lucius to pieces.

Not an option, Asher snapped to it, silencing it as quickly as he could.

It absolutely is an option. He’s stepping into our territory! His wolf howled, a protectiveness for Sienna encompassing Asher, settling onto his skin like a mist.

Asher didn’t bother to respond.

“Now it’s time for you to stun the whole crowd with your speech,” Lucius smiled, and the hairs on Asher’s arms immediately rose up.

He was so tired of the way Lucius looked at her. He had to do something about — Lucius was his oldest and closest friend, and he couldn’t believe he’d do this to him.

Lucius had admitted to Asher countless times that he thought he and Sienna were a real match, that he could see the way Asher looked at her.

So why push into his territory?

Your relationship with Sienna is a mess. You don’t treat her as you’d treat a mate at all, his wolf muttered, and Asher had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

Why bother? he mumbled back, looking to the ground.

“Right, my speech,” Sienna’s voice pulled him from his head, and he quickly followed her and Lucius to the stage.

Asher kept close to her, letting their shoulders brush, missing the way she used to lean into him for comfort.

But instead, this time, he noticed her wavering towards Lucius as he took to the stage to announce her.

“If everyone could please take a seat, we’ve got a very special speaker close to the message behind this charity event!” Lucius called out in his commanding voice, and everyone scuttled back to their seats within seconds.

Sienna stood next to Asher, tugging at her fingers, something she did when she was anxious. He noticed all those little things about her.

“You’re going to do great,” Asher murmured, squeezing her hand gently, her palms damp.

“Yeah,” she muttered, not even bothering to look up at him.

That hurt.

What hurt even more than that was the way her eyes averted from him and up to Lucius on stage, a similar admiration filling them as she looked at him.

Looked at him like every other thirsty girl did, something he’d grown accustomed to having grown up with Lucius.

Asher had always been looked at that way, too…but Lucius stole the attention more often than not.

Asher let his hand fall from Sienna’s, considering hers was limp against his anyway. “Good luck.”

He couldn’t stop the melancholy that seeped into his tone, and normally, Sienna would have heard it and cared.

She would have said something. Anything.

But her gaze was still glued on Lucius as the crowd erupted in clapping, drawing her onto the stage to speak.