Chapter 55

—Third Person POV—

Asher was back with Lucius later that day, rehashing all the things he’d learned in Nightfall.

They’d found a gold mine of information on Julian — everything they had ever needed to build their case against his leadership had just been handed to them.

“There’s no way the Elder’s won’t open up an investigation on him, even after being kidnapped,” Lucius smirked, having eaten up every word Asher had relayed to him about the statements from Nightfall.

“About time,” Asher mumbled, sensing his wolf had something to say but ignoring it. His wolf had been extra vocal lately, making sure he knew every single wrong thing he did the moment that he did it.

“I really do think she can handle this,” Lucius said, his voice falling soft yet very serious.

This was it. The perfect time to address the problem, to ask him about his feelings.

“Lucius…” Asher trailed off, his nerves kicking in. This was his oldest and most loyal friend, and it felt wrong to ask such a question.

But he wasn’t blind. He could sense something brewing, and his intuition was rarely wrong. Knowing Lucius as well as he did made him even more sure.

Lucius let out a pained sigh, his eyes averting down to the blanket on his bed. “I know what you’re going to ask.”

There was a long beat of silence, and all Asher could taste was acid in the back of his throat. It was finally happening.

“The truth is, I admire her. She possesses a strength like no one I’ve ever seen.” There it was, the admiration, the desire, plain as day in his eyes and words.

Jealousy bit at Asher, his wolf growling loudly in his head, defending its territory.

“She has this great desire for connection,” Lucius explained, his voice filled with emotion. “And she’s not getting that.”

“What?” Asher snapped, his back going rigid. “What are you talking about?”

But he knew exactly what Lucius meant. Sienna wasn’t getting connection at all — instead, she was being lied to, and in a twisted sense, she was also being used.

“I know you already know exactly what I mean, my friend,” Lucius admitted sadly, just as uncomfortable with this topic as Asher was. It could be the end of their lifetime of friendship if they weren’t careful.

Asher gritted his teeth, refusing to admit it aloud. “But you always supported her and I from the start.”

“I did, until I realized you were never going to act on it.” Lucius boldly met Asher’s conflicted gaze, his words stinging him to his very core.

“I will,” Asher lied, and both of them knew it.

“You won’t,” Lucius countered, that sad look lingering in his eyes. “You would have by now, if it really mattered.”

“She matters to me!” Asher exploded, shoving his chair back and standing over Lucius. “A hell of a lot.”

“I didn’t ask to feel this way,” Lucius whispered, almost submitting to Asher in a way. “It just happened the longer we spent together.”

“It doesn’t make sense to me when you supported her and I from day one. You pushed me to let her in, to — to — ” Asher’s voice caught in his throat, because he never followed up with any of those things.

Instead, he left Sienna alone, and when Mia came into the picture, he abandoned her entirely. He should have been standing by her, his wife, contract or not.

What the hell happened to me? He yelled to himself, furious for making this into the mess it was now.

“You two will divorce, because you won’t stop it in the end. You’ll keep hiding the way you have been for months.” Lucius didn’t break his gaze, and Asher felt his heart shatter on the spot.

His closest friend no longer believed in him.

“I — ” Asher stuttered, betrayal eating away at him.

He couldn’t do this. He needed to leave.

It was safer for both of them. If he stayed any longer, their friendship would most definitely be irreparable.

Better to salvage it now and walk away.

And that’s exactly what he did. Without another word, Asher left the hospital, making his way back to Nightwind, where he knew Sienna was.

On his walk back to the Nightwind Alpha house, Asher’s feelings simmer, building to the point of explosion by the time he bursts in the door, finding Sienna at the dining room table going over lists of residents.

“We have to talk,” Asher practically shouted, unable to contain himself or his anger.

Jealousy, his wolf corrected, making him fume even more.

Shut up, Asher snarled back, wishing he could get a grip on himself.

But he just couldn’t. Lucius’ truth screamed in his head, over and over, hurting him like they were freshly delivered each and every time.

If he bottled this up any more, he might actually lose it.

“I’m pretty sure that’s overdue,” Sienna laughed sourly, her eyes not even breaking from the lists she held in her hands.

“Look at me,” Asher demanded, standing across from her with his arms crossed.

She did look at him, though she did it lazily. It gave him the sense that maybe she didn’t care, but of course she did.

He saw right through her. This was just her own way of protecting herself.

Asher slid the chair across from her out, though he didn’t sit. “Tell me something that’s been bothering you.”

“A lot of things have been bothering me, but most of all? You left me for dead when the bombs went off.” She crossed her arms back at him, the sharp curve of her brow like a blade.

“Lucius was there,” Asher muttered, his jealousy flaring, making him resort to childish comments.

“And Mia was there for you,” Sienna shot back, a scowl forming on her beautiful face.

“Of course I worried for you. But I didn’t know where you were!” Asher was exasperated, because this wasn’t exactly the topic he’d been wanting to discuss.

“You didn’t even try,” Sienna laughed, bitterness coating her words. “And that tells me everything I need to know.”

“There’s so much you don’t know,” Asher said hoarsely, his head falling into his hands. That seemed to soften her just a little bit.

“And what don’t I know, Asher?”

“Everything is falling apart,” he croaked, his internal shields stopping him from opening up to her. All her hatred for Alaric scared him.

You must trust her, his wolf said with reason, and of course it was right, but even then, Asher couldn’t form the words.

“It has been for a while. But, lucky for you, the contract doesn’t last all that much longer. You’ll be free to do what you want,” Sienna muttered, and he could feel her closing down on him, his window of opportunity passing by.

“What if that’s not what I want!?” Asher hollered, his face going red, and he imagined steam pouring from his ears.

“What do you want?” Sienna pressed, shoving her own chair back to stand closer to his height.

“I want — ” Asher stuttered, words failing him.

Sienna raised her eyebrows. “Let me guess, you want Mia?”

Asher snapped. He didn’t know what to say anymore, so instead, he kissed her.

Really hard.