Alpha Asher By Jane Doe
Chapter 117

Chapter 117 — “It's happening again?” Sean frowned, emerging from Claire's kitchen with a plate ofsandwiches in his hand and a bag of chips in the other.

Sean looked better than he had these last few weeks. He was eating again, and the dark circlesaround his eyes had faded almost completely.

Moving on from a fallen mate was impossible, but replaceing a way to live despite the pain, only thestrongest could do such a thing.

He took a seat beside dad on the couch, setting the plate on the table for the two of them. Dad andSean needed to keep their hands busy when they were stressed.

It was exactly why grandma was out back right now, pruning Claire's rose bush. I knew she waslistening in on us, because every so often she'd throw a comment of her own through the slidingglass door.

The breeze that wafted through was pleasant, at least. Even though the room was heavy withemotion.

“Exactly like the first time?” Dad questioned, his eyes flitting to me.

I had come clean about the notes I was getting from Tyler, and how he had confronted me that dayat my secret swimming hole. This was all before his d***h, which begged the question. Who wasdoing this?

“Not exactly. The d***h is the same. Just as b****y and gruesome.” I swallowed, but it did nothing toease the knot in my chest. It brought back that photo, the one where Carson and I had posed likelong- lost friends. “It's the details that changed. Like the note and picture at the crime scene, thatwas new.”

“Last time this happened, Tyler and the Vampire King were behind it. Seeing as how they're bothlong confirmed d**d, they aren't responsible. That leaves the witches, or the Vampire's against Lola.”Zeke chimed in; his playful mood nonexistent. The sly glint in his eyes had long ago turned dull,souring until only guilt filled them. As those eyes met my own, I knew the same light shined in myown.

I had been posing with her for several minutes, and in all that time, I hadn't felt anything out of theordinary. There had been dozens of drunken college students watching us, eying the popularsorority girl and their Luna.

It had been my brief association with her that got her k****d, but it was Zeke who had seen her last-who had watched as she got into an uber and headed back to the lake in search of her cellphone.“We're striving for peace, Lola. There are always going to be vile people who want to destroy that.They'll do whatever it takes to get their way, but that's when we need to stand strong, not backdown. What happened wasn't your fault, and we're going to do everything in our power to makesure what happened to Carson doesn’t happen again.’ Asher’s voice was the last thing I hadexpected, his raspy voice swirling through my head.

I felt my throat constrict as I registered his words, my eyes darting to where he stood against thekitchen doorway. Even as everyone talked, his gaze remained trained on me, on every movement orexpression I made.

"Did either of you see anything, hear anything out of the ordinary?” Killian asked, his dark hair waslonger than Asher’s, but just as untidy from the number of times he ran his fingers through it. Clairesat stone-faced at his side, a hand on his bicep.

"While I was at the party, no. There were just a bunch of students, nothing more. There was somedrunk a*****e that tried to pick a fight-Devin, I think, but I doubt a college frat boy is our m******r." Ireplied, looking into Asher's golden- flecked eyes. “What about you? Did you feel anything off whenyou went after Zeke last night?”

“Devin Armstrong?” Killian grimaced, eyes passing between me and his son. ” He's Judge Clint's son.Causes him some trouble every now and again, but the boy wouldn't m****r someone. Not withClint breathing down his neck.”

“I went straight to the after party looking for Zeke, then the nearest police station when a packmember told me he had been arrested.” Asher's baritone filled the room, always robbing me ofbreath. " Third and fourth shift patrol teams were switching out the time of her d***h, but neithersaw anything.”

"Your sister...the nightmare’s she’s been having. Is there any chance they could tie into this? Whatabout Tristan and his vampire connections? They have to know something.” Zeke asked, pulling myattention away from Asher. His eyes were dark with shadows, that only he could banish. The sameones that still haunted me after Mason's mates’ d***h. I didn't take it personally when his voiceturned hard, “If there is a chance...we owe it to Carson to replace out.”

“She's your sister, and she has been through a lot in her short life, but this is bigger than that. If sheknows something about Carson's d***h, or how to prevent any more, we need to know.” Asher wasfirst to break the silence since we had left Zeke and the others, on our way to see if Holly knewanything about last night.

Zeke had been right, and so had Asher, even though my chest ached at the thought of upsettingHolly. Part of me had been excited for a sister, and still was, but now all I wanted was for her to getbetter. To taste sunlight and freedom after years in the dark.

Breyona, Giovanni, and Tristan were all at the house when we arrived. The first vampire had beensleeping peacefully, until Breyona padded upstairs to wake him up. The second, who peered at mewith pale eyes, leaned against the kitchen counter.

"You woke me up with your panicking earlier.” Tristan remarked dryly.

I jumped a good inch as Asher's snarl crackled beside me, the once empty house filled with hostilityand aggression. The hand I placed on his arm only did so much to curb his rage. At the very least, itkept him from lunging at Tristan.

"A girl was m******d last night.” His voice still oozed malice, but at least it was contained. I gave hima warning glance as he took a step towards Tristan. “It's pretty f*****g convenient the details of herm****r match up to the ones in Lola's old pack. Remember them? The innocent werewolves that youhelped k**I."

The last thing I felt like doing was breaking up a fight between an Alpha and a Vampire, but I wasn'tgoing to let them k**I one another. Not when I needed their help figuring all of this out.

“I'll never deny my part or what I've done. My mistakes will follow me to my d***h, but I know whatside I'm on now and who I support. Doubt me again, and —"

“Enough. You're both arguing like children.” I snarled, jabbing a finger into Asher’s chest when heopened his mouth to snap back at Tristan. I looked into my mates’ eyes, seeing, and understandingthe anger and fierce protectiveness that lived there. It leeched some of the harshness out of myvoice, “We can pick this argument up after we figure out who m******d Carson. I know you're angryright now but fighting one another is a waste of our time.”

The anger that turned the air thick and humid fizzled out when Giovanni emerged from upstairs,followed by Breyona. His curly hair was messy from sleep, even though his dark eyes were brightand alert.

“Someone was m******d?" Breyona asked, her eyes wide as she paused at the top of the stairs.

It took ten minutes to explain what happened to the three of them. The only one unable to hidetheir reaction was Breyona, who grew paler with each gruesome detail. I held back a laugh turnedsob when she flung her arms around my neck. If my balance wasn’t so good from training, Iwould've tumbled backwards.

"Oh, Lola. That's so horrible to hear.” She frowned, pulling back after a few long seconds. “You knowthis isn't your fault, right?”

"So Asher keeps reminding me.” My smile was brittle, turning towards Giovanni and Tristan. “Thinkany of your contacts will know about this a****k?"

“I'm still in touch with a few families that haven't chosen a side. If this was the work of Vampire's, Ihave a feeling they might know who. Getting them to tell, that will be the fun part.” Tristan replied,his angular jaw still clenched. He brushed a strand of his now short hair out of his face, his eyes thecolor of storm clouds. “It'll take me some time to get a hold of them. They're trying to stay off thegrid.”

“By off the grid, you mean as far away from me and Asher as they can get.”

Tristan didn't dignify my comment with a response, not that he needed to. I could tell I had hit thenail on the head.

Unfortunately, his frown lines were going to worsen, because I had no choice but to bringup Holly.“There's something else. We need to talk to Holly about her nightmares.” I told him firmly, instantlyseeing the disapproval in his eyes. I shut him down with a hard look and continued, “She's beenseeing things in those nightmares, and there's a chance it could have something to do withtonight's a****k. We have to try, Tristan.”

I hated the pleading edge in my voice, and even more so the way his eyes narrowed, and hisposture became tense. It took him a few long seconds to reply, “I can’t promise she'll open up. She'sbeen closed off lately, even to me. She won't admit it, but this witch is her last chance.”

"Get her to come downstairs, and I'll talk to her.” I told him, knowing from experience the only oneshe allowed inside her bedroom was Tristan, and that was only for minutes at a time.

Shortly after our father's d***h, I had convinced Holly to talk to a therapist. This was before she hadclosed herself off to the world, barely venturing out at night even though she could walk during theday with little discomfort. Therapy was slowly helping, revealing the fears she had about the outsideworld.

The start of her nightmares, it had sent her reeling backwards. It's been over a week since I've seenher face, and even longer since she’s seen sunlight.

Tristan vanished upstairs, his faint knock on her door the only sound I could hear. We waited for thebetter half of an hour, our breath held as he finally emerged and came downstairs. The creasebetween his eyebrows had vanished, but his eyes remained troubled.

“She's coming downstairs. Lola, if you push too hard, I have no clue how she'll react.” I took Tristan'swarning as truth, because at the moment, no one knew her better.

I could hear the soft tap of her feet first, a steady rhythm as she rounded the corner and followed inTristan’s footsteps.

As I saw her face, I was reminded of all the features I had gotten from our father. The raven hair andpale eyes, our full lips rounded ever so slightly at the top, they all belonged to him.

Holly had lost weight since I had last seen her. The roundness in her face had vanished, revealingher high cheekbones and sharp jawline. Her skin had paled, making her hair and eyes look evenmore startling. I could see the hesitation in the way her eyes flitted from face to face, and herfingers toyed with the hem of her t-shirt.

“It's good to see you, Holly.” I kept my voice neutral, hating the soft and delicate tone people woulduse when they viewed you as wounded.

I hoped she would notice the difference, and see that no one here saw her as weak. There was noeasing into this, not when Holly's nightmares sent her spiraling into fits of terror or rage. Those longnights were just as horrifying, and there had been nothing to prepare her then.

"A college student was m******d last night, and I need to know if you've seen anything about herd***h, or the people who caused it.”