Alpha Asher
Chapter 198

After personally apologizing and promising Kendrick a plate of grandma's lavender cookies, we headed back into the living room and continued with the game.

Whether it was the blood, wine, or scaring the shit out of Kendrick, Holly had finally loosened up and no longer fiddled with her fingers or picked at the hem of her pj's. She chose Breyona next, who quickly picked truth, and proceeded to ask her about her relationship with Giovanni There was a light blush staining my half-sister's cheeks as she asked about the ins and outs of their relationship.

Breyona, who answered Holly's question gracefully, set her sights on Clara.

"Clara, truth or dare?"

The curly-haired witch set her glass of wine down and quickly licked the residue off her lips before smirking.

"I'll go with truth. I know you been chomping at the bit to ask me about my thing with Mason, so I'm giving you the chance for one question."

My eager best-friend gasped, clasping her hands together while contorting her face into a look of careful contemplation. From the years of studying Breyona's dramatic facial expressions, I could tell she was trying to figure out a way to get the most information possible. "How would you describe your relationship with Mason?" She asked, a self-satisfied tilt to her lips.

Clara sat back on her haunches and took another sip of wine, putting as much consideration into her answer as Breyona had put into her question.

"Well, we're not dating but I think we're on our way to it. He's been through a lot, but I'm sure you both already know all about that. I've been through my fair share of shit that makes it hard to get close to people, but I like Mason. I've never been with a guy that's sweet like him." She confessed, pursing her lips. Through her tanned skin, I could see the clear heat of a blush staining her cheeks but decided not to comment on it.

There were plenty more questions I had, but I kept those at bay. She and Mason would talk about things when they were ready. Before moving on with the game, Breyona let her know that she had our full support, which seemed to relieve some of the tension in Clara's shoulders. As the game progressed, each of us taking turns and bouncing back and forth between silly dares and heavy truths, I found myself being asked 'truth or dare' by Cassidy.

She had eyeliner smeared down half her face and ruby-red lipstick on her jawline from where Clara had dared her to do a full face of make-up in a minute, making it impossible to take her seriously.

"Dare. Do your worst." I smirked, tapping my nails on the side of my glass.

A devious grin overtook the soft curves of her face, and I knew Cassidy wouldn't disappoint.

"I've been saving this one up since that little power display of yours. What you said about your magic not having any limits, it got me thinking." She murmured, leaning in close to the four of us. "Can you influence other people?" "Like, make them your slave?" Clara said, her face twisting into a grimace. "That don't feel right to me."

Cassidy shook her head, her eyes widening. "Goddess, no. I should've worded that better. I meant, I wondered if you could put a thought into someone's head, or an idea of sorts. Like, if I had to choose between a piece of chocolate cake or a salad, could you nudge me towards the salad?"

The girls bobbed their heads up and down, making sounds of understanding. I wasn't quite as convinced, though. The idea that I might be able to influence a person's mind didn't sit to well in my stomach, but I had to admit I was curious about the limits of my magic too. "It's not taking away their will, per say. More like planting a thought and watching it take root." Cassidy explained.

I stared at the two of them. "I'm not sure. Is that your dare?"

Her lips twitched. "Well, it's a bit more specific than that, but in essence, yeah."

"As long as I'm not taking away anyone's willpower, I'm game. I think I'd be more comfortable if we let the guys know first, though. Just to make sure everyone's on board. We don't have to tell them who the target is or what idea I'm putting in their head, but I feel like we should get permission before going forward with it."

Everyone else seemed to agree, so I sent Asher a quick message over mind-link and got a reply back seconds later. The guys were still in the lounge drinking, and from the mental image Asher sent me, half of them were bordering on tipsy. Asher himself would never relinquish control enough to get intoxicated, which was exactly why he wasn't tonight's target.

"Sean asks you don't mess with his hair again unless you're going to give him a beard to match." Asher grunted. "And yes, he made me say that."

It took only a few minutes to choose the target and what thought I wanted to plant in their head. The act itself was all too easy, like with my magic alone a tether had been created between me and that person.

Down that tether, I sent the thought and phrased it more as a suggestion than anything else. I still wasn't comfortable taking away someone's willpower, so there was a big chance this wouldn't work.

To fight off the exhaustion that settled over my shoulders and tugged at my eyelids, working with the alcohol to make them heavy, Cassidy turned on some music.

She began swaying her hips to the beat, letting her long blonde locks out of the clip they were twisted up in. Breyona was quick to follow, leaping off the couch and grabbing my hands before I could curl up on one of the plush cushions.

"Oh, no you don't. When was the last time we danced?" She snorted her question at me, her raised eyebrow giving me my answer.

I groaned but let her pull me to my feet. Grinning like a cat, she bowed and held out her hand for me to take.

Lifting her chin, she asked. "May I have this dance, almighty Queen Luna Lola?"

Laughter bubbled in my chest and exploded from my mouth, widening her cheesy grin. When I was finally able to speak, I sputtered a reply.

"If you never call me that again, yes."

As we took turns twirling one another, our hands clasped and limbs weightless, I noticed Clara teaching Holly how to dance. Her cheeks were bright red, turning deeper by the second when Clara started shimmying her wide hips and shaking her bottom. "Oh, I don't think I can do that." She squeaked, a hand over her mouth.

I twirled Breyona under my arm and shouted to Holly, "Did I ever tell you the first time I met Tristan was in a nightclub?"

Holly blinked at me, surprise erasing some of her shyness. "No, you didn't."

"He wouldn't dance either, but I think you could get him to try." I winked, paying close attention to how her blush began to spread, crawling down her neck in a sea of fire.

For awhile I had my suspicions about Tristan and Holly, though neither one would admit anything. There was this protective side of Tristan that I admired, but it seemed to change in regard to my half-sister.

When it came to keeping me safe, he was acting out of respect and an undying duty to his Queen. With Holly, it was different. I wasn't going to pry, but it didn't hurt to let her know I supported whatever they had, or didn't have, either way.

As time went on and the songs ticked by, I'd forgotten about the dare Cassidy had given me. It all came rushing back when Zeke popped into the living room, a brownie in his hand and his foot already tapping along to the beat.

I was the first to notice when he started shaking and rolling his hips, his eyes closed as he began singing along to the Taylor Swift song that played.

Before long, all five of us were giggling behind our hands, watching the oblivious Alpha dance his heart out while munching on a leftover brownie he must've smuggled away.

In the entryway leading out into the hall, the face of my mate appeared, flanked by the other guys.

Asher's surprised expression alone had me crumpling, his eyebrows vanishing into his hair as he watched his closest friend dance to Taylor Swift. Mason was bopping his head as he watched, while Tristan and Giovanni looked more confused than anything else. "Hey, you've got moves." Kendrick shouted, pushing past the guys to join Zeke.

Zeke's eyes popped open, a lopsided grin on his face that quickly morphed into a look of realization. His arm shot out to point at me, but he didn't stop dancing. I looked sheepishly at him, shrugging my shoulders as I feigned innocence.

"You know what, I'm not even mad." He shrugged. "I happen to love this song."

The chime of the doorbell ringing began to flood the house, muffled beneath the strum of the guitar playing on the speakers.

I shouted to the rest of them that I'd be right back, but they were all enamored with Zeke's skills. Surprisingly enough, he did know how to move. If he wasn't an Alpha, I'd say a career of male stripping was in his future.

As I turned the corner and headed into the foyer, the last thing I saw was Zeke plucking Breyona off the couch to twirl and spin in the middle of the living room. Her carefree laughter mixed with the raspy sound of her mate's growl, bringing a smile to my face. Even while mourning her parents, my best-friend still had joy in her heart.

Through the hazy glass covering the dual front doors, I could see the blurry figure of someone standing on the patio. I opened the door an inch and standing on the patio was a woman just a few years older than myself. She lived down the street from us and was technically our neighbor even though the forest was nestled between our houses.

From my constant trips into town to go to training sessions or to visit my dad and grandma, I knew the woman had a young daughter and a mate that loved to dote on the two of them.

Her eyes were large, but soft and reflected a kind light that made me like her instantly. She half-waved, drawing my attention downward, to the package in her hand.

"Hey, Luna. Sorry to interrupt your night, but this was delivered to me by mistake. I swung by earlier, but you weren't home and I didn't want to just leave it on your porch. It has over-night expedited stickers on the front, so I figured it was important."

I took the package from her hand, which was nothing more than a slender bubble envelope large enough to fit a sheet of paper.

"Thank you so much. I appreciate it."

She waved again, smiling as she bid me a goodnight.

Clicking the lock on the front door, I turned and tore into the package. The label on the front said it was shipped from almost halfway across the country but had no name or company to tell me who it had come from. As I tore it open, a letter fluttered out, drifting to the floor. On the front of the letter was one word. A name, actually.

Breyona.

As if that wasn't harrowing enough, it gets worse. Inside the bubble envelope was a small stack of papers. It wasn't very many, no more than five but the thick material made it bulkier. The moment my fingertips grazed the papers rough surface, I was struck upside the head with recognition.

The book Giovanni had given me on my family, it had the same type of paper.

Following my gut, I pulled the papers out of the envelope and ran my finger down the edge, feeling the frayed pieces from where they'd been torn from the book.

On the front was a sticky note covered in scribbles of ink, the bottom signed by Breyona's parents. The writing was clearly rushed, but as I made out the words and meaning behind them, my stomach began to plummet.

Lola, we pray to the Goddess these replace you in time and not some other soul. Protect this information with your life, there are people who will kill for it. They know we stole it, and they're hunting us now. If we don't make it, give Breyona the letter we included and tell her we love he You've been a wonderful friend to her since you've come back into her life, and all that we ask is that you use what you've learned to keep her safe, to keep them all safe.