Alpha Asher
Chapter 73

While I was desperate to succ*mb to the darkness, I would have to try again tomorrow night.

For the second time, I stood outside my body and looked down at mine and Alpha Asher's sleeping forms. A scowl was etched onto my sleeping face, as though I were having a nightmare.

This time around felt different, almost as if I were more tangible than before. My skin no longer had that transparent dream-like hue.

Rather than be forced by the Vampire King to visit, I stumbled towards my body. The effort made my legs ache, as it was like walking through quick-sand. Just as my fingers grazed the blanket, I was pulled backwards.

As though it were a dream, the room around me faded and changed into something different. Alpha Asher's dark walls were replaced with a deep shade of maroon. Black couches dotted the large room, and book shelves lined half of the wall. A four-poster bed covered in black satin and large pillows looked strangely inviting.

Tristan's muscular form walked out of the bathroom, letting steam ebb into the room. His near-white hair was messy and damp, the water still dripping from his skin.

With nothing but a towel around his waist, Tristan strolled out of the bathroom. My eyes trailed the length of his body unwillingly, taking in every dip and curve of his muscles.

His crystalline eyes met my own and widened, his care-free gait stopped as he noticed me standing there. While my heart thundered with equal parts hate and desire, Tristan's full lips turned up in a smirk.

"Quite the voyeur." Tristan chuckled, continuing his stroll to what I assumed was his closet.

I clenched my fists at my side, trying to force myself back to my body but nothing seemed to work. If I was in my body, I would've had a headache from the effort.

"You're the one who brought me here." I rolled my eyes, coming to accept that this wasn't just a realistic nightmare. "Feel free to send me back."

"Send you back?" Tristan's bemused and vivid eyes brightened, showing me a quick flash of his teeth before removing his towel.

With an annoyed hiss, I turned around. I could hear his silky chuckle, knowing I had turned around a second too late. While I wanted to toss the nearest lamp at his head, I couldn't touch anything without a body.

"I'm not the one who brought you here, beautiful." Tristan chuckled and I whipped around angrily. His face was the picture of innocence, tainted with the sly smile on his face. "It seems you found your way to me all on your own."

Wearing nothing but a pair of low-cut sweatpants, he looked like a fallen angel. Beautiful and alluring, but dangerous and corruptive. I knew if Maya were here, she'd talk some sense into my head, telling me not to think that way about Tristan.

"I'm sleeping with Asher right now. Why would I come and see you?" I grimaced, uncaring at how cold my voice sounded.

Despite the small part of me that wanted him, this was one of the Vampire's responsible for Katie and Kanyon's death, and Seans abduction. No matter how hard, I had to keep myself from falling off the edge.

"As I said, despite what you claim you feel something for me." Tristan murmured; his smile seductive yet scornful.

Faster than I could process, Tristan was standing just a few feet away from me. Even without my heightened smell, I could easily notice the sandalwood and citrus scent filling the air. Warmth radiated from his body, making me realize how cold I had been this entire time. "I don't. I feel nothing for you. How many times do I have to say it?" My voice wavered, an uncomfortable knot twisting in my stomach.

Tristan leaned forward, his lips an inch away from my ear. I couldn't hide the shiver that went down my spine as his breath fanned against my ear. The amused tone in his voice annoyed me, helping me resist the urge to run my fingers over his bare skin.

"Sweetheart, let me tell you a secret." Tristan murmured, letting out a silky chuckle. "The mark wouldn't have healed if you felt nothing for me."

Dread and denial punched me in the gut as I tried to ignore what he had said. My throat constricted, fighting against the part of me that knew he was right.

It might have been a dull ember in comparison to the explosion I felt with Alpha Asher, but the attraction was there.

"You're lying." I shook my head, taking a step away from Tristan and the intoxicating heat his body radiated.

"I'm not lying." Tristan chuckled lowly, and I swore his bright eyes were growing darker as he took another step towards me. "You know I'm telling the truth, just as I know that you feel something for me."

"It's nothing compared to what I feel for Alpha Asher." I shook my head, my eyes clenched shut as I fought against his stinging words.

"It isn't, yet." Tristan murmured, his smooth voice and confident. "You have spent a lot of time with the Alpha. Those feelings are understandable given your-relationship with him."

He said Alpha as though it were a curse, an insult to what he was. The distaste that filled his eyes vanished, leaving his usual lu*ty and calculated gaze.

Tristan closed the distance between the two of us, his arm wrapping around my waist as his lips slammed down on my own. Revulsion and confusion were my first reactions, but Tristan's grip was tight around my waist. His touch startled me, as I thought I couldn't touch anything without my body. His hard body meshed against my own, muscles pressing against soft skin.

I flattened my hands against his chest, shoving roughly as I clamped my lips together. Without Maya by my side, my strength was severely impacted. Tristan held me tightly, as though he couldn't feel the force beneath my touch.

His hands were soft as they drifted up the front of my shirt, grazing the bottom of my bre*st teasingly. An angry growl left my lips as I tried shoving against his chest for the second time. I resisted the sensations he was causing within me, resisted the tingling that formed between my legs.

Tristan's large hand grabbed my bre*st roughly, his thumb pressing against my n!p. I yanked my head away from his own, my face heated and my lips parted in outrage.

Tristan took the opportunity without hesitation, forcing his tongue into my mouth. While his tongue danced against my own, his fingers toyed with the sensitive flesh of my nip.

Despite all of my collective willpower, I couldn't keep the moan from leaving my lips. Silent as a whisper in a hurricane, but Tristan had been able to hear it. Alpha Asher felt like an explosion of passion and heat, feral lu*t and desire removing inhibitions. K!ssing Tristan felt like thick dark chocolate, rich and seductive.

Just as I regained some of my common sense, I shoved against his chest for the third time, using every ounce of strength I could muster. Tristan stepped away from me, his lips red and his eyes bright. For a second, I had thought my strength was enough to push him away but then an impatient knock sounded at his door.

Tristan's full lips turned up in a sly smile, placing a finger against them to silence me. Without further explanation, Tristan turned and opened his door.

A curly headed Vampire stood at the door, one I recognized from the night at the swimming hole. Giovanni had escaped shortly after Tristan did, leaving a dead Vampire and Tyler behind.

"I have news for you." Giovanni grunted; his eyes dark as he frowned at Tristan.

Shooting me one last lu*ty glance, Tristan murmured something quietly to Giovanni. While I strained to hear what they were saying, I only made out bits and pieces.

"...she got away..." Giovanni muttered, a dark look on his face.

Amusement hit me as I realized they were talking about me. I had escaped from the club, managing to save my brother and keep my friends alive. They had lost many Vampire's on their side, but we hadn't lost a single werewolf.

'That's for Katie and Kanyon.' I thought smugly, glaring at the two Vampire's.

Tristan turned his face partially to meet my eyes, his sly smile deepening. "She got away? Good. She will come back."

I wanted to storm over and attack him, wiping that sly smile from his face. The confidence in his eyes made me see red. How was he so sure I would come back to him? He himself knew how I felt about Alpha Asher.

'Asher'. I thought, nearly smiling at the sound of his name. Turning my eyes away from Tristan, I thought about Asher and how his dark eyes and charming smile made me feel. I remembered how silky my hands felt in his hair, and the way he looked at me as though I were the moon in a dark sky.

Just as the door closed, leaving me alone with Tristan once more a tugging sensation formed in my gut. As though it were a long rope bringing me to Tristan, I felt as it snapped and the room faded into black.

My eyes snapped open, aching as sunlight burned into them. A thin layer of sweat coated my skin, and a headache had already begun to form around my temples.

The irritating mark on my shoulder stung angrily, as if scolding me for running away from Tristan. Maya's thoughts were a whirlwind of anger and disgust as I replayed where I had been.

A set of dark eyes watched me from the corner of the room, making me visibly jump as I met Alpha Asher's intense gaze.

Seated on one of the armchairs, Alpha Asher watched me closely. His dark eyes were locked on the scarlet mark that tormented me, narrowing as if he knew what had happened. "Good morning." I cleared my throat, wincing at how weak my voice had sounded.

"You were saying his name in your sleep." Alpha Asher pointed out, his calm voice hiding the rage he felt. "I tried to wake you up, but you were practically dead to the world."

I wanted to deny anything happened, deny that Tristan had put his hands and lips on me. Most of all, I wanted to deny that a small part of me blossomed under his touch. Alpha Asher's eyes narrowed, taking in my heated face and dewy skin. I clutched the blanket around my nak*d chest, using it as support for what I planned to say next.

"It was this stupid mark, it brought me to him." I hissed lowly, clenching my teeth as my stomach rolled.

"Why were you screaming his name, Lola?" Alpha Asher's voice remained hard; his anger steady. However, I wasn't sure his anger was directed towards me. From the look of loathing on his face, it seemed he was angry at himself.

"It seems Tristan doesn't care for consent." My voice turned dark as I registered the murderous glint in Alpha Asher's eyes. My own voice was laced with disgust as I tried to soothe some of the anger within Alpha Asher. "I tried to fight back, but I was weak without Maya. He only managed to kiss me before someone knocked on his door."

I decided to leave out the part where his hand had snuck up my shirt, and how a tiny part of me had enjoyed it. I knew Alpha Asher was close to exploding, and I wanted to minimize the damage while I could.

"He kissed you?" The emotion seeped from Alpha Asher's voice, instead retreating to his darkened eyes. "I've had enough of this. We need to get his f**king mark off your skin."

"Wait." I paused, thinking back to what Giovanni and Tristan were talking about. "I was still there when someone knocked at his door. It was that other Vampire from the swimming hole-Giovanni. I couldn't hear much of what they were saying, but this could be useful." "Useful?" Alpha Asher's eyes blazed, but I stood my ground. "How is being tied to that-Vampire useful?”

"If I can bring myself to him at the right moment, who knows what I might overhear?" My eyes remained hard, unyielding but my lips turned up in a sly smile. "