Alpha Asher By Jane Doe

Judging from the small building the wedding was being held at, it was initially meant to be an intimate event. As grandma mentioned earlier, the couple in question had high hopes that a wedding was just what people needed to lift spirits. As it turns out, they were right.

There were cars spilling out of the little parking lot, parked alongside curbs and even up on the flat, grassy areas. Dainty paper lanterns suspended on thin fishing wire were what led guests to the front doors, though many just walked around the building to where the party was overflowing into the grass. A hastily thrown together dance floor had been constructed out back, along with a dozen or so tiki torches and streamers in various shades of violet.

The sign out front read, ‘Chatham Recreational Center.’ The music pouring from within was loud and upbeat, matching the laughter that drifted throughout the air. Children darted in and out, weaving between adults who were either drinking, eating, or dancing.

There was no order to any of it, but the chaos gave it a homey feel that reminded me more of a family reunion rather than a wedding.

“So many children…” Holly said thoughtfully, nervously fidgeting with the hem of the dress I loaned her. She twisted the lace around her fingers only to release it and repeat the motion.

She was lodged in between Tristan and I, sticking close to our shoulders as we maneuvered throughout the crowd. I noted the way her eyes scanned everything with both hesitation and a budding sense of curiosity. It seemed to shake her whenever someone would look her way for too long. They’d hold her gaze until they noticed me standing at her side, then their attention would flit between the two of us until the similarities between Holly and I answered their unvoiced questions.

words in my ear. As two children zoomed by, one covered from head to navel in bright splotches of sugary frosting, her look of discomfort faltered. Her lips twitched and eyes followed

propped wide open so that people could run in and out, in search of Cassidy. Further inside I spotted my grandma, who was chatting with Claire and a woman in a sparkling white dress. The veil she wore was thrown back and dotted with little diamonds that twinkled like newborn stars. All three looked relaxed and joyful, laughing

was giggling and very clearly flirting with a guy almost three times her size. The guy, whose

looped her arm through my own, paying no attention to Tristan or Holly in the process. “Lola has been such a friend lately. She came

her, not wanting to relay the details of what it was I did that night. I was still figuring it out myself, and the last thing I needed was for everyone else

as it caught the torchlight. She lowered her voice as the thunderous pop music melted into something soft and slow. “This is the guy I’ve

Kendrick and cozied up to his side. There was a small part of me that wanted to bring up Lars considering she’d been more than interested in him up until the

come up with a plan in the first

Asher’s voice in my head. A few times he spoke through the mind-link, attempting to ease my anger but to no avail. Here and there I let a few details

neared to act on my plan. Tristan, Holly, and Cassidy ventured inside the Recreational center while I hovered near the doors and waited. A few minutes passed, turning giddiness into budding anxiety, when I began to grow impatient and decided to peek my head inside. Rather than look in the direction of the restrooms, which is where Cassidy and the others went, I

perched on bleachers, paper plates on their laps piled with food, but that was it. The lack of people made it all too easy to spot his head of salt and pepper hair, which he seemed to have brushed and styled specifically for tonight. Judging