Alpha Asher By Jane Doe

“I am not grumpy.”‘ He huffed, blinking at me a few times before regaining his composure and leading the way through Asher’s maze-like dungeon.

The network of underground tunnels wasn’t known to anyone in the pack but a select few that Asher trusted. I’d been more than reluctant to venture down there the first time Asher brought me. The entrance was in the basement of a local bar in town, part of the roadways that would allow alcohol to be smuggled in during the human’s insane prohibition.

There was a slight sting of alcohol and fermented fruit that lingered within the tunnels, which helped to dull the scent of blood, sweat, and p**s.

Thankfully, having the Vampire placed in one of the nicer cells turned in our favor. The stench was far less noticeable in this part of the dungeon.

The walls were made from smooth stone, and there was actually a toilet and small stall that served as a shower, though privacy was an impossibility.

Beneath the dim light protruding from the ceiling, swaying slightly though there was no breeze, was the Vampire whose life I had saved.

She was propped against the wall, perched on the metal bedframe that sat in the corner of the cell. With the barest hint of light, I could see that her mane of curly hair wasn’t black but a rich shade of caramel with blonde highlights dispersed throughout. Her deep-set cheekbones casted shadows along her jaw. It was that and the slant to her sculpted eyebrows that made her appear both grim and gaunt.

A pair of eyes the same shade of caramel as her hair darted up to meet my own. She had asked for me, yet her expression seemed to worsen as I walked into the small circular room.

Her cell was the only one occupied, the other four were vacant.

“You called.” I spoke, unflinching as my voice reverberated off the stone walls and floor.

There were two guards in the room with Tristan and I, each one standing rod-straight on either side of her cell. One of the guards slid a creaky metal chair in front of me, a polite smile gracing his rounded face.

The woman blinked twice before saying, “…didn’t think you’d show.”

I opened my mouth to reply, instinctively generating some generic Luna response that would make me appear strong and above it all-above the chaos and h**l the witches had put us through this past month.

the confident look on my face, but I didn’t bother trying to conceal it. I was every bit as

the safety of my people seriously, regardless of their species.” I kept my voice neutral, lowering myself into the fold-out chair

to face my own and glanced up at the two guards flanking her

narrowing her eyes until the swirls of caramel brightened to a warm gold. “If I decide to give anything

like a whip through the silence that encased us. “I didn’t call her here on an

only a bit more watered down. It was a look of assessment, one that

my head in the same way I’d seen Asher do hundreds of times. “What kind of ruler

monitoring her cell a dismissive wave. I knew neither one would stray far, just enough to give us the

She spoke only when the two guards’ footsteps silenced. The words emerged

this woman was or what she had been through in her lifetime, but the feeling churning in my

to go back to sleep. Even more than any of that, I want peace.” I exhaled sharply, forcing the words out in a rush that made my chest feel as though it were caving in. “I’m fighting an impossible war, trying to keep

truth was rarely easy, rarely subtle in its explosion into existence. Short of breath was an understatement. It felt as though the walls were crumbling, like the stone were giving away to damp earth that piled up around m e and threatened to s*****w me whole. Every slow breath I took eased the feeling of

Vampire woman remained silent for several seconds before she stood and approached the iron bars that kept

one last question for you.” She said, watching as I rose from the chair. “There’s

“It’s true.”

Asher and I were building, a town for the Vampire’s on our side, was a relief she’d never known. Her shoulders sagged and lips parted, a million questions bubbling

breathed, leaning forward on the b***s

you that, but depending

face. “I apologize for my role in this, just

the life she had left behind when a small coven of witches descended upon

to form families of their own. They sought out shelter and

too many had been seen as disposable to my father,

seen before. It wouldn’t have taken much considering the witches have kept themselves hidden for centuries, but the fact that they were crawling out