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.

didn’t bother trying to conceal it. I was every bit as human as

I kept my voice neutral, lowering myself into

own and glanced up at the two

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

cracking like a whip through the silence that encased

looking at me felt familiar, her eyes hardened like two slabs of mahogany, streaked with gold that reminded me of Asher’s only a bit more watered down.

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

wave. I knew neither one would stray far,

darkness our home…” She spoke only when the two guards’ footsteps silenced. The words emerged

churning in my gut told me she’d sniff out a fake answer a mile away, and that upon the first whiff she’d

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 both sides alive long enough to realize who the true enemy is. It doesn’t matter how far things get, how b****y or horrific. I’ll never be able to stop, because stopping means picking a side, and I will not let half of my people

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 claustrophobia but did nothing to ease the weight

seconds before she stood and approached the iron bars that kept her contained. Tristan stiffened but

I have one last question for you.” She said, watching as I rose from the chair. “There’s rumor of a town, a place

“It’s true.”

the Vampire’s on our side, was a relief she’d never known. Her shoulders

leaning forward on the b***s of

unchanging. “You know I can’t tell you that, but depending on what you tell

that brightened her eyes and took years off her face. “I apologize for my role in this, just as I apologize for

of the life she had left behind when

the country, slowly gathering to form families of their own. They sought out shelter and food whilst

allegiance of many Vampires was undecided. Far too many had been seen as disposable to my father, as heads in his army, as soldiers ready

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