Alpha Asher By Jane Doe

Chapter 240

“My Queen.”

Tristan, my first in command. The man I considered both a friend and a worthy enemy. A Vampire I had once hated with every fiber of my being, only to now trust him with every beat of my heart.

He was dead.

Cold. Unmoving. Not a spark of light in his eyes.

He pushed me out of the way. He took the blow that was meant for me. He gave his life for me and its broke Freya’s spell.

Tristan loved me.

Holly’s head was bowed, her hair a dark veil that covered her face as she wept. Her hands were stained red with Tristan’s blood, but she didn’t seem to notice. She continued clutching at his shirt, whimpering, and whispering under her breath.

Without warning the blood ruby unleashed a blast of light that left me seeing spots. Holly ripped the blade from Tristan’s unmoving chest, dropping it as though it were poisonous.

Freya’s face had lost its triumphant luster, taking on a more sinister expression. It looked like her skin had been pulled too tightly

over her bones, stretching across her face in a way that emphasized every dip and curve. Her cheeks were just a touch too hollow, her eyes bulged from their sockets ever so slightly. Her teeth pressed at her lips, pushing them outward.

Her eyes flickered from the dagger to where I sat in the grass, the start of some sickening plan or idea taking form in her head.

Before she could react-before any of us could react, Holly stumbled to her feet.

I should’ve noticed something off when she went silent, no longer crying or whispering under her breath.

Long strands of inky hair hung over her face, partially shielding it from view. From where I sat, I managed to catch a single glimpse of her eyes. My stomach plummeted as I took in the haunted light that filled her entire being.

Holly, the sister that betrayed me, the one I craved since I was a little girl, unleashed a wail that made my hair stand on end.

For a split second, I thought she was going to attack me. After all, it was my life Tristan died for. Never could I have anticipated

Holly charging at her own mother, grabbing onto her dress with blood-stained hands as she screamed and snarled like a wild animal.

“You killed him, you killed him, you killed him! Holly wailed, her voice cracking several times over.

Freya’s lips pulled back from her face in a distasteful sneer. “Get off of me, girl. Have some class. We do not cry over men.”

She shoved Holly away, who stumbled backwards but didn’t fall. Her shoulders were hunched as she took in breath after breath.

Bloody handprints littered Freya’s skin from where Holly had made a grab for her.

Digging my fingers into the dirt, I pushed myself off the ground and onto my feet. I inched closer to Breyona, hesitating when I caught the unearthly glow of magic in Holly’s eyes.

Suddenly, the bloody handprints on Freya’s body began to smoke.

Freya noticed the same time as I did. Her bulging eyes went wide, so wide that I could see the network of veins running across them like spider webs. Unlike normal veins, these ones were black-tainted with darkness.

“You... You dare use blood magic on me?”

She scoffed at Holly. “l am your mother.”

Holly didn’t so much as blink at her mother.

Her lips barely moved, forming words that came out as a cold whisper.

“You're nothing but an empty vessel.”

of the sound. It was the crash of a vase against a hard floor. The crack of a bone snapped in two, it’s splintered echo ringing in

wasn’t a vase or a bone that

It was Freya.

two, began to widen. Like the brittle edges of a chasm, her flesh began to crumble. More and more cracks formed, each one stemming from the bloody handprints Holly had left on her mother’s

neck, another across her chest and cleavage. A third inched up her neck, cleaving her jawline in

her body, a look of bewilderment on

enough to kill me!”

powerful as you, mother. You killed him, and it's his lifeblood that's

body, noting how even in death his eyes were trained on my younger sister, I realized she was right. As disturbing as it was, there was a sick sort of beauty behind watching the Blood Witch crack

us, dealing one final blow before

transformed as she opened her mouth and let loose a furious scream. Her jaw opened wider than it should have, more cracks crawling up her face from how taut her

sound alone was deafening, sending a sharp wave of pain straight into my head. I barely noticed the difference as I slammed my hands over my ears. Breyona's wolf was several feet away,

go at Holly with her arms raised and hands

Freya screamed a second time, but this sound was one

just as brittle as the rest of her. Her eyes sunk into the hole in her face, followed by her nose and lips, melting into the shards of her auburn

there was nothing

Blood Witch

Holly had killed her.

her hair was ripped

blood staining the

the only thing that passed between us was panic. That panic quickly

turned to face the source

like Tristan, blonde hair blowing

standing on two feet as he scanned his surroundings, but it wasn't him. The way he moved was off. Many times he'd look down at his hands, spreading his fingers before

of air that fractured into a sob, one that caught the attention of Tristan and had him turning in our Direction. I recognized the

They were my father’s.

deep blue just a few shades darker than Tristan’s stared out at us. With the slickness of oil, they slid to Holly's face, registering the grief that

Holly?” The voice that emerged didn't belong to either Tristan or our father. It was an amalgamation of

body coiled, seconds away from

her mouth. Several times she mouthed the words, but it wasn't until the last

thing.”

his youngest daughter had done, our father let out

fled from the tree’s, melting into the night

as taken a step before faltering. The light in his eyes flickered, deep blue fading in and out like an old radio that

bound their life

don’t.” I warned her, a

do no good, not when he was

my direction.

that I couldn’t help but marvel at

world, and you’re too much of a coward to use

attempting to take a step but stumbling as he did so. The light in his eyes flickered

knees in the

“Such a disappointment.”

then twice, before sputtering out completely. Tristan, his body once more an empty vessel, fell to

itself from her chest as she gingerly turned his body over and

Breyona

one as I spun around, only to find myself steadied by a familiar face. Asher.My mind was so jumbled, my nerves so raw, that I hadn't even felt

blood, but most of it had dried. It

sight of him warmed me

was, until a certain blonde

to find the

hadn’t seen in months. He held my face in his hands, running his thumbs over my cheeks. in slow circles, a

replied, not an ounce of