Alpha Asher By Jane Doe

Chapter 212

We left that day for the safe haven, not bothering to pack or say goodbye to our families.

It didn’t matter that I was on the verge of passing out, not when the place we promised would remain safe had been attacked. There was no more time to wait. I needed to use my magic to protect them, and I needed to do it now.

Asher gave me enough of his blood to keep me standing up right. The only pit stop we made before peeling out of town was to pick up Tristan and Giovanni. Now that the sun was finally setting, they could safely leave the house.

I cried out with relief when Giovanni passed two blood bags into my hands and quickly tore into them. It wasn’t nearly enough, but it would have to be.

We were just under a mile away and already I could tell something had happened. Smoke lingered in the air, crisp and heavy like someone had started a very large bonfire. Even coasting down the main road, the gouges in the forest were visible. Trees were knocked down and bushes trampled into the dirt. It looked like a pack of very large beasts had charged through at full force.

I wasn’t at all prepared for what I saw when we arrived.

There wasn’t a single part of me that thought the safe haven would survive an attack without any damage, but beyond all reasonable belief, I had clung to the hope that the damage would be minimal.

We rolled down the main road intersecting the town slowly, giving me plenty of time to scour every single shred of damage the witches had done.

From the number of houses that had scorch marks licking up the sides, it was clear Ember had been here.

So many of them were crumbling, halfway torn down with families hiding inside, clinging to the shadows as the last hints of sunlight faded.

It grew worse as we neared the center, so much worse.

Bodies were lined in neat rows, covered in white sheets stained grey with ash. There weren’t many, perhaps only a dozen, but it didn’t matter. Those twelve carried the same weight as a hundred as a thousand, would.

The sidewalks and street were streaked with black marks, kissed by Ember’s flame as she pillaged the town. Cars were turned over, some halfway crumpled and smoking. The stench of burnt motor oil hung in the air, mixing with the scent of death.

Tristan cursed, and Giovanni made a sound of agreement.

“Fuck, my mother and father are here.”

I craned my head to stare at him in the

back seat. If we weren’t surrounded by so much carnage and death, I might’ve laughed at how absurd he looked crammed in the backseat with Giovanni.

“Is that a bad thing?” I asked. Giovanni snorted. “If you think Tristan is unpleasant, wait until you meet his mother.”

I glanced at Tristan, waiting for him to snap or explode on Giovanni, but instead he actually nodded in agreement.

There was nothing to say that would ease their discomfort. In truth, I wasn’t too worried about Tristan’s family or what opinions his mother would have. Seeing what happened here with my own eyes, it outweighed everything else.

Asher’s hand grazed my own, his fingers sliding in between mine. I glanced away from the carnage and into his eyes, not realizing how close I was to plummeting until I felt his presence glide down the mate-bond and into my troubled mind.

‘It doesn’t matter how many times they destroy this place. We will rebuild.’ He promised, his eyes severe and set in stone.

More than anything, I wanted it to be enough, but it wasn’t.

stepped out of the car, barely noticing it had come to a stop. The slam of car doors. was quiet in comparison to everything

flash of brown curls

fingers in his hair and

to approach. I imagine we all had the same expression on our faces, grim without the barest

that served as a sort of Town Hall. Children clutching ash stained stuffed animals padded behind their mother’s and father’s, hiding behind legs and torso’s as they

the safe haven we’ve heard so much

the two of them. Tristan made a sound

as a warning and not

the woman with soft blonde hair and an upturned nose. She had

matched perfectly with her powder blue dress and black pumps. There wasn’t a single curl on her head that was out of

face, recognition and disdain melting into one festering pool that I did not have the energy

purred, the obliviousness in

barely spared her a

why don’t you show some goddamn respect and call

I tuned out everything else. Tristan’s mother’s reply was shrill and fell on deaf ears. One after another, emotions impaled me in the chest. The longer I

hard work reduced to rubble in

pressed against her bird chest. Her voice lowered to a whisper that wasn’t nearly quiet enough to be an actual whisper. “Think about your sister for Goddess sake. Do you expect her to live in a hovel?” 1

through mind-link, feeling

this woman said was meaningless, and empty words were

pouty lips were identical. The little girl was the spitting image of Tristan’s mother, only younger and not nearly as sour. She waved timidly

person, he was observing everything carefully. They clung to my face the most, and I wondered if he was naturally this curious or if he had a habit of

to invite you here, and you didn’t have to come. It

or had a talent for ignoring the things she found unimportant, because she didn’t seem to notice the tension in the air or how all of it radiated from where I stood.

crackling in my ears like the vicious flames that had eaten through over half

observer to the damage and death the

a pity. I was so hoping we could live here, but I won’t risk your sister’s life when

but he wasn’t looking at

“Lucinda.”

assumed was Tristan’s father approached. His hand was on his wife’s shoulder, but he wasn’t looking at

down. The shadows are reacting to

trickled down the mind link, but it was faint, muffled by white noise like

it seemed darker than normal. Many of

a million little eyes hit my skin

there they were. There were thousands of them, perhaps even more. Within every nook and cranny, crawling over every piece of this earth

across the ground and circled around my feet, whispering sweet words of vengeance and blood.

has many talents, but holding her tongue is not one of them.” Tristan’s father

scowled at her

more than we do. Seeing it like this is not easy for her.” Asher’s voice dropped

feet with eyes of ice. Her lips

when a few tendrils of shadow got too close for her liking. “Honestly, your father couldn’t control those things

neck cracked as my