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.

car doors. was quiet

brown curls flitted past as

her fingers in his hair and let out

next to approach. I imagine we all had the same expression on our faces, grim

center of the safe haven, to the community center that served as a sort of Town Hall. Children clutching ash stained

heard so much about?” A refined

and Spence locked eyes, something private passing between the two of them. Tristan made a

a warning and not a greeting.

even noticed her standing there, the woman with soft blonde hair and an upturned nose. She had

with her powder blue dress and black pumps. There wasn’t a single curl on her head that was out of place. Clearly she’d gotten here long after the

swiveled to my face, recognition and disdain melting into one festering pool that I did

the obliviousness in her

spared her a

don’t you show some goddamn respect and

and fell on deaf ears. One after another, emotions impaled me in the chest. The

of hard work reduced to rubble in the span of two hours.

bird chest. Her voice lowered to a whisper that wasn’t nearly

I told Asher through mind-link, feeling him

this woman said was meaningless, and empty words were not worth starting another

as Tristan. His hair was much darker, but his deep-set eyes, angular nose, and 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 when we locked eyes, and I

how his eyes flitted from person to 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 gauging

mother. They didn’t have to invite you here, and you didn’t have to come. It wasn’t like

had a talent for ignoring the things she found unimportant, because

apart from her nasal whine faded into white noise, crackling in my ears like the vicious flames that had eaten through

the damage and death the witches had caused,

son. “Not very safe, is it? What a pity. I was so hoping we could live here, but I won’t risk your sister’s life when it’s clear this place is

Tristan snarled, but he

“Lucinda.”

father approached. His hand was on his

calm down. The shadows are

the mind link, but it was faint, muffled by white

was paying more attention, it seemed darker than normal. Many of the streetlights were destroyed, but even the few that remained did little to illuminate

pinprick of a million little eyes hit

over every piece of this earth that the moonlight failed to reach, the

circled around my feet, whispering sweet words

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

mother, scowled at

one cares about it more than we do. Seeing it like this is not easy for her.” Asher’s voice dropped low, and anyone with ears could hear the warning in his

pooling around my feet with eyes of ice. Her lips twisted and puckered, deepening the fine lines

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

in my neck cracked as my head snapped in