Alpha Asher

There was something so satisfying about disobeying my mate, no matter how selfish and conceited it sounded. Perhaps it was the way his eyes darkened and nostrils flared whenever rage surged through him, or maybe it was the fact that deep down, my disobedience turned him on The respected and feared Alpha Asher, tormented and denied by a girl. From the possessive touches that reminded me who my body responded to, and with the looks that held just a flicker of anger, I knew what Asher had planned for me the moment we made it back to the house.

Luckily, the things he wanted to do weren't suited for his parents' house, so I was in the clear for the time being.

A silent game played between the two of us, one where I seldom won --but I wasn't through trying.

Later that night, like many previous nights, sleep was an elusive beast that even I couldn't tame.

I woke up with foggy eyes and a bit of drool on my face, torn from what could have been the best sleep I've had all week.

That was perhaps the only thing I missed about my old life, the endless potential for naps.

I woke from Giovanni tugging on the chord that connected me, the Vampire Queen, to every single living Vampire in this world.

It wasn't quite like a mind-link. I couldn't enter his thoughts and snare him to my will. I could merely feel his presence, like an annoying tap on the shoulder that wouldn't cease.

I left the bedroom and wandered down the hall to the bathroom, opting to wake Asher up once I could form coherent sentences.

"I'm beginning to wonder who's really the monarch here. Doesn't the Queen ever get to sleep in?" I mumbled to myself, stumbling backwards when I nearly ran into Brandon's towering form. I took a few steps back, wiping my eyes with the backs of my hands. "Oh." "What were you saying about monarchs and lack of sleep?" He smirked down at me, the spitting image of Asher, only with messier hair and crystal blue eyes.

The lights in the hallway were bright, making my eyes ache, but I could still smell the alcohol that wafted off of Brandon in waves. Rich amber and notes of thick honey, definitely some kind of whiskey.

He wasn't piss drunk, not by far, but he had consumed more than enough to affect your average male wolf.

"Just mumbling about a dream I had." I said a bit harsher than I meant, but he was blocking the bathroom door with his frame.

Both Claire and Killian had agreed it was better not to tell Brandon the truth. At least, not until the big announcement. Apparently, the man couldn't keep a secret to save his life. It was almost impossible to believe.

"Maybe you could tell me about this dream sometime, if my brother dares to let you out of his sight." Brandon replied, his smirk a bit messier considering his state.

I couldn't keep the death glare from settling over my face when Brandon felt bold enough to glance down a t the tank top and shorts, I wore.

Not at all revealing, but my obvious anger only seemed to amuse him further. I stepped back and to the side when he tried to take a step towards me.

"Why don't you hold your breath, and I'll get on that." I answered without pause, my voice rightfully harsh. I slipped past him and gave him one last glare. "Go sleep off the alcohol before I knock you out myself."

"Mm, now I see why you're my brothers' mate." He chuckled to himself, turning on his heel. With a last drunken grin, he called out over his shoulder." Goodnight, Lola."

I woke Asher up ten minutes later, letting him know his brother was a raging dumbass. After spending a total of three minutes convincing Asher not to go and kick his drunken a*s, we left the house and hopped into the sedan. Tristan, Holly, Giovanni, Breyona and Mason all stayed in a house two neighborhoods over. The houses were newly built, so many of them were vacant for the time being.

It was the perfect place to stash two Vampire's, and one Witch-Vampire who happened to be my half-sister.

We pulled up to the two-story house, wide with large windows that overlooked the porch and front yard. A driveway jutted off to the side, wrapping around the back where a two-car garage sat.

As Asher and I walked up the porch steps and through the front door, I was hit with the distinct scent of my grandina's lavender cookies-mixed with the heady perfume that was human blood. Since becoming the Vampire Queen, human blood was as vital as food and water. Granted, I could go longer without human blood than I could food, but it was blood that often smelled better. A month ago, I had tried to go an entire week without the thick taste of blood in my mouth. The sickness that swept through me was horrible, all but vanishing once I finally gave in.

I could feel my mouth watering, though I wasn't sure if it was from the blood or the cookies.

As we walked through the foyer and into the kitchen, I was greeted by the scent of both.

Tristan leaned against the wall; his golden hair cropped shorter now, just a few inches below his ears. It made him look a bit younger, less serious even though a scowl currently decorated his face. Per usual, Holly was nowhere to be found. Over the past month, I had been trying to get to know her.

Never once pushing her to join the outside world or my pack, I tried everything possible to reach her.

Oddly enough, it seemed Tristan was the one to understand her most of the time. He was the only one who could get her to open up, but it didn't seem to be helping.

She continued to shut herself off from the world, refusing to talk about the magic that had to be swirling beneath her skin. The same way I swore it swirled beneath mine.

Giovanni sat at the kitchen table, watching Breyona with dark eyes that shimmered with amusement every so often. Giovanni had always been reserved.

Only Tristan and Breyona could evoke the slightest hint of emotion from the man. While Breyona invoked all of the good things, Tristan had the opposite effect.

"Does this taste right to you?" Breyona frowned, shoving a cookie in my face. The delicate scent of lavender mixed with vanilla and brown sugar to create something deliciously unique.

I grabbed the cookie, and took a bite, wrinkling my nose when something salty crossed my tongue.

"Too much salt." She sighed softly, snatching the oven mitts from off the counter. With her hands on her hips, she glared at the remaining cookies in the oven.

"You know, when your grandma gave me this recipe, I thought there would be actual measurements."

"Grandma never measures anything." I chuckled, my eyes straying to where Giovanni sat, a dark glass of blood in his hands.

With a snort, he stood and waltzed over to the fridge, purposefully ignoring Tristan as he stood just a foot away. He grabbed a blood bag from the fridge and poured it into a glass, approaching me with long steps to place it in my hands. "Thanks." I mumbled, still not at all used to my new title.

Vampire's and their monarchs were different than werewolves. While there was no Vampire command forcing their will, they could feel the strength of their ruler and had a sort of sixth sense when it came to certain things. It didn't go as far as a mind-link, but both Giovanni and Tristan could often tell when I was hungry for something other than food.

Giovanni was a man of few words, but the fact that he often brought me blood when I needed it, that was statement enough for where we stood. He supported me, both because of my friendship with Breyona, and because of the new future I wished to put into motion. I tried not to drain the glass entirely within seconds, feeling Asher's curious eyes on my face.

"I'm sure you didn't call us here at four in the morning to chat?" I asked warily, already sure something had gone wrong.

"Just another pesky band of Vampire's trying to rouse up trouble." Tristan sighed, brushing back the strands of hair from his face. When Giovanni grunted, Tristan flashed him an icy glare.

"Pesky?" Giovanni repeated, his light accent paired with his deep voice to create something almost musical. "They killed six werewolves."

"Six?" I paled, already thinking about the future backlash and the grief the families must be going through. I glanced up at Asher, whose golden eyes had darkened with rage. "Where are they attacking from? We'll send forces after the announcement, and give them an opportunity to stand down."

"They could cause much more damage within the next eight hours." Breyona pointed out.

"I know, but I don't think sending warriors there to slaughter them is any better." I sighed, plopping down in one of the wooden chairs at the dining room table. "I need the other Vampire's to see that I'm on their side, that I'm not going to kill them all because I'm mated to an Alpha." "Why don't you send your troops to where they've been attacking and simply tell them to hold back.

Don't engage unless more lives are in danger." Tristan suggested, leveling his cool gaze with Asher's.

I could feel the response in him instantly, but Asher had much more patience than Giovanni. Where Tristan and Giovanni often resorted to punches, Asher hadn't so much as laid a finger on Tristan.

"It's not a terrible plan. " I replied, knowing as well as he did that it was our best option.

Within the next half an hour, assignments had been sent out to a team of warriors, all of which Asher and I trusted to obey orders. With bleary eyes, we headed for the front door. Tristan followed us outside, eyeing the rising

Verify

sun warily.

"We need to speak." His voice was unusually gruff, and I nodded for Asher to get in the sedan without me. "Something wrong, Tristan?"

"Your sister is having nightmares again." Was all he said, and I felt my stomach plummet to the ground. " Bad ones."

"Have Breyona's parents had any luck yet?" I asked, feeling desperation swirl in the pits of my stomach.

"They've found a few candidates." He nodded sharply, eyes staring down at me. "You'll get the files in a few hours. The sooner you go through them, the sooner we can get her help."

"I'll get on it." I assured him, "But Asher's going to have a say in it as well."

"I'd expect nothing less." He replied with a brittle smile, eyes roaming my face before he turned on his heel and went back inside.

Asher and I putted down the road, the engine a smooth hum as we passed houses and street signs. When we passed his family home, I frowned and looked at him.

"Where are we going?" I asked, to which he smirked softly.

"You look like you could use a run. I think I might want one as well."

"That sounds a lot more fun than sleeping." I replied truthfully, feeling my wolf stir beneath my skin.

If there was one thing I adored more than sleep, but less than Asher, it was shifting. The feel of bounding through the forest, your feet near silent against the earth as pure strength and instincts hurl you forwards; there's nothing more freeing. He pulled over on the shoulder of the road when the forest became thick, nearly impossible to peer through even from where we stood.

It was impossible not to feel confident around Asher, especially when I stripped the clothes from my body.

His eyes tracked my every movement, leaving behind goosebumps along every place his mouth and hands had touched.

Once we were both bare, the cool wind whipping across our heated skin, I closed my eyes and let Maya come through. The pain of shifting was brief, thanks to the nightly runs I often took.

I charged into the forest after Asher, hot on his trail as we kicked up dirt and clumps of grass. We were both blips of darkness as we sprinted throughout the forest.

I tailed him for a few minutes, when Maya had the brilliant idea to nip at his hind legs. Like I had expected, he turned on his heel and the two of us skidded to a stop. It took a few seconds for the dirt to settle, my heart hammering as each one passed. With our chests heaving, we faced one another.

There was a challenge in his eyes, and Maya snarled playfully when his voice ran through our head.

'Did you just bite me, Lola?' Asher's voice wasn't velvet smooth as it normally was, but rough and commanding.

'Maybe if you picked up your pace, I wouldn't have to. ' I replied breathlessly, relishing the thrill as his eyes darkened and hackles raised.

Maya and I, on the same page as always when it came to teasing our temperamental mate, had another plan in mind.

I blinked innocently at him, taking a few steps forward to drop my head. Just as he lunged for me, easily suspecting I was up to no good, I rolled to the side and took off into the forest.

I could feel him on my tail instantly, just a few feet away as he snapped and snarled at my heels. I feigned exhaustion for a few seconds before putting on a show and kicking off the ground in a burst of strength that sent me propelling forwards.

There was a reason Asher and I were mated, one of those reason's being that he was the only man in this world that held the title as my equal.

While I leaped over the rotten carcass of a fallen tree, Asher used it as a springboard, kicking off it as he soared into the air.

The impact of his body slamming into mine made my teeth rattle, but I hardly felt the sliver of pain over the thrill of being chased-and caught.

The two of us landed in a mess of tangled limbs, bare and human as we rolled to a stop in the tall grass that surrounded us.

I had landed rather clumsily on his chest, straddling his stomach. The pads of my fingers were pressed into the thick muscle that spanned his smooth chest.

My eyes trailed the vein that ran down his neck before I smirked and dug my fingernails into his chest, pinning him down for the moment. My obsidian hair, still long and wavy, hung over us like a curtain.

"See? Now's the perfect time to practice your self-control." I snickered breathlessly, my entire body thrumming from the closeness between us-and the need that tugged at my own willpower. Asher thrived and desired control, but secretly liked the disobedience and chaos I brought to his life.

There was little to no one who would dare defy Asher, a fact I had given little thought when I first met the man.

I had been trying for weeks now to take the reins, each time failing--though not miserably. The outcome was still phenomenal each time.

I could feel him stirring beneath me, hardening with every heavy breath that left his lips. Seconds later, the thick length of him brushed against my backside.

Keeping one hand of fingernails firmly pressed into his skin, I used the other hand to reach behind me. Smooth skin stretched taut, just a few seconds of contact before Asher snarled and flipped me over.

My breath halted in my chest as the warm grass met my back. His large hand was wrapped around my throat, while his hulking form towered over me, wedged in between my spread legs.

Since coming into both of my titles, Asher and I rarely had more than a few minutes to ourselves. Unfortunately, this time was no different.

As his Beta's voice filled his mind, I felt a persistent and incredibly impatient tug from Tristan.

"You tell me to control myself, but look at how wet you are." His snarl was another jolt of adrenaline, lighting up every nerve ending on my body, pulling my thoughts away from anyone other than himself. His fingers flexed around my throat, powerful and rough with callouses. The same ones that had ended many lives, just as his teeth had torn through countless enemies. The same set of teeth that currently hovered above my own throat. Yet, it wasn't fear that rushed through me. "The next time you do something like that, I will not stop. Regardless of who calls us."