Alpha Asher by Jane

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. 

slam of car doors. was quiet in comparison to everything else, drowned out by the

of brown curls flitted past as

in his hair and let out her

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

the  community center that served as a sort of Town Hall. Children clutching ash stained stuffed animals padded

  much about?”

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

said as a warning and not a

soft blonde hair and an 

a single curl on her head that was out of  place. Clearly she’d gotten here long after

one festering pool that I did not

it?” She purred, the obliviousness in

her a glance.

land, why don’t you show some goddamn respect and call her by her title?”

hearing his threatening baritone, 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 assessed the damages, the more I realized how long it would take

of hard work reduced to rubble in  the span

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

told Asher through mind-link, feeling him stiffen

and empty

to the side of a man who had the  same facial features 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 

nothing but judging 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

invite you here, and you didn’t have to

split second before darkening. His mother was either genuinely oblivious or had a talent for ignoring the things she found unimportant,

her nasal whine faded into white noise, crackling in my ears like the vicious flames that had eaten through over half of the houses here. The rough asphalt beneath my feet vanished, as did Asher’s calloused

time, an observer to  the damage and death the witches

hoping we could live here, but I won’t risk your  sister’s life when it’s clear this place is undergoing attacks every other day. She might not be concerned with us noble families, but

but he wasn’t

“Lucinda.” 1 

His hand was on his 

You’ve got to calm down. The 

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

had quickly taken over, but now  that I was paying more attention, it  seemed darker than normal. Many of the streetlights were destroyed, but even the few

a million little eyes hit

nook and cranny, crawling over every piece of this

brave ones slithered across the  ground and circled around

but holding her tongue is not one of them.” Tristan’s father said in

mother, scowled at her

do. Seeing it like this is not easy for her.” Asher’s voice dropped low, and anyone

eyes of ice. Her lips

when a few tendrils of shadow got too close for her liking. “Honestly, your

neck cracked as my  head