Alpha Asher by Jane

Chapter 216

I woke to the tang of blood in my mouth. and the stinging pain of something sharp prodding me in the ass.

“Agh.” I hissed in pain.

Turning onto my side, which wasn’t any better, I felt around blindly for the perpetrator. My fingers froze when I registered the gritty substance covering the floor-the ground, I mean.

It was dirt, scraggly and moist as it became compacted under my nails. Just about every muscle in my body ached like I’d ran a marathon. I tried to push past that pain, stretching out my senses until my eyes decided too corporate. 1

Cold lapped at my bare skin, grazing places that should’ve been covered by clothing but most definitely weren’t. If I had to guess, I might’ve assumed I was outside somewhere but that couldn’t be possible.

Other than the heavy pants of my breathing, there was nothing but silence. If I were outside, I should’ve been able to hear crickets chirping and leaves crunching beneath the feet of the smaller forest dwellers. There was none of that, not even the whoosh of wind passing through treetops.

My fingers trailed over something long and hard, and I grunted as I finally found the object that had been jabbing me.

“What the hell? Is that a twig?” I grunted, smacking my lips as I struggled to speak.

The tang of blood coating my tongue felt… off. There was something abnormal about it, but I couldn’t pinpoint it at the moment. 2

It was a stick in my hand, I was sure of it.

The surface was rough like bark, but damp as though the early morning mist had already passed through.

Finally, I was able to crack my eyes open. The only source of light was the silver marble hovering in the sky, making it easy to adjust to my surroundings. My eyes latched onto the stick in my hand, only it wasn’t a stick.

I gasped, flinging the jagged femur bone into a patch of brush.

Bits of bloody flesh clung to my fingertips, picking up dirt as I scrambled onto all fours and whipped my head around.

No, this can’t be what she saw. 1

They were everywhere, scattered in a perfect ring around where I’d woken up. Animals, dead animals. Their blood watered the earth, soaking it in a sea of crimson so severe that even the starving soil failed to soak it all up.

and filled my mouth with the acrid taste of bile, was that most of them weren’t even whole.

shreds, limbs ripped from torsos and heads clawed

were pieces of deer, elk, foxes, even a

out from in between flashes of crimson were the milky white shards of

my eyes struggled to grasp what I saw. The information simply wasn’t registering, smothered by

was animal blood, and from the taste, it had come from

into me. Its

matching the jagged piece of its spinal

of red hit my peripheral

I was naked, but that I was covered in blood. My neck, all the way down to

called out on instinct. ‘Fuck, Asher. You need to answer me, you need to answer

scrambled, but there was nowhere to go without stepping over

down the mate-bond in loud, consuming waves. The words I shouted-screamed down the bond were smothered by a wall of pure agony, of horror so strong that my body chose to revolt and spew every vile thing I’d eaten onto the forest

at my blood-covered face in the pool of my own vomit.

so bad, carrying the same ungodly stench as the decapitated animals. I knew the truth, and there was nothing

them, and then, to make matters even worse, I’d eaten them.

Asher wasn’t answering. My words weren’t even getting across. I knew if I didn’t do something soon, I’d be so inconsolable that I’d no

onto the next face that crossed my mind and cried out to

I need

clasped my hands over my mouth

you?’ My best-friends voice echoed in my mind, silencing my panic long enough for me

did this happen? I-I was with Asher, we were

to you. Okay, Lola? I’ll be

the shadows to come to you. It’s- it’s going to be okay. It’s all going to be okay.’ She chanted, but the edge in her voice gave me the feeling she was trying to convince

she wasn’t here

my eyes, and succumbing to the maelstrom

passed before I felt the air cleave in two as my best-friend appeared in her shadow beast form. Her paws slammed into the ground, kicking up tendrils of shadow that evaporated into

eyes wide as they darted around the ring of slaughtered animals. “…what

know. I don’t fucking know. I can’t remember. Goddess, why can’t I remember?” My voice

forward into her arms.