Alpha King’s Lost Luna by Aubrey Pepper

Chapter 39 Jealousy and Mystery

ASHER

“Checkmate!” Kane laughed as he shifted his pawn.

An agitated grumble rose out of me and I sat back on the couch in irritation.

“That’s the third time you’ve lost today,” my stepbrother remarked, much to my annoyance, and then he grinned at me. “So strange, brother. Ever since we began playing years ago, you’ve never lost a single match. Tell me, what’s bothering you?”

I remained silent and did my best to ignore him as I crossed my arms against my chest. It had been a huge mistake to invite Kane to play chess with me, but I’d needed something to distract me from thinking about Ca ssandra Keller. That being said, this experience only added to my frustration.

“Let me take a guess,” Kane continued on, and he rubbed his chin and gave me a mischievous, boy-like expression. “It’s the healer, Ca ssandra, isn’t it?”

I wanted to curse him out at even mentioning her, but I held my tongue and rolled my eyes instead. How dare he pretend to know me?

“Don’t deny it,” my brother prodded, and then he chuckled. “She’s really rather

cute.”

“She’s alright,” I mentioned off-handedly, and I regretted my words immediately. Kane sat forward and leaned on his elbows.

“She’s more than alright,” he replied with a shake of his head. “I can see the lust in your eyes, brother. You want to f**k her, don’t you?”

“Kane!” my voice hardened, and I nearly rose from my seat at his crude remark. He was entirely unbothered, though, and pressed further.

“Well, well,” Kane mused, and then he laughed. “Sorry for my bluntness, but do

you really think you’re hiding it that well? Everyone in Merliscire knows you fancy the woman. Besides, you’re rather obvious about it, Asher. You personally had her promoted to be your private healer, and we all know that you let her stay in your chamber late in the day… every day.”

“In my office,” I corrected him through narrowed eyes.

“What’s the difference?” Kane retorted, and he sat back in his brown leather armchair. “The office, your chamber… either way, Adalyn is sore about it.”

Adalyn?

Sore?

a

I pressed, and I tucked my hair behind my ear.

replied. “Adalyn is jealous. You can practically smell it in the air when she enters the room. She wants to

like that. It isn’t like her to

Asher,” my stepbrother insisted, and this time, the playfulness in his tone. disappeared. “She knows you don’t want her, not

I said, and

a woman since Cora died, Asher,” he

silence at the mention of Cora’s name. The two of us hadn’t spoken about her in ages. I’d practically outlawed any

need to move on,” Kane continued on, and then he sighed. “You can’t live in a memory

was some truth to my stepbrother’s words. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I knew Adalyn was prone to jealousy, and I knew that that jealousy had only surged with time. I couldn’t touch her, not when the memories of

ssandra Keller arrived

day of my life and was reminded of my mistake

long day,” Kane spoke up again, and he rose to his feet. “I’m going to get some rest, but before I do, I have to tell

healer.”

to say, but Kane waved me

by the viper… Ca ssandra Keller was quite protective over you. She wouldn’t let any of us come too close to you while she was treating you. It seemed like she was prepared to do anything

saving you.”

to speak, but

been so protective of me?

I managed to say through my frown. “For

to say if he was simply teasing the issue or if he was being truthful, but that

I released a sigh and closed my eyes. I was still so

ordeal that it felt nice to relax in the quietness of

long after, I heard a knock

and moments later, Lancel stepped into the room. He’d been on a mission for a while now out in Wild Crawler territory, doing some investigative work for me, and I was both relieved and nervous to see him.

so long?” I wondered with a raised eyebrow.

have arrived back in

I said. “About the fire?”