Defy The Alpha(s)

Chapter 150: Betray A Friend

Asher Nightshade must have slipped into the room while they had been asleep, and for a strange, irrational reason, it annoyed Roman that he had waltzed in, uninvited, into a moment that belonged only to him and Violet. He shouldn’t have cared, but damn it, he did.

However, Roman blamed the lingering irritation on the residual effects of his animal transformation. Like every Cardinal Alpha, his powers came with their flaws.

The traits of the animal he morphed into always bled into his human side, influencing his instincts and temperament. He had spent hours as a cat, and cats were territorial by nature which explained why Asher’s uninvited presence in Violet’s room was grating on his last nerve.

Roman sat up, his muscles tense, every inch of him vibrating with the urge to throw the unwelcome guest out of the room. He glared at his so-called friend, keeping his voice low enough not to wake Violet.

"Do you sneak into her room like this every day?"

Asher barely blinked. "I keep watch over her."

"Really?" Roman sneered, unconvinced.

Asher could spin lies like silk, wrap them around anyone he pleased, but not him. Roman knew him. Saw through him. He knew the depths of his darkness, the sickness that resided in his soul.

"Are you judging me right now? You?" He arched a brow. "Are you any better?"

Roman was ready to argue, only to pause. Fair point. He was, after all, currently naked in Violet’s bed after spending hours as a damn cat. But at least when he sneaked into a woman’s room, it was usually by invitation. Most times. kind of.

He frowned as he thought back to certain occasions. Okay, maybe not always. Roman exhaled. It seemed birds of the same feather truly flocked together.

But at least his conquests had never involved this level of obsession.

And Asher was obsessed. Completely, dangerously, beyond reason. And the motherfucker was surely never going to forgive him for what he planned to do tonight.

"She’s not Lucille," Roman pointed out, his voice harder than he intended.

"No, she’s not." Asher’s agreement came smoothly at first, only for him to add, almost reverently, "She’s so much better."

Roman watched as Asher rose to his feet, closing the space between them, his eyes dark with desire as he approached the bed where Violet lay, blissfully unaware of the two wolves hovering over her.

"Look at her," Asher murmured, his voice hushed with an awe that was so dangerously close to worship like one would a goddess. "So beautiful. Strong. Irresistible."

Roman did look. And it was a mistake.

tongue suddenly feeling too heavy in

the way her hair, black at the roots and fading to purple at the tips, sprawled across the pillow in a wild, untamed wave. To the slight part of her lips, full, inviting,

Fucking hell.

tore his eyes away, swallowing thickly. But when he met Asher’s eyes, that knowing, taunting

That bastard!

mess this

any strings,"

him for a damn second. Even when Asher wasn’t spinning, he was spinning. If you understood

won’t accept her," Roman told him

all the same to him. "Nor would I be forcing you either. Everything will work itself out. Just like it always

studied him, watching the quiet, calculating intensity in his gaze. Asher always played the long game—watching, waiting, moving his pieces with the patience of a winning side. And

himself, planned to

out of concern for his friend. "Elsie is

at that, sure, but she wasn’t the worst option for a mate. However, she was not ’his’ choice. And if there was anything Asher loathed the most, it was others having control over him. And he would rather burn the whole damn world

Roman knew the answer before Asher even

the bed. Without hesitation,

into him, chasing his touch even in

Fuck. This was serious.

possessively. She

once more. "You already know what’s happening tonight. I take it that I

course." He lied to

studied him for a moment, scanning him for deception. But Roman kept his expression blank, his

"Good." He nodded, satisfied.

from me. I can’t let that happen. Alaric’s too eager and foolish to understand the game here. I’ll be the one controlling

beside Roman, placing a hand on his shoulder, saying,

nothing," Roman said, his

just as suddenly, Asher’s fingers tightened on his shoulder,

sensed from a fellow Alpha. He knew what was the problem even before

her first time is

slightly, but he didn’t crack. Instead, his lips curled into a lazy smirk, unbothered on the outside yet seething on the inside from the warning

I don’t intend to claim her." He said.

in the room snapped, as if it had never been

"Good."