Offered to the Triplet Alphas

Chapter-74. Awakening

[Ezra]

"I knew I'd find you here," I breathed. My footsteps echoed as I stepped closer to the bar counter in Asher's penthouse.

The chandelier above cast a soft, golden glow that mingled with the darkness, creating an ambiance where one could drown and forget oneself in the haze of gin and smoke.

And as always, Asher sat alone at the borders of light and darkness, not to forget but to be forgotten.

Asher placed down the empty goblet on the cold marble countertop. As he reached out to pour more black wine, I picked up the wine bottle.

"Will it be ok if I pour the wine for you?" I asked.

Asher's eyes flickered towards me, blinked once in a brief acknowledgment before they drifted back to the sea of skyscrapers beyond the glass walls. The twinkling lights of the city reflected in his eyes, while his own remained blank. Sitting beside him, I poured him the wine.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked.

He slid his goblet towards me.

I peered at the faint glint of light from the chandelier dancing on the surface of the wine.

I smiled, curling my fingers around the stem of the goblet, lifted it in my hand, and placed it in front of him.

"I don't need your wine, Asher. I can join you by pouring another for myself," I said, serving myself wine in another goblet.

Asher hadn't changed at all, yet I wish I could say the Asher sitting beside me was the same as before.

Over the years, I had watched Asher fade with each sip of wine and puffs of cigarette, as though witnessing a star's death. I couldn't stop it, couldn't interfere with it. All I could do was watch as the child grew up and assumed that there were no more stars left in his eyes to dim - to die.

I was wrong.

There was still something left inside him, something that had rekindled the day his eyes found an angel. Something was saved that day, something that was probably dying today.

I had noticed all the changes in him ever since he saw Xanthea and I chose to ignore them. But something about him had changed so drastically tonight that there was no way I could let him be on his own. Something about him felt so off that I forgot how angry I was when I got here. All the questions I wanted to ask him had been summarized into a few words - 'are you ok?'

Asher took a small sip, and I followed him. Both of us peered outside the glass wall, taking in how big our pack actually was.

scent lingered on Asher. The scent was so sweet; it interfered with the bitterness

on his body that the silk robe failed to hide. Wounds as trivial as those should have healed within seconds, but it seemed as though he

as the red clouds glowed on the horizon, breaking the night sky into

sip of the

my voice barely above a whisper. "She's not just a

took another

finished the wine in my goblet in one go and

but you don't have to anymore. You're not alone in this curse. Raven and I are with you," I said. "Whether we like it or not, we're in this together. If we overcome this curse, we do it together; if we succumb, we do it together. This burden isn't yours to bear alone, Asher.

He still didn't reply.

shut my eyes and let

***

was asking him the wrong questions, but then again,

Asher silently withdrew himself, when we brothers separated and drifted apart. But I know

the reasons he doesn't open up, so I know I don't have any right to

of my own childhood are a

I remember Asher's and

then, I stood on the same level as them. Neither weaker

our father had set for the three of us. It was

training sessions, and even the punishments we received

like raw materials being molded into

a month. However, I remember her being impassively warm. Neither too attached and loving nor too cold and distant. She was the perfect balance, fulfilling

best to stand out. He loved being noticed, praised and carried

from the sidelines, as if trying to dissolve into the background.

had always been more than enough for Asher and even that bare minimum came

observed my brothers and tried to figure out where I belonged. I have a feeling that I might have loved being close to my mother since I still faintly remember the peace and

grew more challenging, and the punishments became harsher. It was because the three of us

safety line. Raven did much more than expected and it seemed as though had become

of us, our father had the highest expectations for Raven. However, those expectations were shattered on the day that possibly sowed

when

it, father threw an

proudly showed him off in his court and the world, declaring him as 'my son, my blood, my pride, my heir'. Raven kept glaring at Asher who sat beside father

the party. But before he could

Asher handled the attention just as deftly as he had handled the neglect. He neither looked happy nor disturbed. He behaved like a perfect prince was expected to behave. Since that day, Raven, the smiling, laughing kid, eventually turned into a scowling, bitter

to describe