Page 108 of Challenged Mate
"What?" Asher’s roar rattled the covered window.
I braced myself, knowing his reaction was only going to get worse. “He confirmed he’s the one behind the sorcerer’s attacks—all of them. He wants the Moonstone. He has Hunter, and he’s going to hurt him if I don’t meet him at the forest’s edge at three o’clock.”
“Wait.” Asher grabbed one of my flailing hands. He held it tight, then lowered it to the bed. “Slow down,” he urged gently. “Start from the beginning. Tell me everything.”
So, I did.
I told him of the dark environment Hugh had called me to.
I told him what Hugh said about the Moonstone—how his father hadn’t realized my mother didn’t have it until she died.
I told him that Hugh had Hunter, and he demanded I meet him at the forest, or else Hunter would suffer.
I ended by telling Asher about my conversation with my father—how he said I was the next Mother Goddess. I shared how frantic the realization made my father, and how he demanded Asher and I mate as soon as possible.
Asher’s thumb brushed the back of my hand in soothing circles as I spoke. When I mentioned our mating, however, the ministrations stopped. “Shit.”
He leapt to his feet and began pacing the room.
“What? What is it?”
His fingers ran through his hair, tugging on the ends with frustration. “Stanley is missing.”
My forehead creased. “That’s good… right? If he isn’t around, he can’t challenge you.”
Asher shook his head, pivoting on his heel to continue pacing. “No, the challenge has already been issued. The whole pack bore witness to it. Until he and I meet in a fight, my position is in limbo. I’m still alpha, but I can’t enact any permanent decisions.”
Understanding washed over me. “And that includes mating me.”
Asher growled. It was low, deep, and fierce. If he were any other male, I’d be worried to be in the same room. But I knew, down to the very center of my soul, that Asher would never hurt me.
“I should have known.” He shakes his head angrily, chastising himself. “I should have known he had something up his sleeve. Stanley is no fool. He wouldn’t really wish to meet me in a fight to the death.”
My eyes darted over Asher’s face, trying to make sense of his rambling. “You think Stanley is working with the sorcerers?”
“Yes.”
“But… why?” What could motivate a shifter to betray his pack like that?
“Greed. Power.” Asher stopped pacing. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Who knows what those bastards offered him.”
I remembered overhearing someone say the attacking sorcerers had entered Wilds territory through Stanley’s sector. Asher had made a jab at Stanley about it, but I never considered he might’ve actually allowed them to pass.
“Did he say you had to come alone?”
I jolted, surprised by the sudden question. “Who?”
Asher lowered his hand and opened his eyes. “Hugh,” he answered. “Did he demand you arrive at the forest’s edge alone?”
I replayed the conversation. “No. I don’t think so.”
He nodded once. “Then we go together.”
“Asher,” I muttered, shaking my head. “What if it’s a trap?”
“All the more reason for you not to go alone.” He returned to sit on the edge of the bed. He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers with mine. “You are my mate, Blair. Ceremony or no. Any trials you face, let me be by your side. Let me face them with you.”
I bit my bottom lip.
