Page 48 of Challenged Mate
I couldn’t let myself feel anything but indifference to him.
So, I asked, “Why didn’t you tell me Chase was the pack beta?”
Asher didn’t balk at the question. “Would knowing have made a difference for you?”
Would it?
I didn’t know.
I changed the subject. “Where have you been?” My voice cracked, betraying the pain I’d felt with his absence.
Asher winced. “I’m sorry I left, I—”
I held up a hand. “No. No apologies, please.” I couldn’t let my emotions get any more out of control. Our bond was doomed to break. No need to make it harder to deal with. “Just tell me what you’ve been doing this past week.”
Asher’s lips pressed into a hard line. He wanted to clear the air between us, but he heeded my request instead. “I spent the last week interrogating the sorcerers who attacked you on Badlands’ territory.”
My eyes widened. I’d forgotten the sorcerers had been taken to Wilds territory. “Where?”
“An undisclosed location, deep in rural Alaska. The only way to get there is wolf form, and it takes days. That’s why we were gone so long.”
“What did the sorcerers say?” I hadn’t thought about them, or their motives, in a while. I’d been too busy wallowing in self-pity.
The realization made me angry at myself.
I’d been trained to be a leader. Even if I wasn’t to become the Summit alpha, that didn’t mean I had to stop acting like a leader.
I was stronger than that.
Asher stepped back. He sat on the edge of the bed. After a second of hesitation, I sat beside him, careful to keep a foot of space between us.
“They didn’t say anything we didn’t already know. They confirmed the Coastal Pack gave them access to Badlands’ territory, and they promised to help the Coastal Pack eliminate us in the Alpha Games.”
My chest ached as I remembered the violent fight in the last contest of the Alpha Games.
“Did you learn if the Coastal Pack knows what I am? Did they know the sorcerers wanted something from me when they partnered with them?”
“No, and the only way to know for sure would be to interrogate the Coastal Pack, and something tells me they won’t comply with a request to speak to us.”
Because he killed their alpha’s son.
I felt his guilt gathering between us—and it was from more than ending Tyler Kerr’s life.
I bit the inside of my cheek. Then, I whispered, “You had no choice.”
Asher’s head snapped up. His eyes grew wide with undeniable hope. “Do you mean that?”
I gave a tentative nod. “I’m not saying I’m thrilled with the end result, but yes, I mean it. Tyler was going to kill you. You had no choice but to win the games. Your life means more than my position as the Summit alpha.”
The words poured from my mouth, and I was stunned to realize I meant every one of them. I would always mourn the loss of my pack, but I would never trade it for Asher’s life.
Never.
“I did it to protect you, as well, Blair.” Asher reached out a hand but halted in the air before he touched me. It fell onto the mattress. “I’m sorry for what my actions cost you, but I would do it again if it meant keeping you safe.”
It was at that moment I realized the painful throb which had pulled me from sleep had faded into a sensation that was far from painful.
Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I stared into Asher’s apologetic, yet determined, gaze.
