Page 26

TWENTY-ONE

ASHER

T he afternoon sunlight shone through his office windows as Asher stared at the photo on his phone.

His thumb hovered over the screen like he could somehow reach through it and touch her.

The candid shot captured everything—Danica's head thrown back in laughter, her brown eyes crinkled at the corners, and the slight flush across her cheeks that appeared whenever she was excited about something.

His own face looked almost foreign to him—relaxed, open, and alive in a way he hadn't seen in the mirror for five years.

Four days. Four fucking days and his entire world had imploded.

He tossed the phone onto his desk, where it landed among the scattered papers detailing Garron's memorial arrangements and Danica's upcoming farce of a hearing. The leather of his chair creaked as he leaned back, running his hands through his dark hair.

"This is bullshit," he growled to the empty room.

His office—once his sanctuary—now felt like a prison cell. The bookshelves that had witnessed their first real conversation. The chair where she'd sat with that damn notebook, challenging his every idea.

Everything in here smelled like her.

Asher's dragon stirred under his skin, restless and agitated. The beast wanted to tear through the sky and go to her, whisking her back to where she rightfully belonged.

"She's walking away from this," he reminded himself harshly.

His fist came down on the desk hard. The pain barely registered. Nothing compared to the hollow ache in his chest.

The council had been baffled by his restraint this morning. They expected rage, demands, and action—not this dangerous quiet. But what was there to say? Her decision to walk away from what they had together gutted him more effectively than any physical wound could have.

"I should have fought harder for her last night. Fought for her innocence and her rightful place by my side," he muttered, his voice rough from lack of sleep.

But he was not used to this vulnerability and this weakness, not used to this feeling of needing to choose between his desires and his duty.

For years, he'd prided himself on his independence, his control, and his ability to keep everyone at arm's length while still earning their loyalty.

Then Danica had waltzed in with her notebook and her brilliant ideas, and her stubborn refusal to be intimidated by him.

And suddenly he wasn't just Asher Ectorius, Alpha and mayor.

He was a man with desires and fears and hopes.

He picked up her note again, the paper already worn from his repeated handling.

I care about you more than I can explain. Maybe that's why I'm doing this.

"That's not how this works," he said to the empty room, crushing the paper in his fist. "You don't protect me by leaving me."

The silence mocked him. From the windows, he could see his groundskeeper performing his daily tasks of caring for Asher's property. Life continuing on as Asher's world had stopped turning.

His phone buzzed with another council group text about the hearing. Another reminder of the absurd accusation against his mate. His mate, who couldn't harm a fly unless it threatened someone she cared about.

Asher felt something shift inside him. The emptiness of the last twelve hours was weighing heavy on his heart and his body. At that moment, Asher realized with crystal clarity that life without Danica was unbearable—not just because of the loneliness, but because he was incomplete without her.

Fifteen minutes later, Asher stared at his phone as his thumbs hovered over the keyboard, mentally composing and discarding draft after draft.

The formal email header "To: Danica Ulrich" mocked him with its cold professionalism.

How the hell could he fit everything he needed to say to her into an email message?

He needed to tell her that he was coming for her. That he wouldn't let her sacrifice herself or her happiness for others. That they were stronger together than apart.

He typed furiously, then deleted whole paragraphs again and again. His dragon screamed at him now to hunt down his mate and to bring her back by his side—safe and protected.

"Fuck this," he muttered, rubbing his bearded jaw. "She deserves better than some half-assed email."

His town's expectations of him weighed heavily on his mind. If he left now to find Danica, the council would see it as dereliction of duty. The town needed leadership through Garron's death. Through the brewing conflict with the Delta pack.

But what good was a leader with half his soul missing? He was clearly weakened without his fated mate and probably not capable of leading alone anymore. He needed Danica by his side.

Asher started typing again, this time with absolute clarity:

Danica, I'm coming for you. This town can stand without me for a few days, but I can't stand another minute without you. You didn't do this. And I'm going to prove it.

His finger hovered over the send button when three sharp knocks snapped his attention to the door. Caleb appeared, slipping inside without waiting for permission. His blue eyes, sharp as glacial ice, immediately assessed Asher's disheveled state.

"You look like shit," Caleb remarked, shutting the door quietly behind him.

"Thanks for the update." Asher didn't bother hiding the phone. Caleb knew him too well. "Tell me you have something."

A grim smile tugged at Caleb's mouth. "Better than something." He pulled out his phone, his expression darkening. "I've been watching Joni since last night as you requested. Caught her meeting with some friends of ours."

Asher straightened, every muscle going taut. "The Delta wolves?"

"Bingo." Caleb passed over his phone. "Security camera outside the Bayou Inn. About thirty miles south of town."

Asher took the device, his pulse quickening. The grainy footage showed Joni—unmistakable with her flame-red hair—surrounded by four men whose postures screamed predator. Even in the low-quality video, Asher recognized the wolf shifters' eyes from the attack on Danica.

The sound was patchy, but clear enough:

"—planted the poison perfectly. She'll either never come back, or she'll be convicted," Joni's voice said, smug and self-satisfied. "Either way, she's gone for good."

One of the men leaned forward. "As long as she's alive, Asher won't fully commit to a new mate."

"I've handled that," Joni replied. "By tomorrow night?—"

The audio cut out momentarily, then returned as one of the men nodded. "—Delta pack will be grateful. An Alpha with a human mate weakens all shifters. Sets a dangerous precedent."

The video ended, and Asher realized he'd cracked the screen protector of Caleb's phone with his grip.

"Sorry," he muttered, handing it back.

"Don't worry about it." Caleb's eyes gleamed with a dangerous light. "What are we going to do?"

A slow, predatory smile spread across Asher's face, his dragon rising closer to the surface. Heat flooded his veins, the urge to shift and tear through the sky nearly overwhelming now. For the first time since Danica left, he felt alive again—purpose burning through the fog of grief.

"Joni thinks she's taken everything from me." Asher stood, energy crackling off him in almost visible waves. "But she's about to learn what happens when you threaten an Alpha's fated mate."

Caleb matched his energy, leaning forward. "And the Delta pack?"

"They're going to regret ever setting foot in my territory." Asher glanced at his unsent email, then hit delete. He wouldn't need words anymore. "But first, we need to get to Danica."

"Before Joni does," Caleb finished, his expression grim.

The phone in Asher's hand suddenly felt like a ticking bomb. Time was running out. Whatever Joni had planned for tonight was already in motion.

"No one takes what's mine." Asher's voice lowered to a dangerous rumble as the dragon inside him roared in agreement. His green eyes flashed with primal promise.

Suddenly, Caleb's phone rang with a shrill tone that cut through the tension in Asher's office. Caleb glanced at the screen, his blue eyes narrowing.

"It's Drake." He answered with terse efficiency. "What do you have?"

Asher watched his second-in-command's face transform as he listened, the muscles in his jaw tightening with each passing second. Asher's dragon stirred, sensing the shift in energy.

"When?" Caleb demanded. "Are you absolutely certain?"

Asher's patience snapped. "Put him on speaker."

Caleb complied without hesitation, placing the phone between them on the heavy mahogany desk.

"Drake, repeat what you just told me," Caleb ordered.

"That tracking device we planted on Joni's car last night finally pinged," Drake's voice crackled through the speaker. "She's in New Orleans right now. Near the French Quarter."

A bolt of electric fury shot through Asher. "Why the hell are we just getting this now?"

"She must've jammed the signal somehow," Drake explained. "It only just broke through. But that's not all?—"

Asher was already heading for the door. "We move now."

"Wait," Caleb's hand shot out, gripping Asher's forearm. "Let's think this through. We don't know what we're walking into."

Asher's green eyes flashed dangerously. "My mate is in danger. What else do I need to know?"

Drake's voice interrupted from the speaker. "There's more, Alpha. One of our younger members, Ellie, was patrolling near the old mill early this morning. She overheard Joni talking with Reginald Delta."

The name hit Asher like a physical blow. Reginald Delta—Alpha of the wolves that had targeted Danica at the festival.

"What exactly did she hear?" Asher growled, his voice lowering to a dangerous register.

"Phrases like 'make her pay,' 'public display,' and 'midnight fire.' They've got some kind of hideout set up at the old mill. Ellie said it looked established, not just a one-time meeting spot."

"Midnight fire?" Asher asked, his voice filled with confusion.

Suddenly, something cracked wide open inside Asher's chest—a searing pain that wasn't physical yet burned through him with visceral intensity. He stumbled slightly, bracing his hand against the desk.

"Ash?" Caleb's voice sounded distant.

The sensation intensified—fear, panic, and desperation washing over him in waves that weren't his own. Then, clear as if whispered directly into his ear were two horrible words. Help me.

"Danica," Asher breathed, his hand flying to his sternum where the pain pulsed strongest. "The mate bond—I can feel her. She's calling to me."

Caleb's eyes widened. "But you haven't completed the mating ritual."

"Doesn't matter. She's accepting the mate bond now." A fierce pride mingled with his terror. Even in danger, his mate was strong and trusting enough to reach for him across miles. "She's scared, Caleb. They've got her now."

Asher straightened to his full height, dragon fire rolling beneath his skin. His voice took on the unmistakable timbre of command that had made grown men and shifters alike quake.

"Get Theo, Marcus, and Jared. Anyone else you trust completely. We meet at the east field in thirty minutes."

"That's not much of a force against Joni's dragon, an alpha wolf shifter, and their followers," Caleb cautioned as they strode from the office.

"Half the town might fear what Danica represents, but the other half saw what she did for us.

We might be able to round up some more clutch members with a little convincing.

" Asher's voice carried absolute conviction as they moved through the mansion's hallway.

"I know the ones who stood with her at the festival will stand with her now. "

Caleb matched his stride. "We'll need to convince them fast. If Joni's talking about midnight fire?—"

"They're planning to burn her at midnight." The words tore from Asher's throat, primal and raw.

"We need testimony first, Ash. We can't just rush in there."

"Fine. Joni dies last," Asher snarled, pushing through the front door into the fading afternoon light. "I want her confession before I tear her throat out."

They reached Asher's garage where Caleb pulled out his phone, rapidly texting contacts and coordinates. "Marcus is closest to the community center. He'll round up whoever's there for the memorial planning."

Asher nodded sharply, yanking open the door to his Porsche. "Tell them to come prepared for battle. This isn't a negotiation anymore."

As Caleb slid into the passenger seat, his phone buzzed with responses. "Theo's got eight at the training grounds. Jared can pull another five from patrol."

"That's twenty including us," Asher calculated as the engine roared to life. "Not enough against their combined forces, but we don't need to win a war. We just need to extract Danica."

The Porsche peeled out of the circular driveway. Asher's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel as another pulse of fear shot through the mate bond.

"Hold on, sweetheart," he whispered. "I'm coming for you."