Alpha Asher and Lola novel Chapter 201

Read Alpha Asher by Jane Doe Chapter 201

“A curse. Now there’s a d**n curse we have to deal with?” Zeke sputtered, his voice flooding the cars speakers.

I turned the volume down a notch, wincing as I glanced over at Asher. He was chiseled from stone, his arm rigid as he held the wheel, eyes narrowed on the highway ahead.

“I told you what the Shadows said. There’s no way to ‘deal’ with it. Even if there was, Cordelia and Rowena can’t sense anything on him. You’d think two powerful witches could sniff out a curse.” I grumbled, sinking deeper into the seat.

My bottom was on the verge of becoming numb, but we didn’t have much longer to go before we’d hit our meet-up point. Fifty miles away, at a small gas station with one of our own wolves posted as cashier, we’d find the others. Breyona, Giovanni, Tristan, Sean, Mason, and Clara had taken a different route to avoid suspicion. Going off of Breyona’s idea when she rescued us from Ember and Tessa, we borrowed a work van from a local company in the pack for them to use.

There wasn’t any need to black out the windows considering it was the middle of the night, which is why the tractor trailer idea Mason had worked out smoothly.

A horn blared behind us, one louder than I’d ever heard before. It didn’t startle Asher in the slightest, but I definitely jumped a few inches in my seat.

“Earth to Lola.” Zeke sang. “Need me to honk again?”

“You said I could do it this time.” Dina snapped, her voice distant over the speakers.

“Why did we agree to let Zeke drive the big rig?” I asked Asher, running a hand over my tired eyes.

Asher tilted his head my way, eyes of sparkling gold crinkling at the edges. It was the only time he dared to relax after our conversation with the shadows.

“You agreed because no one else knows how to drive the thing.” Zeke said smugly.

The truck’s horn blared a second time, longer and louder than the first. I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. We wouldn’t have bothered with the thing, but the Vampire’s already in the safe haven needed supplies. Among the usual lot of clothing, first-aid, and hygiene products was a fresh shipment of blood-bags.

In between spending time with his family, Asher’s Beta had been responsible for getting the shipment to the meet-up point. He’d also been tasked with transporting Bridgette there once I told her about my conversation with Deacon, and that there was a strong chance he’d make his way there in the future. From there, the cashier we had in place would contact one of the few wolves staying at the safe haven to pick up the shipment.

“What the h**l, Zeke.” I jumped, startled a second time.

“My bad. Just wanted to honk the horn. Never been in one of these things before.” Dina apologized over the phone.

“It’s alright, Dina.” I sighed, clenching my eyes shut for a few seconds to relieve the pain of staring into headlights half the night. “What were you saying, Zeke?”

“I asked if you tried to break Asher’s curse with your Conjuration magic.” His reply came a few seconds later.

As we whizzed down the highway, cars darting past us left and right, my eyes were drawn to the night sky. Stars kissed the horizon in a sea of silver and navy blue, reaching up to meet a moon so bright the streetlamps almost weren’t needed. I glanced back down to the car’s navigation screen, where Zeke’s name remained lit up in bold, white letters.

“Of course I tried. I’m still trying to work off this headache. Did you know over the counter medication does nothing for magically induced ailments? Well, I didn’t either. It didn’t matter how many times I tried or what angle I came at it from, it was like my magic had nothing to hold onto. If the shadows are right about Asher being cursed, and I think they are, then there’s nothing we can do but wait it out.”

Thick, heady silence enveloped Asher and I. It was so strong that even Zeke and Dina were affected, going quiet on the other end. None of us voiced what was going through our heads, the last part of what the Shadows had said.

Through carnage and blood, the curse would be fulfilled.

When Asher’s hand fell over mine, his fingers sliding through my own, I’d almost forgotten we were still on the phone with Zeke. My heartrate quickened when his eyes left the road to stare into my own, so strong and reassuring that I almost didn’t believe what the Shadows had said.

Almost.

I’d seen Asher changing these past few months, becoming more and more protective, losing that cunning edge of his in order to wrap me in a cotton blanket and protect me from all harm.

We hadn’t even talked about Tristan and I escaping the pack like prisoners of war.

I could tell from the lingering stares and soft touches, from the raw emotion flooding the mate-bond whenever he looked my way, that there was no anger there for what I’d done, but it still needed to be addressed before it happened a second time. If there was one thing I’d learned from my mom, it was that in relationships, things like this always came to a head.

“We will get through this, Lola.” Asher promised, his firm voice the pillar of strength I needed—that our pack needed.

And more than anything, I wanted to believe him.