anything to say
1159 Words
"Why does kindness have to have a reason Bella?" He asked.
I opened my mouth to say something but closed it because I realized that I didn't have anything to say.
"When did someone being decent to you become something that needed an explanation?" Asher continued.
The question hung in the air between us and I didn't know what to do with it. I wanted to argue. I wanted to find a hole in it, something to push back against.
But I couldn't because he was right and that was the most devastating part.
Somewhere along the way I had gotten so used to earning everything…every meal, every moment of peace, every small kindness …that someone offering it freely felt like a trap. Like there had to be a catch. Like I needed to find it before it found me.
I had been waiting for Asher to show his real face since I woke up in his pack.
He kept showing me the same one.
"I don't know how to do this." I admitted quietly. The words surprised me as much as they probably surprised him. "I don't know how to just...accept things without wondering what it will cost me."
Asher was quiet for a moment.
"I know." He said simply.
"It's exhausting." I said. "Being this suspicious of everything. I hate it." My voice dropped. "I hate what he turned me into."
The night air moved around us softly.
"He didn't turn you into anything." Asher said. "He tried to but you are still here." He glanced at me. "That's not nothing Bella."
I looked away before whatever was building behind my eyes could embarrass me.
We walked in silence for a moment.
"I don't know if I will ever be able to trust a mate again." I said honestly. "I want to be clear about that."
"I know." Asher said quietly.
"That doesn't bother you?" I asked, surprised by his answer.
Asher seemed to consider that genuinely before answering.
"What bothers me is that someone made you feel like trusting them was something to be ashamed of." He pointed out.
"The rest we can figure out. Or not. But that part bothers me."
I stared at the path ahead.
Luna had gone very still and quiet inside me.
"You are a strange man Asher." I said finally.
"I have been told that." He replied, completely unbothered.
"I mean it as a compliment." I pointed out.
Asher looked at me sideways.
"I know." He said quietly. "Thank you."
We reached the pack house entrance and stopped.
The warm light spilled out from inside, voices drifting from somewhere deeper in the building.
I turned to go inside.
"Bella." Asher called quietly and I looked back.
"Whatever you decide,whenever you decide it." He said, his eyes steady on mine. "You won't owe me an explanation."
I stood there for a second longer than I needed to.
"Goodnight Asher." I said softly.
"Goodnight." He replied and I walked inside.
Luna waited until I was halfway up the stairs before she said anything.
“He is nothing like Hunter.” She said quietly.
I didn't argue with her because she was right. Asher was miles away different from Hunter and I was starting to think that was the most terrifying thing of all.
*****
I woke up the following morning in a surprisingly good mood and that alone was suspicious even to me.
I laid there for a moment trying to figure out what was different. Then last night came back to me…the walk, the conversation, Asher's voice saying
when did someone being decent to you become something that needed an explanation and I made a deliberate decision not to think about it too hard.
I got up, refreshed up before I went to the wardrobe.
I stood there longer than necessary.
Luna noticed immediately.
The yellow one. She suggested helpfully.
'I was not asking.' I replied.
I know. She said. But you have been staring at that wardrobe for five minutes.
I grabbed the yellow dress and told myself it was just comfortable.
Luna said nothing and to be honest,r silence was unbearable.
I fixed my hair and my face and headed out before she could make it worse.
The corridor leading to the dining room was quiet this time of morning. Just the soft sounds of the pack house waking up around me.
I turned the corner and almost walked straight into someone.
I stepped back.
The woman standing in front of me was beautiful in the sharp, deliberate way that made it clear she knew it. She looked me over slowly from head to toe, the kind of look designed to make the person on the receiving end feel small.
I knew that look well.
"So you are the one." She said. Her voice was pleasant on the surface with something ugly running underneath it.
"Excuse me?" I replied.
"The rogue." She said simply. "The one Asher pulled out of the river."
I said nothing.
"I have to say." She continued, tilting her head slightly. "I expected someone more...impressive."
"Sorry to disappoint." I said flatly.
She smiled. It didn't reach her eyes.
"You should leave." She said, dropping the pleasantries entirely. "Whatever you think is happening here, it isn't. Asher is the Alpha King. Do you really think a weak omega with no pack, no wolf and no status belongs anywhere near him?" She stepped closer. "You are embarrassing yourself by staying. Leave before he has to say it to your face."
Something hot moved through my chest and I opened my mouth to say something.
"Interesting." Kiara's voice came from behind me, stopping the words I had prepared for the lady.
"I didn't know we had guests in the corridor this early."
The woman straightened slightly.
Kiara stepped beside me and looked at her with a smile that had absolutely no warmth in it.
"Were you just giving Bella advice?" She asked sweetly. "How thoughtful."
"Kiara, I was just.."
"Just leaving." Kiara said. "Right?"
The woman's jaw tightened.
"The Alpha has responsibilities to this pack." She said stiffly. "Someone has to remind him of that."
"Funny." Kiara said, her voice dropping to something quieter and far more dangerous than anything she had said before. "Because last I checked, that someone was not you." She paused. "And just so we are clear, even if you were the last woman on earth, my brother would never look at you."
The silence that followed was absolute.
The woman held Kiara's gaze for one moment then turned and walked away without another word.
I stared after her.
"Who was that?" I asked.
"Nobody important." Kiara said, linking her arm through mine and steering me toward the dining room like nothing had happened. "Are you hungry? I am absolutely starving."
I looked at her sideways.
"Thank you." I said quietly.
She waved her hand.
“ Don't thank me. I can't stand her.”
- Writer
