The Alpha's Doomed Mate

Chapter 15: Too Quiet

POV: Asha

Zade’s dark eyes shifted from me to Hera, who immediately pressed her lips together as though that could hide the laughter already shaking her shoulders.

Heat crawled up my neck at the thought of him hearing our back and forth.

Wonderful.

Across the table, Sloane glanced between us before taking another bite of her food, one brow faintly raised.

I peeled my eyes away from Zade and concentrated very hard on what remained on my plate, wishing dinner ended right then. However, it lasted another twenty minutes.

Zade rose first, and Sloane followed not long after. As she passed my chair, she slowed.

“Asha.”

I looked up.

Her amber eyes flicked briefly toward the doorway Zade had disappeared through. “Dante briefed me.”

My stomach tightened. “About what?”

Her mouth curved, barely. Then she kept walking, leaving me to my curiosity.

I left the dining hall with Hera, heading toward the forbidden wing while everyone else moved to the other side of the pack house.

“I think she knows about the…” I said, the second we'd barely made it halfway up the stairs, and reduced my voice to a whisper. “The mate thing.”

“Probably.”

I stopped. “Probably?”

Hera kept walking, and I hurried after her.

“Hera.”

“She's the Gamma, Asha. Dante would've told her anything that affects Zade or pack security.”

“Including the mate thing?”

Hera glanced back at me over her shoulder. “That's the part bothering you?”

“No.”

She laughed.

“Stop laughing at me.”

“I'm trying.”

“You're not trying at all,” I mumbled.

We reached my room. Instead of saying goodnight at the door the way she usually did, Hera pushed it open and dropped onto the foot of my bed as if she owned it, tugging her boots off one at a time.

“You're staying?” I asked, closing the door behind me.

“You looked like you wanted an audience for your suffering.” She stretched her arms behind her head.

I stared at her for a bit at how relaxed she seemed. The woman who felt terrifying to me in that dungeon now lay across my bed like she half-owned the room. It almost made me laugh.

“Fine. Since we're discussing people staring at people,” I walked farther inside and sat across from her, pulling my knees up. “You didn't look very happy when Sloane hugged Dante.”

Hera's smile disappeared. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You looked like you wanted to drag her off him.” A grin now played on my lips.

“I did not.”

I laughed, actually laughed. The sound surprised even me.

“You definitely did!”

For the first time since I'd met her, Hera looked like she wanted to escape a conversation. She reached for the bowl of dried fruit on my nightstand and tossed a piece into her mouth.

“Is there something going on between you and Dante?”

“No,” she answered way too quickly.

I folded my arms, raising a brow at her. She sighed, staring at my hands.

“Dante and I are… complicated. It’s been complicated for a long time.”

I waited to see if she'd say more, but she didn’t.

“That sounds suspiciously like a yes, though.”

“It sounds like you should mind your business.”

“You’ve spent days inside mine.”

“I’m older. It’s allowed.”

I blinked while trying to decipher it. “How much older?”

“Four years.”

“You’re twenty-three?” The surprise couldn’t escape my voice.

“Why did you say that like I just told you I was forty-seven?” She fired back, looking genuinely offended.

Yet another laugh escaped me. “You said older, like you were ancient.”

“I am your elder.”

“You’re stealing dried fruit from my nightstand.”

She took another piece and waved it at me. “Respectfully.”

I shook my head, still smiling. It was strange how easy this felt.

“We found our mates when he was twenty, and I was eighteen,” she began again, her voice quieter now. “Met them at an annual pack meeting hosted here.”

“You did?

“Yeah, and it turns out our mates liked each other more than they liked us.” A little humorless laugh left her lips. “They’re dead, by the way.”

“Oh—” I bit my lip, instantly regretting asking. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to unlock a painful memory for you.”

Her gaze shifted to me, and she chuckled. “Oh no, they were a bunch of cheaters and definitely deserved it. They were sleeping together behind our backs, and we found out not long after they were killed by rogues near the hunting grounds, too busy screwing each other to hear danger coming.”

My eyes widened.

"Neither of us had marked them, thank the Goddess. Losing the bond still hurt like hell, but," she shrugged one shoulder, "neither of us was throwing ourselves into a grave over it."

“I did not expect that ending… at all.”

"Everyone acted like we'd suffered some great romantic tragedy. We hadn't. We lost our mates, not our loved ones. Dante and I understood that about each other when nobody else did. And somewhere along the way, things got complicated."

"You like him."

She threw me a look. "You really are nosy."

“You’re neither admitting nor denying it.”

Hera stared at me for several seconds, then rolled her eyes. “Fine. I like him, and of course, you cannot tell anyone.”

"Does he know? Have you asked?"

“I fight wolves for a living, Asha. I am not suicidal.”

I laughed again.

“You're welcome, by the way, for not telling Sloane you nearly took out an entire shelf of glassware because you couldn't stop staring at her hugging Zade”

And she’s back.

I groaned. “I hate you.”

“You adore me.” She made a mocking face. “I adore you too.”

We sat there a while longer, not really saying anything important. Hera kept on stealing the rest of my dried fruit and complaining about one of the younger warriors who kept losing training matches on purpose to impress a girl on the eastern patrol.

It was such an ordinary thing to talk about, nothing about mates or sanctuary or debts owed, that I found myself laughing real hard for what felt like the first time in years.

By the time she finally left, taking the empty bowl with her out of pure spite, I was still smiling.

It was strange. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a conversation like that with another girl without fear or wondering what I was expected to give in return.

Hera had stayed because she wanted to.

That simple thought followed me all the way beneath the covers.

Did you hear all that, Ry? I asked, still smiling. Apparently, I have an elder now.

I waited for the insult I knew should follow, but nothing came.

Ry?

Just tired, Ash.

Her voice was so faint I almost missed it. My smile slowly faded.

Okay. Rest.

I reached for the small part of her that usually remained while she slept. There was barely anything.

She’s just tired; the recovery from the wolfsbane is just taking time, as Hestia said.

I repeated every explanation until they almost sounded convincing. Then I pulled the blanket higher and closed my eyes.