Asher POV
The scent of fire still lingered in the air.
Not the kind that warms your bones or crackles in a hearth.
The other kind.
The kind that spells blood and war and shadows creeping in where they don’t belong.
I stood by the window of the central hall, arms crossed, jaw clenched so tightly it hurt. My eyes tracked every inch of darkness beyond the compound walls, every flicker of movement, every whisper of wind. Demian paced behind me like a caged predator. Mason sat with Isabella curled up against him on the couch, his fingers tracing absent shapes on her back as if to remind himself she was real.
I couldn’t look at her yet.
Not because I didn’t want to.
Because if I did… I might fall apart.
And Alpha or not, I didn’t have the luxury of falling apart.
Not now.
“Perimeter’s secured,” Demian said from behind me, his voice sharp, clipped, already high on adrenaline. “I doubled the watch. If anything breathes too loud out there, we’ll hear it.”
“Good.” My voice came out low, gravell
