Chapter 6

Asher’s POV        

Cooper blocks me out most of the time when he’s a wolf. This time is no exception. I had no clue what he was talking about as I shifted into my human form. “Climb the damn tree. Check she is safe.” He barks at me. Cooper is talking to me in sentences. “Hey,” I replied to him.     

I tried to figure out why he was telling me to climb a tree. I’m confused about what Cooper values enough to have a conversation with me. “Quickly.” He then demands.      

“I am naked and shoeless. It’s going to take a while. Perhaps if you explain what happened, I could be more motivated.” Cooper and I are both stubborn. One of us is worse than the other. We never really got along in the early days. Which resulted in me blocking him out when I was in control and him blocking me out when he was in charge.  

This is an opportunity to build a bond between us. “Nice to hear your voice,” I comment as I climb.     

“Stop blocking me out. I might speak to you more often.” Cooper snaps. Ah, that’s the problem? He’s angry because I frequently block him out. Preventing him from understanding what’s happening in the world. Is that why he watches with intent? He’s figuring out his place among his brothers and in the world around him. “I will try to be better. Will you try if I do?” I asked him.    

“Fine.” He responds. “Now climb.”      

Climbing up that tree took forever. I had to take great care to ensure that my cock didn’t make contact with the tree bark. I cringed every time it flopped towards it.     

Eventually, I make it onto a wooden platform, which I pull myself up on. As I stood up, a dagger flew past my head. I just kept staring at the blade embedded in the tree behind me. It was inches from my face and could have killed me. “What do you want?” a woman’s voice demanded to know.      

I move my head from side to side and take in my surroundings. In front of me stood a young woman, her wet long blonde hair sitting over her shoulders. Her clothes were wet and muddy. With red stains that look and smell like blood.  

In her hand is another dagger. With it raised above her head like she was prepared to hurl it at me. I hold my hands up to show I am not a threat. “I was sent to check you’re okay,” I tell her honestly.     

“No one I know would come looking for me, so who sent you? Or are you lying?” She asks accusingly.       

“My wolf sent me. Cooper, my wolf, he sent me.” Now panicking about where she could throw that blade, I cover my crotch.    

 She lowers her hand. “Ah, you’re his human?” She smiles. “Look what he did to me.” She says, gesturing to her clothes. She takes a breath. “He had best get you home. This forest can be dangerous at night if you don’t know it.”         

“What about you?” I asked. I know Cooper wants me to check she is safe.        

“This is my home for the night,” she answered. Cooper snarls unhappily. “You just told me it’s not safe here.”        

“No, I said it isn’t safe at night if you don’t know it. I have spent years sleeping here.” I glance around and see she has a lot of home comforts up in this tree.  

“Are you a rogue?” I asked her curiously. She doesn’t smell like a rogue. She smirks at me. “No, I have a home. It’s just. It’s not always pleasant to be there. I have made a home away from home.” She gestures to her belongings.         

“Take her with us, make sure she is safe,” Cooper demands. “Cooper wants you to come with us.”  

She laughs. “I’m okay thanks, besides, I don’t know you. You could be the most dangerous thing in this forest.” She says as she looks at me skeptically.       

Her comment makes me snicker. “I think it’s the other way around,” I say, looking at the dagger still in her hand. “Remind her she would still be stuck under that rogue if it wasn’t for me.”       

“What?” I shouted. What have these two been up to?      

She looks at me. “Cooper is pretty insistent that you come with us.” She shakes her head. “He said you would be stuck under that rogue if it weren’t for him. He simply wants to make sure you're safe.” She snickers.  

“You know what, he is right, I would still be stuck.” She looked at her clothes. “Might be nice for some company for the night. My day has kind of sucked. Maria, by the way, my name is Maria.”    

“Asher,” I said, introducing myself. I watched as Maria packed a bag. After that, we climbed down the tree. On this occasion, my cock makes contact with the tree bark repeatedly. I curse at the contact. Each time, it caused Maria to laugh hysterically. She threatens to wet herself if I carry on cursing. That would be funny to watch if she wasn’t hovering above me!    

Stepping onto the forest floor, I grimace in pain as the spiky objects on the ground prick my feet. Maria continues laughing at me. “I am glad you find humor in my pain.” I’m not sure if I have ever been laughed at this much in my life. This entire experience is humiliating, and it’s all Cooper’s fault!    

“Shift, the ground is covered in all kinds of spiky stuff,” Maria tells me.    

“I’m fine,” I said, taking another step. Something sharp sticks into my foot before something moves between my toes. Which is when I unhappily have to admit defeat. “Fine, but I am not responsible for Cooper’s actions,” I told a snickering Maria.    

“I’m not worried. He was quite playful when we met earlier,” she informs me.         

“What? Cooper playful? Are we talking about the same wolf?” I asked.         

“No clue, but he seemed to be having fun when he was splashing about in the water.”    

That is a side of Cooper I have never seen. “We’re not doing the blocking out thing, are we, Cooper?” I checked with him. I want to get to know this fun-loving wolf.    

“A deal is a deal.” He tells me.     

We shifted, and Cooper walked up to Maria. “Hey there, big boy. Miss me?” She asks him while stroking his fur. Cooper loves her touch and pushes himself into her hand. Why is he enjoying Maria’s touch? “Come on, let’s get you home. Lead the way.” She says to him. “Rogues and hunters have been in these parts lately and a black wolf like you would be a trophy for them.”       

Cooper growls with annoyance. Because of what Maria said. Cooper seems quite protective of her, even though they have just met. Cooper walks beside Maria all the way back to our house. When we get there, she kneels next to him and laughs. “We would have been safer in my tree. Looks like the place will blow down if a big bad wolf huffs and puffs on it.” She says before walking inside, referring to the story of the three little pigs.    

“She is safest with us,” Cooper says before he shifts.     

I walked into the house after Maria, only to see her stripped out of her wet clothes. “Oh Geez,” I said as I felt my cock twitching at seeing a beautiful woman practically naked in front of me. Cooper howls. He must like what he sees as much as I do.