Chapter 3 - Enid's POV

Nina hauled me out of the house as if I were forgotten baggage. One moment I was brooding in my room feigning to read feigning to ignore an Alpha who had deliberately avoided meeting my gaze all afternoon. Another moment, she was thrusting boots at me aggressively tidying my hair and commanding me to leave the house.

“You require diversion " she said, hands entwined in my hair. " Through foolish choices. Fortunately I’ve got a selection ready.”

I sighed heavily. "I don’t want choices. I want calm.”

“Peace is dull " she said while leading us along the gravel walkway. "Fire, alcohol and dubious guitar solos. That’s the remedy.”

We arrived at the clearing, behind the compound. As expected the bonfire was already burning. Flames flickered in the breeze casting light on faces and creating dancing shadows among the trees. Wolves. Nudged one another music boomed loud enough to sync with my heartbeat and the scent of beer blended with pine smoke making the whole night feel denser than it ought to be.

For a moment I lingered at the brink absorbing everything around me. The heat from the fire enveloped me in surges. A bottle unfamiliar, to me was handed along. Another person cried out toward the heavens. A girl stumbled on a log. Burst into laughter as if gravity had slighted her deliberately.

“This isn’t who I am " I whispered.

Nina linked her arm with mine. "Tonight’s the night. Let’s enjoy ourselves.”

I allowed myself to be drawn further into the throng. I hadn’t drunk anything, not yet. The atmosphere hummed all around me. I sensed both scrutiny and invisibility simultaneously. Others appeared untamed made for times, like these. I felt like a fitting borrowed element misplaced within the group.

Nevertheless a small fraction of me desired it. Just once. To be ordinary. To be eighteen years old. To not dwell on mate bonds or wolves stirring beneath my skin. To not sense Asher’s absence, as something.

Nina placed a cup in my hand. "Drink. Don’t overthink it.”

I took a sip. The flavor was both sharp and sweet simultaneously. Both. Right, at the same time. "This tastes like dissolved sugar and sorrow.”

“Excellent " she remarked.

A nearby crowd erupted in cheers and a voice called out "Truth or dare. Bring it this way.”

Nina shrieked, the betrayer. "Yes. This is ideal. You require this.”

“I’m tired " I whispered,. She pulled me along regardless.

The circle was completely packed. Wolves perched on boxes on tree stumps and even atop one another. The fire snapped at the core as if paying attention. I edged in next, to Nina attempting to hide how uneasy I actually was.

The game moved fast. Admissions, challenges, extra drinks and some silly disputes, over who cheated previously. I was chuckling quietly keeping to myself when the bottle aimed at me.

“Enid," a voice called out. ". Truth or dare?”

The crowd buzzed with excitement. I noticed my cheeks flushing. "Dare " I blurted out before overthinking it.

The man sitting opposite me smiled as if he had anticipated this moment the evening. "Plant a kiss, on the person who passes.”

I held my breath. The group burst into applause.

Nina applauded naturally she did.

I stopped dead. Entirely. My glass almost fell from my grip. All eyes, around the circle were locked on me expectant. Starving for a show. I despised the focus. I despised the warmth spreading across my neck.. Leaving now would show weakness and if there was one thing I wasn’t going to be tonight it was that.

I raised my head. Attempted to inhale.

A person might pass by.

Anyone.

I would manage it. I hoped.

I took a breath. Inclined toward the man passing by a lanky wolf, with a relaxed grin and dimples that might persuade a nun to indulge in a minor misdeed. He stopped when he noticed the groups focus turn to him then beamed broadly as if he had just snagged a prize in a drawing.

“Well " he remarked, angling his head in my direction " evening.”

I took a breath and pushed my legs forward. It was a kiss, simple and straightforward nothing intense. Just lips meeting lips. I was capable of that. I had endured things like Nina’s cooking. This was easy.

My fingers grazed his chest to steady myself.

Suddenly a grip seized my wrist.

Not an ordinary hand. Powerful, coarse, heated in a manner that seemed recognizable.

My heart stumbled.

I didn’t have to look to realize.

Asher.

He was positioned behind me his jaw clenched firmly eyes shadowed by an emotion I couldn’t completely identify. Anger, certainly. Control, likely. A trace of intent unquestionably.

The stranger’s eyes flickered. "Alpha " he uttered, retreating once.

Asher remained silent. His hold grew firmer enough to send jolts of electricity racing up my arm, vivid and intense. My wolf stirred within me as if she had been resting beneath a cover and it had suddenly been torn away.

I can’t remember how to breathe out.

“Asher " I murmured,. He offered me nothing. No change, in expression no clarification, not his typical indifferent stare. Only a simmering heat cloaked in fury.

Without uttering a word he pulled me out of the circle. Not roughly,. With resolve. The people moved aside before him as usual. This time a few had synchronized smirks. Nina gave me a thumbs up which I definitely did not welcome.

The blaze we left behind diminished, disappearing into the row of trees and the chilly night enveloping us. My boots rustled against leaves while Asher continued forward pulling me with him as if he had a destination or just required space away, from everything else.

I attempted to withdraw. His hold became firmer more.

“Really?" I retorted. "Are you aiming to abduct me. Is this merely practice?”

He remained silent. The quiet enveloped us, denser, than the night’s atmosphere. My heartbeat pounded beneath my wrist where his thumb lay. Each movement sent tingles through my skin as if the mate bond was stirring with a spirit.

He paused solely upon arriving at a space hidden from the gathering. The music sounded like a soft beat. The campfire glowed faintly behind the trees.

At last he faced me.

His eyes had grown darker, than previously. Untamed. Caught between fury and something more perilous.

“You were just about to kiss him " he murmured softly.

I nearly chuckled. "It was a dare.”

“That is irrelevant.”

I raised an eyebrow. "I’m quite certain it is.”

He looked at me his chest heaving as if he had run than walked. The strain hung between us, intense and heated. The spot, on my wrist where he had touched still stung. My wolf moved ahead more uneasy.

He stated, "That is not something you can do."

“And you aren’t able to pull folks out of parties as if they belong to you " I retorted. "Oh hold on. You’re the Alpha. Perhaps you have that power.”

His jaw tightened.

I should have been afraid. Or embarrassed. Or something normal.

Instead I remained still breathing rapidly overwhelmed by emotions questioning why the fire at the party seemed chilly in contrast, to the warmth radiating from him now.

The instant lingered. Dense. Electric. A stillness that seemed like quiet and more, like the breath taken before everything shifted.

Despite my dislike, for it even though I acted differently I was able to sense it.

The bond.

Alive.

Awake.

Watching.