Chapter 4

—Third Person POV—

After the ceremony, Asher looked at the woman who was now, by law, his new wife. The Elder witnesses had left, leaving the two of them alone in the room, still hovering by the altar.

“I know we need to talk,” Sienna said gently, and Asher couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sad, knowing how young she was to have all of this resting on her shoulders.

“We do,” Asher replied with the same tenderness. “Maybe somewhere a little more private. Let’s meet in a few hours at yours?”

She nodded, her youth glaring out from within the nervous expression on her face. Really, she was a child pretending to be an adult.

Responsibility like this was foreign to her.

“Yes,” Sienna nodded, meeting Asher’s calm gaze. “Before we go, though…”

She took a slow breath in, obviously carefully considering her next words. Or making sure her voice wasn’t going to tremble.

“I know this is temporary - that we’re in a mate contract as of now. I hope you know how thankful I am for the way you stepped up today, no questions asked.” She was earnest, crossing her arms across her chest.

Asher nodded, keeping his eyes trained on hers, waiting for her to continue. There was most definitely a but coming.

“But - ” Yes, there it was. “This contract is my lifeline right now. It’s more important than anything else, and we must keep it up.”

“Right,” Asher nodded his compliance, sensing more coming.

“There’s a lot more to discuss. Later.” She reached out, squeezing his hand in thanks before sweeping past him and out the door.

Yes, later there would certainly be discussion of the contract itself, and Asher would have to be very careful not to let anything too private slip.

Asher had been fully aware of Sienna’s situation, the fact she had a looming deadline to keep her pack. Her parent’s would never have wanted her to lose Nightwind, either.

The ceremony hall was silent as Asher strode down the aisle, ducking out the front door into the sunlight, greeted quickly by Beta Simon - someone in his trusted inner circle.

Simon was assigned the task of assisting the new female alpha - obviously, Sienna - but Asher had known him for years now.

“Prince Alaric,” Simon nodded, noting they were in private. He often addressed Asher that way, even after Asher’s numerous requests not to.

“Don’t call me that, Simon,” Asher said quietly. “Just keep it as Asher, please.”

“Understood,” Simon affirmed — though give it a few days and he’d let another slip — clasping his hands behind his back. “All went well?”

“For now.” Asher sighed, peering up to the sky. “There’s a lot to consider.”

A whole lot indeed, he murmured to himself.

There had to be a reason that the King kept Asher around, only he didn’t know what that was yet. As long as Asher was alive, then there was a dangerous threat to his uncle.

A threat he was, indeed. For years now, Asher had been secretly building his power, vowing to avenge his parents one day. Surely his uncle knew he wouldn’t stay silent forever?

He saw it play out in his head every single day, the moment he took his rightful place back from his uncle, outing him and all of his deceit. It would be carefully planned, executed at just the right time.

And it would absolutely destroy his uncle.

But it wasn’t the right time yet.

“Will you tell Sienna the truth about everything?” Simon asked softly, pulling Asher from the reverie he’d been in.

Asher paused, knowing what the truth - everything - would do to Sienna. Clearly, she could sense something had been going on with him and her parents, and she would press on it sooner or later.

If she were smart, though, she would wait to press him on his secrets.

He was entirely aware that Sienna didn’t trust him - and he surely didn’t trust her either. They may only have four years between them, but she still had so much to learn.

His life had been so wildly different from her own - where she had never been meant to rule at her age, he’d been groomed to be a prince all his childhood.

Her maturity was nowhere near his, and he didn’t think she could handle the truth right now. She’d surely shatter under the pressure of it all, the realization of just how much her parent’s knew and never told her.

That, and, for her own safety, it wasn’t the time to drop something so intense on her. It would do a lot more harm than good for them both.

She had enough to worry about.

“Let it remain a secret for now,” Asher finally answered, the black ring on his finger catching his eye.

Simon nodded, questioning nothing.

You’ll keep this from her? The wolf in Asher protested. Our mate?

I said for now, Asher muttered back.

Now was not the time to fight with his wolf, who grumbled in response, hesitant to the idea of hiding such a dark truth from their mate.

Is she really even our fated mate anyway? Asher thought, and he could practically feel the bite from his wolf.

Then it went silent, signaling just how fed up it was at his behavior.

And still, Asher couldn’t help but wonder. All of this with Sienna wasn’t fate - it was just for convenience. His true love had always been with someone else.

Mia. His childhood friend whom he had sworn never to leave.

Only fate had torn them apart in the worst of ways.

He still thought of her so often, wondering how she fared, if she ever thought of him, too. Their connection had been undeniable - there was no way they weren’t meant to be mated for life.

If it hadn’t been for his treacherous uncle, he and Mia would still be together. The hate that simmered in Asher’s veins was not only because of the loss of his father, but Mia, too.

For years, he’d vowed to himself that he’d return to her when he could finally stand up to his uncle. He knew she’d wait for him, having felt the same unbreakable connection as he had.

Right now, though, his focus was on helping Sienna in any way that he could, if only to thank her parents for all they did for him.

And for what happened to them.

Maybe also to help alleviate the guilt he harbored for the night before. It had never been his intention to take Sienna to bed - his bodily needs had been too hard to ignore, seeing her so in need of pleasure.

Any weight he could take off Sienna’s shoulders would benefit her. She had no idea what she was about to be up against with the Nightwind pack, or just how in shambles it really was.

Little did she know, he could really help her get through all of that.

So much more had been going on within the pack than she ever knew, and those secrets were growing closer and closer to her.

It was his job to keep them away, if only for a little longer.

The next day, Asher set off on an early morning walk, his brain plagued with all the secrets he was keeping.

As he was heading back to his little hut he called home, he caught Simon at the curtain he claimed to be his front door.

“Simon?” he asked with a cocked brow. “What’s going on?”

Asher didn’t like the look of nerves plastered on the Beta’s face.

Something was wrong.

“Alpha Julian has arrived, claiming you’re unworthy of marrying Sienna,” Simon announced, wincing. “I wanted to give you a heads up, because they’ll probably come here to speak with you.”

“Are you kidding me?” Asher muttered. “This guy won’t give up.”

“Alpha Julian is very unpleasant, and very angry.” Simon shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “I’m going to tell Sienna. Stay here, will you, sir?”

“Yes,” Asher nodded, looking to Simon once more before slipping inside. “Watch out for him, Simon. I’ll be here waiting for whatever might come.”

Oh, boy, here we go.