Unexplained feelings

Asher

I stood beside Aster’s bed, my eyes glued to the place where his pale, scarred fingers were wrapped tightly around Jade’s hand.

I told myself that the sudden relief loosening the tight knot in my chest was only because my brother's breathing had finally become steady. But as I stared at their joined hands, a strange, painful twist of possessiveness flared deep inside my gut.

It was a sick, wrong feeling, and it made no sense.

She was possibly Aster’s fated mate. Even entertaining a single thought about her in any other way was a betrayal to the brother I had sworn to protect with my life.

I felt a surge of anger at myself for even noticing her. But despite her matted hair, the dark purple bruise blooming on her forehead, her bare feet, and that hideous, oversized prison gown, I couldn't stop looking at her. She didn't look anything like the refined, heavily perfumed noble she-wolves who constantly paraded around the royal court. There was something raw and striking about her—the soft curves of her waist, the fierce light in her eyes, and that stubborn, unyielding tilt of her chin.

Jade caught me staring. Her eyes narrowed, and she snapped, "Is there something wrong with me?"

Embarrassment hot as acid flashed through me, quickly covered by a wall of ice. My expression hardened. "You're no longer needed," I said coldly. I turned to the guards by the door. "Take her to a guarded guest room."

"Gladly," Jade muttered, instantly yanking her hand out of Aster’s grip. She pushed herself up from the edge of the mattress.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!

The heart monitor shrieked. Aster’s chest heaved violently, his fingers twitching across the empty bedsheets as he reached out blindly, his pulse plunging into a dangerous tailspin.

"Stop! Don't move!" Healer Myron shouted in panic. "Sit back down!"

Jade winced, reluctantly dropping back onto the edge of the bed and placing her palm back into Aster's open hand.

The moment their skin touched, the frantic monitors instantly smoothed into a calm, steady rhythm. Aster let out a soft sigh, his fingers lacing tightly through hers once more.

I hated how instantly his body responded to her. I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to remember that this was purely medical. She was just a living remedy keeping my brother from slipping into the dark. Nothing more.

"Am I still your prisoner?" Jade asked, looking up at me with sharp, tired eyes.

"You won't be returning to the dungeon," I said, keeping my voice flat. "But you are not free to leave this palace. You will remain here until my brother wakes up and explains exactly what happened in that cave."

Jade’s face flushed with pure fury. "I saved his life! I pulled silver out of his chest, bandaged his wounds, and kept him alive! And in return, I’ve gotten nothing but threats, a cold cell, and suspicion! You are the most arrogant, ungrateful Alpha I’ve ever met!"

The royal guards in the room gasped, instantly tensing and placing their hands on the hilts of their swords at the insult to their King. I raised a single hand, stopping them from stepping forward.

I took a slow step toward her. "Why are you so desperate to leave, Jade? You already admitted you have nowhere else to go."

"Having nowhere to go doesn't give you the right to hold me against my will!" she fired back without a single flinch.

A flicker of genuine respect touched my mind, though I forced my face to remain a mask of stone. Most wolves shook in terror when I looked at them. This she-wolf, exhausted and dressed in prison rags, was barking right back into my face.

"Until I am absolute certain you had no part in the ambush," I said, "you remain under royal watch. Consider it royal protection."

"Imprisonment isn't protection," she spat bitterly.

I ignored her attitude and turned to a waiting maid near the door. "Fetch her a hot meal, proper clothing, and warm water." Then I looked at Myron. "Examine the wound on the back of her head."

"I don't need your pity," Jade said, pulling away as Myron stepped forward. "And I don't need your healer. One of your own guards gave me this wound when he struck me from behind."

My head snapped toward the captain of the guard. "Who hit her?"

A tall warrior stepped forward, bowing his head nervously. "Sire... she attempted to flee the cave site. I used the fastest method to stop her."

Fury flared in my chest. "She was an unarmed, exhausted she-wolf running on foot. You struck her hard enough to draw blood and render her unconscious?" I stepped into his space, my voice dropping into a lethal growl. "You are stripped of your royal duties until further notice. Get out of my sight."

The guard paled, bowed low, and quickly hurried out of the room.

Jade stared at me, clearly surprised that I had just publicly disciplined my own warrior, but she stubbornly refused to thank me.

"Treat her with care from now on," I commanded the remaining staff. "We cannot risk causing physical stress to someone whose condition is directly tied to Aster's health."

Myron carefully parted the hair at the back of Jade's head, dabbing at the cut. He ran a quick diagnostic scan over her, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper. "Sire... she is suffering from severe physical exhaustion, dehydration, and body trauma. But more than that... she is dealing with the lingering physical agonies of a freshly broken mate bond."

The words hit the room like a physical drop in temperature.

"A broken mate bond?" I asked, my eyes snapping back to her.

"It's none of your business," Jade said, staring fixedly at the floor.

"Anything affecting the physical stability of the she-wolf holding my brother's life in her hands is my business," I stated firmly. "Myron, explain."

"She was rejected," Myron said gently. "Very recently. The bond was violently severed."

An unexpected, violent surge of rage tore through my chest—a sudden, hot anger directed entirely at whatever unknown male had dared to break her. What kind of absolute fool rejects his own fated mate?

"Who did it?" I asked, my voice low.

Jade kept her head down, her jaw trembling slightly before she finally spoke. "Alpha Carter of the Skyton Pack. He rejected me publicly... because of my weight." Her voice cracked, but she pushed through it. "He chose my younger sister instead, and had me banished from the pack."

I stared down at her. My eyes swept over her body once more—taking in the soft curves of her waist, the lush fullness of her lips, the strength written into her frame. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. How could anyone look at her and see something undesirable?

The thought came so naturally, so instantly, that it terrified me. I violently crushed it down, forcing my voice to remain indifferent. "Then Carter is an idiot. But his stupidity is irrelevant here."

Jade caught the momentary pause, the way my eyes had lingered on her. Her face fell, her eyes swimming with a fresh wave of deep, agonizing hurt. She assumed I was judging her body the exact same way her ex-mate had.

"Do you also believe a woman like me is unworthy of being a Luna?" she asked softly, her voice laced with quiet pain.

I opened my mouth to correct her, to tell her that wasn't what I thought at all—but the words caught in my throat. I hesitated a second too long, completely thrown off by why her opinion of me even mattered.

Jade took my silence as a 'yes.' She looked away, withdrawing completely behind a wall of cold silence.

A strange pang twisted in my chest, but I pushed it down. "Myron, continue treating her," I said abruptly.

The healers tried to set up a chair beside the bed so Jade could sit down without having to physically hold Aster's hand the entire time. But the very second her fingers slipped from his skin, Aster’s pulse spiked again, his chest heaving as the black veins threatened to resurface.

"It's no use," Myron sighed. "She must remain in direct physical contact with him until his wolf purges the remaining silver on its own."

"I can't sit here all night holding a stranger's hand!" Jade protested, her voice laced with exhaustion.

"The stranger is alive because of you," I replied. "And he will stay alive because you remain."

Jade looked down at Aster’s unconscious face. She let out a long, weary sigh and finally nodded.

We moved a cushioned armchair right up against the side of the bed. Wraps and thick wool blankets were brought in for her, along with a tray of hot food. I ordered four elite guards to stand post directly outside the infirmary doors, strictly forbidding anyone from entering without my express permission.

Before leaving, I turned back to look at her one last time.

Jade was sitting in the chair, wrapped in blankets, her plate of food half-eaten on the side table. Her head was slowly drooping sideways as sheer exhaustion finally dragged her down into sleep. But even as her eyes closed, her fingers remained tightly locked around Aster’s hand.

That strange, uncomfortable ache twisted in my chest again. I turned on my heel and left the room, thoroughly unnerved by feelings I refused to name.

It was well past midnight when I found myself walking down the quiet, torch-lit corridors back toward the infirmary. I told myself I was only going to check on Aster's vitals.

I pushed the heavy double doors open silently.

The infirmary was dim, lit only by the low glow of a few candles. The regular beep of the heart monitor was steady and calm. Aster was sleeping peacefully.

Beside him, Jade was sound asleep in the armchair.

Her thick, dark hair fell over her face, and her heavy breathing filled the quiet room. As I stepped closer, I noticed that her wool blanket had slipped off her shoulders during the night, pooling uselessly around her waist on the cold floor. The chill in the room was sharp, and her bare shoulders were trembling slightly.

Without thinking, I stepped over to her side. I bent down, picked up the thick blanket, and carefully draped it back over her shoulders to keep her warm.

As I adjusted the fabric, the back of my knuckles accidentally brushed against the warm, bare skin of her neck.

BOOM.

An electric shock of violent, blinding heat exploded from the point of contact, shooting straight up my arm and slamming directly into my chest. Inside me, my wolf—usually quiet, cold, and calculating—reared up with a sudden, deafening roar, surging forward with a terrifying, possessive force that nearly brought me to my knees.

I jerked my hand back as if I had just touched white-hot iron, my heart hammering wildly against my ribs.

What was that?!

I stumbled back a step, breathing heavily, trying to force my wild wolf back down. It was just exhaustion. It was stress from the attack. It was fear for my brother. It had to be.

Before I could step away, Jade opened her eyes and caught him standing over her.

She tightens the blanket around herself and asks suspiciously,

“Why were you touching me?”