ASHER “You’re very late, Alpha Asher. Is it customary of your Pack to keep your guests waiting?” The moment I stepped into the first-floor meeting room, a heavily accented voice reached my ears, and I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Though I knew the voice belonged to the King of Yurene, I was shocked by how callously I was being spoken to. The king stood from the couch very slowly and then extended his hand toward mine. “I jest, of course, though you do appear to be quite busy.” I stared at his hand for a moment before I accepted it in mine. “I suppose I am quite busy. I’m sorry to keep you waiting-” “Are you ill?” Kaleb blurted out. “You look tired-” Lancel took a step forward in warning, but I raised a hand to stop him. “It’s fine,” I murmured. Kaleb studied us with a curious expression and then chuckled. “It seems the people of the South are more tense than us Northerners.” The king of Yurene was one of the tallest men I’d ever seen. I wasn’t short by any means, but compa

CASSANDRA I’d been apprehensive at the idea of attending the banquet that evening, but the king of Yurene had been insistent upon me joining them. I’d provided excuse after excuse, but they did me no good. The man was simply not taking no for an answer. So, I thanked him for the invitation and immediately headed back to my room to figure out what I would wear to such an occasion. Back in Wild Crawler, I’d never attended banquets or fine events. Our lifestyle there was much more rugged and simple, so I didn’t have much in the way of fancy clothing. Erika seemed surprised when I returned to my chambers and explained the situation to her. “That’s wonderful that you were invited, Cassandra,” she said, and then her eyebrows creased together. “Hmm. I wonder what you will wear…” “That’s my problem,” I replied, and a lump formed in my throat. “I don’t own anything acceptable enough to attend a banquet.” Suddenly, the maid’s eyes glimmered and she flashed me an excited smile. “Hold on,

ASHER “What’s the matter, Asher?” Adalyn demanded as she followed me into my study. “What exactly has gotten into you tonight?” I fought back a groan as I approached one of the leather couches in the corner. Alcohol had plagued me just a little and my head swam with a mixture of drunkenness and agitation. “Nothing is wrong,” I sighed as a heavy exhale escaped me “Go back to the banquet, Adalyn. I just need some time alone-” “Time alone?” Adalyn repeated back in confusion and she shook her head. “Time alone for what, Asher? We have guests downstairs to entertain, in case you’ve forgotten. We’re supposed to be welcoming the king of Yurene and his diplomats. I don’t think this is making too great of an impression of Wegalla.” “Don’t tell me what I’m doing wrong,” I managed to say as my head pounded angrily. “I’m fully aware of what’s going on down there. I don’t think our guests care if I step away for a moment-” “I bet Cassandra Keller cares,” my wife blurted out, and I whipped ar

CASSANDRA I was half-asleep when I heard a loud knock on the door. Startled, I sat straight up in bed and caught my breath. My eyes flew to the clock. It was nearly three in the morning. Who was at my door this late? “Who’s there?” I called out just loud enough to not wake Finnick. Luckily, my boy was fast asleep and snoring lightly. When I didn’t get an answer, I pulled myself out of bed and headed toward the door. I was nearly halfway there when I heard another series of knocks. They were more forceful than the first and I felt a mixture of fear and irritation. I opened the door and when I did, my lips parted in surprise. It was Asher. I was about to ask what he was doing here at this hour, but before the words could escape me, the Alpha King rushed into the room, closed the door, and then cornered me against the wall. His steel gray eyes bore into mine with intensity and his breath was hot against my face. He smelled heavily like liquor. “Are you drunk?” I asked as my bod

CASSANDRA“I got the test result, Cassy!” Becky exclaimed with excitement as she rushed into the lab the next day. I’d been half-asleep at my desk and close to nodding off when my assistant walked in, and I quickly regained my composure so she wouldn’t notice just how exhausted I was.Between the encounter with Asher and the situation with the snake in the garden, I’d gotten very little sleep and was feeling a little ghostlike.“Oh?” I managed to say, and I swept my long hair out of my face and pulled it up into a high bun. “What does it say?”Becky glanced down at the stack of papers in her hand and quickly, her excitement turned to concern.“Becky?” I prompted her again when she didn’t say anything. “What does it say?”“It says it wasn’t Udosyn,” she said quietly, and her lips curled into a frown. “And it wasn’t the same venom that we’d extracted from the vipers that had bitten Prince Marco and the Alpha King.”This time, it was my turn to frown. No matter what happened around her