Alpha Asher and Lola novel Chapter 220

Chapter 220

I was slammed back into my body, the impact tearing a ragged gasp from my throat.

Panic obscured my thoughts, my hands grasping at my chest, taking fistfuls of my shirt as I pulled it from my body to peer down at smooth, unblemished skin.

“I’m alive…” I panted, my heartbeat thundering in my ears. “It wasn’t me. I’m still here.”

The sensation of my soul slipping away, the very essence that made up my memories, hopes, dreams, and fears, was one I would never forget. Far beyond the physical pain was a peacefulness I never would’ve thought existed. It caressed the soul in feather-light touches, wrapping around that beacon of light in a protective embrace.

Remembering Death’s gentle touch brought tears to my eyes and made me wonder if that was how Sean felt-if he too felt at peace.

‘We have to go, Lola…’ Maya said softly, her tail curling around my thoughts.

As much as I wanted to stay and linger in that peaceful haze, it quickly began to slip through my fingers. Cordelia had been right, after all.

I was alive, and every beautiful, horrible moment was mine to shape.

With my blood-soaked knees forgotten, I pushed myself to my feet and stood tall, inhaling the crisp, silky air and letting it fill my lungs with life.

‘You’re right.’ I told her, drawing her presence to the forefront of my mind, embracing the sting of my bones shifting and growing. ‘We have work to do, Maya.’

Running through the forest, melting into the world around me as I worked in tandem with Maya and became one with nature itself, I thought back to what I saw in Cordelia’s memory.

I didn’t want to believe that there were traitors in this pack. That someone I trusted with my life and the lives of my people were secretly plotting our downfall. After what I’d seen I needed confirmation, and I knew just who to go to.

It was haunting to know that I was taking the same route Cordelia had been taking when she was forced to run into the forest.

Everything, even the heavy blanket of shadows draped along the main road, was exactly the same. This time around, there weren’t any cloaked witches creeping out of the forest, but that didn’t mean I let my guard down.

Keeping just a few feet inside the forest, I followed the shoulder of the main road until the dark outlines of buildings began to pop into view. As I pressed forward, the streetlamps with their gentle, golden glow provided just enough light to make out the smaller details and the washed-out colors of my surroundings.

There was a plaza of small businesses farther off to the side, but it was the unassuming office building I had my eyes. set on.

At first glance, one might think it were a bank or some nameless company with rows of cubicles and an army of overworked, underpaid employees. It was neither of those things, but its modern appearance was the perfect cover up for what was hidden within, spanning several feet below the earth. 1

Almost fifty feet away, I narrowed my eyes at the place, a feeling of wrongness twisting my stomach into knots the same way an expired blood bag would.

There were too many shadows lingering around the place, sapping every ounce of light and color until even my advanced eyesight had a hard time seeing what was going on.

Shifting into my human form, I approached on foot. There was a slight kernel of exhaustion tugging at my eyelids from using my magic to keep my clothing intact, but I was carrying too much adrenaline for it to take hold.

Fifty feet turned into thirty, and then twenty, followed by ten, and five.

I stopped in my tracks, the wind whistling in my ears as it ruffled my hair and billowed through the shattered windows and splintered door of the prison facility. When it came back out, stirred by another gust, it carried with it the scent of fresh blood.

There were nearly a dozen guards keeping watch over those cells. Men and women with families, mates that they had either already met or now never would.

“Oh, no…”

Zeke had been in charge of watching over Tessa, but Holly had said herself that Zeke was out helping find Asher.

With my heart drumming out a nervous beat in my ears, I reached out to Breyona.

‘Tell me Zeke is with you guys right now and that he’s out looking for Asher.’

‘I mean, he was. About twenty minutes ago he said he was going to stop by and check on Tessa, see if she knew anything about what the hell’s going on.’ She replied instantly. Silence spanned between the two of us, and the longer I stared at the ransacked building, the heavier the feeling in my gut became.” Why did you want to know where Zeke was?’

The way she asked was cautious, bordering on outright worry.

I barely realized I’d closed my eyes. The darkness behind my lids was identical to that of the forest and night sky. Battling the urge to shift and tear this entire pack apart until I found the answers I was looking for, I forced myself to reply to Breyona’s question.