Chapter 13 Asher
ASHER
I pulled up at the B&B eager to reconnect with Weston, but when I got out of the car, my beast told me polar bears had been in the area.
I sniffed, trying to discover if they were my wild kin, who needed food and had been marauding through the trash cans, or den members.
They’re from the den. I pulled up their scents from my memory.
The last time we’d been in the den, my beast had been hibernating, as most shifter beasts did until they were ready to meet their human other half.
My gut twisted, and I leaned on the car, telling my belly I couldn’t be sick. I took the porch steps two at a time and burst through the front door. Bobby was at his desk listening to the radio, and he scraped his chair over the floor.
“Did you forget your key?”
I didn’t reply and charged up the stairs. Weston’s door was closed but not locked, and I shoved it open. More than one polar bear had been in the room and their scents were oppressive and suffocating. Papers were scattered over the floor, and a chair had been overturned.
The den took our mate. I lost control of my beast, and claws extended from my fingertips until I told him to retreat.
Scaring the town by charging through the main street wasn’t going to help Weston and would thwart any attempt to save him.
I pictured the townspeople advancing on the den with guns and a determination to cull my kin.
Racing back to the first floor, I almost collided with Bobby who yelled, “Should I call the police?”
“No, this is a personal matter.” Other than my mate, I couldn’t get any humans involved because humans loved their guns.
The drive to the den took twenty minutes, but time seemed to stand still. Not just because my mate was in peril but returning brought back memories of trying to get Father’s attention and longing for Kipp to love me as my omega dad had.
My father thought I was dead, and my stepfather had spent twenty years believing he'd succeeded in killing me, and as I drove, I listed reasons why they’d taken my mate.
He was a scientist and they’d learned he was going to harm them.
My stepfather had discovered I was alive and he wanted to succeed in killing my mate when he’d failed with me.
Kipp had convinced Father I was about to overthrow him and kidnapping my mate was a way to draw me out.
It could’ve been all of the above, but humans were dangerous. Both the den and the pack had instilled that in me, and now a human with questions and research equipment threatened their existence and had to be eliminated.
I pushed the truck harder as I flew down the dirt road that led into den territory. Instinct guided me past landmarks that triggered memory. There was a boulder at a sharp corner and a creek where I'd played as a small child.
But as I rounded the last bend, the den clearing appeared before me. I slammed on the brakes so hard, the truck skidded over the snow.
There were maybe forty shifters gathered in a circle around three figures in the center. My father, the Alpha, now so much older than when I last saw him. His hair was more silver than black, and he had one hand raised, his beast’s claws were visible.
My stepfather was there, and while he had aged, the cruelty in his expression was the same as the day he tried to kill me.
But it was my mate on his knees that got my attention. Blood trickled from a cut above his eye, but when I wrenched open the truck door and started running, he yelled at me to stop.
Every head turned toward me as I pushed through the throng. There were gasps and cries and whispers about seeing a ghost.
My father’s hand fell limply to his side, and his face was whiter than his beast’s fur.
“Asher?”
“Father.” I stepped into the center of the circle and positioned myself between him and Weston. “Step away from him.”
Behind me, Weston choked out the word, “Father? Run, Asher, or they’ll kill you too.”
He didn't understand because he thought I was like him. And while my stepfather no doubt possessed murderous thoughts, Weston assumed I’d be next on the kill list. I’d put off telling him who I was, and now I’d have to explain it in front of the den that I’d only been a part of for a few short years.
But my only purpose was to keep him alive, and I hoped he’d still love me when this was over.
“He's not a threat.” I kept my gaze on Father. "He's a scientist studying wildlife conservation, and he wants to help polar bears.”
“He's human.” Kipp’s voice sliced through the air, and the sickening crunch of his boot that day echoed in my head. “He's been asking questions about us and has to be eliminated.”
“No.” I refused to look at my stepfather. If I did, I might shift and tear out his throat. “Father, listen to me. Weston means us no harm. He's here to study polar bear migration patterns and to help protect the habitat. He doesn't know about shifters.”
He does now, my beast offered.
Father’s eyes glistened with tears and one hand shook slightly.
“My son. You're alive.”
We could have our reunion later, when Weston was safe in my arms.
“He’s my mate.” My admission was greeted with silence except for the wind rustling the trees.
My stepfather laughed, but it was laced with bitterness. “The firstborn son of the Alpha does not mate a human. This is why you never deserved to be heir. You were always too soft and weak.”
“I was six years old.” I could no longer ignore him, and I allowed my beast to the forefront of my gaze. “And you pushed me through the ice and held me under. But my beast is special, and he forced a shift before it should have been possible to keep us alive.”
Kipp glanced at Father. “He wandered off because he never learned to listen and obey.”
“Liar!” The sound that word made reminded me of an explosion. "You took me out on thin ice on purpose and left me there to die.”
There were gasps, murmurs, and more whispers, and Father’s pallor receded and was replaced with redness.
“He's lying.” My stepfather’s voice shook, and hisses darted around the circle as he tried to convince the den his version was correct. “And no one is going to believe these wild accusations.”
But I had something better than accusations. “I have the scars.” I yanked my coat and shirt off and turned around to reveal the scar on my back. “And I remember your satisfied expression when I was drowning.”
“Kipp, is this true?” Father’s tone brooked no argument, and many of the people surrounding us hugged the person beside them or tucked their arm in theirs.
“Of course not. He’s lying, just as he used to when he was a boy.”
“Not once do I remember Asher lying.”
“You’re an old doddering fool who is past their best-by date.”
The den gasped in unison. No one spoke to their Alpha like that.
“Don't lie to me!” My father's roar cracked a sheet of ice in the nearby pond. “I command you to speak the truth.”
Kipp peered at the den members as if hoping for support, but no one spoke up or went to his side.
“He would have destroyed this den with his gentleness.” My stepfather raised his voice to match Father’s.
"And I was right. He’s returned after twenty years, mated to a human. This is what you wanted as your heir?”
My father's voice broke. “You took him from me.”
“Father.” I’d made my decision. If Father took on Kipp, he might not win. “This is my fight.”
He stared at me, and in his eyes, I witnessed the need for vengeance battling with wanting to let me prove myself. “Make it quick.”
Behind me, Weston begged me not to fight, though he assumed I’d take on Kipp as me, Asher. My stepfather sneered and said I was no match for him. He called me a cub, but I was in no hurry to show him otherwise.
“Shift, or I'll kill you in your skin and everyone will know you died a coward.”
I let him take his fur and rear up on his powerful hind legs. He was huge. I’d forgotten how ferocious his teeth were, like the ones wild polar bears used to rip through seal bone. But he had never seen my beast. I shifted, and while my bear was bigger than his, it wasn’t by much. He charged.
We met in the middle of the clearing with a thud that sent snow flying. His claws raked across my shoulder, and warm blood welled up and spilled over my beast’s fur, but I got my teeth into his neck and bit down hard. He roared and threw me off. I got up on all fours and lunged at him again.
It was brutal and vicious. And I poured the hatred I'd held back for twenty years into my beast’s teeth and claws.
We rolled through the snow, tearing at each other, and I barely felt the wounds he opened across my sides and back.
All I could think about was his boot on my head and the water drowning me as I knew I was going to die.
But not this time.
My bear caught his throat again, and he didn't let go. Kipp thrashed, and his claws created furrows over my bear’s ribs. My bear sank his teeth deep into his beast. Blood spurted out like a fountain, and my bear roared.
There was a gurgling and a rattling wheeze from Kipp, and the strength went out of his grip. I released him, and his bear collapsed into the snow, staining the white around him red. He shifted, as did I, and I watched when the light faded from his eyes.
I kneeled while bleeding from a dozen wounds that would heal quickly but hurt like heck right now.
Everyone was silent, waiting for the Alpha to speak. My father crossed the space between us and pulled me into his arms. His tears fell on my wounds as he ran his fingers over my face. “My son. I should have questioned what happened.”
“It’s over, Father.” The bitterness vanished, freeing me from its grip.
I turned and got Weston to his feet and untied his hands, wanting to hold him and cover him with kisses and ignore everything else. But there was den protocol to observe.
“Your mate is human and a scientist.”
“Yes.”
My father sighed, and there was twenty years of weariness behind it. “I’m not happy about this. But you're my son. And if this human is your mate, we'll figure it out.”
Weston was swaying as someone covered him with a blanket, but his eyes never left my face.
His voice was little more than a whisper when he asked, “Am I dreaming?”