CHAPTER 51

Asher's POV
I took Maya's trembling hands in mine and squeezed them. Not too hard, I was only trying to give her a sense of security. Her hands were shaking and her nervousness was so obvious that one could probably smell it if they passed us by at the time.
She looked into my eyes and I nodded, holding her face.
'Be strong for me. And for you, my love." I whispered and she nodded, wiping away a lone tear that had managed to escape her left eye.
'I am so scared, Ash." She said with a sniff and wrapped her arms around me, enveloping me in a hug. I noticed that she had begun to calm down as her formerly erratic breathing had begun to slow down into fairly normal breaths. I started to pat her hair and whispered soothing— or what I had hoped was soothing words into her ear.
I even began to whisper sing one of the songs she had been listening to without pause all week, whenever she had the chance to. A small giggle erupted from her and she raised to swat me on the arm.
'You are singing it all wrong, silly." She said with a big smile on her face. I pouted and leaned in towards her.
And then nudged her nose with mine.
'If it made you laugh, then I am very sure that I did not, in fact, sing it wrong." I raised my eyebrows at her in a continuous up and down motion. She mirrored my motions and then we both started to laugh.
She raised a finger and poked my face with it.
'Cheeky." She said.
Maya and I were on our way to the Blood moon pack, to see what was going on for ourselves. I did not want to go at first, in fact, I had flat out refused to go and see what it was that was going on around the pack. Alpha Rick of the Blood moon pack was known for his cunning ways, and it was not unbelievable to say that he would lie and use Maya's parents as a means to try to get to her, even if there were no parents in the picture.
The car jerked as it hit something, probably a large rock or something related and Maya squealed, as the sudden jerky movement had caused some of her drink to spill onto the car floor.
'Watch where you're driving!" I scolded the driver as he continued to move the car. The driver stuttered.
'I-I am very sorry, alpha." He said.
'You should apologize to my wife, not me!" I said, not realizing what I had said until it tumbled out of my mouth.
'Ash, it is okay," Maya said as she put a hand on mine.
'I am sorry, please miss." The driver said to Maya.
She laughed it off. 'It is okay, please, go back to keeping your eyes and ears on the road." Then she turned to me.
'Wife, huh?" She smirked and I could not fight back the blush that crept up my face, before shaking my head in an embarrassed smile and going back into the land of my thoughts.
I knew that Maya too felt unsure about the whole thing, but she still felt that she had a need to know if her parents— if any of her parents were still alive. Or not.
She too had declined at first, but then eventually, she had said that she would go if only to find out what the truth about everything was.
And because I understood the internal struggle that my mate was having within herself, I had said that I would go, to be there for her as moral support and more importantly, to ensure her safety. If this was what she wanted to happen, I had no issue with that. Even if something bad were to happen, I would have known that it was not her fault. Family and other people that we are emotionally attached to should always come first and it is only the right thing to drop everything, face every fear, and destroy every obstacle if only in a bid to get to them. And especially in a bid to get to them when they were supposedly in danger.
The expression her face held when I had told her that I was going to come with elicited one of joy and pure gratefulness. I felt embarrassed at that too.
I was— still am— her mate, she was not supposed to act like someone had done something extraordinary for her whenever she had been given something little, maybe a little help or a McDonald's happy meal.
I knew that I had done the right thing by embarking with her on this trip, not that I would ever let her leave my sight, unless I was asleep, that is.
My phone began to ring, breaking me out of my reverie and I fished it out with a frown. The caller ID showed that it was Shalom who was calling. I wondered why she would be calling me at this time.
Although I did not need to wonder why I could easily pick up the call. And so I did.
'Shalom, if you are calling to ask me to choose which nail color is just right for the week then you are complete—" She cut me in as I began to speak.
'Asher, you and Maya have to come back now!" She shouted into the phone.
'What, why?" I asked as I was very confused.
'It is a trap. It was all a ploy to get you and Maya to get there, I am very sure of it. Tell your driver to turn back now!" She said, shouting so hard that Maya heard it and turned to look at me with a small frown on her face.
Then her line went dead. She probably ran out of battery, again.
'What happened?" Maya asked looming worried.
'Shalom had just told me that she has reason to believe that we are walking ourselves into a trap," I said, my brows knotted.
"This isn't our friends trying to get us to turn back right?" Maya asked.
"I don't think so. She sounded rather serious. Shalom would never joke with a thing like that" I said. I turned to look at Maya and her frown had deepened. Her not so long ago cheerfulness was wiped by that one call Shalom made to me.
"We could go back if you want us to or we could continue to go to the blood moon pack. The choice is yours—wife" I said and just like I hoped the word wife would make her cheer up, it really did. Her face immediately turned the third shade of pink and her smile brightened.
"I really want to see for myself what Rick has for me. What if they are indeed my parents?"
"We've gone over this for plenty of times, Maya. I'd support you in whatever decision you make. You just say the word and I'd oblige "
She looked to be weighing her choice when my phone began to vibrate from my pocket. I pulled it out, checked the caller ID and it was Killian.
"Put it in speaker," Maya said and I obeyed.
"Hello? Alpha Asher?"
"Yeah, Killian go on.."
"Is Maya there with you?"
"Yes"
"Can you pass the phone to her, I need to speak with her"
"She can hear you, speak"
"Under no circumstances should you come over to the blood moon pack. The people Rick got isn't your parents. He paid them off to act like it. I have shreds of evidence but I can't show them to you now because it is too risky. I'd show them to you once I have the chance to. As I speak to you now, warriors had been sent in various batches to capture you both. Rick had even gone further to prepare a befitting prison for you. I don't know what it meant but that was what he said"
"Okay. Thank you. I do appreciate your efforts for me and the members of my pack. Please be careful" I said to Killian.
"Of course, and speaking about love ones, please extend my greetings to Edna"
"Will do"
"Please take care of Maya and keep an eye on her. I've seen her act stubborn. I'm afraid she might do something crazy"
"Shut the fuck up, Kills" Maya howled onto the phone with anger evident in the way she spoke.
"I get what you are saying, mate. Thank you"
"The fuck are you both talking about huh?"
"Yeah, good luck with her," Kilian said and hung up the call before Maya could fire back her response.
"Hey, it's going to be fine okay. Come here" I said and opened my arms for her to come in. Maya looked as though she would protest, but reluctantly she leaned into my embrace and hugged me right. Her body shook against mine is I could tell she was crying
Damn! She had gone through a lot. Most times I wonder about her source of strength and motivation to go on. Not everyone could be going through this lot and this holds on tight. "It's going to be babes,'' I said and kissed her head.
She didn't answer or gave a gesture to punctuate anything. She just laid on my chest and cried her eyes out.
Shalom's pov
I was getting real restless scared at the same time I won't lie. I don't know this Alpha Rick of a person but from everything I've heard about him so far, I could tell how evil he was and my friends were on their way to him. Asher was like a brother to me. I've probably known him all my life. During the times we fought the fairies together, he was just there for everybody. He too was suffering but he made sure he was available to the rest of us—physically and emotionally he was there.
After the time my parents chased me from our house, I met Tommy who had also been pursued from his home. He told me about this friend of his that would let me stay with them. Apparently, he was also a loner like us but a good person. I agreed to meet this person Tommy was so sure would accept me. Every cell in my body kicked against the idea. Throughout my whole life, no one had accepted me and loved me. My parents and siblings didn't so why would a stranger do?
I was afraid that Tommy was leading me to my doom—probably selling me off or something close. Werewolf trafficking was the order of the day. Day in and day out reports of the missing pup were all over the news and posters of missing children are posted every day on the walls of the street.
I eventually agreed to go with Tom to see this friend of his and from the very second we both saw each other, Asher had been nothing but kind to me. The Sweet and loving brother I never had. At a point in my life, he was a father figure and someone I could tell all of my problems to without being judged.
I was the last one to join his clique of friends but not once did any of them make me feel less special. Edna was super happy because she would no longer be the only female in the squad and just like that we turned into friends, best friends, and later on, family, and our bond had never suffered hate or malice. Whatever issue anyone would have would quickly be thrashed out and not even the person next to the two fighting parties would hear about it.
After the war ended, Tommy and I decided to go pursue our dreams which are to learn more about the werewolves' species.
The news of Asher finding his mate was the sweetest thing I've heard because that has been my dream for him for a while. He deserves someone as kind as him and true to my wishes, he found Maya.
Maya was the sweetest little thing I know—a perfect fit for Asher if you ask me and sooner than I thought, she worked her way into being my family —our family.
And now, two out of the few people that matter to me are probably in danger.
"Why would neither of their phones connect?" I yelled for the umpteenth time. I was still telling Asher to return back to the pack when the network ended.
"Look. That's their car! They are here!" Edna shouted when Asher's car rode into the compound.
"Thank the goddess" I heard Tom whisper to himself before we all practically ran to meet them. Maya climbed out of the car looking angry as hell.
I'd never seen her angry kike this before but I could understand her. That so-called Alpha Rick had done her a lot of dirty things but he still wouldn't stop.
I walked closer to hug her and I was pleased when she hugged me back, which made the rest of our family look at us with awe. "It's going to be fine, white wolf" I breathed into her hair and she nodded against my chest and said "but first I need to punch something….fast"
Oh, okay!