Asher sat down with a bottle of Whiskey in his hand as he took in the breeze of the cold night.
His breath came out in slow bursts as he was thinking of everything that had happened.
Skylar had turned her back on him.
Her denial was what hurt him more than anything else.
It didn't feel right. It felt like Skylar was not seeing him as her husband anymore.
His heart ached, but he pushed it aside by drinking from his bottle to drown his sorrows.
He needed to think clearly.
He got to his feet to leave when the sound of footsteps approaching interrupted his thoughts.
He turned to see a large figure coming into view.
The man was the man who had interrupted him when he had been talking with Skylar at the party.
What did he want?
Asher scaled the man up. The man was tall and broad with his dark suit barely containing his rippling muscles.
There was something predatory about how he walked.
The guard stopped a few feet away from him and gave Asher the most intense stare.
"You're still here," the man said in anger.
"I would have gone, but I preferred staring at the clouds," Asher retorted while drinking from his bottle.
"You should know that drinking in this garden is prohibited by the law," the man said in anger.
"What law? The law you made up?"
"You need to leave," the man said in a low voice. "You're no longer welcome here."
"And who the hell are you to tell me what I'm to do? I am an alpha. I don't take orders from you."
The guard chuckled before his lips turned into a sneer. "I'm the one telling you to get lost. You are not welcome here. Maybe the others, but after you've come here and started badgering princess Skylar, you are not welcome. You need to leave."
Asher scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest with a stern look. "You're joking. Is this supposed to be a threat? It's pretty weak for a threat."
"Oh you don't get it," the guard stepped closer with his presence becoming more intimidating. "This isn't a threat. It's a promise. Leave now and you'll be safe. Stay and face the consequences."
Now Asher's anger was flaring up as he took a step forward while drinking from his bottle.
The guard found this insulting and he grabbed the bottle while tossing it away.
The only sounds were the distant sound of music and shouts from the party.
Asher tried to control his anger as he looked at his drink on the ground.
"That was uncalled for," he said but the guard wasn't here for jokes.
"You need to leave or face the…"
"…consequences, I hear you, but you don't get to tell me what to do. I came because I was invited. I don't need you telling me where to go and what to do."
Asher had been humiliated enough for one night and he wasn't about to let some musclehead idiot tell him what to do.
"You should know that you are crossing a lycan. That can be a serious matter here."
The guards eyes glowed with hatred but Asher shrugged.
"You might as well forget pushing me out because I'm staying."
Lycan's were different from normal wolves. They were stronger and far more dangerous. They also had more egos, but Asher was an alpha.
He would not be pushed around by this mutt.
The guard leaned in, his voice a low, menacing rumble. "You're an alpha wolf, aren't you? Well, let me make something clear to you—alphas are nothing compared to Lycans. You of all people should know that. It's not a secret. Or do I have to spell it out for you? You don't belong here. Get lost little wolf."
Asher stood still with his heart pounding in his chest. The insult hit home in a slow and dangerous way.
But even at that, Asher couldn't help but laugh at the man before him in a deep and mocking way.
"You think because you're a lycan you're a notch stronger than an alpha?" Asher said with another out of laughter. "You might have been fighting with weaklings who claim to be wolves but have you met a true alpha?"
"You are nothing…"
"Then why don't you try me."
The guard's eyes flashed with anger. Who was this man to talk to him in that manner? He was nothing.
Without warning, he swung his fist toward Asher's face, the punch coming fast and hard. But Asher was ready.
His hand shot up, catching the punch mid-swing. The force of the impact reverberated up his arm, but he didn't flinch. Instead, he squeezed the guard's fist, his grip like iron.
The guard's eyes widened in shock, and Asher's own eyes began to glow—a deep, eerie gold that lit up the darkness around them. His wolf side was rising to the surface, the power of his alpha status pulsing through his veins.
The guard strained to punch him but Asher would not let him.
"Maybe you should have weighed your strength before trying to put me down," Asher growled as the guard started to bleed from his fist.
The two men stood there, locked in place, the tension between them thick enough to cut with a knife. For a moment, it seemed like the fight was about to explode into something far more violent.
But before either man could make another move, a voice cut through the night.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Both Asher and the guard turned to see Skylar standing in the doorway of the mansion, her expression that of confusion and anger.
She stepped forward, her heels clicking sharply on the stone path as she approached them.
"Enough," she snapped, her eyes flicking between the two men. "What is this?"
Neither Asher nor the guard answered. The tension between them was still high, neither willing to back down.