Chapter 268: Chapter 267

Mason “| got this,” | sent out to my brother, Zane, and Lanie.

“We know you do. We're just here in case you need us. We won't interfere,” Xander thought in reply.

Asher’s mouth thinned. “Are you f ucking kidding me with this s hit? You’re mind linking with them? I’ve been trying to reach you for f ucking months. No wonder | couldn't.”

off.

“It’s not something |

something | planned.” | did my best to keep my voice calm, even though he was really pi ss ing me “No. | guess not. Because we had plans, dude. Me and you. You were going to take him out.” He jerked his chin toward Xander.

“And then you were going to be the Alpha, and | was going to be your Beta. That was the plan. | guess all of that meant nothing to you.”

| shook my head. That's not true. You know | wanted that more than anything. | spent years of my life festering with hatred for my father and my brother. But-

“Your brother.” Asher’s sneer seemed more forced this time. “That’s what you're calling him, huh?”

I “It's what he is,” | said as gently as | could. “All of this is f ucked up. You got that right. But he is my brother, and...

| took a breath and figured I'd just better get it all out in the open.

“Lanie is my mate. Our mate,” | added. “Me, Xander, and Zane.”

Asher’s head hung for a few seconds. His shoulders heaved with something that could’ve been laughter or so bs, it was too hard to tell which. When he looked at me, his expression was twisted with emotions |

couldn't determine.

“You have got to be f ucking joking. Right? This is some kind of setup for a prank show or something. Right? C’mon, dude.” His voice stretched into a low, thin whisper. “You can’t be serious.”

“| can’t apologize for finding my mate. For everything else, yeah. But not for that. You know that it’s not something | chose, especially not to hurt you.”

Asher shook his head. “Naw, dude. You made your choices, and you apparently forgot | existed. Okay, so you don’t get to choose your mate, but what about the rest of it? You’ve been back here in Stillwood for how long? And you never once reached out to me. In fact, if my sister hadn’t randomly run into Katie, or Lanie, or whoever the f uck she is, would we even be talking right now?”

“Mason?” Lanie pushed a question at me. “You okay?”

| realized they were all standing far enough away that they couldn’t really hear our conversation. They had to be sensing my distress, though. | didn’t want them to get involved and make it all worse.

“Fine.” Even through the link, my voice sounded sharp and harsh. “I got it. Just give us some space. 1/2 | added that as an afterthought, knowing none of this was Lanie’s fault.

In fact, there was no fault.

“Sh it happens, Asher, | feel like sh it about leaving you hanging, and that’s the truth. It was never my intention. But there's been a lot of stuff going on.”

“Yeah. Sure. Okay.” Asher made a shoving motion at me with his hands, like he was pushing me away without actually touching me. “What the f uck ever. I’m out of here.”

“Don’t walk away from me, man.” The words came out harder than I’d meant them to, but dam n it, | was really f ucking over Asher’s attitude.

You'd think years of friendship wouldn't be wiped out so quickly, but as he turned to leave, | saw the end of our relationship happening right in front of me. And that pis sed me off.

| grabbed for him, and this time, caught him hard enough to spin him around. “You have no f u cking clue about anything, so maybe take a f ucking second and listen to me! Everything I’ve done has been to make sure that everyone | care about-and yeah, you as shole, that includes you-is protected!”

Asher threw off my arm and snarled at me, advancing. We'd tussled in the past, sure, but his wolf was ready to take mine again.

Colt roared in my brain.

“| Don’t Need. Your. Protection!” Asher’s jaws snapped as his teeth lengthened.

“Listen-”

“To what? A bunch of f ucking excuse? That's all you’ve got!” Asher shot at me. “If this is how you you think an Alpha’s supposed to lead, let me tell you something, friend, you're a s hitty f u cking Alpha who d deserve the title.”

The red haze threatened to take me over. | actually felt like the world was sliding away under my fe That’s when a strong hand curled around my shoulder. The fingers squeezed firmly.

Once.

Twice.

| was able to catch my breath.

“Hey, man,” a warm male voice said to Asher, who was staring with wide eyes. “Nice to meet you. I’m Zane.”

And all at once, everything was calm.