Chapter 39

Chapter 39 Jealousy and Mystery

ASHER

“Checkmate!” Kane laughed as he shifted his pawn.

An agitated grumble rose out of me and I sat back on the couch in irritation.

“That’s the third time you’ve lost today,” my stepbrother remarked, much to my annoyance, and then he grinned at me. “So strange, brother. Ever since we began playing years ago, you’ve never lost a single match. Tell me, what’s bothering you?”

I remained silent and did my best to ignore him as I crossed my arms against my chest. It had been a huge mistake to invite Kane to play chess with me, but I’d needed something to distract me from thinking about Ca ssandra Keller. That being said, this experience only added to my frustration.

“Let me take a guess,” Kane continued on, and he rubbed his chin and gave me a mischievous, boy-like expression. “It’s the healer, Ca ssandra, isn’t it?”

I wanted to curse him out at even mentioning her, but I held my tongue and rolled my eyes instead. How dare he pretend to know me?

“Don’t deny it,” my brother prodded, and then he chuckled. “She’s really rather

cute.”

“She’s alright,” I mentioned off-handedly, and I regretted my words immediately. Kane sat forward and leaned on his elbows.

“She’s more than alright,” he replied with a shake of his head. “I can see the lust in your eyes, brother. You want to f**k her, don’t you?”

“Kane!” my voice hardened, and I nearly rose from my seat at his crude remark. He was entirely unbothered, though, and pressed further.

“Well, well,” Kane mused, and then he laughed. “Sorry for my bluntness, but do

you really think you’re hiding it that well? Everyone in Merliscire knows you fancy the woman. Besides, you’re rather obvious about it, Asher. You personally had her promoted to be your private healer, and we all know that you let her stay in your chamber late in the day… every day.”

“In my office,” I corrected him through narrowed eyes.

“What’s the difference?” Kane retorted, and he sat back in his brown leather armchair. “The office, your chamber… either way, Adalyn is sore about it.”

Adalyn?

Sore?

This wasn’t a good thought..

“How do you know?” I pressed, and I tucked my hair behind my ear.

“It’s clear as day, my brother,” Kane replied. “Adalyn is jealous. You can practically smell it in the air when she enters the room. She wants to kill your cute healer. So, I’d advise you to be careful.”

“Adalyn?” I frowned. “No, she wouldn’t dare do something like that. It isn’t like her to be prone to violence.”

“Adalyn may have been a more simple-minded girl in our youth, but she’s changed, Asher,” my stepbrother insisted, and this time, the playfulness in his tone. disappeared. “She knows you don’t want her, not in the way she needs you to. Jealousy has twisted her heart, that much is clear. I understand that you want to think the best of her, but how can you?”

“I don’t believe you,” I said, and a strange expression crossed Kane’s face.

“You haven’t laid a finger on a woman since Cora died, Asher,” he said gently.

The room fell into silence at the mention of Cora’s name. The two of us hadn’t spoken about her in ages. I’d practically outlawed any remarks about my former mate, yet there was something nice about hearing her name aloud.

“Asher, you need to move on,” Kane continued on, and then he sighed. “You can’t live in a memory forever. She’s haunting you and will continue haunting you until you decide to move on.”

I didn’t know what to say. I knew three was some truth to my stepbrother’s words. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I knew Adalyn was prone to jealousy, and I knew that that jealousy had only surged with time. I couldn’t touch her, not when the memories of touching Cora still lingered in my mind. I hadn’t desired a single woman since Cora.

That is until Ca ssandra Keller arrived in Anemond.

But how could I forget Cora? I missed her every day of my life and was reminded of my mistake with every pa*sing moment.

“Alright, it’s been a very long day,” Kane spoke up again, and he rose to his feet. “I’m going to get some rest, but before I do, I have to tell you something about your

healer.”

“Enough about her-” I started to say, but Kane waved me off.

“Please,” he insisted, and when I sighed, he tilted his head slightly. “This is important, Asher. The night you were attacked by the viper… Ca ssandra Keller was quite protective over you. She wouldn’t let any of us come too close to you while she was treating you. It seemed like she was prepared to do anything if it meant

saving you.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound could escape.

Had Cas sandra really been so protective of me? I’d had no idea.

“Thank you,” I managed to say through my frown. “For telling me.”

Kane nodded and then flashed me a slightly playful smile as if he were amused by his own words. It was hard to say if he was simply teasing the issue or if he was being truthful, but that was always the story with Kane.

Once he was gone, I released a sigh and closed my eyes. I was still so tired

from the whole ordeal that it felt nice to relax in the quietness of my chamber.

Not long after, I heard a knock at my door.

“Enter,” I called out, and moments later, Lancel stepped into the room. He’d been on a mission for a while now out in Wild Crawler territory, doing some investigative work for me, and I was both relieved and nervous to see him.

“What took you so long?” I wondered with a raised eyebrow.

“My apologies for the delay, Alpha,” Lancel replied dutifully, and he gave me a small bow of respect. “I would have arrived back in Anemond sooner, but while I was there in Wild Crawler territory, I found something suspicious and had to follow the lead.”

“Suspicious?” I said. “About the fire?”

My most trusted guard nodded. “Yes, Alpha. I spoke with the guard there, the one who first reported the fire to us when we were in Alpha Gareth’s garden. I knew he had more knowledge about that night than anyone else, so I chose to speak with

him first.”

“Proceed,” I said, and I leaned forward. That night had been strange on all counts and I wanted to know more about what had caused Ca ssandra’s house to

catch on fire.

“The guard reported that that night, he’d gone to Ca ssandra Keller’s house to retrieve her things, and when he got there, a man stood in the entryway,” Lancel continued.” The man was wearing some kind of mask that concealed his face.

“What?” I breathed in surprise. This all sounded so strange.

“The masked man was apparently sneaking into the healer’s house, but we don’t know why,” Lancel said. “The healer’s house was a total mess as if the man were searching for something.”

“What happened next?” I demanded as my curiosity grew.

“Apparently, Alpha, the guard went to chase the man, but it was too late,”

Lancel said, and his eyes grew weary. “The man had already set the upper part of

the house ablaze.”

“Great Goddess,” I cursed.

Why would someone break into the house, destroy it, and then set it ablaze?

What was the man searching for? And why was Cas sandra’s house the target?

Was this a random robbery or something more sinister?

“There’s more, Alpha,” Lancel said. “After the guard told me the story, I searched the grounds and found a set of footprints, along with a lingering scent. I followed them all the way to the forest, but then they ended and disappeared once they reached the tree line.”

“Disappeared?” I repeated back and Lancel nodded.

“The tracks ended there and his scent vanished,” he remarked. “Alpha, it’s as if the man just vanished into thin air.”