His Mate: Prince Asher

Eighty

Asher stared at Naomi's hand and then looked at her. Her eyes looked convincing but even though she was right in front of him, he couldn't feel her, making it impossible to believe that she was really there. He looked down, telling himself that he was being deceived and not to believe whatever the lookalike said to him.

Naomi smiled and nodded softly. "I see, you don't believe me. It only makes sense, after all, you have your fated mates, of course the chosen one cannot be believed."

"Don't say that!" Asher's voice was strong and intimidating. "Don't say that or I will burn you alive right here."

"Really? Will you tell that to them? Will you threaten to burn them alive?" she asked as tears welled up in her eyes. "You never came to me from that night on. I never saw you again. I cried for you that night but you never came. I wished for you, longed for you and even though we were in the same house, you never came. Then I was kidnapped, I prayed for you to come, even if just to save me, you never did. And now you are threatening to burn me alive. Go ahead, Asher, burn me, wipe me off. Go ahead, I know I don't matter to you. I mean, I am just a poor human girl, I can never compete with them, I can never compete for your love, so go ahead. Go ahead, Asher, burn me."

"I didn't go to you that night because I was scared." His head was lowered as he spoke. "I couldn't understand what was happening. Everyone said you were my mate and I started believing them only to find out that...that I have two mates and you were not one of them. I-I wasn't really at home that night, I was running laps in the woods, trying to clear my head."

Naomi scoffed, "don't lie to me."

Asher looked up instantly, "I may have done many things to you, Naomi, but I have never lied to you. I may not answer, but I will never lie."

Naomi knew he was telling the truth the moment she looked into his eyes. Back to when they were still in the human realm and attending school, he would rather not answer her question or try to compel her to forget it but he has never lied, never. "Stella and Maya told me you were with them that night. They told me all sort of things, how you mocked me calling for you while making love to them."

"What?" Asher's eyes widened in shock. "Such a thing never happened."

"They told me, they laughed at me, made a fool out of me. Didn't you read my letter to you?"

At that, Asher closed his eyes. "I have never opened that note, I feared what you might have said to me and how it could be your final goodbye. I didn't want to lose the last part I have of you. I didn't go to you that night, Naomi, likewise them. I have never spent a time with them, I have never even kissed them, not even a peck."

"What? But they are your mates!"

"You are my mate, chosen or not."

"Asher..."

"I didn't go to you that night, true, but I came to you the next day."

Naomi looked at him in shock.

Asher smiled sadly. "You were passed out in the living room, right in front of the door. I felt you crying for me, I didn't want to answer but when I couldn't hear you anymore, I feared something might have happened and I came rushing. You were asleep, we talked though. You asked me if I can reject them for you. You asked me if I loved you. I couldn't answer your questions, because I didn't know the answers to them myself. I could only apologize to you, telling you how sorry I was for putting you in such situation. Then I had felt the ghouls and went rushing to the scene. I almost lost myself that day but you saved me, Naomi. I don't know how you did it but you were there, you appeared out of nowhere and you stopped me from losing control."

Naomi could remember everything as he spoke of them and the tears ran down her cheeks.

"I was able to teleport out of there because of you. When I opened my eyes, I was in my palace and then I felt you again, you were calling for me, you were in trouble. And I answered, Naomi. I went to your house but you weren't there and I smelt the rogues so I tracked them to their pack."

As he said those words, Naomi remembered that right after her aunt opened a portal, she had heard a commotion. It was him. "You came!" she stated with a smile, feeling an internal relief instantly.

"I did, Naomi. I was fighting my way to you but then all of a sudden, you were gone. I couldn't sense you, I couldn't feel you. It was almost like you were nowhere in the world."

"That was the time she poured the saliva on me," she murmured, remembering the feeling of lost she felt too.

"I didn't abandon you, Naomi. I lost myself that day, I attacked the rogues and followed them to the high alpha's back where..." he closed his eyes with a sniffle, "where I almost killed Anita's mate."

"Anita's mate?"

Asher nodded. "Gideon. Gideon from school, he is Anita's mate. I had disobeyed the Alpha's king command and was punished for seven days. When I was released, I was taken to my father's palace but I fell asleep. I fell into a deep sleep. Then I saw you," he smiled at her, "you were in a beautiful meadow. I went to you, we stayed there for days, just the two of us, living like nothing else matters, loving each other. But they came, they tore you to pieces, they fed on you and the Nightwalkers only stood and watched. That's why they have to pay, that's why I have to kill them all."

"But I'm here, Asher," Naomi smiled. "I wasn't killed. Now, I believe we both got dream trapped on the same day."

"Dream trapped?"

Naomi nodded. "Yes, dream trapped. I had a similar experience. I saw you, in a beautiful meadow. We were together, just the two of us. But I wasn't killed, Asher, you just lost control and started attacking everyone. The wolves, the demons, the vampires, everyone. That was what forced me to wake up, I knew I had to stop you. So you see, she manipulated you, Asher. Aspa. She is the one doing all these, she made them kill your dream version of me to trigger you. To use you. She is using you Asher, she is making you kill everyone, the people that loved you, the people that raised you. Your father, your mother, your grandparents. All the people you love. Anita, her people, her family. She is wiping everyone away using you. That is why you have to take back control, Asher, you have to stop her."

"But I...I'm not strong enough. I have run away from her my whole life, I can't beat her."

"Yes, you can," Naomi encouraged and crawled up to him. She cupped his face and looked deep into his eyes. "You can Asher. This is your body, you are the owner, you are the master. They serve you." He glanced around at her words. "Whether the darkness likes it or not, it serves you. You are the master. That day you saved me from the very first ghoul, it spoke to me, it told me its name was darkness, and as long as you are afraid of it, it would rule over you. So, you have to take control, Asher, you have to bend it to your own will. As long as it lives inside you, it has to obey you." Naomi said but then she gasped and fell.

"Naomi!"

She panted and tried to get up, "It's weak, I don't have much time here. Asher," she looked up at him, "I can't stay here with you."

"No, Naomi, don't leave again."

"I can't stay. You have to come out Asher. Protect your people, protect the people you love."

"I want to protect you. I used to be afraid that I might not be able to do that, but I want to do it now."

Naomi smiled. "Then protect me, Asher. But you have to do it out there, not in here. Please Asher," she pleaded as she slowly vanished from his sight.

"NO!!" Asher screamed, staring at the spot she once was in shock. He tried to move but only realized that he was chained. "No!" he cried, "No, Naomi, no." he panted heavily and glanced at the chain that bound him to the tree and remembering Naomi's words, he screamed. He screamed so loud that the chain shattered like a frozen glass. With him being free, his wolf and beast forms were too. "Naomi," he whispered with his eyes closed, "I'm coming."

His eyes opened but they were burning a bright red, he forced himself to his feet. A shadowy form rushed to him to attack but he grabbed it on the neck and looked deeply into its hollow eyes. "I AM YOUR MASTER!"