Asher walked by his lonesome in the woods, not caring where he was or where went. He was too distracted by the conversation he just had to think of anything else.
His eyes burned bright crimson, clearly enraged with himself for his shameful behavior.
“What are you, Asher? A shameful cur?!” He growled.
Transferring his aggression to his fist, Asher punched one of the trees beside hum, instantly sending it flying away.
“How could I let her just-” He said, stiffening himself as he got even angrier.
Roxanne’s face appeared in his head, and suddenly he felt his emotions dissipate in moments.
“It’s no use…” He mumbled.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get upset at her. He was more concerned with the reason she acted that way. He had initially thought it was because of the other guy, but he clearly sensed nothing was going on between them.
“She’s hiding something from me, though… If only I knew…”
It was a shame he couldn’t use [Charm] on Roxanne. It was one of the few limitations to his ability, since he could only induce a person to develop feelings for him. However, since Roxanne already had those feelings, their intensity overruled the effects of [Charm].
“What do I do now?” He gritted his teeth.
Only a few days were left before the final deadline. Asher considered his options, not knowing what to do.
“I know where she’s staying… I could try convincing her again…”
No, that wouldn’t work, and he knew it.
It would only serve to anger Roxanne. He needed something which could make her see reason. At the moment he didn’t know what was going on in her head at all, only her heart.
Only three people came to mind once he thought hard enough, two if he removed Rita. He didn’t want to resort to this, but…
“I’m desperate, I have no other choice!”
It was finally time to see Roxanne’s family once again.
[Moments Later]
Asher stood on the snowy path which led to Roxanne’s grandmother’s abode, and from where he was he could sense something was amiss.
“Something happened here recently… this scent…” He mumbled.
Immediately guessing what could have a cured due to the lingering scent of wolfsbane he sensed, Asher quickened his pace and vanished into the wind.
In no time, he arrived at Linda’s residence. The cottage looked damaged, riddled with bullet holes and several parts of it looked battered. Sniffing the air once more, he caught familiar scents. Linda, Melissa… even Roxanne!
“She was here…?!” Asher muttered in surprise.
He didn’t think she would do that.
He also caught the scent of strange humans, digging deeper and finding gunpowder and wolfsbane particles wafting through the air. Ordinary werewolves would not be able to sense them, and even most Alphas would find it hard to do so.
However, he was Asher!
“Is that… blood?! Judging from this scene, I can only deduce these other men to be ‘Hunters’. They came here… but how did they know?”
Burdened by many questions, he finally caught the scent of one other person, one which he almost missed.
His eyes bulged in shock as he took in what little fragment remained. He was certain that no other werewolf he knew would be able to pick this scent up, as it was masked intentionally.
But, his nose was not so easily fooled. This method, the scent… it could only be one person.
“Mom?! What was she doing here?” The more he sniffed, the more confused he became.
He even smelled Rita, making him perplexed. What the hell was happening?
Fortunately, it seemed Rita, as well as Linda and Melissa were still home. Perhaps they could answer his questions.
Moving hastily, he tried opening the door of the house. Since the door didn’t budge, he instantly removed the lock and made his way inside.
>WHOOOSH<
A sudden figure sped across the room and lunged toward him. His crimson eyes instantly caught the silhouette and he smiled.
"Rita." He whispered.
The woman stopped dead in her tracks, nearly ripping his head off with her sharp nails.
"Asher?! What see you-" Rita exclaimed in surprise.
He shrugged, venturing deeper into the cottage. He glanced around the room, in search for the other two women in the house.
"Hey! Don't ignore me. I could have seriously pierced you just now." Rita yelled at him.
She was going for the kill the instant she felt the presence of an intruder. Who would have expected it to be her brother.
"Please, Rita. We both know you couldn't." He gave a knowing smirk.
Well, he wasn't right. Asher was too fast for her to catch him off guard. Even as she approached him, his eyes followed her every step of the way.
"What are the other two doing?" Asher said, quickly changing the topic.
"They're asleep." Rita said.
"They'll soon be up, though…"
"I see…" He mumbled.
Rita's eyes immediately lit up, remembering what she had wanted to say the moment she found him.
"Where have you been, Asher?! Why did you leave so suddenly?!" She instantly said, raising her voice in that moment.
"Will you be quiet for a second. I'm trying to think…" Asher groaned.
To think Rita was here too. There were so many questions and coincidences which seemed to pile up, almost too conveniently.
It almost seemed like they all converged at a single point, as though the universe orchestrated these events to make things hard for him and Roxanne.
"Tell me what happened here first" He said looking at Rita with a brooding look.
"W-what?" She scoffed.
He owed her an explanation first.
"Just talk, Rita. Once you're done, I'll talk too." He pushed.
Sighing, Rita realized it was better to just let Asher have his way.
"Fine, here's what happened…"
And so she began.