Chapter 149: Penny
The world feels like it’s moving in slow motion, the sound of threes and clapping slicing through the cold air
Asher stands there, his shoulder hearing, his chest thing and falling with each raged breath, his fists still reached at his sides. Some clings to hit jacket, his pants, his hair.
And blood
Blood drips from his left sam, a thin, bright red line trailing down his writ, staining the now beneath hitt,
I take a shaky step forward, my boots crunching in the stone. My heart is a drum in my cars, my entire body boczzing with leftover fear
But when Asher uns, when his dark eyes lock onto the group, I see
Pure, unfiltered, murderous rage
The clapping dies down, the whistles fade, the smiles falter.
“What the hell is wrong with you people?” His voice is low, rough, a growl that vibrates through the air, colder and sharper than the wind cutting through
the trees.
People glance at each other, confined, murmuring, someone even let out a nervous laugh,
“You’re all fucking idiots,” he snaps, his eyes flashing. “What part of ‘no food, no going off the path was too hard for you to understand?”
Someone starts to protest, but he cuts them off with a sharp, slashing motion of his hand.
“The rules were clear. No food. No wandering off. Why? He takes a step forward, his boots crunching through the blood–streaked now. “Because there’s wildlife out here. Animals with their young, animals that will rip your throat out if you step too close.”
Silence
I’m frozen, my breath coming in short, shallow parts, my pulse racing.
He turns his sharp, blaxing eyes on the
the branch, the one who screamed and sent the wolf lunging. Her face is pale, her lips trembling
“Honestly,” he says, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous tone, “I should’ve let you die for being this fucking stupid.”
She gasps, her hands flying to her mouth, team pooling in her eyes. Someone beside her mutters something, but she’s not does
“You have no idea what you just did,” he starts, taking another step forward, his boots leaving bloody tracks. “That animal was just protecting its sh. You scared it. You cornered it. You attacked it. And if that wolf is out there now, limping, injured, unable to hunt, unable to protect its young, that’s on you. That’s
́s your fault. Because you can’t pull your head out of your ass long enough to follow a few simple fucking rules.”
Silence.
Tense. Heavy. Unbearable.
I want to mme, to say something, to reach out tahim, but I can’t. My feet are frozen to the ground, my heart still pounding in my chest.
Asher stands there, his chest leaving, his hands curled into tight, trembling fists, blood still dripping from his arm.
Then his eyes find mine.
I don’t know what he sees there–bear, maybe, or relief, or a mix of a thousand emotions that I can’t even masse right now–but his expression softens, just a
fraction.
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Chapter 149: Penny
He takes a step toward me, his boots crunching.
And then, without a word, he pulls me into his arms,
I stumble forward, my face pressing into his chest, his mm wrapping around my back, his other hand coming up to cradle the hack of my head.
1 can feel his heart hunvicting again my clerk, his breaths coming in hot, shaky bursts aplinst my hair. His grip is tight, almost beating. The hơi holding junto me to keep himself from falling apart.
I squeeze my eyes shut, my fingers curling into the back of his jacket, my entire body trembling egna him
“It’s okay,” I whisper, my voice muffled against his chest, “It’s okay. You’re okay.”
He doesn’t answer. Just holds me tighter, his fingers tangling in my hair, his breathe still coming in harsh, uneven gesps,
I don’t know how long we stand there, wrapped up in each other, the cold wind biting at our exposed skin, the group around us silent, tanned,
But eventually, his grip loosens, kis arms relaxing just a fraction, his breaths evening out, his heartbeat slowing beneath my cheek
And when he pulls back, just enough to look down at me, his eyes are softer, his jaw less tense; his lips no longer pulled hack in that harsh, unforgiving Dine.
“Are you okay?” he murmurs, his thumb brushing over my cheek,
I nod, my throat too tight to speak, my eyes too full of tears to look up at him properly
His hand moves to my waist, his fingers squeezing just a little, a silent reassurance, a promise, before he turns to face the other, his eyes still dark, still stormy, but no longer murderous,
“Let’s go,” he says, his voice rough, his eyes flicking to the blood–streaked snow around his boots. “We’re heading back. Now.”
People scramble to obey, the tension snapping, the air crackling with nerves and adrenaline.
But even as we start walking, his hand never leaves my waist, his touch firm and grounding, a silent promise that, no matter what, he’ll always be between me and the danger.
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