-Jasper-
I have to leave the room before I unleash my magic on Finn in front of Alexia. I can't believe I fucking miss it. Even more than that, the fact that he completes his bond with her without telling me or the others. I don't know if I'm pissed that he's the first one to bond with her completely or that he doesn't tell us.
I storm down the hallway, boots echoing against ancient stone, the sconces on the walls rattling as I pass. The air feels too tight, pressing against my skin, magic sparking along my fingertips, begging to be let out. I clench my fists, forcing them down.
Behind me, Soren follows, silent, shadows whispering at the corners of the lantern light like they're just as restless as I am. He doesn't say a word, but I feel the anger radiating from him, sharp and cold, a mirror of my own. I can't look at him. Can't look at anyone right now.
"Guys, wait," Finn's voice comes from behind us, rough and desperate. I don't stop. "Please, let me explain."
My steps falter, but I don't turn around.
Soren scoffs, the sound cold and sharp. "Explain? You mean how you complete your bond with Alexia and don't tell us?"
Finn's boots scuff against the floor as he catches up, but I keep my back to him, jaw tight enough it hurts.
"It's not supposed to happen like that," Finn says, voice low, regret threading through every word. "I don't mean to keep it from you."
"But you do." My voice comes out flat, but even I can hear the crack in it, the betrayal bleeding through.
Silence settles over us, heavy and vibrating, like the air before a lightning strike.
"I love her." Finn's voice breaks for just a moment before he swallows hard. "And she loves me. That night, before the Council arrives, it just… feels right. She chooses me."
The words hit harder than they should, sharp and hot in the center of my chest. My magic pulses again, cracking through the hallway lights so they flicker overhead.
"And you choose to keep it from us." My voice is low, dangerous.
Finn's fists clench at his sides. "I don't keep it from you to hurt you. I just—" He drags a hand through his hair, eyes pained. "I don't know how to tell you."
"Funny," I bite out, turning to face him, "for someone who's supposed to be the steady one, the 'responsible' one, you're shit at being honest."
Finn's eyes flash gold, his wolf pushing just beneath the surface. "Don't, Jasper."
"Don't what?" I step closer, closing the space between us, my magic buzzing against his aura. "Don't call you out for lying to us? For acting like it's no big deal?"
"It is a big deal!" Finn snaps, voice rising before he pulls it back, his jaw tightening. "I know it is. Do you think I don't know what this means? Do you think I don't know how you feel about her?"
My breath catches, anger sparking again because it's true, and he knows it.
Soren steps forward, his presence a cold anchor. "Stop," he says, voice low, shadows pooling around his boots. "Both of you."
Finn's eyes cut to Soren, then back to me, his chest heaving. "I don't want to keep it from you. It just… happens. She chooses me, and I choose her. I think we'll have time to talk about it, to figure it out together, but then the Council comes, and everything is chaos."
I stare at him, chest burning, the words twisting inside me. "You should tell us."
"I know." Finn's voice cracks again, softer this time, regret plain in his eyes. "I know. I'm sorry."
Soren lets out a slow breath, tension easing from his shoulders, though his eyes stay sharp. "Don't do it again."
Finn nods, shoulders slumping, the fight draining from him. "I won't."
The air seems to settle, the magic in the hallway easing as I let out a breath I don't realize I'm holding. I scrub a hand over my face, the anger still there but dulled, replaced by something heavy and tired.
"She loves you," I say quietly, the words tasting like ash. "I get that. But next time, we're in this together. All of us."
Finn's eyes soften, a small, tired smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Deal."
Soren claps a hand on Finn's shoulder, brief but solid. "Good."
I roll my eyes, but a reluctant smirk tugs at my lips. "I'm still pissed at you."
Finn lets out a breathy laugh, the tension breaking for a moment, warmth returning to his eyes. We start to walk again, turning the corner toward the hallway leading to our dorms, the weight between us lighter but not gone. That's when we see him.
Asher stands at the end of the hall, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, his wolf's eyes glinting in the lantern light. His face is calm, too calm, his body still in a way that's more dangerous than any rage. Asher's eyes glow, flickering from storm gray to a molten gold that isn't entirely human, isn't fully wolf—something older and wilder clawing just beneath the surface.
The air tightens around us, tasting of ozone and rain, the lanterns along the hall rattling as his magic spikes, bleeding into the stones under our boots. Shadows flee from him, as if they don't want to be near.
"Asher—" Finn tries, stepping forward, hands up.
"How long," Asher repeats, voice lower now, vibrating in the air, layered with a rasp that isn't quite his. "How long have you been bonded with our mate while I stand here, pretending not to feel it?"
A low growl rolls out of him, the sound echoing down the empty hall, making the hairs on my arms rise. I feel Soren tense beside me, shadows flaring out like shields, ready but cautious.
"It happens before the Council comes," Finn says, standing his ground, his voice steady even as his eyes flicker gold in warning. "Before everything goes to hell."
"You don't tell me," Asher snarls, stepping closer, his claws slipping from his fingertips with a wet crackle, tips brushing against his palms as he clenches his fists. His jaw snaps, teeth lengthening just enough to catch the lantern light.
"It's not like that," Finn says, his voice sharp. "She chooses me. I choose her. You've been fighting the bond—"
A roar tears out of Asher's throat, primal and ragged, the sound vibrating in my bones.
"I KNOW!" he yells, the word cracking the air. "I know, and it doesn't matter. I feel her every time she's near. I feel it when she laughs, when she cries, when she looks at you. You think I don't know? You think I don't feel how she should be ours?"
His eyes lock on Finn, a storm in them, but beneath it, something raw and shattered, so much sadness it hurts to look at.
"You think I don't want to claim her?" Asher's voice drops to a rasp, the wolf bleeding through, twisting his words into something more profound. "You think I don't want to hold her, to have her, the way you do? But I won't take what she doesn't offer."
Finn's jaw works, his gold eyes bright, but he doesn't look away. "She will choose you, Asher. All of us. You know that."
Asher's lip curls, claws flexing. "You don't get it. I'm not like you, Finn. I can't be gentle. I can't give her the softness you can. I can only give her this." He gestures to himself, to the claws, the fangs, the power shaking the air around him. "And you go and take the first piece of her, without letting me say goodbye to who I am before I let this happen."
The words hit, sharp, and for a moment, none of us moves.
"Enough," Soren says, stepping between them, shadows wrapping around his hands, cold and firm. "Asher, you need to stand down."
"Don't," Asher snarls, baring his fangs at Soren. "Don't you dare get between me and this."
I move in, pressing a hand against Asher's chest, feeling the electric hum of his magic, the wolf snarling beneath his skin. "You're going to regret this if you hurt him."
Asher's chest heaves, eyes flicking to me, wild and wet, the wolf's anger cracking under the weight of what's beneath it.
"She's ours," Asher whispers, the words so quiet I almost don't hear them, before the wolf snaps, "But you let him take her first."
His claws scrape against the stone as he turns away, shoving past me and Soren, the storm of his aura lashing out, snapping the lantern nearest him with a pop of glass.
"Don't follow me," he growls, his voice layered with the wolf's.
And then he's gone, storming down the hallway, boots hitting the stone in a ragged rhythm, shadows bending around him, the air shaking with each step until he turns the corner and disappears. Silence falls, broken only by the hiss of the broken lantern, the faint smell of ozone clinging to the corridor.
Finn's shoulders slump, and he presses a hand to his face. "Shit."
Soren lets out a long, tired breath, his shadows pulling back into himself. "That could have gone worse."
I let out a humorless laugh, running a hand through my hair. "You think so? Because I think we just shatter whatever peace we have left."
We stand there, three idiots in a flickering hallway, with a mate we all love, and a storm we can no longer outrun. And somewhere down that hallway, the wolf is waiting.