Captive Mate BL-Chapter 610: - - -

Asher woke up to Caspian clinging to him, it put him in a good mood, reluctantly pulling away.

There was a spring in his steps as he got ready for the day, feeling lighter and energetic. He got dressed in no time, pulling on a voluminous fur coat as he leaned over to kiss his mate’s lips.

Caspian’s eyes fluttered open at the familiar sensation, staring blankly at Asher for a few seconds.

"Hey, baby. Go back to sleep." He spoke softly, caressing his sleepy face.

"Asher?" Caspian finally found his voice, it was raspy with sleep, his hand lifting to keep the Alpha’s hand on his face.

"Yeah?" Asher indulged him, even though he knew that if he lingered any longer, he would keep Jael waiting.

"Are you alright?" Caspian remembered to ask despite sleep muddying up his thoughts.

"Always," He replied, taking a step back. "Get some sleep, babe."

Caspian lifted the covers higher on his cheeks, his drooping eyes peeking out. "I’ll bring you lunch."

Asher didn’t reply to that, knowing that if he kept their conversation going, Caspian would only get more lucid, slipping out of the room silently when he could hear his Omega’s deep breathing.

He ran into Jael in the hallway, both of them freezing up in surprise. Asher was the first to break out of it, looking bashful.

"Did I keep you waiting?"

That only increased Jael’s confusion, he had been on his way to check up on Asher, not at all expecting to run into his Mafia King all dressed up for the day.

"You’re up?" He spoke hesitantly, even though it was obvious.

Now Asher noticed the oddity, "Yeah? What’s going on?"

Jael looked him over like he could figure out the internal workings of the Alpha by simply staring. "You don’t remember yesterday?"

Asher frowned, thinking hard, the more he thought, the graver his expression became. He didn’t remember coming home to his mate the night before, nor did he remember getting into bed with him.

And thinking back even further wasn’t very helpful, it was like a black hole had absorbed all his memories. He could only really remember leaving with Jael.

"What did I do yesterday?" Asher asked with a somber expression.

Jael looked away to hide the devastation in his eyes at the resignation in Asher’s tone, walking over to place an arm around his shoulder. "Nothing bad," He kept his tone light, leading them down the hallway as he gave Asher a rundown of what had gone down.

It seemed to trigger the Alpha’s memories because he had his head in his hands when he got in the back seat. "Why didn’t you whack me upside the head?"

Jael chuckled, popping open a pack of mints. "I would have if you had gone crazy on Caspian."

Asher lifted his head to show gleaming eyes. "If I do while in that state, I want you to shoot me down without hesitation."

Jael kept his eyes on the road, keeping to himself the possibility that bullets might not be enough to stop him. Asher was the only one who could protect Caspian from himself.

"Do you remember how you felt?" He changed the topic.

Asher thought over it, "Nothing in particular, just an urgency, like there was something I needed to do."

Jael took his response in stride, "Gage has gone AWOL."

There was a flash of concern in Asher’s eyes before he looked away, "Are you going to look for him?"

Jael had planned to go in a week or two if he hadn’t heard from Gage, but now that Asher was perfectly fine, he considered bringing it a bit closer. "In a few days."

Asher didn’t like to think about his dad, he didn’t like that the longer he stayed mated to Caspian, the more he found himself understanding him. He lucked out too, Caspian wanted to and fought to stay by his side; his mom, on the other hand, had wanted nothing to do with Gage.

"The High Council’s got their eye on my territory," Asher was the one to change the conversation now.

He didn’t feel any different; if Jael hadn’t prodded his memory, he would have gone a good long while without remembering the contents of the day before, not realizing that something had gone wrong.

"The gang attack was a feeler," Jael muttered, pulling into the parking lot of the club. "They know now that all three Mafia Kings are working together..." He shot Asher a look through the rearview mirror, "Amongst other things."

Asher was still self-conscious about how he had acted out, so he avoided Jael’s stare. "What? Because I’m good at throwing thugs around, you think they would want to recruit me?" He joked to lighten the air.

Jael wasn’t upset, he only felt relief, relief, and a growing dread. Asher was an unpredictable danger, it was like walking around with a ticking time bomb strapped to their back. And he was still no closer to uncovering any useful information.

"Let’s hope that would be enough to keep them off the turf for a while." He said quietly.

The car had long stopped, but Asher didn’t get out of the car, worry in his eyes as he looked at Jael. The Beta was just as important to him as his mate, Knights didn’t have siblings, so Jael meant so much to him.

So even though he would rather have it any other way, he tried to be understanding when Jael retreated into himself when he had problems, even though the Beta would bleed himself out without a second thought just for his sake.

"Maybe you could go check up on Gage today," He suggested hesitantly, "And maybe hang out with him for a few days."

Jael had already been going through a mental schedule on what he needed to do for the day, so he had been distracted, Asher’s words stunning him. "Wait- What?"

Asher ruffled his dark-red hair, making the unruly locks wilder. "Yeah, and let me know if he’s alive or something." He added gruffly.

Jael’s tired eyes had some brightness to them at Asher’s words, "Sure, but I’ll head out tomorrow. Need to keep an eye on you." He tagged on, stepping out of the car.

Asher wanted to turn him down, but he knew that Jael keeping an eye on him was the only way he could do the same for Jael, so he relented. It looked like his second-in-command hadn’t slept a wink all night, he would try to be on his best behaviour all day, anything to ease his worries.

He got out of the car as well, walking behind Jael, staring at his familiar back, lost in thought.

"Keep that up and you’ll burn a hole through my clothes." Jael muttered, slowing to a stop right at the entrance to the club.

Asher hadn’t been paying attention, so he smacked right into him, getting the wind knocked out of him. "Fuck," He cursed, cupping his lip that he had nearly split on Jael’s hardass head.

"Try looking where you’re going this time," Jael tossed at him, walking off to go around the club.

Asher took his advice, paying attention to where he was going. If he noticed his men giving him a wide berth, he said nothing about it.

Only when he sat behind his desk did he let his thoughts wander, thinking of his actions of the day before. His memories were a sea of red, one that was clogged with torn limbs and bloody guts.

He had to imagine that his men had to be the ones to clean up after him, it explained the scent of fear he smelled as he walked into his club.

Asher leaned back in his chair, unseeing eyes staring at the ceiling. Jael had treated him the same, Caspian as well, even though there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t turn on them.

His sweet mate had even asked to bring him lunch...

Asher straightened back up and got started on the files he needed to go through, hoping to distract himself with them. He hadn’t even properly gotten started when Jael was wandering over to his side, the Beta’s dark eyes holding his worry.

"Want to keep me company?" Asher lightly teased, he didn’t look up from his laptop screen, he didn’t want Jael to see the unease in his eyes.

Maybe this was the true reason why Knights didn’t take mates, maybe this was just the beginning, and it was only a matter of time before he completely lost his reasoning and became what his men saw him as... a monster.

Jael sat across from him and propped up his feet on his desk. "Your company is boring, no snacks." He complained dryly.

Asher looked up with a smile, "We’ve got all kinds of snacks," He held out his arms magnanimously, "I’ll even have the men bring in the good scotch."

Jael’s response was to pop more mints, leaning back even further on his chair. "Hard pass, the kitchen packed up something delicious for breakfast, I’m not about to ruin my palate."

Asher’s smile didn’t fade even as he refocused on his screen, getting started on the day’s work with Jael keeping him company despite his words.