Defy The Alpha(s) novel Chapter 150

Chapter 150: Betray A Friend

Asher Nightshade must have slipped into the room while they had been asleep, and for a strange, irrational reason, it annoyed Roman that he had waltzed in, uninvited, into a moment that belonged only to him and Violet. He shouldn’t have cared, but damn it, he did.

However, Roman blamed the lingering irritation on the residual effects of his animal transformation. Like every Cardinal Alpha, his powers came with their flaws.

The traits of the animal he morphed into always bled into his human side, influencing his instincts and temperament. He had spent hours as a cat, and cats were territorial by nature which explained why Asher’s uninvited presence in Violet’s room was grating on his last nerve.

Roman sat up, his muscles tense, every inch of him vibrating with the urge to throw the unwelcome guest out of the room. He glared at his so-called friend, keeping his voice low enough not to wake Violet.

"Do you sneak into her room like this every day?"

Asher barely blinked. "I keep watch over her."

"Really?" Roman sneered, unconvinced.

Asher could spin lies like silk, wrap them around anyone he pleased, but not him. Roman knew him. Saw through him. He knew the depths of his darkness, the sickness that resided in his soul.

"Are you judging me right now? You?" He arched a brow. "Are you any better?"

Roman was ready to argue, only to pause. Fair point. He was, after all, currently naked in Violet’s bed after spending hours as a damn cat. But at least when he sneaked into a woman’s room, it was usually by invitation. Most times. kind of.

He frowned as he thought back to certain occasions. Okay, maybe not always. Roman exhaled. It seemed birds of the same feather truly flocked together.

But at least his conquests had never involved this level of obsession.

And Asher was obsessed. Completely, dangerously, beyond reason. And the motherfucker was surely never going to forgive him for what he planned to do tonight.

"She’s not Lucille," Roman pointed out, his voice harder than he intended.

"No, she’s not." Asher’s agreement came smoothly at first, only for him to add, almost reverently, "She’s so much better."

Roman watched as Asher rose to his feet, closing the space between them, his eyes dark with desire as he approached the bed where Violet lay, blissfully unaware of the two wolves hovering over her.

"Look at her," Asher murmured, his voice hushed with an awe that was so dangerously close to worship like one would a goddess. "So beautiful. Strong. Irresistible."

Roman did look. And it was a mistake.

His throat tightened, his tongue suddenly feeling too heavy in his mouth.

Violet was breathtaking, but asleep, she was lethal. His eyes traveled over the soft rising and falling of her chest, the way her hair, black at the roots and fading to purple at the tips, sprawled across the pillow in a wild, untamed wave. To the slight part of her lips, full, inviting, sinful. Those lips would look so damn good wrapped around his—

Fucking hell.

Roman tore his eyes away, swallowing thickly. But when he met Asher’s eyes, that knowing, taunting glint told him he knew exactly where his mind had gone.

That bastard!

He snarled, teeth flashing. "Keep me out of your mess this time, Asher. I want no part in it."

"I’m not pulling any strings," Asher replied smoothly.

Liar. Roman didn’t believe him for a damn second. Even when Asher wasn’t spinning, he was spinning. If you understood what he meant.

"I won’t accept her," Roman told him with a tone of finality.

Asher only shrugged, as if it was all the same to him. "Nor would I be forcing you either. Everything will work itself out. Just like it always does.It’s already happening with the others."

Roman studied him, watching the quiet, calculating intensity in his gaze. Asher always played the long game—watching, waiting, moving his pieces with the patience of a winning side. And tonight, he had plans. Plans that involved Violet, whether she knew it or not.

Plans that he, himself, planned to disrupt.

"Do you have to fight the Alpha king?" Roman asked out of concern for his friend. "Elsie is not so bad. Neither would Elijah take your disobedience lightly."

Elsie was a bitch, and a proud one at that, sure, but she wasn’t the worst option for a mate. However, she was not ’his’ choice. And if there was anything Asher loathed the most, it was others having control over him. And he would rather burn the whole damn world to the ground than let Elijah decide his fate for the rest of his life.

But even Roman knew the answer before Asher even spoke.

"We’ll see," Asher murmured cryptically before kneeling beside the bed. Without hesitation, he brushed his fingers along Violet’s cheek.

Roman’s eyes widened slightly as Violet leaned into him, chasing his touch even in slumber.