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“It’s okay,” I told him. “It’s okay.”
He knew I didn’t mean what had happened. But for him to feel what he was feeling and let it out. He was safe with me.
One ragged sob broke through, and he dropped his face to my neck again, gathering me in his arms as he rolled us together, and cried.
I felt every bit of it through our bond, and it didn’t frighten me. Somehow I managed to keep my eyes dry and simply hold my Alpha, feeling the beat of his heart. Right now I wished Omegas could purr so I could make him feel the way they did me. Cherished. Precious. Safe.
This was the broken boy I found in a dark studio all those years ago, shattered and grieving. Will was the one whotoldmeto go find him that night, and now he was gone.
How close had they been in the five years we’d been separated? I had no idea. All I knew was that Will had been Asher’s closest friend other than his pack. Other than me. And he just watched him die.
Ash gave me everything.
And when it finally subsided, he didn’t move, still holding me.
“I’m so sorry, Ash.”
One hand slipped into my hair, and he was kissing me again. “I love you, blue. I love you.” His voice broke. “I just need to hold you, okay?”
I fought tears. “I was so scared. When we got there, I—” A single, choked breath. “I thought it was you.”
All his guilt came crashing down between us, along with his own relief, which came with more guilt. “I know,” he said. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t move or think about anything, even to call you back and tell you I was fine.”
The thought which had been lurking beneath the surface rose. “Was it because of me? Did I distract you?”
“No.” His lips brushed my forehead. The way we wrapped around each other there was barely room, and still, he found that tiny space to kiss and comfort me. “No, it wasn’t you, sweetheart.”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
Asher’s body shook, but he finally sighed. “Yes. But with the others. I already know I’m going to have to tell the police, and I don’t know how many times I’ll be able to say it.”
Reaching into my chest, I pulled the others to us. Ash reluctantly pulled back enough to retrieve his sweatpants, and I put my clothes back on before he pulled me back to him, sitting me between his legs where he rested against the headboard. Still holding me.
Jace entered the room cautiously, a sleepy Mango draped over his arm. “You wanted us?”
“Yes.”
He disappeared again, briefly, and Ash tucked his arms around me. Not before I saw something. I grabbed his left hand and lifted it, seeing a new tattoo there. A thin, black band around his fourth finger. Simple and stark, but I knew what it was.
“You tattooed a ring?”
“That was where we went,” he said, turning his hand over. “We got tattoos. His took a little longer than mine.” On the underside of his finger, along the thin black band, was my name in tiny, curling letters.
Fierce possessiveness electrified me. I loved seeing this on him, and knowing the world would look at it and see he was mine. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I love it.”
Knowing Ash, it would be easy for him to fall into the guilt and let it build. Think that him going and riding with Will had been the reason it happened. Or that if they hadn’t gotten tattoos everything would have been okay. But we had no way of knowing that, and I wasn’t going to let him sink into it and regret a beautiful gift like this.
Ash curled himself around me, his mouth brushing his bite. The motion shivered through me. It wasn’t meant to arouse me, though I couldn’t help the longing the touch created. It was him clinging to what bound us together.
The others came in, Jace setting Mango on the bed. He woke up long enough to move over next to Ash and me, curling up against his leg like he knew we both needed it.
Gabriel stood near the door. He was stiff, eyes burning as he watched the two of us. Beneath everything, in his bond, was barely contained rage. At whoever had driven away after killing someone. And pain for all of it.
I grabbed Asher’s hands and pulled them more tightly around me. “Okay.”
“There’s honestly…” he took a breath. “Not much to tell. The ride there was easy. We went, got tattoos, and started the drive. Everything was fine. Then you called, blue. It happened so fast.
“Headlights out of nowhere, coming straight at the two of us. I didn’t have time to think. I just moved. Dumped the bike in the process and just went flying until I stopped. Will, he—” His hands tightened on my waist and I felt him swallow. “He hadn’t been able to get out of the way in time. The car was there on the side of the road, his bike still stuck on the grill. And I didn’t have to move to know it was already too late. He’d gone flying.”
