IMPORTANT; Please read author's note at the end. There are some important things I want to discuss.

Also, as I was writing this chapter, I had a thought; I kind of want to change Asher's last name- your thoughts?

This chapter is dedicated to the lovely midnight_tacos. Thank you so much for compiling the list of potential Asher actors! It was so sweet of you to do that for me, and I really do appreciate it!♥

♦ 5. Well Hello There, Mr. Alpha ♦

|Rosalie Burns|

Unknown Date
Unknown Time

As I slowly slipped back into the conscious world, the first thing I was able to register was the cold seeping through my clothes; from my head down to my toes all I could feel was the less than comfortable sensation. I knew that I was fading in and out of consciousness, but I could still feel my limbs shaking as I tried to curl into myself. There was a slight tinkling sound as I shifted and that's when I felt the unmistakable sensation of metal digging into my wrists and ankles; most likely handcuffs. I let out a soft groan, and that's when my eyes decided they were ready to open.

Darkness; as my eyes adjusted to the room, all I could register was he darkness. Clearly I was in a windowless room, I shifted slightly on the cold ground, and it was probably made of all concrete if I judged the texture of the floor properly. A painful moan escaped my lips as I tried to sit up and a painful throbbing began forming at the back of my head and up the length of my left arm. I tried to force my legs apart so I could move easier, but that proved to be a bad idea as a painful grunt escaped my lips. I sighed and closed my eyes again, allowing myself to lie on the cold floor as I thought of a way to get myself to a sitting position.

It took a couple minutes, a couple of painful minutes, but eventually I was able to get myself up in a sitting position. Slowly, I began sliding myself sideways to see how big the room was. It didn't take too long until I hit wall, but I was expecting that. This was probably one of the holding chambers for the wolves who went out of control. I remember my dad talking about the small concrete cells that were in the deepest areas of the werewolves' holding facility. They kept the insane and most malevolent wolves in here; the ones who had no hope of returning to normal.

Well, don't I feel special.

I rested my head back against the wall and tried to listen to any sounds around me. The only thing I could hear was the occasional rustle of clothing when I moved and the slight shuffle of my feet. Other than that, the room was thrust in a deadly silence. I closed my eyes and tried to think of anything but the room I was in. I tried to ignore the tightening feeling of fear in my stomach, the bitter stench of blood, the intense pounding of my heart, the lightheaded feeling increasing in my head, the fear of... never seeing... Jake, or... anyone else...

Oh Jake...

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

"I'm sorry, but we have explicit orders not to let anyone into the hunter's cell."

"Alpha Valentine-"

"Does it look like I give a rat's ass about your orders? As sister to the alpha of the Lunar Eclipse pack, I order the both of you to move the fūck out of the way! If my brother wants to get mad it then fine, I don't really care, I'm going into that cell whether he likes it or not!"

"...Yes, we apologize Lady Lena."

"It's fine, just open the door now."

♦Click♦ ♦Click♦

Voices... who were those voices? I had no idea, but the three of them were beginning to wake me up. Behind my closed eyes there was a sudden flash of light as I heard the large metal door begin to open. My eyes cracked open slightly and through the small crevice I could make out three figures. My brain was much too muddled and exhausted to fully understand what was happening.

"Oh my Goddess! What the hell have you guys been doing to her? She may be a hunter, but she's still human!"

That voice; it was female. I could tell by the melodious feminine octave it took. The female sounded concerned I think, but why? There was a slight shuffling and suddenly I felt a warm presence kneeling in front of me. It took everything in me not to latch onto her warmth like a crazy person.

"It's a good thing I decided to bring the medical bag down with me," the female muttered. She sounded annoyed, yet slightly relieved. "Geez, they couldn't have placed you on the bed? I'm going to have to have chat with Asher about how he treats humans."

I tried opening my eyes a little more, but immediately had to squeeze them shut from the intense bright light. I felt small lithe arms wrap around mt waist and under my legs, a small groan left my lips as I was carried off the floor and onto a bed I didn't know was there. Of course it wasn't a very good bed; the mattress felt uncomfortable and hard. It was kind of like the ones a university provided for their dorms. The kind you wanted to replace immediately so you could save your back from dying all year long, but I suppose that was to be expected considering this was a jail.

There was a hand placed on my forehead. "Do either of you know if she was sedated?"

"...Yes, I think so. The pack doctor administered quite the dosage if I recall correctly."

The female sighed, "Wonderful," she grumbled sarcastically. I kind of wanted to smile at that.

There was then a slight brush of latex against my arm and a sudden pricking pressure near my shoulder that caused me to wince in pain. "Ah I'm really sorry about this..." the owner of the voice murmured. I tried to open my mouth to ask her what she was doing, but my jaw seemed to want to ignore my brain for the time being. My eyes stayed shut as I finally felt the needle; I wanted to shift my body since the feeling had become a little more than uncomfortable, but I was afraid of jostling the needle and making it poke a place it shouldn't be in. There was a few more silent moments until I felt it finally leave my skin. It seemed as though the effects of whatever she injected me with was trying to work against the sedatives. I could feel the fog that had clouded over my mind begin to disperse as the female talked me through what she needed to do on me.

"...bandage your arm, and then I will need to clean up your leg, possibly bandage it, and take a look at your back..." Why was this female being so kind to me? When my eyesight was steady, the first thing I noticed was her piercing golden eyes that seemed to be riled up with some sort of determination. The next thing I noticed was the way her lips were curved upward.

As I blinked quickly to make sure I wasn't imagining things; she was smiling at me. "Who are you?" I croaked; the words came out slightly cracked and broken from how dry my throat was.

The girl jumped slightly and reached for something beside her; a water bottle. "Here have a sip of this," she offered. Even though she was being kind to me, and I had no reason not to distrust her, I still looked at the water with wary eyes. The female seemed to understand my doubt and quickly placed the bottle to her lips, taking a rather large gulp of water before dramatically swallowing it. She then extended the bottle toward me. I only continued to stare at the young woman before slowly raising my chained hands toward the bottle. It was a little struggle, but I was able to manage and drank more than half the bottle.

"Thank you," I murmured and handed the bottle back. The girl nodded and recapped the half empty bottle. "Who are you?" I managed to say much stronger this time.

Her golden eyes seemed to light up in slight surprise, "Oh that's right, I have yet to introduce myself! My name's Lena, it's nice to meet you..." she trailed off slightly.

Despite my situation, I managed a small smile and coughed out, "Rosalie." I cleared my throat once more, wincing slightly as it was beginning to dry again. Lena offered the bottle toward me once more and I graciously took it. This time, I left it in my hands "I don't mean to sound rude, but why are you helping me?" the blunt tone was slightly foreign to my lips, but at the moment I couldn't help it.

Lena blinked at me in surprise; the two of us just staring at one another in wonder, a moment later a soft look took over her features, "You saved my life, I should do the same," she told me.

"You're the she-wolf that Cole tried to kill," I breathed. Holy crap; I saved the alpha's sister!

Lena nodded her head; she pushed her dark brown hair back from her neck and revealed a small patched Band-Aid over the place where my needle pierced her. I hope she listened to me and applied the proper amount of-

SHIT!

My attention immediately was brought over to my left arm as a burning sensation began creeping up the appendage. My eyed widened at the large canine bite that trailed from the top of my shoulder down to the edge of my elbow. How had I not noticed this before? I cried out slightly as I tried to move my arm; the pain seemed to hit me all at once. Though, I was glad to see the bite wasn't bleeding, I did suspect that there was some slight infection. My arm was red, with a slight swell happening near the center of the bite as well as some inflammation.

"Ah crap! I'm sorry! We took too long, the numbing agent I gave you earlier must have worn off, and since it also wore the sedatives out, the pain must be excruciating by now!" Lena frantically exclaimed. Ah, so that's why I didn't feel the pain earlier. I bit my lip to try and muffle my sounds of protest as Lena lightly grasped my injured arm in her hands.

"I'm going to have to clean it out, it's a bit infected, but nothing a little salve and bandages can't fix," Lena informed me. I blinked back tears and did my best to keep the pain I was feeling from showing too much as I nodded my head in agreement.

"Just do it as fast as you can, please," I muttered.

Lena nodded her head and quickly got to work. We were mostly silent as the dark haired female worked on my arm. I winced as I felt her sterilize and clean the area; the alcohol was not a pleasant thing to have on an open wound. Plus, watching as the thick white liquid oozed from my arm was less than appetizing, but I almost moaned in relief when she applied the cold salve to my wound. Lena's hands moved quickly as she took a fresh set of white bandages and wrapped them around my arm. In no time the female had finished dressing my wounds and had moved onto evaluating the rest of me. There was a slight cut on my leg (probaby from a branch or something), nothing too bad. It took Lena literlly seconds to quickly clean it out and apply a bandage to it as well.

"I don't see any more injuries..." Lena trailed, her bright eyes then scanned over every exposed piece of skin. She then proceeded to lean over me and checked the back of my head before turning me around to check my spine. When she deduced I was fine, well as fine as someone in my situation could be, she let out a satisfied sound and accompanying smile.

"Thank you," I blurted out. Lena looked at me in surprise and I felt my cheeks colour slightly, "Thank you, really, you didn't have to do this," I said. "You're probably going to get in trouble with your alpha," I told her.

Lena laughed and waved her hand, as though she were dismissing the thought, "My brother may be angry at first, but he can never stay angry at his baby sister," she told me. The young girl slowly began packing the medical kit back up. There was a soft smile on her features and I that told me she was very fond of her big brother. I was slightly surprised when her eyes flickered to me, the smile never leaving as she said, "Besides, he was the one who taught me the value in helping others- especially when they've already helped me."

I could only stare at her in mild shock; this kind girl... she was supposed to be my enemy?

Lena began speaking animatedly, "Well, you must be starving by now! I could probably get you something to eat..."

The door to the cell suddenly burst open and my heart almost burst out of my chest at the surprise, the guards on duty in front of my cell. A man with bright blonde hair and striking blue eyes entered the cell, his cheeks were flushed red and his eyes were slightly wide in fear. Beside him, another male with chestnut coloured hair and chocolate coloured eyes seemed to be in the same state as he burst in seconds later.

"Milady! We should warn you-"

"The Alpha he-"

"LENA AMELIA VALENTINE!!!"

My eyes widened as an insanely loud growl followed the bellowed name. I turned toward the girl in question and saw she had suddenly gone pale. "Oh shit," she cursed, hastily stuffing the rest of her belongings into the bag. "I didn't think he would actually come down here!" she exclaimed. I felt a shiver run down my back at the thought of the alpha coming down here.

"You two, distract him while I finish cleaning up!" Lena ordered the two men. They nodded their heads and gave a short bow before hastily leaving the cell.

Lena hastily stood from the makeshift bed, "I'm sorry, I will make sure you get some food and water, but I have to cut my brother off before he gets here," she explained. I tried to protest as she began closing the door behind her, "I'll be back later!" she exclaimed and once again I was thrust into silence.

Well, almost anyway. This time, they left the light on, and I could hear the argument that seemed to be coming from a place a little too close for comfort.

"What the hell do you think you're doing down here?"

That must have been her brother; the alpha. He sounded every bit like an Alpha should; strong, dominant, and powerful. The power that was ringing through the air was almost suffocating.

"I'm helping out a friend."

I was surprised at how calmly Lena was able to answer, her tone was soft, and it was obvious she cared for her... friend. A light bulb went off in my head, Friend; she meant me. A small smile threatened to tug on my lips at the thought of having a friend in this place. Of course I knew that I shouldn't trust Lena so easily, but despite my background, I am human. Humans crave social interaction and I couldn't help it if-

"Friend? What the hell do you mean by 'friend'? Unless Logan somehow landed guard duty on top of all his other responsibilities, you should have no 'friends' down here!"

I winced slightly at the reprimanding tone he used on Lena. He sounded mean and his tone was harsh, if it had been anyone else, I was sure they would be cowering in fear.

"Geez big brother, there's no need to yell. I was just helping out the woman who saved my life, in case you have forgotten."

"I have not forgotten little sister, but it seems as though you have. This girl is a hunter, one from the Burn's clan- Goddammit! I can't focus on this conversation with this damn intoxicating smell!"

I blinked in surprise; well that conversation took a strange turn.

"What the hell are you going on about Asher? There is nothing intoxicating down here; it smells like dirt, stinky feet, and maybe a hint of wet dog."

I chuckled at that; Lena really didn't know when to quit, did she?

"I don't need your smart mouth right now Lena."

That was definitely growled out; it made me squirm slightly on the bed in discomfort.

"All right, I'm sorry, calm down big brother. What do you smell?"

"You seriously can't smell that? Did any of you bring flowers down here? I swear to the Moon Goddess I can smell cherry blossoms and peaches; the scent is overriding my senses!"

I will admit that I did a quick scent pick up of my own, but I had to agree with Lena. The only thing I could smell was the obvious scent of someone who hasn't showered in a year, mould, and even a little bit of wet dog. The combination of all the smells were less than pleasing, so either the Alpha was going crazy, or maybe they had a prisoner down here who managed to smuggle some perfume down? I knew it couldn't have been me, I was wearing scent supressing clothing and had doused myself in the stuff before leaving the base.

"Wait a second- Lena come over here."

"Ew! Asher, I know we're close and all, but you're a little too close-"

"Why do you smell like it? You have the scent all over your hands and clothes? Just where the hell have you been?"

"Did you just have a lapse in memory or something? You just came down here to yell at me for helping the hunter out! Obviously, I was with her!"

There seemed to be a brief moment of silence between the squabbling siblings, in that time my brain was rapidly trying to figure out what could have been making the Alpha act like this. I was trying to think back to my readings; recalling the countless amounts of werewolf characteristics and behaviours that had been ingrained in my brain since childhood.

In August of 1864, Mr. Eli Burns was able to uncover more about the strange concept known as 'mates' from the lycans. Each creature has its own destined partner; the one person they will spend the rest of their lives with. Eli had been walking through the cells with a fellow researcher by the same of Miss. Alicia Wishart. It was when Miss. Wishart walked by one of the rogue cells, did Eli really understand the importance of 'mates'. All that had previously been known was how the werewolf needed to look deep into his beloved's eyes in order to recognize her/him. Eli found that it was not only the eyes that had been important, but also the initial scent. When Miss Wishart-

"Where is this hunter? Bring me to her."

My train of thought instantly snapped when I heard the Alpha's demanding tone. Oh no, no, please, no. Who knows what he would do to me? I would rather die than give into any torture methods and reveal any of my clan's secrets.

"No! You're going to hurt her!"

You tell him Lena!

"Lena, I swear to you and the Moon Goddess that I will not hurt this woman; just bring me to her."

The Alpha chuckled, no really, he did. I didn't want to admit it, but it was probably one of the sexiest things I had ever heard in my life. Immediately I felt disgusted with myself as the thought went in one ear and out the other; sexy? What the hell had Lena doped me up on?

"...Wow Asher, how the hell do you manage to make a laugh look serious? But... okay, as long as you won't hurt her..."

There was some quiet talking I couldn't make out, before the echoing of footsteps became the most prominent sound. Immediately I felt my heart begin to beat wildly in my chest; I wasn't afraid to admit that I was a little more than terrified. I could feel the nervous sweat build up in my palms and I hastily tried to wipe it on the edge of my ruined shirt. My breathing was beginning to sound laboured, and I was doing my best to calm down. Having a panic attack right here and now would not help my situation at all. I closed my eyes and began holding a breath for four counts before letting it out for four more counts; a method I used in high school to get over my fear of public speaking.

Deep breath in... one, two, three, four... deep breath out

Deep breath in... one, two, three, four... deep breath out

Deep breath in... one, two, three, four... deep breath out

Deep breath in... one, two, three-

My eyes snapped open just as the door to the cell slammed against the adjacent wall. A large gasp escaped my lips as I tried my best to not cower against the wall. I did not need to show this... beast my fear. I wasn't exaggerating when I called him a beast; my eyes had been on the floor, but slowly I could feel myself raking them up his form. Across the toned legs, past the thick manly thighs and the trim waist, I could see the faint outline of his sculpted abs through his shirt and by the time my eyes swept past the broad shoulders, I had come to the conclusion that this man was built.

"Sorry to bother you again! I'm sure you have enough to worry about, but-"

I was surprised as Lena's sentence was suddenly cut off halfway through; she had just stopped talking. My eyes swivelled over to her face and I was confused by the way her face screwed up into shock; her mouth popping open as her brows (almost) shot up to her hairline.

"Lena, leave us," the Alpha, Asher I think Lena called him, commanded.

"Yes big brother." I was surprised as she immediately looked toward her brother, who I still refused to acknowledge, and nodded. There was no snarky remark or sarcastic expression as she quickly turned around and went right out the door. Though, I did feel slightly relieved at the small wink she sent me before vanishing down the hall.

Now it was just me and him. What was I going to do? I was clearly overpowered at the moment, with no use of my hands or-

"Peaches and sakura..."

I said nothing as his footsteps came toward me. The toned legs once again in my line of sight, but this time much closer. I didn't want to look at him, it wasn't because I was scared, but something inside me was screaming at me to keep my head down and avoid all the eye-contact that I could. I couldn't seem to will my eyes to move from their spot on the ground, no matter how hard my hunter side was protesting. Not looking into an enemy's eyes showed weakness; submission. I didn't want to seem weak, so why...

"Lift your head little hunter, it's rude not to look at someone when they're addressing you," he deep tone was surprisingly soft. The words were more whispered rather than said, and I was surprised to feel my body thrum with a strange sense of need at the tone.

My mouth seemed to move faster than my brain, "I didn't realize I was permitted to, Alpha." Oh God, the snarky touch that ebbed into my words was surely going to get me killed. For a moment, neither of us spoke, I kept my wide eyes trained on my shifting hands as I listened to the sound of our breathing. The Alpha shifted slightly and I held my breath as his legs hit my knees. Oh God; too close, way too close!

"Ah, we've got ourselves a little back talker don't we?" the amusement in his tone was laced with a slight annoyance, and a hell of a lot of anger. The muscled arms were crossed over his chest and it only made his form look even bigger than before.

I swallowed the slight panic building up and glared at my lap, "I'd rather call it a somewhat snarky reply to your comment."

I jumped slightly at the way he let out a loud, booming laugh, the sound resonated through the cell and probably down the entire jail itself. There was that sense of need again...

My heart began pounding in apprehension as his nimble fingers reached out to roughly grab my chin. I didn't dare try to shake off his touch; if he wanted to he could probably snap my neck just with his two fingers. "Cute, but enough of these games," he growled, I shivered, "If you're not going to cooperate willingly, then I'm going to have to use force." The last word was said angrily, and I gasped as my chin was roughly pulled upward and I found myself staring into intense golden eyes.

Oh my-

"MINE!"

As the powerful golden orbs continued to glare into my wide blue eyes, it felt as though lightening had hit my soul and was beginning to tear it apart. Tears began filling my eyes as I stared at this strange man; I had an inkling of what had just happened, but I really hoped that my mind was lying. I truly began panicking when the muscled man's face began to get closer and closer to mine. His lips becoming centimeters away from mine. Only one thought began running on a loop in my head.

Holy f*ck, shit's about to go down.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Hey lovelies! I hope all of you are doing well and that you enjoyed this update! So, I don't want to make this author's note too long, but I wanted to run some things by all you wonderful readers! 

First, I have some potential new title ideas for KBMAM and here they are;

Finding Destiny
Fighting Destiny
Collision
A Poisonous Affair
The Hunter's Call

You don't have to comment which one you like best right now, I will be making a poll soon so you can all vote on that. Just keep in mind, there probably will be a sequel! And once the new title has been chosen, the cover contest will also begin!

Second, as I mentioned earlier in the chapter, midnight_tacos was nice enough to compile an awesome list of who could represent Asher! Here they are; 

Ryan Kelly
Brant Daugherty
Armie Hammer
Theo James
Ben Bowers
Rodrigo Guirao Diaz
Julian Gabriel Hernandez

You don't have to leave a comment on who you like the best right now, I will be making a poll with pictures for these options as well!

Thank you all so much for reading this update, and I look forward to seeing which new title and which actor you all like the best! 

Stay beautiful!

Follow me on twitter for updates and other fun stuff; [insert at sign] QuietTeardrops

Comment and vote if you like!

xoxo- Sharlynn