Asher's Beloved

Chapter 22

"Are they..." Aurora trails off, a knowing smile on her lips.

"Ayla is Asher's beloved." Corbin grins, guiding us towards the door at the end of the hallway." He found her on her second day in the kingdom and brought her back to the castle."

"No fucking way." Ivan breathes in shock, making both Aurora and I smack the back of his head for cursing.

Opening the door for us with a laugh, Corbin bids us goodbye. I'm itching to get in there and hold my pup, wanting to find out exactly what happened to her. Aurora takes my hand and smiles up at me as I press a kiss to her temple and breathe in her delicious scent to keep me calm. Turning the doorknob, we enter the room and I lock eyes with Asher.

He daringly ignores the furious glare I send him, whispering something in Ayla's ear. She looks up and her eyes widen, tears brimming them instantly. Asher helps her stand, stepping back to give us a moment with our daughter. Aurora hugs her tightly, their cries audible as Ivan and I wrap our arms around them both.

"Missed you, princess." I whisper, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.

"I missed you guys so much!" She cries, turning to embrace me fully.

"It's okay, we're here now." I murmur, stroking her hair.

"I shouldn't have been practicing without supervision, I'm sorry!" She sobs into my shirt, making me wrap my arms around her.

"It's okay darling, you're safe. That's all that matters to me." I stroke her back, calming her down.

I see Aurora scanning her for injuries with a worried look, relief shining in her eyes when she finds none. But we both know that mentally and emotionally our baby could be struggling.

As soon as we step away, Ivan tackles her into another hug which makes me growl at him to be careful.

"Missed you, sis." Ivan whispers, rubbing her back as she sniffles.

"I missed you too." She whispers back, pulling away slightly to look up at him with guilt ridden eyes. "Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" He frowns down at her, wiping her tears away.

"Because I left and -"

"I would never be mad at you!" He rolls his eyes playfully, a grin tugging at his lips. "I'm just glad you're okay. I felt what happened and I was really worried about you."

Her eyes widen before they roam over his figure. "A-Are you okay?"

"Just like you are." He nudges her with a reassuring smile.

We take a seat at the picnic bench in the garden, Asher and Ayla sitting opposite us. He grins down at her and winks when she thanks him for the surprise, draping an arm around her shoulders.

I want to rip his arm right out of its socket.

"Can you tell us what happened in detail, please?" Aurora asks, watching as they both nod to each other with a heavy sigh before turning to us.

"I wanted to practice teleporting and I was just going to do it from my room to the library. But I didn't do it properly or lost concentration and ended up in the woods here. I don't really know what happened. The first night, I stayed in an abandoned home in the woods and then set out early morning to ask someone for help. I was in the countryside when Asher found me, he was driving through." Ayla gazes at him and I can't help but notice how her body is slumped against his. Just how weak has my pup become?

"My cousin had pissed of an elder witch and she was out for revenge, killing any person she came across. She had found a way to manipulate the way we use our gifts and attack us during it. I refused to let Ayla leave until I took care of the situation but, we couldn't trace her. When we visited the courthouse, that's when Blithe attacked Ayla."