The Rose He Killed Chapter 01

To get back at my cheating Alpha husband, I faked my death and ran from his pack.

He threw me a huge funeral and slept clutching my ashes.

A year later, I was partying at a bar.

Grinning ear to ear while running my hand over a guy’s abs.

Then I turned—and Asher Blackwood saw me from the second floor.

Our eyes locked. The man froze for a full thirty seconds.

Then a cruel smile curled his lips.

He downed his drink in one gulp, vaulted over the railing, and landed downstairs.

But I was already gone.

All that was left was a text from me, [See ya never, ex-husband!]

Asher and I were known as the psycho Alpha couple. He was brutal. I was feral.

Anyone I couldn’t stand, he personally took out.

Whoever made me suffer even a little, he’d make them pay—even if it cost him his Alpha position.

I always believed we were destined to be tangled together for life.

Same blanket, same grave.

Until that mute girl Aria Martin showed up.

She was the pack house’s new maid. Gentle. Quiet.

Every time Asher fought someone for me, she’d silently hand him a roll of bandages afterward, along with a warm, shy smile.

Little by little, she pulled him in completely.

***

By then, getting a photo of them kissing didn’t make me lose my shit and smash things like it used to.

I had someone bring Aria to my suite.

“Let me tell you something. Women who mess with Asher never end well.”

Aria’s face went pale. Her fingers trembled as she signed.

The interpreter beside her whispered, “She says… she and Alpha Asher are just friends.”

“Friends?”

I laughed softly, picked up the silver knife from the table, and slammed it into the wall beside her ear. The handle buzzed.

“You think you deserve that?”

Aria froze solid.

I glanced coldly at her. “Warrior. Take her outside.”

“Let her see for herself. Not everyone gets to call themselves Asher’s friend.”

Before I finished, the door burst open with a bang.

Asher stood there in his crisp combat uniform, his eyes dark and terrifying.

He didn’t even look at me. He walked straight to Aria, took off his coat, and wrapped it around her shaking body.

His voice was soft, “It’s ok. I’m taking you back.”

Then he scooped her up in his arms.

My eyes burned red. I grabbed the ashtray off the table and hurled it at him.

“Asher, try taking her out that door. See what happens.”

He didn’t stop.

I lunged like a madwoman and ripped Aria right out of his arms.

“Take that bitch out that door tonight, and she’ll be hanging from the gate by morning.”

Asher finally turned around. Those eyes that once overflowed with love now held nothing but icy warning.

“Try me.”

He picked Aria back up and walked out without looking back.

I watched his ruthless retreating figure, nails digging deep into my palms.

Then I let out a low, quiet laugh.

The next morning, I sent men to trash Aria’s maid quarters. They beat her half to death and hung her from the training ground Asher passed every day.

I wanted to see just how crazy he’d go for this woman.

That night, the door flew open with a kick.

Asher stormed in, radiating cold fury.

He grabbed my throat and slammed me against the wall. The suffocation hit instantly.

But I looked into his bloodshot eyes and smiled. “Alpha… like my gift?”

He threw me to the ground. My bones cracked against the floor. My insides felt like they’d been knocked loose.

I swallowed the blood rising in my throat and stared up at him stubbornly.

“Why? Why her?”

Asher loomed over me, face dark. Then he grabbed my chin and kissed me.

It tasted like blood. Like a fight to the death.

I hugged him back hard, nails nearly tearing into his back.

He dragged me roughly into the bathroom, turned on the cold water, and shoved my head under the spray. He pulled my hair and forced me to look in the mirror.

“Chloe, look at us. Isn’t this disgusting?”

In the mirror, my clothes were torn, my lips bleeding, my eyes wild.

Asher cupped my face, his voice hoarse. “Chloe, five years. Five years of being out of my mind with you! If it wasn’t for Aria… I’d have forgotten why the hell I ever became an Alpha.”

I shivered. “Do you really love her?”

“Yes.” No hesitation. “I love her.”

“She’s like you used to be. Gentle. Kind. Eyes that always smiled. And also—”

“Shut up! Asher, shut up!” I screamed, cutting him off. Tears streamed down my face as I pounded his chest. “I won’t allow it… I won’t allow you to love her.”

Asher didn’t move. He let me hit him, his voice drained.

“Chloe, I’m tired.”

“Remember that warrior who died in the fire? You wouldn’t let me save him—all because he got your father’s photo dirty.”

“Every night since, I dream about what he looked like burning to death.”

“I can’t keep doing this. I’ve thought about killing myself, just to make it stop.”

“Aria took the silver blade out of my hand. She didn’t say anything—she just smiled at me. That was the first time I could breathe.”

“These five years… every second I was with you, I thought about how to end myself…”

“Stop! I said stop!” I screamed out of control and slapped him across the face.

Asher’s eyes dimmed. Finally, he just looked at me flatly.

“Chloe, I won’t break the bond. But I won’t love you anymore. And I won’t keep being crazy with you.”

“You touched Aria this time. I’m letting it slide.”

“Next time, I won’t forgive you.”

I collapsed on the cold tile floor, sobbing until my lungs tore apart.

But there was nothing in Asher’s eyes anymore—no worry, no softness. He just turned and left.

I stared at where he’d disappeared, my eyes blood red, screaming until my voice broke.

“Liar! You said you’d love me forever.”

“Asher, you liar!”