Their journey took an odd turn when they went down a flight of stairs.
A floor lower than the ground floor had to be in the... basement.
Why was Asher in the basement??
The lighting down here was dim, it reminded Caspian of the crime shows he often watched.
Jael stopped their journey in front of a reinforced steel door, at least four men standing in front of it.
Caspian eyes were wide with questions that he didn’t ask, curiously watching.
The heavy door was pushed open, and he could finally ease his worries...
Caspian stopped at the doorway, and it wasn’t because Asher was immediately focused on him like a predator with its prey.
No, it was because the Alpha was strapped down to a metal chair at the center of the room.
It was straight of out a villainous interrogation scene.
He should probably be more worried about why they had a room under the mansion but he was just relieved to see Asher... well, mostly unharmed.
The Alpha was strapped down to the metal chair, and like Jael had taken his advice word for word, heavy metal chains further held him down to the chair.
His long wild hair was down, obscuring part of his face, but the leather strap used to gag him was painfully visible, hazel-gold eyes piercing.
"Can I move closer?" He whispered to Jael like he was trying not to spook a wild animal.
Jael eyed his boss warily, it was now or never... they were about to find out just how strong Asher was.
"Yeah, sure," He agreed, staying back.
Jael was well prepared for if things went south, he never imagined that he would need to sedate his Mafia King with a goddamn tranquilizer gun, but here they were.
He kept a sharp eye on Asher as Caspian slowly closed the distance between them.
The reinforced door was still open, in case backup was needed... he hoped that wouldn’t be the case.
The sound of Asher’s teeth puncturing the sturdy leather strap in his mouth made Jael flinch but Caspian didn’t even slow down.
He couldn’t believe that Asher thought the Omega was weak, because if he were in Caspian’s shoes, he’d be long gone.
There was no way in hell he would face off against a wild beast whose entire body was primed to go after him.
The sound of leather ripping made Caspian halt, however, and Jael swept forward to put himself in between them if it came down to it.
The sound of ripping leather wasn’t coming from the strap in Asher’s mouth, it was coming from his wrists.
The original leather straps of the metal chair were giving away, the muscles in his forearm straining wildly.
The straps broke but he still remained captive because of the chains which weren’t giving even an inch.
Jael waited until he was sure that Asher wouldn’t prove him wrong and somehow managed to bend metal.
But the chains held fast, and only then did he ease off, walking back to the entrance.
Caspian only closed the distance between them now, feeling like he had fallen into a pool full of Asher’s liquid scent.
Asher’s eyes tracked his every movement, his pupils shrunk to a pinpoint.
Caspian couldn’t explain it, it felt like Asher recognized him but not really.
"Hi," He whispered softly, tucking Asher’s hair to the side.
Once again, the Alpha tracked his movements, those burning gold eyes settling on his face again.
Caspian kept his movements gentle and slow, talking to Asher like the Alpha could respond to him.
"I needed to see for myself, that you’re okay," He spoke conversationally, gently cupping Asher’s face.
The Alpha’s breathing remained steady, despite the fact that he was constantly straining against his bonds, his jaw tightly locked.
Caspian’s hand came away wet, damp with perspiration, and he looked over at Asher disapprovingly.
"If you keep doing that, you’ll bruise yourself," He slightly scolded, referring to the fact that Asher kept trying to break free.
Asher was in a dress shirt that was missing most of its buttons, the sleeves rolled up.
He could imagine how overheated he felt, his skin burned to the touch, deep red crawling up his chest despite how cool it was in the basement.
Caspian had a goal now, so with a focused look in his eyes, he got busy undoing the rest of Asher’s shirt so he could part it and try to cool the Alpha down a bit.
Asher was surprisingly very calm, until his busy hands brushed over the tent in his pants.
A low growl in his throat made Jael jump and briskly walk over.
"He’s fine, I’m fine..." Caspian said in a rush, small hands on Asher’s chest.
Jael gave him a pointed look, "You’ve seen him, he’s alive. I think you should leave."
Another throaty growl escaped Asher at that, making Jael tense up.
"Wait, slow down," Caspian said in a soothing voice, trying to stop the situation from escalating.
"Asher can’t break free from this, and I can’t leave him this way," He protested, standing in front of the Alpha protectively.
Jael took one look at Caspian red red-tinged cheeks, and his blown-out pupils, and figured out what the Omega was trying to do.
"That’s a horrible idea," He deadpanned.
"But it’ll stop him from being in pain." Caspian defended, half-sitting on Asher at this point.
Jael refocused on Asher, even though he was constantly trying to break off his chains, he really didn’t look great.
Plus with Caspian’s help, his rut would be over quicker.
Now it was time for the cons, if Asher managed to find a way to escape, Caspian could really be badly hurt.
Jael scratched his short hair, torn on which choice to make.
"I’ll be fine," Caspian said with confidence he didn’t feel, Asher’s tense thighs underneath him feeling like they were made of steel.
Jael looked from Mafia King to the Omega he bought at an auction, who was now willingly putting his life in danger, just so that he wouldn’t feel like shit for a couple of days.