Asher drove himself back to the mansion, he had stayed behind because Jael wasn’t around to take over, but he might as well have gone to his mate’s side because he couldn’t focus.
He had been doing a lot of thinking recently, especially after the incident with the heat inducers. He knew it was something he couldn’t avoid forever, Caspian had already made so many compromises for his sake, the Omega accepting all of his flaws without so much as a complaint.
He couldn’t keep taking so selfishly, he had to give in return.
Unfortunately, no matter who he asked and how hard he searched, nothing about heat inducers had turned up. As a matter of fact, no one seemed to have seen any in Haines for the past few years.
It meant that Asher had to broaden his search, which was a problem because it meant it would be impossible to narrow down an area to investigate.
He decided to put it on the back burner for now, he still had ears on the ground, if any information worth anything was found, he would hear of it right away.
There was something else he also needed answers for, and that was the curse of his bloodline. His father had said that there were no answers to why they were this way, but he had always been an unreliable bastard, so Asher was going to do his own findings.
The era of the Mafia in Haines was quite recent, they didn’t start out as the Mafia, but rebelling against the High Council meant that they couldn’t take traditional titles like the other Alpha leaders of other cities and towns.
The High Council wasn’t eager to relinquish its hold on Haines, so it had been a bloody battle, one that took several founding families. The first Mafia House to be formed was the Black Mafia, which was also one of the first in Haines, so it wielded a lot of power.
The Knight Mafia was next, and several years later, built on blood and betrayal, the Lauder Mafia stabilized themselves as one of the ruling powers in Haines.
Asher had already learned all about that years ago, but none of that held the information he sought. He needed to find out what his predecessors had been doing before they came to Haines, but that turned out to be more difficult than finding out information about heat inducers and who would want to use it on his mate.
It was like they had appeared out of thin air in Haines, that was impossible, so it only meant that one of his ancestors put in a lot of effort to make sure that their past remained in the dark.
Asher got out of his car and started towards the steps, he wasn’t about to give up, however. Caspian usually welcomed him at the door, but his mate wasn’t here today... he couldn’t give up for Caspian’s sake.
He went straight to the bedroom, already ditching all of his weapons in the car. He shrugged off his fur coat as he pushed open the door, slowing down slightly to push down the fear he constantly lived with.
With Caspian’s heat constant for the next handful of months, he was prone to losing control more frequently. The thought of it made Asher’s throat close up, he tried to tell himself that he would never lose himself and hurt Caspian but those were empty reassurances.
All that needed to happen was one slip-up, one lapse in control and he would be no better than his father.
Asher stopped at the door, his mate’s sweet scent was like a noose around his neck, it tightened with each deep breath he took. But that scent of sugar and flowers was too addictive, it pulled him in, his coat dropping noiselessly to the ground.
Caspian was fast asleep, the Omega had taken a shower and worn one of his shirts to bed. it was buttoned loosely, showing off his collarbones and soft stomach. He wore comfortable cotton socks this time that barely skimmed his knees, no doubt too sensitive for lace.
Asher hovered over the bed, wanting nothing more than to reach out for Caspian and take him hard and fast like his body pushed for him to. Instead, he stood and watched him sleep, trying to calm his racing thoughts.
Despite the war between body and mind, Asher was determined. He wasn’t dense, he knew his mate wanted a baby but Caspian hadn’t brought up the topic ever since he gave his opinion on it.
Asher didn’t want to curse his child but he planned to give his mate what he wanted, it was why he needed to find out about his past. With his origins revealed, he would be closer to the cause of the curse that plagued the Knight Mafia House, and with that he could give his mate what he wanted.
He didn’t even think of searching for his origins to fix himself, resigned to the shackles that bound him. But he would spare his child if he had to bleed himself dry to do it.
Asher finally moved, closing the distance to kiss his sleeping husband. Caspian threw his arms around his neck and sighed despite being fast asleep, it was like a soothing balm on the heat that constantly plagued him, crackling under his skin, waiting to surge.
Caspian opened his eyes when the kiss broke off, his face flushed, smile absent. "You’re back."
"Do you want to sleep some more?" Asher asked softly, he hadn’t intended to wake his mate up but Caspian had been too sensitive to his presence.
Caspian clung to him and tucked his face into his Alpha’s neck, his heat hadn’t gotten unbearable yet but waiting for Asher to return had felt that way. He could always sleep later with his Alpha’s knot in him.
"No, I want to suck you off." He pulled back to say, hunger in his soft blue eyes as he took Asher in, content to stare at him for hours.