Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Priorities

Rose

“What do we do?” I whisper, hissing under my breath as I crouch, instinctively wanting to avoid the windows.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

“I don’t think they’re going away,” Asher replies, crouching with me as we approach the door.

“Rose! I know you’re in there!”

I sigh, rolling my eyes as I stand.

It’s Victor.

“The jig is up,” I tell Asher, walking to the door. I open it, revealing the angry face of my best friend on the other side.

“What the fuck are you doing sneaking off to a random ass cabin on rogue territory in the middle of the-” His voice cuts off as soon as he sees Asher, his lips red and hair disheveled, the smell of sex lingering in the air.

His eyes widen when his eyes meet mine again. “No…” He gasps, trailing off. “No fucking way!”

I raise my hands in defense. “Victor, listen-”

“So this is who you’ve been fucking!” He screams. “The Alpha of Black Opal? Our political enemies? The guy who has a mate! A crazy mate who hates you?”

“Listen, it’s not what it-”

“Don’t you dare tell me it’s not what it looks like!” He roars. “You’ve been hiding something for a while now, and I’ve been courteous enough to give you space because I trusted it was a personal matter that wouldn’t affect the Clan.”

“This doesn’t,” I reply firmly.

He scoffs. “Are you fucking joking? You’re canoodling with one of the leaders of a pack we just picked sides against in an upcoming war. Genevieve is already not a fan of you, and you’re fucking her mate?”

“I am not mates with Gen,” Asher replies, stepping in to defend me. “She and I haven’t been mates for a while. We lost our connection because I found my real mate.”

He reaches his hand to take mine, interlocking our fingers. “Rose is my mate,” he tells Victor. “My loyalties are not with Genevive.”

“You’re kidding,” Victor snaps, looking between us in disbelief. “A vampire and werewolf can’t be mates. Not to mention that it’s impossible to have two mates.”

“Not if one of the bonds was a fake created by the Night God,” I reply. “And we all know that interspecies mate pairings are rare but not unheard of.”

“So, you’re trying to tell me you’re mates with him?” Victor asks, still dumbfounded.

“He is,” I confirm. “I feel our connection. I have for a while. I’m in love with him, Vic.”

Victor pinches the bridge of his nose, wrinkling his face as he groans. “Rose, do you even realize the position you’ve put us in? What if Gen finds out about this! Does she know you’re not mates with her anymore? Why are you still together?”

“She’s an abusive dictator to her pack and in her relationships,” Asher replies. “I haven’t had autonomy at any point in our relationship. She has cheated on me countless times, hit me, raped me, all of it. She doesn’t care how I feel, nor does she care how she feels, either. All she cares about is controlling people.”

Victor softens, his eyes kind and full of empathy as he lets out a long sigh. “I feel bad for you, Asher. I do. But my priority is my Clan. That should be Rose’s priority, too. And, if you love Rose and are her mate, then you should prioritize her safety. How do you guys plan on getting out of this situation? Do you plan on hiding forever? If I could track Rose’s scent here, others could, too.”

“Why’d you track me here?” I ask, a little angry. “I told you I’d be gone for the day.”

“You’ve been taking random days off for no reason a lot the last few months. Disappearing and sleeping at odd hours, too. I suspected something was up and was angry that you were leaving me with the work, and I didn’t know why. So, I followed you.”

I bite my lip, feeling a little guilty. I didn’t mean to stick him with extra work to pursue my “extracurricular” activities.

“I’m sorry, Vic… I didn’t want to keep this from you. I just wanted to limit the number of people who knew because it must be a secret for obvious reasons.”

“Listen, I’m not upset that you’re happy with someone. I’m glad you’re in love, and I think you’re a good guy, Ash. I have no problems with you. But you’re playing with fire. Genevieve’s fire.”

“We’re working on that,” Asher reassures him. “Trust me, I know the risks. So does Rose. We have a plan in place to remedy the situation.”

“What plan?” He asks sharply. “Is the plan to hide? Hide until the war with Evander? Are you hoping that’ll result in Gen’s demise? If so, at what cost? How many of our people will die in that war, Rose? A needless war?”

“We’re not planning on going to war,” I argue. “Neither of us want the collateral damage to fall on our constituents. We plan to overthrow Gen politically, using her instigation of war with Evander as leverage.”

Victor strokes his chin, thinking for a moment. “So you’re planning on ousting her? Stripping her of support?”

“Well, the only way to truly overthrow a leader in our culture is to challenge them,” Asher explains. “But the tricky part is if someone challenges her and wins, then we want to make sure she’s not in a place where she could easily challenge and win the title right back. Current leaders cannot have a proxy fight for them, but challengers can. If Gen still has a loyal following, she could easily get someone to fight for her or stage a coup on whatever government we put in place to replace her. Therefore, we must first strip her of her military, social, and economic power. Meaning winning the opinions of the military, public, donors, politicians, and other packs and clans.”

“How do you plan on doing that?” Victor asks. “Your reputation is that you are weak, which is worse than a reputation of being cruel in many people’s minds. You'll need to earn respect if you plan to keep your leadership role after Gen leaves.”

“I’m working on it,” Asher replies a little harshly. I squeeze his hand, silently urging him not to get defensive. Victor has a right to ask us questions.

“Besides,” I chime in. “Now that you know what’s happening, we can help more. Boost his reputation amongst the other Clans. Talk about how much better Black Opal would be if Asher were the man in charge instead of Gen. It wouldn’t be a hard point to sell.”

“If only you had filled me in on all of this sooner, then I could’ve been helping for a while,” Victor chastises. “But that’s an issue between you and me, Rose. One we can handle at another time.”

“Vic-”

He raises his hands, telling me to stop. “Not important now. What’s important is you need to include me in your plans from now on. I need to make sure our Clan’s safety is being taken into consideration with every move you make since we are involved in this affair now.”

“I’m perfectly capable of protecting our Clan and keeping our best interests at heart, Victor,” I warn, not liking what he’s implying with that statement. “But I’ll be glad to keep you in the loop from now on. We’ll discuss this soon. But, for now, this is one of the few moments Asher and I have together. I would appreciate, as your friend, if you would let us have this time. I will answer all of your questions after.”

Victor’s face is stony and apathetic. “Yeah, sure. I’ll do you this favor, friend.”

The way he says the last word is sarcastic, which sends a stab to my heart.

Before I can say anything, though, he’s speeding out of the door.

“Shit,” I hiss under my breath, sitting on the edge of the kitchen table. “That was fucking awful.”

“I think it’ll be okay,” Asher comforts, rubbing my back. “He’ll come around. He’s just upset you didn’t tell him. I don’t think he believes you’ve betrayed your Clan in any way. At least not deep down. He’s just saying that because he knows it’ll bother you, and he’s hurt that you didn’t tell him.”

“You’re probably right,” I reply. “I just hate that he’s implying that, though. I’m many things, but a poor leader? Not one of them. If I thought being with you would lead to the fall of my Clan, I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t be with you. In love as I am, and as much as I know we are mates, I have duties to uphold.”

“One of the many things I admire about you, my love.” He kisses my cheek. “It’ll all be okay. Just try to relax now and go into the conversation with him, whenever it happens, as calmly as possible. Don’t stew on his words, or you’ll end up saying something you regret.”

I smile, leaning into his chest. “You give good advice.”

He wraps his arms around me loosely, kissing the top of my head. “If only I took it myself.”

I giggle, pinching his cheek, and say, “Well, let’s play a real game of chess now. We need to play a tiebreak game for real this time.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he says with a wink as he retrieves the knocked-down board off the ground, arranging the pieces in their correct places while I stay perched on the table, biting my lip.

What will I tell Victor? Is he right? Maybe I am failing to prioritize my Clan? But I don’t feel that way… Why am I second-guessing myself? Because of my guilt for treating my friend like shit? That I am guilty of. I have neglected my friendship with Victor and taken him for granted. I have strung him along on a wild goose chase of secrets.

If there’s anyone who deserves for me to come clean to them, it’s him.

But am I ready? Am I prepared to unveil all of my secrets?

No. I’m not. But I can explain my relationship with Asher. I can be honest about that.

“You okay?” Asher checks in, the black pieces all in place and the white ones in his hands.

“Yeah,” I answer with a smile.

I need to be vulnerable. I need to trust that the people I love and who love me will care for my heart and secrets. They won’t betray me.

I have to trust them.

And that starts with my longest, most loyal friend—the first person to love me in all of my life.

I have to remind him how much he means to me.

My best friend. My ride or die.

I owe Victor a lot more than I’ve given him.