Asher swallowed.

A big photo was hanging on the wall. His face was smiling brightly back at him.

Asher never remembered taking that photo. He wondered if it was real and his real life was a dream because he felt it that way. He combed his head.

Why the hell was his photo hanging in this place?

Then he remembered a few things: those people’s love for him and fear for his life, the way they kept looking at him, and the name they called him.

Ethan.

He turned to ask her some questions, which hurt his head. But she left when he was trying to control his emotions. He pulled his hair.

Chris's loud hiss brought him back. He was aggressively looking at the door and hissing.

Asher sensed the danger, too. He sniffed.

The silent twin. The twins forcefully entered the house. His body reeked of his anger.

He came faster towards Asher and threw a punch.

Asher, who somewhat anticipated it, moved right on time. The aggressive twin started to throw punches continuously. And Asher made sure he never got hit.

When Asher had enough, he held the twin’s right hand with his left and punched him hard with his right.

The twin’s lips tore and started to bleed. But he had no expression. Asher knew how much they could handle pain. So he pushed him in the chest.

The twin fell a step but steadied himself. He wiped his blood with his thumb, but his eyes narrowed on him.

“How did you end up here?” He barked.

“I wanted to know the same. How did you trap me here?" Asher lifted his eyebrow.

Frank came running into the house. He pulled the aggressive asshole back.

“Fred. What do you think you are doing? He is…”

“Not Ethan. Ethan, Our cousin, Our brother, Our Alpha is dead. We…”

“Shut up, Fred.”

“You shut it.”

“How the hell? A man from Flora Ridge ended up in Red Mountain. It’s those fuckers job. They attacked us. Then he appeared out of nowhere and saved us. He looks like Ethan, so we take him in. Then what he traps us for those bastards. It's their fucking plan.”

They started hitting each other for every word he uttered.

“If Asher didn’t come on time. Our pack would have... extinct. The great Red Mountain would have turned into a legend. Fucking past. He helped the pack when we were not around.” They fell on the floor and started to roll on top of each other.

“Who is he? You trust him like you know everything about him. Then explain. I can’t understand. Enlighten me, fucker. If you let him do his fucking deed and he destroys our pack. You are also against my pack. Then I won’t look at you as my brother. You will be my enemy, too.”

They pushed each other. They somehow landed at the opposite corners of the house. They looked at each other as if they wanted to kill each other from their mother's womb.

“Yes, I understand, bro. It’s boring like hell.”  Asher muttered.

Asher leaned against the wall next to Chris. His arms were crossed. A leg was bent, and a foot was placed on the wall. He looked at them uninterestedly.

Chris was looking at their fight boringly because he saw this shit every day at home with Asher and Chris’s soulmate.

“Hey, I have my own doubts, too. What if this is your plan to trap me?” Asher pointed himself.

Chris hissed loudly.

“Shut up,” Fred yelled at Chris.

Chris banged his cage harder and nearly knocked it off the table. Asher caught it on time and pushed it back.

“Don’t use that tone with him. He is a dangerous bastard than me.”

Asher took a step forward, and his face said he was serious.

“Now, answer my questions. How come your wounds disappeared without a scar? How in the world did you end up in a fight with kids who play with a scientific laser gun? How did you make that wolf lure me here? Why did Ethan, Your cousin, Your brother, Your alpha, who is dead, look like me? Answer these first, then I will give you more questions.” Asher smiled at them.

Chris looked like he was nodding.

“A wolf lured you in?” Fred looked at Asher with different eyes.

A bit of trust was there, but it was lacking in Asher’s eye.

“Huh-uh.”

“How did he look like? Size, color, behavior, anything helps.” Frank took a step forward.

Asher huffed.

“Answer me first.”

Fred tried to open his mouth, but a howl outside stopped him.

The loud boom was followed by some people screaming, ‘Stop’. Asher tried to go out, but Frank caught his arm.

“Don’t go, stay.”

His expression was genuine as if he himself was afraid of the owner of that sound. But Asher wondered if they all were good actors, so he refused to trust anyone. He pushed Frank’s hand away and walked outside.

He saw some people standing in his way. They behaved as if they were simply standing. But Asher could clearly see that they were hiding something with their backs.

“Move,” Asher ordered softly.

Even though it had torn them, they moved for his word. He noticed that these people respected him.

A wolf was standing and playing with a few pups. The wolf was big and strong. The red fur looked fluffy. When it saw him, it slowly ran towards him.

It was just turning and knocking everything in its surroundings. It crashed a basin and turned to look at it. While turning, it knocked a vase. And while turning to look at that, it knocked another dish in the process.

“Stop moving.” Someone hissed.

The wolf stopped moving and slowly tiptoed from that place. It came towards him and tilted its head. It howled again.

It was entirely different from his favorite wolf. The pups were after this wolf. One pup boldly came next to him and sat next to his feet as if he knew it was his place.

Asher laughed loudly at the mess. The crowd grew silent when he laughed. They might have never expected him to laugh at a wild animal.

Hell, they saw Chris and still thought he might get frightened of animals. Then the unexpected happened. Fuck. Tonight was full of unexpected for Asher.

Fred yelled faster to stop it, “No”.

“Fable, stop,” Frank ordered.

The wolf’s fur started to break. It turned into human skin.

Asher sucked his breath. Slowly, the wolf’s whole body started to shift. In a minute, a human body was standing where a wolf stood.

Frank muttered, “Hell.”

Yes, Asher supposed. It was the beginning of hell.