Page 1 of Forbidden Mischief
CHAPTER 1
ASHER
“Everything’s going to be okay now. We’re safe.” My mom gives my hand a gentle squeeze, staring into my eyes to prove how much she truly believes this. I gaze back into eyes so much like mine, except they’ve seen far too much hurt and pain for such an amazing person to look at me with a hope she’s never had before.
“I know.” I force a smile. “Dexter is an amazing guy. He’s perfect for you and as long as he treats you right, and you’re happy, that’s what matters.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t wait to get married.” She chews on her lower lip, and it’s my turn to give her a comforting squeeze.
“It’s okay, Mom. I get it. You needed that feeling of safety, something legal, to keephimfrom trying anything further.”
Her eyes fill with tears, and my heart aches seeing her upset. “I’m so sorry.”
Letting go of her hand, I cup her face, making sure she can see the care in my eyes. “You have nothing to be sorry about, Mom. You did the best you could in the situation you were in. We’re out now. We’re safe. It’s time to leave the pain of thepast behind and start fresh. I’m okay. And more than anything, I want you to be, too.” She’s so small compared to me. She’s hardly over five feet, while I’m a few inches over six feet. It’s why I felt like I needed to protect her more, not just because she’s my mother, but she’s so tiny.
“I’m so proud of you,” she sniffs.
“You made me who I am.” I kiss her forehead and we both settle back into our seats, ready for the drive ahead of us.
She gives me a watery smile before looking back out the front window. Putting the car into drive, we cross the town line into Sugar River.
The deeper we get into the town, the better I feel. We’re surrounded by trees and forests, so at least I’ll be able to shift and run. I’d go crazy if I was forced to stay in my human form for too long. I need to be a wolf for at least a few hours a couple times a month or I lose control easily.
“Here we are, home sweet home,” Mom announces as we pull up in front of a log cabin mansion.
“Holy shit,” I whisper. My eyes widen in awe as I take in the beauty of the structure. It’s stunning. I knew Dexter was well off because he’s the coven leader, but normally, when you think of the rich and their houses, you picture modern, fancy houses like in the movies.
I’m glad this place isn’t like that. It looks perfectly shrouded by the forest trees.
The pack house was big. It had to be to fit my father and his harem of women. My father is the alpha of Pack Canton. He’s a nasty man who put his hands on my mom and me one too many times. The only reason why he kept her around was because of me. Out of his four women, my mom was the only one to give him a child. Add on the fact that I turned out to be an alpha too, my dad wanted us close by, but it was all for show, all for control.
He hated I didn’t want to be like him, to find a group of women to fawn over me, to control and fuck whenever I wanted.
He was hitting Mom longer than me, but that changed once he found out that I wasn’t going to be who he wanted me to be. That I was gay.
That pissed him off. Did you know you can’t beat the gay out of someone? Yeah, someone should have told him that because it didn’t stop him from trying.
Mom got a job in town at a café to get away from him as much as she could. That’s where she met Dexter. He came in one day and while I don’t know the exact details, I know he kept coming back for her. I was there a few times when he came by and after a few conversations with him, I knew he was a good man.
Dexter could tell something was going on with my mom, and he was determined to find out what.
One day, when Dexter came to the cafe, she had a black eye. That’s when he refused to leave until she told him who did it. Once she did, he talked her into leaving with him.
Of course, she said no unless she could take me too. I was more than happy to go with them as long as my father didn’t come after my mom over it.
Dexter promised us he wouldn’t let anything happen to her or to me. When my mom voiced her concerns about my father, Dexter asked her to marry him. He said that a legal marriage would make it harder for my father to come after my mom if he chose to. So they went down to the courthouse and tied the knot before Dexter came with us to pick up our things. My father was not happy. He went crazy, and that was the first time I saw just how powerful Dexter was. If I didn’t like the man before that, I sure as hell did after seeing the lengths he went to protect me and my mom.
Dexter took everything of ours back to his place while he sent my mom and me on a trip down south to see my grandma to giveus some time with her and some space to relax before this big change in our lives. He wanted to make sure my dad didn’t do anything irrational.
Grandma was one of the lucky ones who got out of that pack. She met a human man and never looked back.
Mom said she knows that my grandmother hated to leave her behind, but at the time my grandmother didn’t know just how bad things were at home.
It had been five years since the last time we saw her, and I’m glad we went because my mom really needed the time away.
But we’re back now, and went from the airport to the café to say goodbye to my mother’s coworkers one last time before starting our new life.
“Well, come on,” she urges excitedly. “Let’s go in.”
