Page 20 of Forbidden Mischief
My stomach tightens. I don’t know why, but I feel like this is important—whatever it is, I have to hear him out. However, I’mabout to lose my fucking patience. He’s not talking, and I feel like he’s keeping something from me. My whole body feels like I’m about to be set ablaze and being this close to him and alone has my cock hardening painfully in my pants.
“I…” he starts again, his voice shaky this time. “I need you to understand something.”
“Asher,” I snap, my voice steady but sharp. “Spit it out. I need to know what the hell is going on.”
He looks at me and the world around me seems to fall away, and all I can focus on is him—his breath, his eyes, the way the air between us crackles.
“I don’t know how to say this,” Asher mutters, his eyes flickering to my lips and then away. “But I need you to know that... I’m your mate.”
The words hang in the air, and for a moment, I don’t know how to respond. My chest tightens, and I feel like I’ve been sucker-punched. Mate? I can barely process it.
My mind goes blank, confusion flooding in. “What the fuck did you just say? I?—”
“I’m sorry,” Asher interrupts, his voice trembling. “But it’s the truth. My wolf... He knew you were meant to be mine. And I can’t deny it. We’re mates, Zayne.”
My mind goes blank. It doesn’t make sense.This doesn’t make sense.I’m straight. This is insane. But then, everything inside me starts buzzing with his words—his wolf chose me.What the hell does that even mean?
“You’re... you’re what?” I choke out. My thoughts are scrambled, and there’s this heat building up inside me, like anger and confusion mixing into one giant knot in my gut. Everything feels off, out of control.
Asher steps forward, his expression painful. “I know it’s a lot to take in, Zayne. Believe me, I’m trying to figure it out too. But you can’t fight fate. I can’t fight it. I don’t want to fight it.”
I swallow hard, the air thick between us. Heat rises in my chest, tightening my throat like a vice. This isn’t happening. It can’t be. He’s my fucking stepbrother.What the hell am I supposed to do with this?I want to punch something, scream, break everything in sight, but I can’t. I don’t know how to handle this—how to handle him.
He’s a he. What’s more, he’s not some random guy. He’s Asher. My stepbrother.This is so fucked.
I take a deep breath, but it doesn’t help. My body burns with this gnawing desire I don’t want to feel. I shouldn’t feel it. But when I look at him—see the pain in his eyes, hear the sincerity in his voice—I start to believe him. My hand twitches, wanting to reach out. The feeling pulls at me, tempting, dangerous.
I nod, though I don’t know why. It’s like my body’s reacting before my brain can even catch up. My heart races in my chest, blood thundering in my ears.Fuck, what’s happening to me?
And then, my mouth opens, and what comes out surprises the hell out of even me.
“Okay,” I say, my voice rough.
CHAPTER 11
ASHER
I blink at him, confusion taking hold. Did he just say: okay? I just told him we were mates. That his gay stepbrother was his mate. To him, a straight man.
“Okay?” I ask him slowly, searching his stunning blue eyes.
He swallows hard, holding my stare, and nods slowly.
Well. This was… unexpected. I thought he was going to lose his mind, shout at me, call me names, tell me my wolf is wrong and that he’s straight.
For a moment, he looked like he was going to react that way. I could see the panic in his eyes as the words registered in his mind.
I was waiting for his rejection, the pain that would come with it.
It’s not something I’d ever allowed myself to think about. Any of it. Finding a mate, settling down, falling in love, being happy.
Happiness was just a fairytale to me until I saw what it really looked like when Mom met Dexter.
Never did I think I’d find it for myself, so the idea of actually meeting my mate and having them reject me was never a thought.
Untiltoday.
Once the dust had settled, and my mind wasn’t a jumbled mess, I spent the car ride here letting all the possibilities take hold of my mind. What if he rejected me? How badly would it hurt? I’ve heard stories of people being rejected, that it was like getting their heart ripped out, a phantom pain of something lost.
