Page 2 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
“Sure you were,” she teased like she knew exactly what I’d been doing.
I wasn't embarrassed because I'd been daydreaming about a guy. I assumed every girl my age did that. It was who I was fantasizing about that made me self-conscious.
Asher Callahan—the man in my fantasy—was my stepbrother.
“It's so good to see you,” I said. “Thank you for driving all the way here just to help me get ready.”
“Of course, girl. I've missed you. Home just isn't the same without you.” Maeve squeezed my hand and put her bag down on one of the extra chairs.
Maeve and I had been inseparable since kindergarten. That was until a year ago when my mom met Asher's dad—Russell Callahan—and they had a whirlwind romance. Russell and my mom married after only six weeks of knowing each other.
“Let's get started!” Maeve said and excitedly clapped her hands together.
Her enthusiasm was contagious, and I grinned as I sat down in front of the vanity mirror.
“I think we should do your hair first,” she said. “Where's your brush?”
“Hm, probably still in my bag. I haven't unpacked it yet.”
Maeve smirked and put her hands on her hips.
“Wasn’t the reason you took so long to open the door because you were brushing your hair?” she reminded me.
I ducked my head in embarrassment.
Once I located my brush, Maeve began to put my hair up into a complicated-looking updo.
“So, tell me about what's been going on with you,” she said. “When we talk on the phone, you never say anything about what’s going on in your life.”
My heart began to beat rapidly, and I shifted in my seat. Asher’s handsome face floated into my head, but I forced the image out of my mind.
“Uh, nothing’s really happened, honestly,” I said. “I’ve just been busy with myclasses and work. ”
I took classes at the local community college and worked as a server at a sports bar to save up enough money to live on my own.
Oh yeah, and I can’t stop thinking about my stepbrother and what it would feel like to kiss him. Is that normal, Maeve? Do you think there’s something wrong with me?
I blushed, wondering what my friend would say if I actually said that out loud.
Her deft fingers arranged my long copper-colored hair into a braided crown that wrapped around the back of my head.
“I'm sorry that I wasn't able to make it down last month for your birthday. How was it? How was shifting for the first time?” she asked.
We shifters first transformed into our wolves on the night of our twentieth birthday.
“My birthday was nothing special. And, um, my first shift wasn’t the best experience…I kind of freaked out. The magic and power flowing through me during the transformation honestly terrified me.”
Maeve's eyes were wide and she nodded for me to keep going.
“It seemed like I could destroy a whole city by myself,” I admitted. “I felt…afraid of myself, and I didn't know what my new form was capable of. What I was capable of.”
“Oh, Ivy. I'm so sorry you experienced that,” my friend said.
“It’s okay. I eventually calmed down…”
I wasn't telling her the whole story. The night of my twentieth birthday—the first time I shifted—was the night my infatuation with my stepbrother had begun. After I transformed into my wolf, I howled loudly. I was scared and alone in the woods behind our house.
Asher had been the one to find me. He was in his human form, and all he had said was my name. Him just saying my name was enough to calm me down. I was able to transform back into my human form, Asher had brought me clothes to wear, and then walked with me back into the house.
