Page 24 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
My eyes burned with unshed tears as I fled for the safety of the deep woods. For a few minutes, the only sound was my bare feet slapping the ground and my heavy breathing.
I peeked over my shoulder and let out a sigh of relief when I saw that I was alone. My emotions threatened to overwhelm me, so I did the only thing I could think of.
I began to rip my dress off my body, tearing it in half. Once I was naked, and the cool night air hit my skin, I could finally breathe again.
I allowed my wolf to take over, and my body began to tremble as my shape transformed. Every part of my body painfully lengthened and sharpened—my teeth, my nails, and my limbs. But I accepted the pain. I embraced it. It was better than allowing my despair to crush me.
As I ran through the dark woods in my wolf form, I looked up at the bright full moon and howled. The sharp sound was full of pain even to my own ears.
Chapter 8
The Empty Bed
Asher
My footsteps echoed on the white linoleum floor. I was roaming the empty hospital halls like a ghost. I hadn’t slept at all since I returned from the mating ceremony, and that was hours ago. The first rays of the sunrise were coming in through the window across the hall from my dad’s hospital room.
I couldn’t sleep because each time I shut my eyes, I saw Ivy’s anguished expression right after I rejected her as my Mate.
What have you done?
Her words kept running through my mind on repeat. With each step I took, the words followed me. They were stalking me, creeping up on me like a sinister shadow in the night.
My heart felt like someone had lit it on fire. The pain from a broken mating bond was indescribable.
The image of Ivy running away, her long hair whipping through the wind, and her white dress illuminated in the dark night, would forever be branded into my mind. I’d almost run after her, but managed to stop myself by remembering all the reasons she couldn’t be my Luna.
My heart gave an agonizing throb, and I gripped my chest.
What have I done?
No, I couldn’t question myself.
I had to reject her. She was working with Evelyn.
I turned down the corridor that led to my dad’s room. I’d been walking the same three hallways tonight. Checking in on my dad each time I passed his room.
I was three doors away when the loud beeping started.
My heart dropped and my head spun with panic.
Dad.
I sprinted into my father’s room, my pulse racing, my thoughts spiraling to worst-case scenarios.
No!
My father—the only parent I’d ever known—lay there, his chest still and his glazed hazel eyes open and unseeing.
“Healer Emery!” I called even though I already knew it was too late.
Healer Emery was already racing into the room and started chest compressions.
Grief squeezed my heart in a vice-grip until I was afraid it was going to explode inside my chest.
One of Healer Emery’s assistants ran into the room.
I stumbled back to the corner to give them some space.
