Page 109 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
When our lips touched, I could tell that Ivy was still smiling, which made our kiss even sweeter. She tasted exactly like I remembered, and I was whole again now that she was in my arms.
Soon, I had to pull away to draw in a breath, and Ivy leaned her warm forehead against mine, looking deep into my eyes.
“I’m so thankful you're awake,” she whispered and gently trailed her soft fingers down my cheek. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“It was your love that made me wake up,” I said, and tightened my arms around her. “I only found the strength to wake up because of you and Adrian. I couldn’t have done it with you two.”
We stared at each other for an immeasurable moment, and gratitude flooded through me at the fact that I was still alive and able to enjoy my life with my family.
“I should go get Healer Emery so that he can check on you,” Ivy said reluctantly and beganto pull away.
But I squeezed her tight, and she looked at me questioningly.
“I can’t wait one more moment without asking you to be my Luna,” I said, and Ivy gasped. “Will you make me the happiest man alive and be my wife?”
Tears formed in her eyes again, but this time, they were from happiness. Ivy threw her arms around me and pulled me close.
“Yes, Asher. Of course, I’ll be your Luna. I love you more than anything.”
I smiled and knew that I’d never get tired of hearing her say that she loved me.
Chapter 42
Unconventional
Ivy
*Six months later*
For the second time in my life, I was standing in the forest and wearing a white dress. Nearly eight years ago, I’d been in this exact same spot, nervous for my mating ceremony and scared to face the man who I thought had spent one glorious night with me, then pretended like I didn’t exist.
Now, as I stood and waited for my cue, I thought back to everything my Mate and I had been through over the years: one perfect stolen night, Asher’s rejection, me running away and hiding my pregnancy from him, reuniting, watching him bond with our son, falling back in love with him, and working together to save our son from my mother.
The course of our relationship had been filled with mistakes and betrayals, which both of us had been guilty of making. Our love story was messy and unconventional. But I wouldn’t change a thing about how I fell in love with Asher Callahan.
Well, how I fell in love with him twice.
I loved our story because it was ours.
And today, I couldn’t wait to make Asher mine in every way possible. My second mating ceremony was set up much differently than my first. Traditionally, in our pack, the ceremony was done at night. But Asher wanted our ceremony to be in the afternoon when the sun was at its highest point in the sky. His reasoning had made my heart melt. Asher had told me he didn’t want it to be at night because he didn’t want me to become his Luna in the darkness. He wanted to show the pack that I was the love of his life in the light of day.
Instead of candles lining the forest floor, honeysuckle and ivy vines were wrapped together, creating an aisle for me to walk down. Even though it wasn’t customary for me to have a bouquet for a mating ceremony, I was holding white and red roses to honor our pack’s traditional mating ceremony colors.
The entire BloodMoon Pack was either seated or standing, waiting for the ceremony to begin. Even though I’d been rejected in front of almost all of them all those years ago, I wasn’t nervous to hold my head high and claim Asher as my Mate in front of them. Over these past six months, I’d gotten to know all of the members of the BloodMoon Pack, and I was excited to help lead them by Asher’s side.
“You ready, honey?” my dad asked, offering me his arm.
I grinned and looped my arm through his.
“I’ve never been more ready for something in my life, Dad.”
Slowly, we walked down the aisle, and I smiled at Maeve, who was sitting in one of the back rows. She had helped me get ready this morning and teased me about how the last time she had done my makeup—before Russell’s gala—she had known this day would come. She said that just from the look on my face when I talked about Asher back then, she had known I was in love with him.
She had been the one to help me pick out my wedding dress. I went for a simple satin gown with a fitted bodice. Maeve and I agreed that it made my slim frame look elegant, especially when I put on my veil.
In the front row, I paused for a moment to squeeze my brother’s hand. Tears were glinting in Damian’s eyes.
“You owe me twenty bucks,” I whispered.
