Page 111 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
The crowd laughed, and I smiled, my mouth still trembling from my emotions.
Beta Flynn turned to me.
I let out a long, slow breath.
It was my turn.
“Asher,” I said in a shaky voice. I was already crying again. “Fromthe moment you talked me through my first shift, I fell in love with you.”
Asher’s eyes widened in shock. I’d never told him that before, and I was glad that I saved it for today.
“Ever since that day, I knew that you were my protector. When we reconnected six months ago, I fell in love with you all over again. Every single day, I find new things that I love and admire about you. Your love and pride for our family. Your confidence and courage as an Alpha and my business partner. Your generosity, resilience, and trustworthiness. I could go on and on, but we’d be here all day if I listed all of your positive qualities.”
The crowd laughed, but Asher and I only had eyes for each other.
“I vow to be by your side, loving you and supporting you for the rest of our lives. And I promise to find you in the next life and the one after that, because we are Fated Mates, not just in this life, but in every life,” I said, my voice trembling as tears silently ran down my cheeks. “I love you, and I can’t wait to be your Luna.”
There was a moment of silence as we stared into each other’s eyes.
Beta Flynn announced that we were Mates, and I eagerly embraced Asher.
He cupped my face and captured my lips. Our first kiss as Mates was sweet and innocent since we were surrounded by people. But Asher’s tongue gently touched mine in a promise for later, making my stomach swoop with desire.
When we pulled away, I raised my left hand, and Asher did the same. We pressed the palms of our hands together, and energy pulsed between our matching mating marks.
I let out a quiet gasp when my heart lurched toward Asher, causing me to wrap my arms around him again. He gently kissed the top of my head.
Our close contact made our mating bond hum with happiness.
In the same spot where it had been broken all those years ago, our bond became stronger than ever.
Chapter 43
Memories
Asher
I stood behind my Mate and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, resting my chin atop of her head.
It was the evening after our mating ceremony, and we had just gone for a run through the woods in our wolf forms.
Ivy sighed contentedly and leaned back into me as we watched the sun set on the forest behind our home.
After I recovered from my coma, Ivy and I decided to move our family into my childhood home. It had actually been her idea. The idea of living here had crossed my mind, but I didn’t want to mention it because I was afraid this house held too many bad memories for my Mate because of her mother.
But she said that the forest behind our house was the place we had first connected when I helped her through her first shift. And her old bedroom was the place where she had found out she was pregnant with Adrian. Ivy said that despite it having a few bad memories for her, it held many more good ones for me with my father.
We were excited to make even more cherished memories in this house with our son.
After our mating ceremony ended, we shared a tearful goodbye with Adrian, who was going back to the ColdCrest Pack for a week with his uncle, grandpa, aunt, and cousin. Our son was excited to spend time with his cousin and to see the place where he grew up again, but he had quickly become attached to Sun Fire and the people of BloodMoon that he would one day lead. Before he got into the car, I promised my son that I would take him to the diner for a slice of key lime pie when he got back.
After he left, it felt like he had taken a large piece of my heart with him. It would be nice to have a week alone with Ivy for our honeymoon, but I’d miss my son every second of the day.
“Are you thinking of Adrian, too?” Ivy murmured as she looked at the sun dipping below the trees.
“I am,” I answered and kissed the top of her head, breathing in that honeysuckle scent. “I know it’s only a week, but I’m going to miss him like crazy. I’m glad that he gets to spend time with Mateo, and he’s excited for his three-day road trip.”
“Damian promised me that he will call us every night to video chat with Adrian,” Ivy said and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of one of my hands. “We can read him Goodnight Little Shifter.”
