Page 18 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
My thoughts stayed on Asher as I blow-dried my hair, brushed my teeth, chugged two bottles of water, and dressed in black sweatpants and a pink shirt. Once my hair was dry, I braided it.
Should I knock on Asher’s door now that I felt ready to see him? My stomach was growling. Maybe we could go to a diner for some greasy food—that would be good for his hangover—and we could talk about the future.
A sharp, high scream interrupted my thoughts. Someone was yelling in a panicked voice. I couldn’t tell what they were saying because they were in the hallway, and the voice was muffled.
But it sounded like my mother.
My head whipped to the side, and my stomach dropped.
I threw my door open and rushed into the hallway.
“Ivy!” my mom yelled when she spotted me.
She was wearing a hotel robe, and her eyes were wild with panic.
“What’s wrong, mom?” I asked, then winced as she gripped my shoulderstightly.
“You need to call the pack healer! I couldn’t find my cell phone. Russell has had another heart attack!”
Chapter 6
The Mating Ceremony
Asher
“I’m so sorry, Asher. I know that this is hard to hear,” our pack healer said and clasped my shoulder.
My eyes burned, and I swallowed down the emotion threatening to escape me.
“Thank you, Healer Emery. I know that you’ve done all you can,” I said and shook his hand. “I’m going to sit with him for a little while longer before I have to leave.”
“Of course. Take all the time you need.” Healer Emery bowed his head, then walked to his office at the end of the hallway.
Slowly, I made my way back to my dad’s hospital room. I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorframe. I took a moment to stare at my dad’s sleeping form. He was covered by a white blanket, and there were wires attached to his chest, monitoring his heart.
It had been three weeks since the gala that was thrown in honor of my father. Three weeks since his second heart attack happened the morning after the party.
My stomach rolled as Healer Emery’s words from a moment agodrifted through my mind like a poisonous gas that could destroy my entire life in one moment.
If your father’s condition doesn’t improve on its own, I’m afraid that his heart could give out soon. Right now, the only thing I can really do is make sure that he’s comfortable.
Healer Emery had tried every treatment and medication that he could think of to help my father. His team had been consulted healing witches all around our kingdom. Nothing was working to help heal my father.
My father was dying, and there was nothing anyone could do to save him.
I’d spent the past three weeks at the hospital with him. When he was sleeping, I’d attend video conferences about pack business and my father’s company. I’d gotten very little sleep and had been consumed by my father’s condition. I hadn’t even had time to think about the gala and wonder how I had gotten so drunk that night. I barely remembered anything. Sometimes, I’d remember little snippets of a woman’s soft moan or a gentle touch that seared my skin. These images always made me think of Ivy, but I knew that was because of my imagination and my foolish obsession with her.
I had no idea if I’d slept with someone the night of the gala. There hadn’t been any trace of a woman when I woke up to Evelyn screaming the next morning. But there had been the faint sweet scent on my pillow.
I’d wondered if I had met someone that night.
My father was dying.
A horrible feeling of powerlessness sliced through my body, and I put a hand to my own rapidly beating heart. Every fiber of my being rejected the fact that my father was going to die. For my whole life, he had been my role model. How could I live in a world where he wasn’t alive? I’d give anything to save my father. Over these last few weeks, I prayed to the Moon Goddess every morning and night to please spare him. He was the only parent I’d ever known.
My dad grunted in his sleep, and I rushed toward him. I gripped one of his clammy hands in both of mine. His eyes opened slightly. They were the same hazel color as mine.
“Are you all right, Dad?” I asked, trying to keep the anxiety out of my voice. “Are you in pain? Should I call Healer Emery?”
