Page 22 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
But as soon as the knife touched Ivy’s skin, there was a slight pinch of pain on my left hand.
No…
My eyes widened as I watched Ivy drag the knife down her hand, and at the same time, it felt like someone was cutting my skin open.
I lifted my hand as if I were in a trance and looked at the bleeding wound.
“Asher,” Ivy breathed out as she showed me her identical wound on her hand.
My heart pulsed with intensity as the mating bond exploded to life between us—connecting Ivy and me together.
Our eyes met, and the world around me seemed to implode.
Ivy was my Fated Mate.
Chapter 7
Hope
Ivy
These last few weeks have been hell. When I saw Asher the day after we slept together, he acted like nothing had happened. He treated me with the same cool indifference he always did. Even though his father was in the hospital, wouldn't he react differently toward me after our night together?
The only explanation I could come up with was that Asher wanted to ignore the fact that we had slept together and move on with his life. But that was difficult for me to do. I couldn't just move on after the best night of my life. My dreams were filled with his addictive mouth on mine, his strong hands caressing every inch of my body, and the devoted look on his face when he entered me.
How was I supposed to forget that had happened?
After that, I’d spent most of my time in my room to avoid everyone and process what had happened. But then obsessing over my impossible situation made me so physically ill, I couldn't get out of my bed most days. Sometimes my anxiety and stress would build up so much that I would run to my bathroom and throw up. The nausea hadto be due to my stress about Asher and the remorse that plagued me when it came to my stepdad.
Guilt ate away at me for not visiting Russell in the hospital. Frequently, I prayed to the Moon Goddess for him to get better. My mother was pissed that I hadn't been coming with her to visit Russell. She said that it didn't look good that I wasn't playing the worried daughter. Her saying that made me feel even more sick. Was this all just a game to her?
Some nights, when I was feeling up to it, I would sneak to the pack's hospital and stand outside Russell's hospital room to check on him. I'd make sure Asher was asleep before I poked my head in. I'd always gaze at Asher's handsome face during those times and wonder why he wanted to act like nothing had happened between us the night of the gala.
But now, none of that mattered.
Because Asher was my Fated Mate.
I stared into Asher's hazel eyes and placed a hand over my heart. It seemed like it was going to beat out of my chest, like it was trying to get to him. As the mating bond between Asher and I finished manifesting, my soul sang with happiness.
The pull that had always been between us intensified even more now that our bond was in place.
Of course.
That was why there had always been this undeniable pull between us. It hadn't been just my imagination! The Moon Goddess had wanted us to be together. Making love to Asher hadn't been wrong. Who cared that our parents were married now that we were Fated Mates? No one could find a relationship between us wrong because she had destined it from the very beginning.
Thank you, Moon Goddess.
I should've put my trust in her from the very first time I met Asher. She always had a plan.
I reached out my right hand toward him. Our bond was already affecting my actions, spurring me to touch him, to touch any part of him I could manage to reach. He was mine, and I was his. There was nothing that could keep two Fated Mates apart.
Nothing.
Right before my hand touched his arm, Asher took a few steps away from me and shook his head back and forth slowly—almost like he was being hypnotized.
“No,” he said quietly.
No?
