Page 37 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
Fine, I could play along.
“Asher Callahan,” I said and gripped her hand. When our skin made contact, a pleasant shock went up my arm and there was a demanding pull in my chest. “It's nice to meet you, Ivinia.”
Ivy’s smile held a little of a bite.
“Likewise,” she said and dropped her hand, ending our contact.
She turned to introduce herself to Cooper, her auburn hair swinging in front of my face.
Oh…
Her sweet honeysuckle smell hit me like a truck.
The Mate that I had rejected had just walked back into my life after seven years and damn if that missing piece inside of me finally felt like it was going to slide back into place.
Chapter 13
Vindication
Ivy
As I walked around the room greeting the BloodMoon team, I did my best to keep a pleasant smile on my face. But that was hard to do when the man who publicly humiliated me was standing across the room, and I could feel his hot gaze on me.
On the plane ride to the BloodMoon Pack, I had planned out the casually cruel way I was going to snub Asher. Initially, I wanted to tell Damian to come without me. But when I thought more about it, a vindictive part of me wanted Asher to see how successful and confident I had turned out to be despite what he had done.
And that vindictive voice was loud and convincing.
But even after all of my mental preparation, seeing Asher for the first time in all these years still managed to shock me. Our undeniable connection hadn’t faded in seven years.
It had only grown stronger.
Even now, as I shook hands with a member of Asher’s board, my face heated, and my breathing became shallow.
Why did Asher’s presence still affect me?
Quickly, I glanced over at him, which didn’t help with the warmth that I could feel spreading throughout my body.
Over the years, Asher’s looks hadn’t faded.
The bastard had gotten more good-looking. He had cut his brown hair so that it no longer flopped onto his forehead. He had grown a trimmed beard that had a slight reddish tint to it. Even though he had been tall before, he had shot up a few inches, probably putting his height around six foot five. Which meant that he towered over me now.
Like I said, he was a bastard.
His hazel eyes seemed to have more flecks of gold in them, but that could just be my imagination. The scar over his right eyebrow had grown faint. There was also something different about the way he carried himself. It wasn't due to a newfound confidence like in my case. Asher Callahan had always been confident. No, this was different. From the intense look in his eyes and the rigidness of his posture, it seemed like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
But I didn't want to notice these things about the man who had rejected me. I didn't want to still feel an irrational pull toward him.
Maybe it was a mistake coming here.
As Asher invited Damian and I to sit down, I took a deep breath and tried to center myself. Normally, I pictured my son’s sweet face to calm down, but how could I think about Adrian when Asher was sitting directly across the table from me?
My father and Adrian had come with us to the BloodMoon Pack. My dad was watching Adrian at our hotel in the city. Just having Adrian in the same vicinity as his father was a risk, but I couldn’t imagine leaving Adrian. I knew that my father would keep a close eye on him.
I studied the contents of the glass table as everyone settled into their seats. Coffee, water bottles, and some sad-looking glazed donuts.
Hm.
I reached for a paper cup and filled it from the glass carafe. As I sipped my coffee and turned on my laptop, I studied everyone around the table. I didn’t see any familiar faces from my time in Sun Fire. I had a faint memory of Russell telling my mother that the Board of Directors of his company weren’t part of his pack,and Asher must have hired Cooper from another pack or even another kingdom. I was sure that some of my old pack members held jobs at Asher’s company, but I didn't care if any of them—or anyone else in the BloodMoon Pack—recognized me as the twenty-year-old girl who Asher rejected. That was the old me. I was confident enough in who I was now that I could handle a few stares and some muttered gossip. Let them talk.
