Page 61 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
“Right!” Adrian said and turned to Asher. “I told Jonas that since Imogen had the car first, it was only fair that she got to race it. Then, Jonas could have a turn. It's called sharing.” He nodded knowledgeably. “After that, we got back to racing.”
“You had the situation handled before Ms. Chelsea could walk across the room,” I said, with pride in my voice.
“That's very impressive,” Asher said with a look of pure joy on his face.
His expression made my heart skip a beat. He was gazing at Adrian with such deep warmth in his eyes. It was similar to the feeling I had when I looked at our son. Asher was looking at Adrian like he could see into his soul and get a glimpse at all of the good that Adrian had to share with the world. He was looking at him like a parent would. Like Adrian's accomplishments were his own because Adrian was a piece of him.
And Asher didn't even know that Adrian was his.
“You know, I do a lot of mediating, too,” Asher told Adrian.
Our son leaned closer to his father with an intrigued twinkle in his eyes. “Really?”
“Yes, I'm the Alpha of my wolf pack,” Asher said. “A lot of the time, I have to settle arguments between pack members and Elders.”
“Are any of the fights about sharing toys?” Adrian asked, clearly interested.
A slow grin spread across Asher's face that made my breath catch. “Honestly, some of the fights are very similar to the ones you see in your daycare.”
“Cool! I bet I'd make a good Alpha,” Adrian said with confidence. “I want to change my answer for what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be an Alpha. Just like Asher.”
Asher's eyes widened, and I froze.
Holy shit.
By keeping this secret, was I taking away Adrian’s birthright? If Inever told him the truth, my son would never be known as Alpha Adrian.
Could I take that away from Adrian because I was fearful his father would one day turn his back on him like he did me?
I wasn’t sure what the right answer was.
“When you grow up, you can be whatever you want to be, sweetheart,” I said, my voice shaking slightly. My answer was a placeholder, but thankfully, Adrian grinned in response. “Honey, we should get going. Visiting time is almost over, and I'm sure Asher wants to get some rest.”
Adrian groaned and allowed his head to flop back dramatically. “Do we have to go?”
“Yes, honey. We have to get you back to the hotel so you can get ready for bed,” I said. “And I'm sure the nurses won't give us any special treatment since I snuck past them to see Asher.”
Asher’s lips twitched when our eyes met. “Healer Emery will let you stay if you want to.”
With his deep hazel eyes on mine, I almost agreed to stay, if only to watch Asher and Adrian talk some more, but it was getting late. “I really do need to get Adrian to bed.”
“Can I talk to you in private before you go?” Asher asked.
My stomach churned. I knew exactly what he wanted to talk about. My eyes went to Adrian…exactly where Asher was looking, too.
I wasn't ready to have this conversation, but I couldn't figure out a way to avoid it.
“Um, sure.”
I tracked down my dad, who was in the waiting room, narrowing my eyes at him for leaving Asher's hospital room so quickly. I left Adrian with him, then went back to Asher's room. My leg started bouncing when I settled back into the seat beside Asher's bed.
My former Mate took a deep breath as if he were preparing himself for something.
Here we go.
“Are you and Damian a couple? Is Damian Adrian'sfather?” he asked.
All I could do was blink at him. Out of all the things he could have said, that was the last possible thing I thought he was going to say.
