Page 82 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
“You…got me jewelry?” I asked, not sure how I felt about this.
“I’m returning something to you,” he said and handed me the box.
When I opened it, I gasped.
Oh my Goddess!
Nestled in the box was the silver necklace my grandmother had given me. The one with the “I” pendant hanging on the end of it.
“Asher…how?” I looked up at him, tears forming in my eyes. “I haven’t seen this necklace since…the day I left Sun Fire. I accidentally left it behind.”
“Back then, I always saw you wearing it, and when I found it in my dad’s house, I wanted to make sure to save it for you,” he explained, his cheeks growing slightly red.
“Asher…thank you.”
That was all I could manage to say. I was overcome with emotion. I couldn’t believe that he would do something so sweet like this for me. It showed that even when he had thought I was like my mother and in on her plans, he still cared for me deep down.
“I've kept your room exactly the same,” Asher continued. “I didn’t want to touch anything and mess it up. Maybe you can come and see it again sometime.”
His eyes were round and hopeful. It made my heart burn with emotion.
“I would love to,” I said and meant it. “Will you put it on me?” I asked, my voice uncharacteristically shy.
“Of course.”
I turned and moved my hair out of the way. My heart skipped a beat when his warm hands brushed against my shoulders. As he clasped the necklace, I held my breath.
When the necklace was on, I reached up andtouched the “I”, feeling closer to my grandma already. I knew I didn’t need the necklace to feel connected to her, but it helped to have something physical of hers.
When I turned around, Asher was much closer to me than he had been before.
He took both of my hands in his. He let out a deep sigh, his long eyelashes fanning across his cheeks as he closed his eyes. When he opened them and met my gaze, my hands shook in his. Asher was the most handsome man I’d ever seen. His wavy brown hair was slightly ruffled, and the firelight highlighted the sharp planes of his face.
“I know that we said we were going to put our relationship on hold for now, but I have something to confess to you,” he murmured.
All I could do was nod for him to continue.
“I want to have a relationship with you,” Asher said, making my stomach swoop. “I know that I still need to work at earning your trust, but I want to have both you and Adrian in my life. I want the three of us to be a family. A real family. If and when you’re ready.”
I opened my mouth, but no sound would come out. I didn’t know what to say. Emotions were swirling through me so fast that I didn’t even have time to experience them.
“You don’t have to say anything right now,” Asher assured me. “I just wanted you to know how I felt.”
He flipped over his left hand, his palm facing up. He kept it resting on top of mine. With his other hand, he traced the scar he had gotten from the mating ceremony.
“My scar had grown faint over our years apart, but now that we are together and connecting again, our scars are coming back,” he said, and gently flipped over my left hand with his right.
He traced my scar, making me shiver.
Our hands were side by side, and my eyes widened when I noticed that both of our scars were growing redder and bolder.
When they came in fully, would our mating bond be fully repaired? Was that what I wanted?
I didn’t have time to answer my own questions because the moment our eyes met, we were kissing.
There was no build-up. No hesitation. One second, we were staringat each other. The next moment, my lips were on his, and then his tongue was sliding into my mouth.
Our mating bond thrummed with joy, making my heart race.
