Page 16 of Rejected by My Stepbrother Alpha (Billionaire Shifter Club #1)

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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.

I could take it.

Asher cleared his throat and folded his hands in front of him. I had purposefully chosen to sit directly across from him so that I was right in his line of sight. I wanted to make him uncomfortable. I wanted to throw him off his game. Every time he looked up, I wanted him to see me first.

Not because I wanted him to look at me. Because I wanted to be a reminder of what he did.

“Good morning, everyone,” Asher said. “I’d like to start the meeting by thanking Damian and Ivy—“ Asher blushed and coughed. “I’m sorry.” He banged on his chest, and his eyes watered.

“Something was stuck in my throat. “I’d like to start the meeting by thanking Damian and Ivinia for traveling from the other side of the kingdom to meet with us.” Asher paused and nodded at Damian and then me.

He couldn’t even make eye contact with me.

I leaned back in my chair and raised my coffee cup to hide my smile.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

“Are you not hungry?” Damian asked after he polished off his Reuben sandwich.

I looked down at my turkey bacon avocado club and sighed.

“Nah, you can have it.” I pushed my plate toward him and smiled when he didn’t hesitate to stuff it into his mouth. “You’re disgusting,” I said and laughed.

Damian paused and shrugged, then got back to inhaling my lunch.

I looked out the window of the busy restaurant and stared up at Asher’s tall building .

We were on an hour lunch break from the meeting. Asher had offered to order us lunch to the office, but I declined. Damian and I needed the time to speak in private. But during our lunch, I’d barely said two words.

My mind was too full of thoughts about Asher.

The morning had been good…at first. It was fun to watch Asher be flustered by me, just like I had been when we first met. Now, the tables had turned, and I was the one with the upper hand.

During the meeting, Asher had spoken about why he thought it was smart to work together.

He listed the obvious points—like the Alpha king wanted us to team up, and two teams were better than one.

But he also brought up an interesting point.

Asher revealed that he wanted to work with us because his rival company that was run by Silas Shepard was fighting hard for the job, too.

Silas’ company was teaming up with Ginger Howard—another one of his tech business rivals.

Asher didn’t want those companies to have the account because he had found out recently that both of their companies were cutting corners.

What if they got the job and they didn’t develop the optimal tech to protect our kingdom?

During the meeting, when I would mention even the smallest point, fact, or name, I could tell just from his expression, Asher was impressed with my knowledge of the tech world. When Asher’s astounded look had given me a quick flash of pride, I began to rethink my decision to come to Sun Fire.

I couldn’t allow myself to be drawn into Asher’s orbit again. Not only for myself, but for my son, too. Asher had already rejected me. I wasn't going to allow him to send away his son.

I picked up my paper napkin and began to tear it into tiny pieces.

I imagined my son bursting into tears because his father sent him away. I could barely handle the heartbreak of being rejected when I was twenty. If Asher told Adrian that he wanted nothing to do with him, what would that do to my sweet, sensitive, six-year-old boy?

No.

Asher must not find out that we had a son. He was the one who wanted to pretend like our night together had never happened, so he could just spend the rest of his life pretending.

“Ivinia? Are you all right?”

Damian's voice startled me out of my thoughts.

I looked down and flushed when I realized I’d torn up the entire paper napkin. I gathered the white bits of paper and put them on my empty—thanks to Damian—plate.

“Uh, yeah. I'm fine,” I said and took a sip of my iced tea.

Damian gave me a look that made it obvious he didn't believe my lie. My half-brother and I didn't look much alike. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and had midnight black hair. His eyes were the exact same shade of emerald grin as Adrian's.

Damian crossed his arms and leaned back. “Come on, out with it. Ever since you found out that we were going to travel to the BloodMoon Pack, you haven’t been acting like yourself. You’re at least ten percent more annoying.”

I couldn’t even muster a smile.

I hadn’t revealed much of my past to my father and Damian. All they knew was that Adrian’s dad didn’t know that he had a son and that I’d like to keep it that way. Neither of them even knew that I used to be a member of the BloodMoon Pack.

Damian caught my eye, and his expression turned serious.

“Whatever it is, you can trust me with it. I promise.”

My bottom lip trembled, and my eyes filled with unshed tears.

Goddess, it was nice to have people in my life I could rely on.

I let out a long, slow breath and squared my shoulders. “I used to be a member of the BloodMoon Pack,” I whispered like it was a dirty secret.

“Okay…” Damian paused, waiting for more.

“Asher and I have, um, history.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed, and he cracked his knuckles.

“What kind of history?” he said in a dangerous voice.

“When you hear this, you can’t go all protective older brother on Asher for…so many reasons…promise?”

“I’m a year younger than you,” Damian reminded me.

I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“Fine,” Damian grumbled, “but I reserve the right to revoke that promise. ”

Well, that had to be good enough for now.

“Asher and I…were Fated Mates.”

Damian's eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open.

“But he rejected me in front of the whole pack.” I paused and clutched my heart as it ached with remembered pain. “The next day, I found out that I was pregnant with Adrian.”

“Have you made a decision on whether you'd like to team up with us?” Asher asked Damian.

It was twenty minutes later, and we were all gathered around the conference table again.

My brother didn't answer Asher. Instead, he looked at me and nodded.

“Yes, we have made a decision,” I said.

Everyone's gaze swung toward me. Asher was the last person to look at me.

For a moment, the rest of the world fell away. It was just Asher and I staring at each other, trying to read each other's minds and intentions.

I cleared my throat and smiled at the man who had publicly rejected me.

“Damian and I would like to thank you for your offer, but we have decided to go in a different direction. Thank you so much for your time,” I said, stood from the table, grabbed my briefcase, and left the room with Damian.

I made sure to shut the glass door, but I knew that Asher would still be watching me walk away.