Page 23 of Rejected by My Stepbrother Alpha (Billionaire Shifter Club #1)

B elonging

Asher

The bastard was grinning at me across the table.

Damian reached for his coffee cup and took a drink from it.

Even the way he drank coffee pissed me off.

It was the day after Ivy and I had spoken, and Damian and her came to my office to work on the project.

We were in my favorite conference room, surrounded by glass walls.

Cooper, one of our company's top engineers, and our project team were in attendance.

On the screen, the team that Ivy and Damian had put together were joining our meeting via video call.

We’d been in this room since six in the morning, and it was now almost five in the evening. All day we’d been working on perfecting our idea and discussing the best materials to build our prototype with.

We were discussing what kind of camera to use in our device. Of course, Damian and I disagreed on the matter. I was trying to put my jealous attitude toward Damian aside because I knew that if we won the Alpha king account, it would help our businesses and packs.

But that was hard when I had a suspicion that he was dating—and possibly had a child with—the only woman I’d ever had feelings for.

The bastard .

I couldn’t stop picturing them hugging on the sidewalk, and the fact that Ivy had mentioned that Damian had a son yesterday. I just had this feeling that she and Damian were more than work colleagues.

I wanted to ask Ivy if they were dating, but it never seemed like the right time to bring it up.

“Asher, it wouldn’t make sense from a user standpoint to choose the thermal camera,” Damian said and leaned back in his chair.

Was it my imagination, or did he just shift closer to Ivy? Whenever Damian even glanced in her direction, I had the ridiculous urge to slam his face against the table.

“Sure, a thermal camera would be nice for the king’s warriors to be able to see the heat coming off their enemies to find where they are in the dark,” Damian continued.

“But thermal cameras only show body heat. Wouldn’t it be more useful for the warriors to see the whole picture, not just a bunch of body heat signatures?

That way, the Royal Guard can create a better tactical plan.

That’s why I think we should stick with the standard camera. ”

Instead of arguing with him, I turned to Ivy. My heart stuttered when I looked at her. Today, her auburn was pulled up, showing off her gorgeous face. The top two buttons on her white blouse were undone, and her creamy skin made my mouth dry.

Whenever my eyes traveled to her—which was often—I thought about our talk the day before.

I was glad that we had that conversation, but I wished Ivy had agreed to my suggestion of getting to know each other better.

She hadn’t said no, but from the way she was acting toward me today, I was afraid that she had decided she didn’t want to get to know the real me.

“What do you think, Ivinia?” I asked.

She didn’t even look at me as she answered. Instead, her gaze was on the paper in front of her, where she had sketched a picture of our prototype.

“Why can’t we have both a regular camera and a thermal camera?” Ivy said as she drew both cameras onto the paper. “If we increase the size of the motors, I’m sure we could fit them both. That way, the king’s warriors can see the enemy during the day as well as at night.”

There was a beat of silence as the room thought over her proposal.

“You’re a genius,” Cooper said as he looked over Ivy’s shoulder at her sketch.

Pride for Ivy flowed through me as everyone praised her brilliant idea. Then, it turned to red-hot jealousy as Ivy and Damian shared a look, smiling widely at each other.

I’d been watching them closely to try to figure out if they were a couple.

Could that little boy I saw actually be their son?

Damian and Ivy never touched, but that could be because they were trying to keep things professional.

There was a familiar note to their interactions that made my teeth hurt from clenching my jaw so hard, but I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

I wasn’t going to give up hope, though.

Ivy had clung to me yesterday during our embrace outside of her hotel. Her breath had hitched when I whispered in her ear. And I didn’t miss the longing look in her eyes whenever her gaze met mine. It didn’t matter how quickly she looked away from me. I was certain that her body wanted me.

But I was quickly beginning to realize that I wanted much more from Ivy than just a physical relationship.

The meeting ended shortly after that. Damian, Ivy, Cooper, and I thanked our teams for all their hard work.

I thought about the intensity of my feelings for Ivy as we left for the day. I was lost in my head as I walked out of my building behind Ivy and Damian. I caught up with them on the busy sidewalk, planning a way I could prolong my time with Ivy and ditch Damian at the same time.

Before I could work something out, the same boy I saw with Ivy and Damian a few days ago ran up to us.

“Mommy!” he screamed and hugged Ivy’s legs.

Ivy’s eyes widened in shock, and she looked over at me. Was it my imagination, or was there fear in her eyes?

Now, I was certain that Ivy had a child with someone, even if Damian wasn’t the father of the little boy. The confirmation was like a punch to my gut.

A man who looked like the older version of Damian walked up to us. The similarities were so apparent, down to their black hair and green eyes that this could only be Mason Blackwood, Damian’s father.

“Adrian couldn’t wait to see you. I hope it’s all right that we came here,” Mason said to Ivy.

“Of course,” Ivy said with a tight smile.

Was Damian’s father watching Ivy’s son because he was the boy’s grandfather?

Mason spotted me, and a look of recognition crossed his face.

“Ah, you must be Asher,” he said and reached out to shake my hand. “You look so much like your father. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Mason said. “I’ve been following the changes you’ve made since taking over the company, and I’m sure your father would have been proud.

Regrettably, we haven't kept in touch over the years, but we teamed up on a few projects when we were young and just starting our businesses. He was a good and fair man, your father.”

“Thank you for saying that,” I said and meant every word. “That means a lot.”

Well, just because I disliked Damian didn’t mean his father was a bad guy.

“How did today go?” Mason asked Ivy, Damian, and me.

But I could barely pay attention to Damian’s answer. Because now that I was able to look at Ivy’s son up close, my heart began to pound.

The boy—Adrian—looked like…me.

My vision blurred for a moment, and my brain seemed to short-circuit.

Adrian had the exact shade of brown hair as I did. He also had the same shy grin I’d seen in my childhood pictures when I was around the same age.

Adrian met my gaze, and my heart melted.

There was just something so…familiar about him.

It was like this boy belonged to me in every sense of the word.

That same shy grin crossed Adrian’s face, and I had the strange desire to hug him.

I was not usually a fan of children, but this was different.

This feeling was primal and in evitable.

But the boy couldn’t be my son. Ivy and I had never slept together. We’d never even kissed. I would have remembered.

With a flare of jealousy, I noticed that Adrian had the same color eyes as Damian and Mason. Did that mean Adrian was his son? Could the similarities between Adrian and I be a coincidence?

“Mom, this morning you said that we could go to the diner and get a slice of key lime pie for dinner. Well, it’s dinner time now! Can we go? Please?” Adrian begged and tugged on Ivy’s hand.

Ivy smiled at her son and looked down at him with adoration. I could tell that this little boy was her whole world.

“Yes, honey,” she said. “You can have a slice of pie, but only after you eat dinner.”

Adrian beamed and my heart warmed when I noticed he was missing a couple of his teeth. The boy's eyes met mine and a look of curiosity crossed his face.

“Hi,” Adrian said to me. “What's your name?”

For a moment, my breath caught in my throat. When I recovered from the small shock, I bent down to his level and smiled at him.

“Hi, Adrian. My name's Asher. Wanna know a secret?”

Adrian nodded enthusiastically.

“Key lime is my favorite flavor of pie, too,” I said.

Adrian’s smile grew even further, and joy filled me at being the one to make him smile like that.

“Really?” he asked.

“Really.”

“Well, why don’t you come with us, then?” Adrian suggested excitedly. “Mom, Asher can come with us to get pie, can’t he?”

I straightened up and looked at Ivy. Hope made my heart lift slightly.

Ivy hesitated and glanced at Damian.

The bastard shook his head no.

“Sorry, honey. I’m sure Asher is really busy. We should go. Say goodbye,” Ivy rushed out and began to pull her son away from me before we even had a chance to say goodbye.

I barely paid attention as Mason shook my hand once more, and Damian ignored me, following after Ivy .

All I could do was stare at Adrian and Ivy as she led him down the sidewalk. When Adrian looked back and waved at me, an overwhelming emotion flowed through me. It was so strong that it almost knocked me back.

I watched them until they turned the corner.

What the hell was going on?

I needed to clear my head. My wolf was going crazy, but I didn’t feel like running through the woods in my other form. A nice, long drive through my city sounded nice.

I walked to my company’s parking lot, my mind still with Ivy and Adrian. The top was already down on my red BMW, and I slid into the driver's seat. I pulled out of the lot and onto the busy road.

Usually, I’d enjoy the sun on my face, the wind in my hair, and the sounds of the city around me, but I couldn’t focus on any of that.

Adrian’s face was what I was thinking of during a particularly sharp turn. I pressed down on my brake when it was time to slow down, but my foot met a complete lack of resistance.

Cold fear hit me like a tidal wave when I realized my brakes weren’t working.

The sound of a car horn was the last thing I heard.