Page 31 of Rejected by My Stepbrother Alpha (Billionaire Shifter Club #1)

S mall Fragments

Asher

Ivy and I sat in silence as we waited for my guards to come to the hotel.

The tension was thick as I leaned against the wall with my arms crossed.

Ivy tried her best to catch my eye. When my warriors arrived, I ordered most of them to guard the entrances of the hotel and scope the perimeter of the surrounding woods.

I wasn't sure if Riggs had backup or if Evelyn had hired other lone wolves to try to kidnap Adrian.

My son.

Shock raced down my spine, and my brain short-circuited. No, that wasn't possible. He couldn't be my son.

I had two of my guards haul away an angry Riggs while Ivy checked on Adrian.

Just thinking of his name made my stomach jolt.

While Ivy was gone, I called down to the front desk and asked if someone could clean up the blood off the white carpet.

Ivy came back just as the maids arrived, and we went into her adjoining room, shutting the door behind us.

Without a word, Ivy went out onto her balcony.

I followed after, closing the glass door.

For a while, we stood there in silence. The wind was strong this high up, and Ivy's auburn hair was whipping around her face.

Her expression was unreadable as she stared at the city below.

Night had fallen over Sun Fire. The streets were even more crowded now, and I watched the people of my city instead of looking at Ivy.

The only emotion I could feel right now, was surprise.

“Adrian is asleep,” Ivy murmured, her words almost lost with the wind and the noise from the city below.

“Good,” I said. My voice sounded robotic. I cleared my throat. “I'm glad he can sleep after…everything.”

Is it possible we could be discussing my son? My six-year-old son?

“He was asking for you before he finally drifted off,” Ivy said, still looking down instead of at me.

A new emotion inched its way into my heart: warmth.

I turned to Ivy, and when she met my eyes, my chest ached when I saw that tears were quietly falling down her face. My hand twitched. I wanted to reach out and wipe the tears from her cheek. I wanted to hug her soft, warm body close and tell her that everything was going to be all right.

But if what Riggs said was true—even though I couldn't see how it could be—then Ivy had kept this big secret from me for six years.

So, I wasn't sure if everything was going to be all right.

“Ivy…I don't understand. How can Adrian be my son? We never slept together. I would have remembered.” I couldn't help but reach out my hand and cup her cheek. “I would have remembered you.”

She placed her hand over mine, and her thumb gently rubbed the back of my hand. Even that small touch filled me with warmth. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she sighed quietly. When she opened them again, her eyes were resolute.

“It’s true, Asher…Adrian is your son.”

My hand slid from her face, and I stumbled a few steps back.

“But, how? We never slept together,” I repeated, but this time, my voice was firm.

She had to be mistaken. I would have remembered making love to Ivy.

A flash of hurt crossed her face, and I immediately regretted my stiff tone. But the next second, her expression changed. Her eyes narrowed, and her lips pursed.

“Well, it happened. Even if you were too drunk to remember. It happened the night of the gala honoring your father. After the gala, you were drunk and stumbling around the hallway outside your room. I helped you in your room, we kissed, and one thing led to another…is any of this ringing a bell?” Ivy noticed my blank look, and she scowled. “I guess not.”

“I’m sorry, Ivy,” I said, and I reached for her hand on the metal railing, but she pulled it away. “I believe you. I just can’t believe I don’t remember…”

Things I’d been wondering about for seven years were finally starting to make sense.

After the night of my father’s gala, I would get small fragments of the feeling of a woman’s soft skin or a quiet moan.

In those moments, I would always think of Ivy, but I had written that off as my fascination with her.

Now that I knew I'd been lucky enough to spend the night with her, it explained why my fantasies about Ivy were so vivid and felt so real.

It was because somewhere in my subconscious, I had experienced it.

But how could I not remember what was, without a doubt, the best night of my life?

Even though we didn’t know it at the time, Ivy and I were Fated Mates when we slept together.

How could I not remember making love to my Mate?

I must have gotten really drunk, even though I only recalled having one glass of champagne.

I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I had a son. From the moment I met Adrian, a small part of me had suspected that he was a part of me, but I never truly considered the fact that that could actually be true.

“I wonder how my mom knows that Adrian is your son?” Ivy murmured, mostly to herself. “I didn’t even tell her I was pregnant. I found out the day that…the day after the mating ceremony.”

Grief made my heart sink. “The day my dad died. The day I kicked you and your mother out of the house,” I said.

Ivy nodded.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that alone.”

I reached for her hand again, but she slipped it into the pocket of the cardigan she had put over her white dress.

Ivy’s blue eyes sparked, and she raised her chin defiantly. “What did I say about pitying me?” she snapped. “I’m stronger because of every hardship I’ve been through.”

We were quiet for a few moments. Now that I knew that Ivy had been mistakenly thinking that I ignored her after sleeping with her, and then I rejected her in front of the whole pack, I could understand why she kept Adrian a secret from me.

Even though I understood why she kept it from me, it still hurt that she did.

“Wait, how in the hell does Damian factor into all this?” I asked, leaning my elbows on the railing.

A strangled laugh burst from her lips. “Damian is my half-brother,” she explained, her lips twitching.

My head whipped to the side, and I stared at her. Was she joking?

“So Evelyn…” I started, but stopped when my brain throbbed like I was trying to solve a hard math problem.

“Mason Blackwood is my father, too,” Ivy said. “My mother traveled to the ColdCrest Pack when she was younger. I’m Damian’s older sister.”

I blinked a few times, and it took me a few minutes to fully process this news. My heart lifted slightly when I realized I had nothing to worry about where Damian was concerned. He was actually my son’s uncle.

My son.

Just thinking those words made my lips pull up into a wide smile.

“I want to have a relationship with him,” I told Ivy, my voice determined. “I want to be a good father to Adrian, just like my father was to me. I want to be able to tuck him in at night and read him Goodnight Little Shifter. I want to really get to know him and for him to get to know me.”

Her eyes softened, and a small smile crossed her face. But a look of realization passed over her features, and her body tensed.

“Of course you can have a relationship with him…but tomorrow morning, Adrian and I have to leave Sun Fire. It isn’t safe for us here anymore.”