Page 46 of Rejected by My Stepbrother Alpha (Billionaire Shifter Club #1)

U nconventional

Ivy

*Six months later*

For the second time in my life, I was standing in the forest and wearing a white dress. Nearly eight years ago, I’d been in this exact same spot, nervous for my mating ceremony and scared to face the man who I thought had spent one glorious night with me, then pretended like I didn’t exist.

Now, as I stood and waited for my cue, I thought back to everything my Mate and I had been through over the years: one perfect stolen night, Asher’s rejection, me running away and hiding my pregnancy from him, reuniting, watching him bond with our son, falling back in love with him, and working together to save our son from my mother.

The course of our relationship had been filled with mistakes and betrayals, which both of us had been guilty of making. Our love story was messy and unconventional. But I wouldn’t change a thing about how I fell in love with Asher Callahan.

Well, how I fell in love with him twice.

I loved our story because it was ours .

And today, I couldn’t wait to make Asher mine in every way possible.

My second mating ceremony was set up much differently than my first. Traditionally, in our pack, the ceremony was done at night.

But Asher wanted our ceremony to be in the afternoon when the sun was at its highest point in the sky.

His reasoning had made my heart melt. Asher had told me he didn’t want it to be at night because he didn’t want me to become his Luna in the darkness.

He wanted to show the pack that I was the love of his life in the light of day.

Instead of candles lining the forest floor, honeysuckle and ivy vines were wrapped together, creating an aisle for me to walk down.

Even though it wasn’t customary for me to have a bouquet for a mating ceremony, I was holding white and red roses to honor our pack’s traditional mating ceremony colors.

The entire BloodMoon Pack was either seated or standing, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Even though I’d been rejected in front of almost all of them all those years ago, I wasn’t nervous to hold my head high and claim Asher as my Mate in front of them.

Over these past six months, I’d gotten to know all of the members of the BloodMoon Pack, and I was excited to help lead them by Asher’s side.

“You ready, honey?” my dad asked, offering me his arm.

I grinned and looped my arm through his.

“I’ve never been more ready for something in my life, Dad.”

Slowly, we walked down the aisle, and I smiled at Maeve, who was sitting in one of the back rows.

She had helped me get ready this morning and teased me about how the last time she had done my makeup—before Russell’s gala—she had known this day would come.

She said that just from the look on my face when I talked about Asher back then, she had known I was in love with him.

She had been the one to help me pick out my wedding dress. I went for a simple satin gown with a fitted bodice. Maeve and I agreed that it made my slim frame look elegant, especially when I put on my veil.

In the front row, I paused for a moment to squeeze my brother’s hand. Tears were glinting in Damian’s eyes.

“You owe me twenty bucks,” I whispered .

My brother and I had made a bet about whether or not he would cry at the ceremony.

“Shut up,” he murmured, wiping away his tears and grinning.

Blackwood Industries and BloodMoon Enterprises had merged so that we could have branches in both the BloodMoon and ColdCrest Packs.

Asher and I ran the branch here, and Damian was in charge of the one in ColdCrest. Damian, his family, and my dad split their time between living here and ColdCrest territory.

The Alpha king was very happy with our drones, and now we were working closely with Anya to develop an extended line of army weapons for the Royal Guard.

Silas’ company went bankrupt, and his pack now had a new—less corrupt—Alpha. It turned out that he was in a lot of debt and owed a lot of money to his company’s financiers, which was why he was always cutting corners.

Under an archway decorated with ivy and honeysuckle stood three men. Beta Flynn was going to perform our ceremony. My son looked dashing in a suit and white bow tie. Adrian grinned at me. His front teeth had grown in, but a small part of me missed his gap-toothed smile.

I had purposely saved looking at Asher last, because I knew when I laid eyes on him, I wouldn’t be able to look away.

When our gazes met, my heart skipped a beat.

Goddess, how did I get so lucky?

Asher looked devastatingly handsome in a fitted black suit and white tie. His gorgeous hazel eyes were shining with happiness as he took me in.

“Beautiful,” he breathed out. “Absolutely stunning.”

I flushed from his compliment, and he grinned, pleased that he could still make me blush.

“You do look beautiful, Mom!” Adrian added and smiled.

The three of us shared a warm look.

My family.

Although it wasn’t traditional, Asher and I decided to have Adrian stand behind his father during the ceremony. We couldn’t imagine not having our son up there with us.

My dad took my hand and gave it to Asher in a symbolic gesture. He gripped Asher’s shoulder and then mine.

“I’m so glad you found your way back to each other,” my dad whispered to us.

My throat tightened with emotion, but I didn’t want to cry just yet.

After I handed him my flowers to hold, my dad took his seat.

Under the archway, Asher and I took each other’s hands, and when he met my eyes, my heart lifted with joy.

It’s really happening.

I was about to marry Asher. My Fated Mate. The love of my life.

From the profound emotion brimming in Asher’s eyes, I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

Beta Flynn began the ceremony by taking a moment of silence for the Moon Goddess. After he explained the commitment that Asher and I were making and what the mating ceremony represented in our pack, it was time for the vows. Asher went first.

He cleared his throat and gripped my hands even tighter. Just his warm skin against mine was enough to quicken my pulse.

“Ivy, there is nothing in this world that I love more than you and our son. I promise to not only love you but to never take your love for granted. I will spend the rest of my life being the kind of partner that you deserve to have by your side. I promise to spend the rest of my life protecting you, supporting you, and cherishing you. You’re the best woman I’ve ever known, and I want to thank you for entrusting me with your heart and soul. ”

Asher gently squeezed my hands, and I couldn’t help but let a few tears roll down my cheeks.

He raised his hand and gently wiped them away with his thumb.

“And I promise to always wipe away your tears, whether you're sad, happy, or somewhere in between,” he finished.

The crowd laughed, and I smiled, my mouth still trembling from my emotions.

Beta Flynn turned to me.

I let out a long, slow breath.

It was my turn.

“Asher,” I said in a shaky voice. I was already crying again. “From the moment you talked me through my first shift, I fell in love with you.”

Asher’s eyes widened in shock. I’d never told him that before, and I was glad that I saved it for today.

“Ever since that day, I knew that you were my protector. When we reconnected six months ago, I fell in love with you all over again. Every single day, I find new things that I love and admire about you. Your love and pride for our family. Your confidence and courage as an Alpha and my business partner. Your generosity, resilience, and trustworthiness. I could go on and on, but we’d be here all day if I listed all of your positive qualities. ”

The crowd laughed, but Asher and I only had eyes for each other.

“I vow to be by your side, loving you and supporting you for the rest of our lives. And I promise to find you in the next life and the one after that, because we are Fated Mates, not just in this life, but in every life,” I said, my voice trembling as tears silently ran down my cheeks.

“I love you, and I can’t wait to be your Luna. ”

There was a moment of silence as we stared into each other’s eyes.

Beta Flynn announced that we were Mates, and I eagerly embraced Asher.

He cupped my face and captured my lips. Our first kiss as Mates was sweet and innocent since we were surrounded by people. But Asher’s tongue gently touched mine in a promise for later, making my stomach swoop with desire.

When we pulled away, I raised my left hand, and Asher did the same. We pressed the palms of our hands together, and energy pulsed between our matching mating marks.

I let out a quiet gasp when my heart lurched toward Asher, causing me to wrap my arms around him again. He gently kissed the top of my head.

Our close contact made our mating bond hum with happiness.

In the same spot where it had been broken all those years ago, our bond became stronger than ever.