Page 9 of Rejected by My Stepbrother Alpha (Billionaire Shifter Club #1)

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, and shame made my stomach churn.

“I agree. But don’t you see, Dad? Evelyn and Ivy can’t be trusted. I think you should change your will back. Not for me, but for your legacy.”

My dad was silent for a moment, then he sighed heavily.

“You just gave me a lot to think about, son,” my dad said and patted my hand. “I promise to consider changing my will again. Maybe I'll call Lyle in the morning to see what he thinks.”

My dad wheezed and rubbed his chest.

“You should get some rest. It isn't good for you to be talking this much,” I said, and squeezed his hand.

He stared up at me, and the sentimental look in his gaze made my eyes water. “You're a good son, Asher. You will do great things, and I want you to know that I'm proud of you. Come here.”

He pulled me in for a hug. My father's embrace was familiar, and it reminded me of all the times he would hug me when I was young. Back then, a simple hug from my dad seemed to fix any problem I had.

Now, nothing was simple.

“I love you, kid,” my dad said when I pulled away. A couple of tears were running down his face. A rattling sound came out of his mouth, and he coughed violently.

My heart cracked in half.

“Hey, stop. This isn’t goodbye. I’ll see you after the mating ceremony. I love you.”

I squeezed his shoulder one last time and left the hospital room, praying to the Moon Goddess that his heart would still be beating when I returned.

The mating ceremony for our pack was always held in the woods at night during the full moon of the fifth month of the year.

If a stranger were to stumble upon our ceremony, they might mistake it for a wedding.

White candles lined the forest floor, creating a walkway to a flowered archway filled with red and white roses.

The color of the roses represented our pack name.

The red represented blood, and the white signified the moon.

Our entire pack was gathered around to watch the ceremony. I was off to the side, hidden by a clump of trees, waiting for the clock to strike midnight so the ceremony could begin. The back of my neck prickled when I heard the sound of footsteps.

Instinct told me to keep myself hidden, and when I saw who it was, I was glad I did.

Evelyn—who was wearing a form-fitting black dress and a smug smile—moved further into the forest, away from the chatter of the crowd. Then, she looked around shiftily, as if making sure that she was alone.

I froze, not even daring to breathe. She hadn't spotted me, and I couldn't wait to see what she did next.

What are you up to, Evelyn?

Ivy's mother took her phone out of her small black clutch, hit a few buttons, then put it beside her ear. A giant grin bloomed across her face as she waited for the person on the other end of the phone to pick up.

Her smile made my jaw clench with anger. Her husband was seriously ill. Why the hell did she look so happy?

“I did it! I got him to change his will,” Evelyn hissed into the phone.

My blood boiled as vindication flowed through me.

I’d been right. Evelyn was a gold digger.

And she had an accomplice.

It took everything in me not to charge at Evelyn. But I had to wait and hear what else she would unknowingly reveal.

“No, Asher won’t be a problem,” Evelyn continued airily. “Even if he is, I’ll just have my daughter seduce him. She’s already laid down the groundwork. Ivy’s a good girl. She knows her role in this game.”

My blood ran cold as realization hit me like a punch in the face.

Evelyn had just revealed that Ivy was in on her plans.

I didn't even have time to process what I heard.

Right after Evelyn hung up and disappeared into the crowd, the watch on my wrist beeped. It was time for the mating ceremony to begin.

Still reeling from what I just heard, I took my place under the flowered archway. When I faced my pack, a silence fell over the crowd.

“Thank you for coming to our pack’s most sacred tradition—our mating ceremony,” I said in a loud voice. “Let us bow our heads and thank the Moon Goddess for providing us with Fated Mates, the one person in life who is truly meant for us.”

I couldn't help but think of Ivy when I said those words. But I gritted my teeth and forced her out of my mind.

After a moment of silence for the Moon Goddess, the ceremony began.

Every member of the pack who had turned twenty over the past year would participate. As the first girl—Aurora—walked slowly down the aisle toward me, I scanned the crowd for Ivy. I knew that she would be participating in the ceremony tonight.

When I spotted her, I forgot how to breathe.

She looks so beautiful.

It was tradition for the women to wear wedding dresses for the mating ceremony.

Ivy was wearing a dress similar to the one she’d worn to the gala.

This one had long, sheer sleeves, but the gown itself was strapless.

Her auburn hair was down and flowing in the wind, and her plump lips were painted a dark red.

She was the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen, but my heart only felt resentment when it came to her.

Whenever I looked at Ivy, I was reminded that she was working with her scheming, gold-digging mother.

Ivy was no better than Evelyn. During Evelyn’s phone calls that I had just eavesdropped on, Evelyn had said that she and Ivy were going to be set for life.

And I just overheard Evelyn admitting that Ivy was in on her schemes.

My hands clenched into fists when I remembered Evelyn saying Ivy had already begun to seduce me.

My neck burned with embarrassment and fury.

For a fraction of a second, our eyes met, and an electric current seemed to pass between us. An image of a soft, warm body pressed against mine flashed into my head and was gone in the next instant .

I tore my gaze away from Ivy. I wanted nothing to do with my greedy stepsister.

Once Aurora was in front of me, I began her ceremony.

“Aurora, take this ceremonial knife and cut your hand. If your Fated Mate is our pack, they will bleed too and have an identical cut to yours. These scars will last forever connecting you two and solidifying your mating bond,” I said, and held out the small pointed knife in the palms of both of my hands.

The scars on two mates' left hands were similar to wedding rings.

With a shaking hand, Aurora picked up the knife and cut her left palm. For one moment, there was silence. Then there was a shout in the crowd.

“Aurora!” yelled Micah—someone I’d gone to school with. He ran up the aisle, showcasing his bleeding hand. “I knew that the Moon Goddess would know we were meant for each other!”

I smiled. I knew that Micah had always held a torch for Aurora.

The two sealed their union with a passionate kiss. I’d never seen someone reject a Fated Mate bond before. It seemed wrong to question the Moon Goddess like that.

Next up was David. He seemed nervous as he stood in front of me and ran a trembling hand through his blonde hair. After David sliced the palm of his hand, nothing happened. I waited a full two minutes, but I knew what this meant.

David did not have a Fated Mate in our pack. That didn’t mean he didn’t have a mate. It just meant he had to find them on his own, or they were seventeen right now, and he would have to wait until they came of age.

During my ceremony last year—six months before my dad married Evelyn—the Moon Goddess hadn’t blessed me with a Fated Mate, much to the disappointment of my pack and father. I wasn’t that disappointed. I knew that I would find her someday.

Now, it was Ivy’s turn.

She walked down the aisle toward me, lifting up the bottom of her long dress so she wouldn’t trip. Our eyes met, and I couldn’t look away if I tried. My body grew warm, my heart began to beat rapidly, and my hands shook as I wiped off the ceremonial knife with a white handkerchief.

Damn it.

I wished my body didn’t have such a strong reaction to her.

I went through the same speech quicker than I had for the others, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible. When our hands touched as I handed Ivy the knife, she gasped at the contact, and the sound was strangely familiar.

Everyone was quiet as Ivy brought the knife to the palm of her hand. I watched with bated breath as the knife slid down her pale skin. A flare of jealousy sparked within me as I imagined a man from the crowd coming to claim her as his mate.

But as soon as the knife touched Ivy’s skin, there was a slight pinch of pain on my left hand.

No…

My eyes widened as I watched Ivy drag the knife down her hand, and at the same time, it felt like someone was cutting my skin open.

I lifted my hand as if I were in a trance and looked at the bleeding wound.

“Asher,” Ivy breathed out as she showed me her identical wound on her hand.

My heart pulsed with intensity as the mating bond exploded to life between us—connecting Ivy and me together.

Our eyes met, and the world around me seemed to implode.

Ivy was my Fated Mate.