CHAPTER 1

~Ava 

My head swam as pleasure built inside of me, making my eyes roll to the back of my head as I held onto Asher’s arms. My fingers dug into his flesh, causing red marks to bloom on his skin.

“Eyes on me, Ava!” Asher grabbed my chin, forcing me to keep my eyes open. The intensity in his muddy brown eyes was fucking hot. It nearly undid me.

He slowed down, edging me as he reached for the swollen buds on my perky breasts, fondling them between his fingers. “Tell me. Who owns these?”

“You!” I gasped loudly, eyes half-open as I felt an achingly sweet sensation around my nipples.

“Again!” He slammed harder into me, causing the bed to creak loudly under our weight.

“You, Asher!” I clamped my hand over my mouth as I cried out in pleasure, scared someone might hear me even though we were the only ones in the house.

Hearing his name mixed with my dirty moans unraveled Asher as expected. He released a rough, loud sound from the back of his throat, eyes locked on mine with heat.

Asher’s jaw tightened as he swung his hips faster, punctuating each word with a thrust deeper than the last. “Every. Fucking. Inch. Of. You. Belongs. To. Me.”

My hips jerked as my legs trembled uncontrollably. My face flushed red, my pulse racing wildly. The feeling was so overwhelming it forced me to come at once, my mouth falling open as I gasped for air.

Asher quickly pulled out, grunting as he stroked himself a few times before collapsing next to me. His hot breath fanned the curve of my neck as he released a breathless chuckle. 

I turned to face him, laughing softly as I tried to catch my breath.

“That was… too much,” I said.

“Too much?” He propped himself up on his elbows, curving the corner of his lips. Strands of his red tinted hair stuck to his wet face, making him look even hotter. “I’m just warming up.”

My cheeks flushed beet red as he moved his face closer to mine.

“You’ve got practice by nine!” 

I falsely tried to protest. 

“Damn practice!” He grabbed my neck and slammed his lips onto mine, kissing me like he wanted to devour me whole.

Never had I believed Asher would be madly in love with me like this, although I had always dreamt of us together right from the day my dad adopted him. 

Asher was my stepmother’s son from her previous marriage and the half-brother of my half-sister, Rosie.

Unlike Rosie, Asher had been kind to me. If anything, he had been the only person in my family who treated me like a human being.

Apparently, my father saw me as nothing but a disgrace for having a weak wolf, and my stepmother hated me for no good reason I could think of.

My dad had long demoted me to the lowest rank, believing I was better off doing menial work with the rest of the omegas. But then, one morning after Asher bitterly complained about his personal maid, Luna Scarlet didn’t hesitate to pick me as a replacement to serve him in his private quarters.

Little did I know it was a blessing in disguise because Asher never made me feel like his servant, and somewhere along the late-night talks, the attraction turned into something we couldn’t ignore.

Asher’s cell phone suddenly rang, disrupting our moment. He let out a groan and rolled onto his back, reaching for it on the nightstand.

I sat up and pulled the sheets to my chest, watching him pick up the call out of habit.

“Hey, Chloe,” he greeted warmly.

“Guess what, babe?” Chloe’s excited voice came from the other end and my eyebrows automatically furrowed.

“What?” Asher lifted an eyebrow and sat up straighter.

“I just arrived at your place,” I heard Chloe say, and Asher immediately swung his legs out of bed. “Remember you told me you were going to ride me to school today in your new Porsche.”

“Yeah.” Asher stuttered. He gave me a quick glance that seemed like he was a bit nervous. “Can you not come up yet?” 

he said to Chloe.

“Why?” Chloe asked.

“I’m actually in the middle of something very important,” Asher replied too quickly. “I’ll come get you myself in ten minutes.”

“Okay, babe,” Chloe replied.

Asher ended the call and stood up from the bed to put on his briefs. “You have to leave now.”

I already knew I was supposed to do that even before he said it.

It had always been this way, and honestly, I hated how quickly we always returned to pretending nothing was going on between us because we couldn’t risk giving the pack a reason to think we were in love or, worse, having sex.

I really hope someday we will find the courage to tell the pack about our relationship despite the pack being against it and I had also been praying to the goddess to pair us as mates. 

Maybe the pack would accept   us if we were mates. 

Speaking of mates, I’d been trying not to think otherwise, especially since Asher and Chloe had been too close lately. 

“Ava?” 

Asher’s voice cut through my thoughts as he frowned at me, seeing I was still in the bed.

“Is something going on between you and Chloe?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

I hated how jealous I sounded, but I sincerely couldn’t pretend I hadn’t heard Chloe call him ‘babe’. Twice.

“What?” Asher chuckled, looking more handsome even in serious moments like this. “Wait a sec. Don’t tell me you think Chloe and I are dating?”

“Well, it seems like it,” I said in a chiding tone, causing him to frown. “She just called you babe.”

“It doesn’t mean anything,” he said, dismissing me as if I was reading too much into it, and I hated that I was.

“Really?” I scowled as I folded my arms across my chest. “What if a guy calls me that? And picks me up for class every morning?”

Asher paused while adjusting the drawstring of his gray pants, his face darkening at once.

“What did you say?” He prowled closer to me, clenching his jaw.

I raised my chin, trying not to cower before his intimidating figure. Asher kind of looked bigger anytime he was angry.

“I said what if…” He stopped me, gripping my chin, not gently but not hard enough to hurt.

My head tilted upward to meet his gaze as he said sternly. “No one is allowed to act that way to you except me.”

I scoffed, “But you’re being that way to  Chloe—” 

“Chloe is just a friend.” He cut me off as if her name irritated him. “And I do not love her.”

I couldn’t help but believe him without thinking twice, probably because I had never seen him looking this serious, or maybe it was the way his eyes locked on mine while saying it. Like he wanted me to see through his eyes to his honest heart. 

Asher’s phone rang again from the opposite side of the bed. He let out a sigh as he glanced at it.

He looked back at me, brushing his thumb along my jaw. For a moment, I thought he wanted to kiss me. But then, He released my chin, causing me to bite my bottom lip in disappointment.

“Go get ready for school,” he said softly. “I’ll leave some money on your bed so you can take a taxi.”

My brows drew together.

“Taxi?” I asked.

He replied, “I can’t drive you to school today,”

“Because you want to take Chloe, right?” I asked, suddenly feeling annoyed.

He sighed sharply and said, “Can you stop making everything a big deal?”

I scoffed angrily and gathered up the sheets to cover myself. I got down from the bed and brushed past him as I headed for the door.

“Ava.”

Asher’s voice stopped me right  as I was about to step out.

I half turned my face to him, thinking he was about to say something to ease my anger.

“Wear more perfume,” he said, his back to me. “People are starting to notice you smell like me.”