Chapter-28

                                                                   Asher

“Bowling alley?” I grimaced as my brothers pulled outside our usual place. We had VIP access here so we didn’t need to wait in line.

“Let’s get some heat off you,” Logan smirked, striding inside.

“Yeah you seem to be burning,” Noah chuckled, nudging me with his elbow. I scowled, but regardless, followed my brothers.

“Mr. Gray, welcome,” the young woman at the reception smiled. She fluttered her lashes, giving all three of us doe-eyed looks and making me roll my eyes inwardly. All three of us were committed…well, kind of. Immediately, the memories of those uncanny blue eyes erupted through my mind, and I scowled harder. I wished she would fail to complete the task so I could punish her more.

“Are you sure?” Mac prompted. “Not even a teeny bit worried?”

“No,” I snapped, trailing behind Logan and Noah as a young guy ushered us to the private alley.

“Enjoy your time,” the guy smiled, even though I could sense he was a bit intimidated. “I will check in with you in a little bit to get your food and drink order,”

“Thanks,” Noah nodded politely and the guy retreated wordlessly.

“Whoop, it’s been so long since I came here!” Logan grinned, setting up the scoreboard.

“I came here with Rose last time,” Noah smiled fondly. “When we had just met,” I glanced at my brother and it wasn’t hard to guess just how much in love he was. Sometimes I envy them. How do they even do it? Love like that? And was there something wrong with me because I have never felt that way before? How does it even feel to be in love?

“You didn’t find the right person,” Mac offered. “And now that you have, you are pushing her away,”

“No sane person can fall in love with that woman,” I grumbled.

“Well, you aren’t really sane. Just sayn’!?”

“Stop twisting my words and don’t remind me of her. I need a damn break from that crazy woman and everything that happened last night,” I grimaced, grabbing the ball.

“You wanna go first?” Logan asked.

“Yep,” I nodded, taking my position. I narrowed my eyes, fixing them on the neatly arranged pins.

“Go Ash!” Noah whistled. “Kill it!” I squared my shoulders and rolled the ball. It rolled over smoothly and hit all the pins at once, giving me a good head start. Between the three of us, bowling was definitely my forte. Noah was great at golf and Logan sucked at both, easily losing patience.

“Well?” I smirked and Logan rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah…” he waved, grabbing another ball. He positioned himself and I hid my smirk because that was wrong to begin with. Noah glanced at me and winked. The moment Logan was about to roll the ball, he gave him a push and both the ball and Logan toppled forward, the former smoothly missing all the pins and rolling straight to the side.

“What the fuck!” Logan exclaimed.

“Sore loser,” I laughed. “Your position was off to begin with, idiot,”

“When are you going to learn?” Noah chided playfully. “It’s just rolling a damn ball!”

“Remember when we were playing golf and he broke the golf club yet didn’t hit the ball?” I added, making Noah roar with laughter. Logan’s face was red and my smug smile was instantly wiped away as he landed a smooth punch on my cheek.

“Ow…the fuck!” I cried out.

“Asswipes, both of you,” Logan scowled but after a moment couldn’t hide his grin either.

“Goddess, we haven’t had fun in such a long time,” Noah huffed, grabbing a ball. “I hate being an alpha sometimes. It’s taxing,”

“I just want some peace now. We have had a rough couple of years,” Logan added, grabbing a cold can of beer the young guy had served us along with some light snacks. I opened a can too and chugged down the entire content at once, finally feeling a bit relaxed. This was exactly how I wanted to spend the rest of my life—chilling with my brothers and fucking random women without worrying about feelings and shit.

Why do I need to have a mate?

“Well, I am still worried about that white wolf…I am pretty sure that’s some kind of warning,” Noah muttered. “I hope Sabrina might have some insight.” Sabrina was a good friend regardless of being a witch. The white-wolf, still in pristine condition and showing no sign of decay, was locked in the cellar for her to inspect once she returned from wherever she was gone.

“We will see when something comes up,” Logan shrugged. “But what’s going on with you, Asher Gray?” I frowned as both my brothers narrowed their eyes at me.

“What?”

“Eli told us that you punished Ivy today. Two hundred laps around the perimeter without shifting…that’s harsh,” Noah muttered.

Fucking Eli.

“She was late,”

“That’s all?”

“Twice,”

“And?”

“And a warrior should first and foremost be disciplined,” I scowled. “It’s deserving. Just because she is my mate doesn’t mean she gets special privileges. That’s unfair,”

“Please, we aren’t buying into that crap,” Logan said. “You were cranky all morning and that’s unlike you. Eli told me you were out with Ivy last night and you never got back to patrolling duty. So something must have happened. Spill…”

I am so going to kill Eli.

“Come on, get it out,” Noah pressed. “What happened?” I glanced at both my brothers and knew they wouldn’t rest until I told them. Noah and Logan could see right through me.

“Ivy…Ivy and I…we had sex,” I mumbled.

“You what?” both Logan and Noh exclaimed. I nodded and launched into everything that happened.

“Wow…that’s…that’s…”Logan mumbled. I shot a look at my eldest brother, and he was desperately trying to stifle his shit-eating grin. Noah was doing a better job but the twinkle in his eyes gave him away.

“I don’t really know what to say,” he muttered, scratching his head. “But interesting start for the two of you,”

“Yeah,” Logan chuckled. “Was it good?” I threw a murderous glance at him and he smirked.

“I don’t doubt it,” Noah answered on my behalf. “Sex against a tree in the middle of a damn forest…sexy,”

“That is all you two got from that?” I grimaced. “Not the fact that she left me humiliated? Me…the fucking Alpha of the pack?”

“Well, I do agree it wasn’t the right thing to do but do you now realize how all those women must have felt when you have walked away from them the way Ivy walked away from you?” Noah pointed out. “I am sorry, but you got a taste of your own medicine brother,”

What?

“Why are you two always supporting her?” I demanded. “You two barely even know her,”

“We are not supporting her, just stating the facts,” Noah said. “Ash you have fucked up right from the start here. You can’t blame Ivy for being this way. And then you dropped the marriage bomb on her without even properly apologizing first. She was bound to react.”

“That was a very shitty revenge plan,” I hissed.

“Maybe it wasn’t a revenge plan,” Logan said. “Maybe she indeed had a moment of weakness. Ivy might seem all strong and cold from the outside but the poor girl lost everything, saw her entire family and pack being butchered right in front of her eyes. That’s not easy. And maybe in that moment being with you was the distraction she needed. Or maybe you felt safe to her.”

“Yeah,” Noah agreed. “She is a female and you are her alpha. Regardless of her character, her most natural instinct would be to seek protection from you, just as yours is to protect her. If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t have jumped into the lake to save her without a second thought, would you?” I blinked and Noah nodded.

“How…?”

“Eli told us,” he said. “Not that the entire pack wasn’t talking about it.”

“The point is, don’t be too quick to judge her,” Logan said. “I think the most sensible thing to do would be to sit down and talk to each other. Really talk,”

“I don’t want to…” I grumbled under my breath. “I don’t like how she makes me feel. It’s just so…”

“Intense?” Logan smiled. “Yeah, that’s how it always is, mostly at the beginning. Your wolves control most of your emotions once you find your mate and the pull, the need and desire kind of work like warning bells to your human part. It’s messy but once you accept it, it’s like a free trip to heaven.”

“Yeah, everything just falls into place,” Noah agreed.

“And the sex…” Logan smirked. “Oh the sex…it consumes your entire existence. But you already know that,” I clenched my jaw and felt my cock hardening with need just at the mere idea of touching her. But I wasn’t liking this. I wasn’t liking this at all.

After we played two matches, both ending with Logan losing, we had dinner at a quaint old diner. On the way back, Noah and Logan decided to go on a bit of a hunting spree with Cora and Rose meeting them halfway. With my mood still soured, I bailed and headed home instead.

Parking in the garage, I punched in the codes and as I waited for the shutters to close, I felt the telltale shuffling sounds behind me. The scent gave her away immediately. Taking a deep breath, I braced myself before turning to face her. Her blue eyes seemed to almost glow in the dark.

“I completed my two hundred laps before sunset,” Ivy spoke. “You can ask Graham,”

“I don’t need to ask Graham,” I muttered, walking past her. If she said she did, then I believed her. But I still wasn’t ready to talk to her. No matter what Logan and Noah say, I was still mad.

And hurt.

I started to head home but before I could take another step, she grabbed my hand, effectively halting me. I blinked and turned around.

“Before you say anything, I want to say something,” Ivy said, her voice deadpan. I watched as she took a deep breath and whatever she was about to say was causing her fair amount of struggle. I could feel the heat radiating off her in waves.

“I…” she whispered, taking a step towards me. “I…will marry you, Asher. I will be your luna…” I stared blankly at her, not sure if I heard her right.

Did she just say…she would marry me?