Chapter-19 (Part 1)

                                                                     Ivy

“Oh my goddess, am I dreaming?” I peeked up from the book I was reading and raised a brow at Naya as she stood by the bed, looking surprised. Way too surprised.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I frowned.

“You are never visible during these hours and mom told me you have been here since morning. Why didn’t you go to the training? You never miss training, ever.” Her tone was almost accusatory, and it made me roll my eyes.

“I am just taking…a day off,” turning my eyes back to the book I pretended to read. Even if for the last hour or so, all I did was re-read the first paragraph.

“You got up late today, and now you are taking a day off from training and reading a book...damn, Ivy are you pregnant?” I almost choked on my breath, blinking at the green-eyed girl. Naya had green eyes but really light in color unlike Luna Rose’s whose were very vibrant.

“What?” I exclaimed, almost for a moment believing in that crap.

“When was the last time you got laid?” Silver snorted. That was definitely a question I wasn’t going to answer.

“Well, I can’t really imagine you getting sick so…”

“I am not sick,”

“Then are you pregnant? Alpha Asher is really fast, huh?”

“Goddess Naya,” I scowled. “No, I am not sick or pregnant and you do not utter that name in front of me.”

“Ah, so you two fought again,” she shook her head, splaying down on the bed beside me. It seemed more like a question but again I didn’t want to answer. Naya will never understand that I got pissed at him because he gave me roses to apologize. She would deem it as a very romantic gesture. But to me, it was anything but that. It was insulting and showed just how little he cared about my sentiments or even me as a mate altogether. There was no hint of regret in his voice when he apologized. Rather it felt like an obligation. I had little to no regard for people who don’t mean what they say. I mean did he really think I would melt and throw myself at his feet with a bouquet of roses? I don’t even like roses.

I was so mad that I rushed straight back and locked myself in the room. Then I decided that the best choice would be to go to sleep. When I woke up, it was already dark outside and I was still mad, so I decided to stay in and try and read one of those books Naya reads. Of course, I couldn’t. Reading wasn’t my thing.

“Will you tell me what’s exactly going on between the two of you?” Naya demanded, rolling over on her stomach and peeking up at me with that puppy-eyed look.

“I thought everyone in the pack knew?” I raised my brow.

“Just that you are his mate or could be,” she shrugged. “But of course there is more…” I didn’t want to reply because it was seriously humiliating to tell people that my mate ran away from me. But judging by the look on her face, I knew she wasn’t letting me go. I opened my mouth to form a response when the very familiar, heavy male voice just outside in the corridor made me halt.

“Thank you so much. I would like to talk to her alone if that’s okay?” he said.

“Of course Alpha,” I heard Eli's mother say. A moment later, the door opened, and I didn’t even need to turn. I could already feel his presence and his piercing eyes boring a hole in my back.

What the fuck was he doing here?

“Asher!” Naya exclaimed, jumping over to him.

“Naya, you are not supposed to take his name like that,” her mother chided, which was followed by a polite laugh from him. I couldn’t dare to turn and look at him for some reason.

“That’s okay. She is family,” Asher muttered, a fondness in his voice.

“I didn’t get the chance to talk to you, but damn, you look older,” Naya said.

“I am older.” Oh, why wasn’t he leaving already? My heart was frantically thundering in my chest and I had to clench my jaw to mask the irritation I felt. Was this how it was going to be every time he was anywhere near me?

“Well, we will talk about your adventures later. I can see you are busy at the moment,” Naya muttered and then there were a few whisperings before the two females left, shutting the door behind them. A deafening silence spread through the room. However, even without him uttering a single word, his Alpha presence almost seemed to be screaming at me.

“Ivyanka,” Asher finally said, his tone calculated. At least he kept in mind not to call me Ivy. Taking a deep breath, I slowly turned and narrowed my eyes at him.

“We need to talk,” he added, before I could speak.

“Okay, go ahead,” I muttered, curbing my urge to start another fight.

“Not here, somewhere else. Let’s go,” Not a request. A command.

“I am not going anywhere with you,” Asher’s dark eyes darkened and I could see he was trying just as hard to not lose his shit.

“It’s a request,” he said. “Please…it’s urgent.”

“There’s no reason you can’t talk to me here,” I retorted. “If you have something to say, I am listening. But I am not going anywhere with you,” Asher closed his eyes and took a really deep breath. I could see his chest rise and fall. When he opened his eyes, they almost burned into mine, and for a moment that did intimidate me a bit.

“I can always carry you out, Ivyanka,” Asher said. “But we both know you won’t like that. So if you don’t want to make a scene, I suggest you follow me.”

“Are you threatening me?” I exclaimed, standing up. “Seriously?”

“Are you coming?”

“No,” I scowled, appalled at his audacity. Asher gave me a hard look, and before I could even blink, he was standing in front of me, his eyes narrowed into slits.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he hissed, moving closer.

“Wha…!” Before I got the word out, he bent down, wrapped his arms around my legs, and threw me over his shoulder.

Just. Like. That.