Chapter 28: Chapter Twenty-Eight - Alpha Twin's P.O.V (Kane)

Rayne and I had spent almost the entire drive home in foul moods. We were respected amongst our pack members and as their Alphas, but still, the whispers that we were surely returning with us were going to fucking hurt. Two big badass Alphas had been rejected. Twice. What a fucking joke. Not only that, but every unmated female within a few hundred kilometres would now have their claws out, ready to try and sleep their way to the top. In our minds, a Luna was born, not made. No way that was happening. Not on my watch anyway.

Rayne and I were dreading the questions from our parents, our mother wanted nothing more than for us to find our mate and settle down, and now that we had found her, we were returning as discarded trash. That shit hurt.

I was just about to open my mouth to talk to Rayne about it when suddenly the loud music in the car stopped playing, and my phone started to ring, coming through the car stereo with an unknown number flashing across the screen. Coking my head sideways to glance at Rayne, who shrugs at me, obviously not a number he is familiar with either.

Being in a mood, I was tempted to let it go to message bank but then decided to answer just in case it was necessary. I am still trying to determine if it was the smartest or the dumbest thing I have ever done.

For several seconds I though I must have just missed the call and was ready to end it so that the music would start playing again when a small noise comes through the speakers letting me know someoneis indeed on the other end.

“Who is this,” I snap impatiently, not caring to hide my irritation. When there is no prompt reply, Rayne spits out an irritated “Hello”, and then we are floored when the voice replies eloquently stating it is Ashley on the other end.

Looking sideways at my brother, I can see his whole body tense, gripping the steering wheel in his hands tightly as he slows the car and then suddenly pulls over to the side of the road so he can look at me and listen to Ashley on the other end of the line. More silence, so Rayne decides to speak again.

At this point, I am lost for words. My thoughts are racing and wondering what Ashley wants and how she got our phone number. “What do you want?“Rayne barks, I recoil at the excessive harshness of his chosen words but don’t say anything, Ashley doesn’t deserve being treated like this, but I can also understand Raynes anger and trepidation. Knowing him, if he didn’t keep his walls up, he would crumble and turn the car right back around and chase after her.

Rayne and I sit there in silence, waiting for Ashley to answer. Curious about why she has called us, and then she says something unexpected, something that has us losing our minds. A chance. Ashley wants a fucking chance. Neither of us saw the conversation going that way. Not in a million years. We were sure that the rejection had been final. Non-negotiable.

We didn’t get a chance to respond, not that I think either of us would have been able to with the huge bomb Ashley just threw into our laps. She was on her way to River Run. To see us. The thought had my heart racing. Glancing shrewdly at Rayne, I knew his was too. Both of us exhaled loudly, just staring at each other.

Slow grins spread across our faces. “What the fuck was that? I say out loud. “I’m not sure, brother, but I sure am happy. I think”, Rayne replies.“We need to hurry up and get home and prepare the guesthouse for Ashley,” Rayne continues. My eyebrows shoot up at the mention of the guesthouse. “Are you fucking serious?” I reply bluntly.

“What” is all he can respond with, merely shrugging his shoulders. “She rejected us remember. That shit hurt, and I don’t think I can be in the same house as her right now,” He responds defensively, not bothering to look at me as he does so. “You seriously want her staying alone with all the unmated males in our pack. I don’t know Ashley, but I know them. They won’t be able to keep their eyes off of her, and by now, they will know of her and the rejection,” I snap back.

“Best to keep her under our roof until we figure out what she wants and where we stand with her brother.”

Rayne doesn’t reply, but he doesn’t have to, I know he is pissed off, but he can’t fool me. I can see the glint of evident excitement in his eyes and understand even though he may be hurt. He is also jumping for joy on the inside. I know I am.

The thought of having Ashley Miller not only in our territory but under our roof makes me feel giddy. “I can’t wait to meet Ashley and her wolf,” Jax says excitedly. “I only got to see her wolf once, and boy, is she pretty. I have never seen a silver wolf with purple eyes before,” he continues in a lovesick puppy kind of way. The poor boy has it hard. I can’t blame him though, I have feelings for Ashley already, and all she has done is reject me. I must be sick, I think, falling for someone I don’t even know.

“I wonder what her wolf’s name is,” Jax asks. I smilingly shake my head and motion for Rayne to continue driving. With Ashley on her way, we have so much work to do before she arrives.

“What do we do,” Rayne asks impatiently several minutes later. “What do you mean what do we do,” I ask in gruff reply. “About Ashley visiting. What do we tell the pack?” he replies grimly. Shit. I hadn’t thought of that. We couldn’t introduce her as our Luna. The whole pack would be rife with gossip having an unmated she-wolf staying at the packhouse. Not that either one of us cared for gossip.

All of a sudden, it hit me. “She is a trainer, isn’t she,” I say. Rayne just looks at me from the corner of his eye. “We can tell the pack that she is here to offer assistance with training. That way, it doesn’t make her appearance any more awkward than it needs to be. For any of us and we get to work out whatever it is, she has come to work out” Rayne nods, once again not speaking.

Several minutes pass until he asks,“Do you think we should call a meeting brother and warn all the males not to look at or speak to Ashley,” he growls menacingly. His question has me laughing so hard that I can barely breathe. It isn’t until he punches me in the shoulder that I wipe the tears away and reply, “Have you not seen Ashley fight brother, a few of our members could do with an ass-kicking,” I reply between snickers which now has Rayne laughing as well until neither of us can breathe.

“Your right”, he finally chokes out.“Best not to warn them about anything,” he continues. Jax finds the joke hilarious, too, as he starts rolling around, holding his sides while laughing his ass off. Still, a thought creeps into the back of my mind. I would kill anyone who dared cross her even if she could handle herself.

When we arrive home Mum and Dad are waiting for us. After our phone call with Mum yesterday, she no doubts is worried about us. We hadn’t had the time to fill her in on how the situation was unfolding, so the second the words left Rayne’s mouth, my mother was a squawking mess, hugging and kissing us as she called out to one of the housekeepers to help her prepare a bedroom for her new daughter.

The words had Ryane and I freezing in our tracks. “Mother”, I yell out in a firm voice, “Ashley IS NOT YOUR DAUGHTER. Please don’t say that,” Rayne says in a gruff tone. As our mother disappears down the long hallway, she tosses a “yet” over her shoulder with a smirk.

“I told you we shouldn’t have told her,” I say wearily as I punch Rayne in the arm as if her happiness is his fault. Rayne turns swiftly towards our father. “Can you talk some sense into her please, Dad” he almost whines like a child? “You know your mother”, He starts to say, but Rayne and I growl at him, so he chuckles, throws his hands into the air and says, “Ok, ok, I will try”, before turning to follow the direction she went, laughing as he goes.

“This is going to be embarrassing,” I mutter while grabbing my duffle bag and racing up the stairs to my bedroom. Ashley should be here by lunchtime, and I desperately needed a shower. Shit. “Rayne”, I call out. Seconds later, he pokes his head out of his bedroom door, which is opposite mine. “Did you text Ashley the address?” I ask, one eyebrow arched in question. When his eyes widen slightly and he stiffens, I curse again. Fuck. Ashley wants a chance, and the first thing we do is leave her hanging for over two hours and don’t text her our address. Fuck.

I only hoped that she was still coming, I quickly whip my phone out of my pants pocket and fling off a quick text to the number that Ashley had called us from. The loud ding of a notification had my heart thudding. I hadn’t expected her to reply so swiftly. Opening the phone, I quickly read the reply “Thanks” before tossing the phone onto my bed and heading for the shower.

All morning Rayne and I are on edge. It doesn’t help that Jax won’t stop pacing and continually asking when Ashley will arrive. “I don’t know,” I reply sternly for what feels like the millionth time in the last hour. “Call her then,” he replies hotly. “No,” I reply hotly through gritted teeth. “Chicken. Buck. Buck,” he replies sarcastically, still pacing. Jax has hit a nerve. Maybe I am a chicken. “Why don’t you call her? I spit. “You son of a bitch,” he growls. “If I could, I would whoop your arse for how you are acting right now”, Jax bites out.

I look over to my pacing brother and note he is cursing under his breath. “Hunter being a dick too,” I enquire. Judging by his reply of wanting to know where the phone was, I took it as a yes and had to contain my laughter. Having your wolf acting up sucked but knowing you were not suffering alone was kind of funny too.

Just as Raynes foot approached the first step of the staircase, a black SUV comes into view, its tyres crunching slowly down the gravel driveway before coming to a stop at the front of the packhouse. “Shit”, Rayne and I say in unison, both racing for the stairs and up towards the conference room.

“What do you two think you are doing” Mum chides via mind-link. “If this is whom I think it is, you had both better get your arses back down here this instant. This is no way to treat your Luna,” she continues in a low growl. “Keep her busy. We will be down in an hour,” Rayne snaps back, apparently not wanting to let Ashley off the hook so quickly.

Mum doesn’t get time to reply as the front doorbell chimes seconds later. Rayne and I both hold our breaths as the door opens and closes, and then several footsteps sound on the staircase. “Mum”, I warn via mind-link, “What are you doing,” I growl out. “Forcing my sons to grow a pair,” she laughs back, and a moment later, the conference room door opens, and our mother and Ashley are standing before us. Shit.

Our mother steps in before Ahsley, glaring defiantly at us before turning slowly and smiling sweetly. “As I was saying, dear, if you need anything, I will be in the kitchen preparing lunch. I will leave you to talk to the boys” she leans in and hugs Ashley. Fucking hugs her. As she exits the room, she turns and winks at us. “Play nice, boys”, she growls ominously before closing the door behind her.

Neither of us knows what to say, so we stand like the idiots we are with our eyebrows knitted, running our nervous hands through our already messy hair.

Ashley lets out a faint breath and then takes a slight step towards us, forcibly holding her small, delicate hand out.

“Hi. My name is Ashley Miller,” she says tensely. I look over at Rayne, and he slightly lowers his shoulders, a look of minor defeat. We both approach her slowly, like hunters stalking their prey. I reach Ashley first and grasp her small hand in mine. I don’t shake it. I seem to have lost all thought and concentrate on the feel of her beautiful hand in mine. It is so silky and warm that I don’t think I ever want to let it down. I don’t think I would have been capable until Ashley cleared her throat, clearly reminding me of my manners. Look up into her eyes and freeze. She has the most breathtaking eyes I have ever seen.

Another cough sounds from behind me, and I am once again reminded what is happening.

I look away, clear my throat and introduce myself before reluctantly letting her hand go to allow Rayne to do the same. After observing my reaction, I can tell he is eager to have her hand in his.

“Feel that brother,” he says via min-link. “I sure did. It feels like home,” I reply because there are no words for how Ashley makes me feel. No way to describe the way my body reacts to hers.

“Why did you come here? Rayne asks in a puzzled voice, squaring his shoulders. “Because I wanted to apologise for rejecting you,” She says in a gentle voice. “Both of you. And I want a chance to make it up to you both,” she continues, raising her chin slightly higher.

Her words are confident, but I can see the sadness she is trying to conceal in her eyes. Sure being rejected hurt, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew Ashley must have been hurting too. In 24 hours, she lost her partner when he had found his mate. It cant be easy for her to be here right now. I had to give her that.

Her pain didn’t make ours any less, though, and I knew that we would all need to work hard if we wanted to work things out. “Fine,” I reply. “A room has been prepared for you downstairs. You can join our mother in the kitchen for lunch. Rayne and I have business to attend to so will see you tomorrow morning at 0400 hours at the training centre. If you need anything, ask our mother, and she will help you out,” I say before I motion for her to leave.

For a moment, she doesn’t move, and I swear hurt flickers in her eyes before she turns and leaves. I had to shut it down quickly, though, not wanting to give in to the temptation of claiming her here and now just as Jax demanded.

“Why do I feel like a shit? Rayne asks the moment the door closes behind Ashley. “Because we are,” I reply.