Page 61 of Forbidden Mischief
“You need to leave,” I tell him, brushing off his pointless words. “There’s an agreement in place, and showing up like this already breaks it. There’s still time to walk away. I need to get back—Mom’s waiting.”
I go to take a step away, just needing to be done with him. He’s toxic, and I can feel myself being infected by him just by being around him like this.
“I don’t give a fuck about that whore,” he snaps. The way he talks about Mom has a growl building in my throat. I can’t hit him, it’s what he wants, but fuck, right now I really want to rip him apart. “What I do care about is my son parading around with another man,” he spits, pure disgust in his tone.
“He’s not just any man.” I spin back around, canines exposed. His lips twitch with a smile, loving the fact he’s gotten to me. But fuck him. He can say whatever he wants about me, but if he brings Zayne into it, I won’t stand by. “He’s my mate.”
His lip curls as he takes another step forward. He’s too close for my liking but I won’t back down. Not right now. Not about this.
“Over my fucking dead body, will you be mated to a man. Not only a man, but a warlock,” he spits. “This has gone too far. I won’t allow this any longer.”
I’m confused by what he’s talking about. Allow? Like I give a fuck about what he thinks. He has no say or control over my life, who I’m with or what I do. We moved on, we’re done with him.
I don’t get much longer to think when something smashes into the back of my head. Pain radiates through my skull and the last thing I see is my father’s sleazy grin before everything goes black.
CHAPTER 24
ZAYNE
I kick the door shut behind me, sweat still clinging to the nape of my neck from practice. My duffel bag lands with a thud on the hardwood floor, the smell of football and damp fabric spills out. My limbs ache—the good kind of ache, earned from pushing myself harder than usual. Coach says I’ve got potential and I really want to take our team to state this year.
The wards I put up after our date hum softly, reacting to my signature. Magic recognizes magic, after all. I didn’t tell anyone I warded the house but I’m sure Dad could tell since he’s a more experienced warlock than me. Asher looked shaken after the run in with his old pack members. I could sense the hatred rolling off of them, so I put a few protection wards on the house just to be safe.
“Asher?” I call, dragging myself toward the kitchen, my only thought to see my mate and inhale every carb I can find.
No answer.
The house isn’t empty—there’s a soft clicking sound coming from the dining room. I walk in and see Alice leaning over thetable, rearranging crystals my dad gave her in a pattern I’ve seen a hundred times but still can’t figure out what she’s doing.
She doesn’t look up. “Hey, honey.”
“Hey. Where’s Asher?” I yank open the fridge, looking for something microwavable and sweet.
“Oh, I sent him on a quick errand after practice,” she says, picking up an amethyst. “Dammit. I still can’t get this right.” She drops the purple gem to the table.
“What are you trying to do?” I ask, grabbing a Dr. Pepper and cold strawberry butter braid.
“Your dad gave me these crystals to practice making little spells and such. I am trying to do this fertility one and I can’t.”
“Fertility?” I ask, raising a brow, popping the top on the soda.
Alice blushes. “I haven’t said anything to anyone. Not even your dad. But I always wanted more kids. I’m still young, ya know. And well, this is TMI, but you’re my son and you're mated to my son...that sounds weird when I say it out loud.”
I laugh, but let her continue.
“Anyways. We’ve not used protection…me and your dad, and nothing has happened. So I’m worried something is wrong with me or I don’t know, that piece of shit ex of mine did something to block my reproduction.”
“So you want to give me a little brother or sister?” I stuff a piece of the butter braid in my mouth.
Alice looks up at me and smiles. “If that’s alright with you and Asher. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you two. You’re my first priority.”
“No, I think it’s awesome. I’d love to have a little sister. You should talk to Dad, though. I’m shit at crystals, that’s his thing. Between you and me, he always talked about giving me a sibling, so I bet he’d be eager to please.”
“Thanks, Zayne.” She sets a hand on mine and smiles. “And don’t worry about Asher. He probably ran into Prudence and you know how they get when together.”
“Yeah, you’re right. He just didn’t say much after practice. I stayed after to get in an extra workout and he was distracting me, so I told him to head home without me. Figured he’d be here by now.”
“He’ll walk through that door any minute. But Zayne, baby. I love you, but you smell like a gym sock. Why don’t you take a shower?”
