Chapter 247
Alpha Asher by Jane Doe Chapter 247
Tessa & Zeke
Six Years Later Tessa’s P.O.V.
“What do you say we wrap up early and head out to the cabin-just the two of us?”
A voice I spent the last six years memorizing called out from across the room. I lifted my head. from the mountain of paperwork I was sorting through, a smile already tugging at my lips as I spotted the playful light shimmering in Zeke’s eyes.
My mate and fiancé-a term I couldn’t seem to stop using-was peering at me from across our shared office, a shameless grin tugging at his velvet soft lips. I drummed my fingers across the top of the desk, tapping out a pattern that filled the silence between us.
A jolt of electricity crackled along my skin, delving past my flesh to settle in my stomach. Once upon a time, I couldn’t bare more than a few seconds staring into those eyes of his. Now I couldn’t seem to get enough.
We’d come so far from where we’d once been. Not as far as Ember and Brandon, who had a sea of troubles even six years later, but those two were another story entirely.
I pursed my lips, tapping the end of the pen I held against my lip. Zeke tracked the movement with a slight tilt to his head. His nostrils flared with desire and I knew if I didn’t answer soon he’d close the distance between us, fall to his knees at the foot of my desk, and burrow his up my pencil skirt as he had nearly a hundred times now.
way
“Hmm, that does sound fun. Too bad you won’t be going anywhere until those peace treaties are signed. Better get on that, Alpha.” I giggled, my cheeks warming when a husky growl slid past his lips. He always did love when I used his title.
Admittedly, I enjoyed when he used mine as well. Only, instead of a pang of lust, I was greeted with a swell of pride.
Tessa, the first Witch to ever be named a Luna.
Our cabin was anything but modest, which I should’ve expected when Zeke presented it to me four years ago. It had a rustic quality I adored with its stone fireplaces and hand carved interior, but it’s three stories and plethora of floor-to-ceiling windows gave it the same feel as a woodsy mansion. It could’ve been a card board box for all I cared, though. The cabin held a place in my heart that could never be replaced.
It was where Zeke and I shared our many firsts.
The very forest where he wrapped me in his arms and promised me in a whispered voice that I’d never again be alone-that he and all of our friends would forever be my family. The front porch where he kissed me for the first time, followed by the fire pit out back, where we watched the stars wink into existence in the sky before he sank onto one knee and promised me the world.
The bed where I gave him my heart and my body, and received something so very precious in return.
Speaking of something precious, the mark on my neck tingled at the thought of our cabin and the memories associated with it. No amount of strength or magic could force me to tear my
attention away from Zeke. More and more these days I found myself lost in the past, marveling at how far we’d come and at how much things had changed.
This was my future–he was my future.
Zeke’s scratched his signature across countless peace treaties, all of which Asher had sent our way after personally reviewing himself. Even doing something as mundane as paperwork, his hair falling over his forehead as he scowled in concentration, Zeke was utterly breathtaking.
To think just six years ago I was a breath away from rejecting him, from passing up on all of this. I couldn’t fathom the reality that beneath his playful exterior, there was a man with a heart of gold. One fiercely protective of those he loved, willing to do anything-absolutely anything to help them.
When my mom and Dad were murdered, I thought Ember was all I had left in this world. She was who I confided in, who I took solace in. Despite how the years had hardened us, there was this gaping wound in my chest that longed for a family-for a network of people who loved. me and enjoyed having me around.
While I still love Ember with my entire heart, no matter how troublesome she can be, I’d finally found the family I’d been searching my entire life for. And while she still won’t admit it, I know she had too.
Lost in the dreams of the past, a heavy knock to our office door pulled me back to the present. It opens just a hair before Brandon’s head appears in the gap, his hair just as unruly and overgrown as Zeke’s.
“Got a couple someone’s here wanting a word with the Alpha and Luna.” He drawled; lips tilted in a lopsided grin.
“Send them in.” Zeke called out, not looking up from his paperwork.
Meeting Brandon’s eyes and seeing the light that shone within them, a light my sister of all people cultivated, I smiled. “Thank you, Beta.”
“My pleasure.” He said with a tip of his head.
Clearly, I wasn’t the only one enjoying my title. It only made sense with Ember taking over this division’s Magisterium that Zeke name Brandon his Beta. The shift that occurred when. letting Witches and Vampire’s into the world of Wolves was one some found hard to swallow. Zeke’s previous Beta was one of the many that couldn’t fathom a world of peace.
“Tessa!” A voice squealed, one full of enthusiasm.
Breyona burst into the room; her cheeks pulled back in a grin. She waved to Zeke, leaving Giovanni in the dust as she pranced to my desk. I stood, seconds away from pulling her into my arms when I noticed the little bundle of blue silk she held.
A sleepy wail emerged from that bundle, giving Breyona pause.
“Oops.” She mouthed sheepishly.
“Here, I’ll take him. You go say hello.” Giovanni chuckled, not an ounce of ire towards his mate or newborn son. The massive Vampire swept the infant into his arms, bringing him to his chest where he murmured sweet words just out of range.
I came out from around my desk, nudging the chair in place with the tip of my heel. “I can’t believe you’re here!”
She pulled me into her arms, smothering me in the buttery scent of her perfume. I held her tightly, my heart full and warm at the sight of them. Zeke and I tried hard to make it in time. for the birth of Breyona’s baby, but we’d been just a few hours too late. Still, holding little Vincenzo in my arms had been a joy that left it’s imprint for years to come.
On cue, Vince let out a monstrous wail, balling his little fists which appeared from the hem of the blanket. The lights flickered and grew dim, prompting Zeke to look up from his paperwork. Not a second later, the diaper bag at Giovanni’s feet vanished in a plume of shadow and smoke. Breyona
cursed, locking eyes with her mate. “He’s going to give us grey hairs once he reaches his terrible two’s. There’s a spare bag in the car. Somehow I knew this would happen.”
“Good looking out.” Giovanni said with a tilt to his lips. He kissed Breyona on the cheek and plucked the car keys from her hand, carrying Vince out the door and down the hall.
I didn’t miss the flicker of pride in his eyes at his son’s show of power.
Exchanging a loaded look with Breyona, I brought her over to the loveseat against the far wall and offered her something from the bar cart.
“Just a seltzer water. I’ve still got acid reflux from being pregnant with him. Who knew having to drink blood to nourish a half-breed Vampire baby would cause such issues?” She chuckled.
“I can’t say I’m jealous of that part.” I wrinkled my nose. “My stomach is way too sensitive to drink blood.”
“Luckily you won’t have to worry about that when your time comes around.” She winked.
I waved her off. “I’m not thinking about those things yet. Not until we get married, anyway.”
Leaning forward on the couch, she let out a squeal. “Oh, tell me how the wedding planning is going! Have you and Ember decided on a venue? What about a color scheme? You know, I never would’ve thought I’d enjoy sharing my wedding day with someone else, but having Clara and Mason take half of the planning load was just a Goddess send.”
I didn’t need any coaxing to get me to launch into the finer details of the wedding Ember and I were planning. It didn’t matter that she and I had shared everything our entire lives, even a crib at one point. There wasn’t a single piece of my life that I didn’t want to include my twin in. That being said, it didn’t help that she and I were like night and day.
It made things interesting, though. That was for sure.
Ember wanted seafood and steak, while I preferred more vegetarian options. Brandon made no effort to hide how hilarious he thought that was.
“You’re marrying a werewolf and you want vegetarian options?!” He’d cackled.
“Anyway, enough about me and my hectic life. Tell me about how things are going for you. How have you been since…” I trailed off, wincing at my absolute lack of tact.
Tasting the tension that now filled the air and our mate-bond, Zeke stood from his desk. With the peace treaties now signed in his hand, he gestured to the door with a knowing tilt to his lips. “I’m going to send these back to Asher and give you two a minute alone.”
“I swear I’m not going to break.” Breyona sighed only after Zeke had left, the door clicking shut behind him. “It…it sucks, yes. I’ll manage though. It’s closure, after all. That’s what I’ve been searching for all these years.”
Her shoulders dropped a few inches. It sounded like she’d been trying to convince herself of something and failed. A feeling I understood completely.
“None of us think you’re going to break. It’s natural that it still hurts, Breyona. Those Witches. took your parents from you. That pain won’t go away just because they’re locked away in the Tower.” I said not unkindly, taking hold of the hand that was picking idly at the label on her seltzer water. “If anything, we’re all incredibly proud of you.”
“Why would you guys be proud of me?” She huffed, barking out a laugh as she swiped under her eye.
I gave her a knowing look that lasted several seconds. “If I’m not mistaken, didn’t Lola and Ember offer to kill the witches for you?”
“Yeah, they did.” She giggled. “Clara said she’d help, too.”
“That she did, but you didn’t take them up on it. You did the right thing taking them to the prison. I might’ve never had the pleasure of knowing your parents, but I think they’d be proud.”
We talked for several minutes, going back and forth as we recapped the moments in each other’s lives that we missed. She told me about Vincenzo and how Giovanni’s family had fallen in love with the infant, showering him with presents and affection, while I went further into detail about the upcoming wedding they’d all soon be invited to.
Soon enough, Zeke and Giovanni appeared in the doorway. Both were wrapping up their own conversations when Zeke met my eyes, his expression softening as adoration swept across his rugged features. Breyona and Giovanni waved, saying their goodbyes as they slipped down the hallway and to the elevators that led into the main lobby.
“You ready to go, beautiful?” Zeke asked, his hand outstretched and awaiting my own. “Always.”
