CHAPTER 10

Asher could not stomach the endless meetings he had to endure in London while through it all, his thoughts were with his chosen mate and he could not help being irritable and dissatisfied with everything going on around him.
During his flight to London, he had believed getting in touch with her was going to be a piece of cake. He just had to get Armando to do what he does best and he was going to be ringing her ears off after he got her number.
But that did not happen. His efficient bodyguard had done all he could and no phone number had turned up. That had piqued his interest about his mysterious mate. What normal person in this century did not use a cell phone? She was all shades of weird and he was going to spend time revealing all the mysteries that surrounded Shana Johnson.
Asher thought about her at least once every minute of his business trip and he promised himself he was going to make her get a passport and a cell phone as soon as he got back.
"We could just mark her and be done with," his wolf coerced, like he was just going to listen and grab a clueless woman and bite her neck without informing her first about who he truly was. He could just imagine the disaster that was going to happen after that.
"Soon," he said aloud, so lost in his thoughts it took a moment for him to realize he had spoken out loud and heads were turned in his direction.
"Excuse me?," one of the executives from Shell Telecommunications asked, inclining his head in his direction.
"Nothing of importance. Just carry on," he said to the blotchy faced speaker.
He looked to his friend, giving him a look that said "Remind me why I'm here again," but Mark just gave him a subtle shake of his head in disapproval but the boredom on his friend's face could not be hidden. They both knew Shell's executive were just a bunch of robbers clothed in Italian business suit.
Obviously, Asher really did not know much about telecoms but he knew enough to know the board was selling him a bunch of shitty talks and thank God for his superb legal team and tech geniuses. He just wanted them to be done with whatever they wanted said before he slapped the proof of their bankruptcy in their faces and finally make his escape back to New York. He could not wait for the look on their faces.
When the time finally came and they were all left sputtering, Asher did not feel the thrill of victory he had expected, not even an ounce of satisfaction.
He felt empty and deprived inside. He wanted something else, he wanted something more.
He wanted Shana with the very essence of his being and he could not believe he was reduced to wanting another person so much, a human at that.
Was that how his stepfather had felt about his mother? Was that the reason the man had been so enraged at her betrayal? He did not need an answer to that.
With the way he felt about Shana, despite how much he wanted to deny it, he knew he would be broken if she did a quarter of what his mother had done to his stepfather. He knew he would have probably done more than the old Alpha did.
Asher remembered the year he had turned sixteen. He had been home from the boarding school he had been sent off to as soon as he was old enough to start school. The pack had a grade school and high school were their kind attended to avoid discovery and to keep the kids close to their patents to teach them the way of their kind but he had been denied all that.
He had been sent out like an outcast, his pack assured he was not going to have his first shift for years and he was not going to get the powers that came with it too. Safe in that knowledge, it was nothing to send him from his home to where he had never belonged. He had always realized there was something different about him and that had made it so difficult for him to blend in. Although his yearly breaks from school were not exactly the sweetest of memories, he still felt a little comfortable being among his own kind even if he was not accepted by them.
On that day, he had decided to stay in the awfully gloomy house he shared with his mother, stepfather and Rose. He would have normally been out of the house before anyone was awake to go to the clearing or go to Mark's during the few times he could not bear his own bitter company. He returned when he was certain he was not going to run into someone and that was way after they had all gone to bed. The only person he availed of his presence occasionally was Rose and he did that at least once a week whenever he took flowers to her wing of the big house.
Asher had been lying in bed, awake for about an hour and lost in thoughts, imagining a birthday were he had woken up because of cheery shouts from members of a loving family, like he had done every single birthday until it stopped that year. He had imagined his mother walking into his room, beautiful and fragile as usual with a big cake with sixteen candles on top and the biggest smile on her face with her grey eyes looking at him proudly with all the love in the world. He had imagined his stepfather right behind her with a brightly colored party hat perched atop his greying hair and singing with the enthusiasm of a teenager and moving to shake the sleep out of him as he gave him a bear hug. He had imagined Rose wheeling herself in and wishing him a good year ahead as his mother joined in the hug. Then she had placed a kiss on his forehead and smiled into his eyes as she caressed his cheeks and chin with her slim hands where his facial hairs were beginning to make their appearance and he had imagined her saying, "I can't believe my baby is turning into a man right before my eyes. I'm so proud of you son."
Then he had been jarred out of his daydream by a commotion in the big house. He had been sad, know his fantasies were never going to become his reality. His mother was never going to spare him a glance not to talk of smiling into his eyes or even making bodily contact with him. She was never going to be proud of him and so was his stepfather. To them, he was a mistake that should never have happened and no miracle was going to change that.
The noises had grown louder and he had finally gotten up to check what it was all about. Normally, the house was deathly quiet. He had gotten as far as the gallery when he could make out that the voices belonged to his parents, thanks to his super senses. He had not wanted to get close and be seen by them. They had been railing at each other. That in itself had been unusual, as the couple actively ignored each other just like they did to him. They rarely ever talked, treating each other with cold disdain whenever they were forced to be in a room together.
But Asher had later gotten to know that his stepfather knew the day was his birthday, just like he knew every one of them in years past because it had been the day the world ended for the wronged husband. It goes to show how much Asher's fantasy of a loving family was never going to be.
He could not make out what the Alpha had said at the time, but he had heard his mother's reply to whatever was said loud and clear, imprinted in his memory forever. "Oh please Adam. Stop the sick, victimized husband game. You know what to do about the boy if you can't stand his presence. Just do what you did to his sire," she had replied offhandedly like she was talking about the weather and not about killing her own child.
"Do you mean kill him like I killed your lowly lover?," Adam had asked to get a rise out of the woman in front of him but she had just shrugged. She had been a cold hearted bitch till the very last moment and the scene had broken what was left of his heart.
That had been enough for Asher and that had been the last birthday he ever fantasized about love, that had been the day he crushed his childish dreams and hopes about being accepted and it had hurt.
His own mother had suggested his death. What kind of person was she? He had thought to himself that her womb had never deserved a child and it felt unfair that the Moon goddess had blessed her with one nonetheless.
He never knew his biological father or any relative of his so it was difficult for him to feel pity for the executed man, put in the fact that he had engaged in a shameful act with a woman that was never his to start with.
That day, he had gone back into his room, refusing to eat the cute little cake the housekeeper brought into his room, courtesy of his grandmother. Neither had he read the heartfelt message she sent with it until much later but had wallowed in self pity.
After that, he had made a resolution to be the best in whatever he did and maybe one day, even if they do not love him, they would acknowledge him for his success.
Even that never happened.
Asher sighed heavily, returning to the present. He looked into the rearview mirror and caught Armando's eyes on him.
"What is it?," he asked sharply, too sharply.
"Nothing boss. Have you tried calling the office? She might be in," Armando suggested,concluding Asher had been thinking of the woman.
Asher did not correct the mistake and was glad about the suggestion even if he did not show it. And the minx might not even be the one available to take the call.
But it turned out she was when he called the office with his personal number.
"Hello. You've reached the office of Mr Asher Anderson of Anderson Groups. How may I help you?," she said gaily.
"I think your mood improved considerably with me gone," Asher drawled sarcastically.
In New York, the phone almost slid out of Shana's hand in shock. She had just gotten off the phone with Quinn after a long hearty chat about the ladies. She had been in a very good mood when the phone rang and she had picked the call happily.
Hearing Asher's voice made her gut cramp up.
"Hello Mr Anderson," she said calmly, all the pomp gone from her voice.
"I see you are back to your old, grumpy self. Why don't you have a cell phone?," he finally asked the question bugging him.
"Nothing sir."
"What are you? A cave woman? No passport, no cell phone," he said testily and paused. She did not say anything in reply. "I'll be back tomorrow Shana and I'm going to make you pay for testing my patience."
After a long pause, she replied in a low tone that did things to Asher, "I can't wait Mr Anderson."
Her reply left him speechless and gaping at his phone when she ended the call after.
Had he heard her right or was his wolf playing some sick games with his hearing?
"Hey, it's not me. I told you she wants us as much as we want her," his piqued wolf replied grouchily