CHAPTER 12

Collins stared down the man in front of him, establishing who was in command.
He could not be happier at the new development. What he had always wanted and fought for was finally being offered to him on a golden platter.
He was getting bored, tired of his effortless victories. Taking on Alpha Asher was a challenge that was making his insides dance already and what more? He was getting the bonus of using the traitor before him to get to his daughter, whom he had always coveted but stayed away from because he believed Asher was going to make her his woman.
But now, everything was going to fall into their perfect place where they belonged. He just needed to make the perfect plan with Thomas. But he was going to try not to scare him off first.
When he had received the message from him requesting a meeting, he had been affronted that a mere former Beta like him had the effrontery to summon one like him. But when he had learnt the read on for the meeting he had been eager to drop all he was doing to come running. And offer like that was not going to turn up twice.
"I never summoned you my Alpha," Thomas finally found his voice and replied shakily, his hands still up in the air.
A mirthless smile came on Collins face. The man was not under any duress; save for the one his presence was creating, to submit to acknowledge him as his Alpha but he loved the sound of it.
He felt euphoric, like he was the Alpha of the Crescent pack already.
He was going to be, whether the moon goddess liked it or not. And he was going to take outmost pleasure in shedding the blood of the bastard Alpha.
"Yes you did Thomas and I'm here at your service," he said coldly and the old man cringed, just the reaction he wanted.
★★★★★★★★★★
Asher strode purposefully into Anderson Group the very next day, intent on getting to his curvy secretary and wringing her pretty neck for being a tease.
All through his flight back, he had been more restless than he had been the previous day combined and he had made a very irritable company that pissed the hell out of Mark.
He hoped his hurry back was worth it. He still had one more meeting to close off the acquisition of the telecommunications company but he had made an excuse and left his executives in the charge, after all it was a done deal already.
His tenting secretary had better be ready and waiting for him in his office with arms open to welcome him and that was most likely going by what she had said to him on the phone the previous day, except he had imagined it all on his head.
Oh, but it had not been imagined. The sultry tone had been nothing he could ever imagine and what it had done to him in the hours it took him to come back was not humanly possible.
Asher realized he thirsted for her, like a man who had been trapped in a desert for years and finally stumbled upon water. He wanted to drink her in hungrily, take all she had to give to replenish himself. But he was not going to rush her because he had absolutely nothing to give her in return.
Her coming into his life had been the perfect moment, when he was getting too restless and feeling like he needed more. But with her, he felt an inner peace he never realized he could have. The days away from her had made him realize he needed her close henceforth, and always.
She was his mate after all and he was beginning to warm in to the idea of having someone he was responsible for. It was not a bad idea after all. And his pack mate seemed to be happier with a bond mate, even though he detested the lovey dovey way mates were around each other and how they made their life to be all about the other person.
He, Asher Anderson, was going to be the practical and sensible mate and of course, passionate. He was not going to hang on to a woman and make a fool of himself.
A practical mate, that was what he was going to be.
But there was the issue of the pack.
He sighed to himself as he took the private elevator up.
The pack was not going to take the news of a human mate lying down, albeit it had been the choosing of the Moon goddess herself. He knew they expected to mate with the purest blood of the purebred, one of their own and the top choice had been Adele but he could never see himself shackled to her.
He could not see himself shackled to any woman actually but being shackled to Shana Johnson was a titillating offer from the goddess he could not pass up and who was he to defy the Moon goddess anyway?
He was going to have a lot to contend with the pack, especially the Council but he was up for it and he had no choice. Besides, he only had to have Rose siding with him. Majority of them were terrified of her. Asides the pack, there was neighboring packs. Crescent pack was one of the oldest and strongest population of shifters to have walked the face of the earth and they were blessed far beyond others by the goddess. So his position as the Alpha was one to be envied.
He was well aware of the skirmish that had ensued after neighboring packs had found out he was not the true cub of Alpha Adam. The pack had tried all they could to hide the shameful secret but somehow, it had still gotten out. Probably through one of their own that was mated to someone in another pack but no one ever found out how the secret was let out and that had led to a lot of problem for Adam.
But the man had not just been an Alpha, he had been a great warrior and a coldblooded leader no one had actually wanted to toy with. Some had tried to take his place but they had been people of no consequence and his pack had stood by him through it all, as he had been the unsuspecting victim of a vindictive and conniving Crier.
Retrospectively, Asher believed the Alpha could have taken a mistress and sired his own child from her but now, he could never find out why the man had not done that. Maybe it was his own way of rebelliously declaring himself far above his whoring mother.
He would never know the reason.
If he was going to take his mate, he also had her to contend with, starting with letting her know what he truly was.
But as he stepped out of the elevator into his office, all the worries whooshed out of his head as he was immediately blasted with the floral, musky scent of his mate.
"We need to mark her soon," his wolf stamped his paws, making Asher roll his eyes at the animal.
His mate, he thought, smiling to himself as he barged right into her office.
In there with her, it was like being suffused in a bottle of exotic perfume as he drew in her scent and he knew she was staring at him as her sniffed the air continuously and he wondered what she thought of that odd behaviour.
He loved her smell, it calmed him and the inner beast. His wolf settled down for the first time in days as he took in her appearance.
"Mr Anderson," she whispered softly as he made his way towards her. She looked so good in her prim and proper black knee length dress. Her face was bare of any make up and flushed from the blush that was turning her face pale skin a bright red, without even the barest hint of a lip gloss on her soft, bow lips that were beckoning him to have a taste of them. The look in her brown eyes was wild, and the hunger in them evident as she watched him move closer to her and she took steps back from him.
"There's nowhere to run to Kitty and we both know you don't want to run," he thought to himself as his lips curved in the smallest hint of a smile.
Even if he was not a wolf with supernatural senses, he would have smelled her desire from a kilometer radius. Right then, the intoxicating smell of her desire hit him and the wolf went wild.
She wanted the hunt.
Scratch that. She loved it. She was enjoying every moment of it as he stalked her slowly, crowding her and making her take steps from him. She wanted the thrill of a chase even though she didn't want to admit it. He did not really feel like the hunter as he stalked her, more like the prey. It was like she was pulling him to her with an invisible force he could not resist. He did not even want to resist her. Not anymore.
"Mr Anderson?," Shana asked cautiously, scared but at the same time exhilarated.
"Say my name Shana," he said gruffly, his time rough with desire he could not control. "I want you to say my name, in that tone you used with me on the phone," he said as he continued to move towards her.
"Mr Anderson," she said softly but that did not satisfy the animal that had been unleashed in Asher.
"No. Say my name, my first name. Say it like you need me."
Shana felt her back hit the wall. There was nowhere to run anymore and she was tired of running. Why not give in to the desire that was flaming and beginning to burn inside her? Why continue to run because of the guilt she felt whenever she remembered her reason for seeking him out?
For once in her life, she decided to throw caution to the wind and indulge in what she was feeling, not because of the assignment but for herself. That could come later.
Besides, there was possibly no sane woman who could resist him as he stood before her, larger than life and oozing his ruthless sexiness. He was perfect in her eyes and worth the risk she was taking.
"Asher," she said softly, almost a whisper she was sure he would have not heard if he was not at that moment standing in her face.
"Shana," he whispered back with the softest, warmest look in his eyes before he bent his head to capture her lips with his.
And heavens did it feel so so so good.
He felt right, for the first time in his life.