Chapter 18 Ash
Ash
I ended up carrying Daisy on my back in the end as Briar and I took her back to her cabin. After we were sure she was settled, we headed straight for our brother.
We knew exactly where to find him: in his office. He seldom leaves that room, preferring to remain indoors, which is why I was pretty astonished to see him out and about socializing with humans, no doubt, dressed as a pink rabbit.
“Enter,” his clipped, irritated voice responds after Briar knocks on the door.
The moment we step inside, finding him swilling painkillers with water, Briar snorts. “Is there something you want to tell us, Row?”
Rowan glares at our brother the minute he finishes his drink. Then he places it down onto a coaster on his desk, running his hand through his unkempt hair.
He doesn’t even have on his suit. His shirt is creased and unbuttoned, and his tie is loose. “No. I have nothing to share.”
Briar takes the seat in front of the desk, flipping it around so he can sit backward. “Perhaps you want to discuss it over some carrot cake?”
I raise my brow at Briar. Seriously, that’s the best he could come up with?
Rowan snarls at the jibe, and holy shit… is that an Alpha growl? He’s normally so cool and collected.
Now we all sit in silence as Rowan continues to brood. Then I ask, “Why?”
Rowan sighs, shutting his eyes. “It was a one-time thing. Noelle thought that…” He doesn’t finish.
But I urge him gently. “She thought what?”
Our elder brother by nine months rubs between his eyes. “What does it matter? It’s… not like it worked…”
Briar smirks. “What worked?”
Rowan bares his teeth. “Get out of my office.”
We don’t leave. He has us piqued now as I step closer. “Why did Noelle think putting on a pink bunny suit would work in your favor?”
Rowan rolls his eyes, spinning in his leather chair. Now he gazes over the trees beyond the window. I’m pretty sure his eyes drift in the direction of the private cabins.
Daisy is currently staying in one of them, after all.
“Just leave me alone.”
I think I get it now. Rowan does want her. He always did. But he pushed her away because he thought it was for the best.
Rowan doesn’t think he deserves an Omega. He thinks he will end up like our dad—leaving our mother sick and heartbroken.
“You’re not like him, Row… So, don’t deny your feelings because of his failings,” I say now.
The Alpha hangs his head, and I’m pretty sure he’s trembling. Briar and I exchange a glance. We’re twins, so we have always been in tune with one another.
But Rowan has always shouldered everything alone.
Briar sighs. “She smiled, you know. After you put the bunny head back on.”
Rowan doesn’t turn at that proclamation. But his tense shoulders do relax slightly. Then he sucks in a breath. “I just want to be alone for a while. Please…”
Fair enough. When he is ready, he’ll admit his feelings.
Now Briar and I leave. Before we head out, I turn to his desk. “Briar and I are taking her to the reunion. We’re going to be her dates… Just putting it out there.”
Just in case he feels inclined to join us.
Rowan scoffs. “I’m not going to the reunion. A waste of company finances, if you ask me. Robin should know better… He wasn’t even in our grade. What’s it to him?”
I ignore the slight to his boss and our cousin’s Alpha as I continue. “Well, it’s important to her. She would want you there. I see how she looks at you…”
Rowan sighs, covering his face. “No. But you two go. I would only put a damper on your evening. You both know it.”
We do. Yet, regardless, we still want him there. Depressed or not. He’s our brother. We’re a family.
I smile. “Well, think on it. Personally, I’m looking forward to showing her off. Imagine the look on Kyle Barlow’s face.”
Kyle Barlow… the Beta asshole who bullied her.
Daisy doesn’t know it, but the three of us cornered him once in the boys’ toilets back at high school, threatening him if he kept on antagonizing her.
He did stop, for a short while… However, his girlfriend, Natalie Fox, never stopped. We have a feeling Kyle encouraged her.
He knew we wouldn’t threaten a woman. That rat bastard.
“Come on, Ash. Daisy will be waiting for us,” Briar says.
He’s right. She is. We left her to her own devices so she could wash off some of the muck from the woods.
We’re all going to be watching a movie in her cabin tonight.
I sigh, following my brother out the door. Before I leave, I spy my brother’s anguished expression. He’s torn.
I just hope he soon comes to his senses.
We’re a pack. And we do everything together. And that includes courting the same Omega.