My father wants to meet you
“Roxanne… Can we talk?” Asher began by asking.
As he spoke, Roxanne’s heart skipped a bit, making her yelp slightly. Their distance was not too far apart, so Roxanne could sense him vividly, and at the moment, he was irresistible.
“W-Wha…?” Roxanne let out since she couldn’t retain what he said.
“I said, can we talk…?” Asher repeated, an action he wouldn’t normally do, but given the circumstances, he had very little choice.
Roxanne was right in front of him, and this made him feel flooded with emotions that were foreign to him before he had met her. He just wanted to draw closer to her, touch her and take her with him in an instant.
“No, stop that Asher!” He cautioned himself.
Thinking that way was no good. Clearly, Roxanne would have none of that, and the last thing he wanted was to give her another reason to despise him.
“He… wants to talk?” Roxanne questioned herself.
That was unexpected, but what surprised her more was that she wasn’t feeling the slightest bit of withdrawal from him. Was this magic? She actually wanted to accept his offer, she was even happy to hear that he wanted to talk.
“Fine, but just for a moment. I’m feeling quite tired after seeing my mother off, she had to leave today. Ring any bells?” Roxanne said, starting at Asher with an accusing glance.
Asher looked away from her eyes, feeling a pang of guilt due to her words, but tried to hide it. Meanwhile, Roxanne felt proud of herself for controlling her reaction and giving Asher a mean response.
“It won’t take long. Rita, could please excuse us for a moment?” Asher said to the third wheel in the entire conversation.
Rita had been watching the two amusedly. Their reactions were funny to her, and she was enjoying the moment. Telling her to leave at the time things were about to get interesting was a bummer to hear, but it couldn’t be helped.
“Fine, fine. I’ll be fine inside, sound good?” Rita smiled.
Asher gave her a knowing stare after she said this.
“Fine, fine. How about I go check out how Dax is doing? Sound good to you, brother?” Rita said, walking away from them.
“What the he-” Asher spoke in surprise.
Rita naturally called him her brother in front of Roxanne… However, he was aware that Roxanne was already aware of the fact.
“She knows!” Rita quickly added before leaving.
“Since when?” Asher muttered.
“Just yesterday. So… What do you want?” Roxanne replied with his loud thoughts.
“Ah, I see… So, erm… I heard you performed your Awakening yesterday. How did it-”
“Oh please, don’t act like you weren’t there. You must have liked what you saw, stalker!” Roxanne eyed Asher suspiciously.
“Of course, her mother would have told her. Smart move, Asher! Urgh!” He mused.
“So, what do you want?” Roxanne asked, having a serious look, though she was all much inside.
Asher sighed, he couldn’t waste any more time. Here it came…
“My father wants to meet you, let’s go to his place tomorrow.” He said plainly.
“?!!” Roxanne looked at him in a confused state. She couldn’t comprehend his words.
“Did you hear what I just said?” He asked, as though everything he said was perfectly normal.
“Eh?” She mumbled.
“I said we should go see my father tomorrow… You agree, don’t you?” He asked.
“Yes! It looks like she’s in agreement. Wow, this is actually easier than I thought” He smiled.
“What the hell are you talking about?!!” Roxanne exclaimed.
Seeing his father all of a sudden? The question was so sudden that Roxanne’s heart couldn’t take it. Her brain was not even fast enough to process those words. Did he not understand the gravity of his words?
“I haven’t even agreed to anything yet and you already want to start introducing me to your parents?” She burst out.
Asher wasn’t expecting this. Since he was a social elephant, he couldn’t read the atmosphere or choose his words wisely. As someone who was used to merely making statements and giving out orders, he wasn’t one to ask for permission in a conversation, even if he needed to.
“I said, I want you to-”
“I know what you said! You don’t have to repeat it!” Roxanne shouted in embarrassment.
It wasn’t that she didn’t hear him, but she just couldn’t understand the question that popped up out of the blue.
“Why should I even consider it?” Roxanne asked with a tone of suspicion, but her heart was beating faster than she could manage.
She didn’t know how much longer she could keep up the conversation before giving out.
Asher felt cornered. He didn’t have any cards to play nor any reasons to give… Except one. If this didn’t work, he didn’t know what else to say. It would be checkmate.
“My father was the previous Alpha of the Rockwood Pack. Maybe you could convince him to let you go… Or even cancel this whole Mate thing. It’s up to you, you know?” Asher stated.
He gulped as he said this. It wasn’t entirely true, but he had no other choice. He didn’t know much about Roxanne, but he knew she didn’t want anything to do with him. If he dangled such bait in front of her, then it was only natural for her to take it.
“… Really?” Roxanne asked.
“O-Of course. I wouldn’t lie to you” Asher smiled confidently.
“What am I doing?” He contemplated.
Roxanne had Rita, there was no way she wouldn’t bring it up before Rita. Once Roxanne did that, it was game over for him.
“If that’s the case, then fine! Let’s do it then!” Roxanne said with a resolved look.
Finally, she could be free from this annoying man… Or so she would have liked to think, instead, her heart was pained. She was shocked that Asher brought up such a thing.
“Does he really want me to see his father? His dad can cancel the whole Mate arrangement and send me home? Is that what he wants? Asher wants me to go… He doesn’t want me as a mate anymore…?!”
Roxanne had finally gotten what she wanted, yet she felt dejected. However, she couldn’t back out now. Doing so would mean she actually wanted their union to continue, something she couldn’t afford Asher to think.
“We’ll go tomorrow then!” Roxanne said sternly.
“Oh no, if I wait till tomorrow and she cross-examines what I said with Rita, the plan will fall apart!” Asher reasoned.
“W-Why wait till tomorrow, the day we are just starting, and his place isn’t very far. Let’s go right now” Asher suggested with a smug look.
“Yes, I have to bait her. Come on, Roxanne… Don’t you want to get rid of me as soon as possible? Come on, take the chance!” Asher begged in his head.
Roxanne gave Asher a poker face, an expression she had mastered since she lived her life full of secrets and devoid of much interaction with people.
“Whaaaat?!!!” Her mind rang.
“He wants to get rid of me so quickly. Is that how much he wants to send me packing? This guy… But I can’t refuse. Doing so would be like I’m accepting him and I actually don’t want us to be separated, which isn’t true. I want to be rid of this annoying man as soon as possible!” Roxanne thought.
Both of them, unaware of each other’s thoughts, made severely wrong assumptions about the other’s intentions and worried over nothing. In the end, Roxanne ended up following Asher that very instant.
“Yes, I did it! I now know what father meant. To know the person, and what they want… That’s the best way to handle anyone” Asher smiled smugly.
“Cheh, cheeky bastard. You dragged me all the way here when I was still an innocent girl, and now that you’ve had your fun, you want to throw me away? I always knew you were trash. Good riddance!” Roxanne sulked.
After walking together in silence for some minutes, Roxanne noticed that they were leaving the general settlement and moving to the edge of the village, though a different one from the one Roxanne knew.
“Where are we going? Didn’t you say we were going to see your father?” Roxanne asked, looking around her with curiosity.
“My father lives on the outskirts of the village. Don’t worry, we’re almost there…” Asher said in a distracted tone.
Roxanne wondered why Asher spoke of his father in such a sad and distant tone. We’re they not on good terms? Or was he actually not intending on cancelling their weird werewolf relationship?
“We are here…” Asher said, stopping in front of a massive wooden house. It was by far larger than Rita’s abode, with a bigger fence and larger compound. It had a majestic structure, and Roxanne would have been entirely flabbergasted were it not for a certain flaw of the house. It was big, it was impressive, but… The house was run down.
It looked like it had been abandoned for very long. With no sign of housekeeping or maintenance, the wood creaked as the winter breeze blew. With every gust of wind, the house shook slightly, as though it would soon crumble.
“T-This is it?” Roxanne questioned in disbelief.
“Yep.” Asher did with a shrug.
He moved forward and opened the door without even knocking.
“Let’s go in,” He said, entering the dark house.
Roxanne gulped and did the same, feeling very uncomfortable concerning what to expect from the owner of such a house.