“It’s okay Ashley. You still have a great opportunity. The Alpha is married.” Wilson advised when I broke down in tears after Pandora had left. There was no convincing me about the way I felt.
Even after several hours, Wilson had left, leaving only my mother and me.
“Ashley, are you okay?” She called out from behind me. It was already evening and I knew she had to go back to the hospital, but I didn’t want to be alone.
It was a battle trying to control my emotions and hoping that no one saw how deep my delusional love for Rolan was. Even Wilson had acted like he never felt anything for Pandora.
I wanted to scream at him to drop the pretentious act and feel the pain with me. Instead, he kissed me goodbye gently and returned to his office.
“I am fine, Mom,” I answered weakly even though that was all the strength left after crying all day.
“Need to go now. I am needed at the hospital.” She said quietly.
It was in times like this that I doubted whatever theory that was beginning to form in my head about my mom. Tonight, I was simply a young woman who needed the support of her mom.
“Mom, can you please stay tonight? I don’t really feel like staying alone…” I started to say, but the emotions choked me in between, and I burst into tears.
Mom hurried to me and hugged me, patting my back gently and muttering some reassuring words.
“Take it easy Ashley. You will be fine.” She said, but I found it difficult to believe.
The mere thought that I would never be with him felt like a hot coal in my heart and nothing I said to justify why I couldn’t be with him made any sense.
“But I want him, mother. I need him to be mine. How do I get past these?” I cried.
“What about Pandora? You know Rolan is her mate, right?” Mom said.
At the mention of the word ‘mate’, my mind flashed to Caleb. Even though I was not sure whether he was my mate or not, the feeling of kissing him had shaken me in a way that I couldn’t explain.
“I want him, Mom. I really do not care who has him at this point. Rolan has always been mine and you know that. No one knows about Pandora. If the King of Wolves were to be married properly, we would all be informed about it. If he has not announced their mateship yet, it is because something is wrong, Mom.” I said, struggling to convince myself that there was something wrong with the interaction that I saw them have.
“Ashley!” Mom exclaimed.
“Mom, look, I have never wanted anything as much as I want that man. Think about it, if our packs were to form an alliance, we would be the most feared. The money will be never-ending, and you won’t have to work so hard at the hospital anymore. Furthermore, we will have real power, the type that actually matters out there, not just this little one that we have here.” I said, trying to get Mom on my side.
I figured that since she liked Pandora so much, she might find it difficult to get me what I wanted. But, if I did my mom’s manipulative trick on her, I would be able to convince her to support me.
“I don’t want Pandora getting hurt. How do you plan to take her man without hurting her? She just got him back after months of them being apart.” Mom said, and I looked at her weirdly, she was usually the one with the most extreme solutions to things.
“Mom, we saved Pandora’s life. If I take her man, I am only getting the reward for my good deeds. Maybe, if we had not found Pandora, he would not have a mate. I knew we should have let her die.” I sneered.
“Ashley…”
“Oh Mom, please, you are either in or out of this. I don’t want anything dragging me back. I know it’s Pandora’s mate, but he is the only man I want. I have prepared my mind all my life to find an opportunity to be his wife and now that I am getting it, nothing will stand in my way.” I said and walked to my bar to get a bottle of wine.
“Fine. But be careful, once it goes sour you will be on your own. You just have to be careful never to be on Rolan’s bad books. It’s obvious you already mapped out a plan to get him, tell me about that.” Mom said.
“He has invited me to Join his Royal Institute of Technology. We met briefly at the boundary fence some months ago and Wilson had casually mentioned how great I was at handling machines. I will be resuming on Wednesday. It will give me the opportunity to be close to him, as soon as the opportunity presents itself, I will grab it with both hands.” I explained to her.
By the time I was done explaining my elaborate plan, it was almost midnight.
“Get me a cigarette,” Mom said when I was done talking. I had never seen my Mom smoke, neither was I aware that she even did.
“Don’t look at me like that. I have always done it. It just did not feel right to be done in front of you, kids. I saw some in your kitchen cabinet when I went to get some salt earlier” she said and smiled at me.
I smiled back at her, feeling like we had just bonded on a different level, one that made me feel closer to her than ever before.
“And I am in on whatever you decide to do to get Rolan.” She added as I hugged her tightly. “It’s okay, baby bear. Go and get me the cigarette.” and I rushed off into my kitchen, more excited than a child who had just been selected to cheer for the school’s football team.