The thought of playing horses with her mate began to consume Alisha’s thoughts. However, as much as it made both her and Mia horny, she would never do something like that with Iesha in the room, plus she did not feel ready to mate and mark just yet. They had turned a corner in their relationship, but Alisha still wanted to build a stronger bond of trust, that, and she was not sure if she should even think of mating until she could at least hold down three square meals a day without it causing pain, or other things to happen to her.
As Asher opened the door to the large suite, Alisha stepped inside. She looked around, finding a super king-sized four-poster oak bed in the centre of the room. The covers were dark red blankets with four large soft pillows, and cushions in cream, making it look extra comfortable. A large burgundy sofa and two cream-coloured chairs were placed on either side of an open fireplace. Four doors led to the marble bathroom, a separate toilet, a huge wardrobe, and the other door connecting to the room beside him, which had been his sister's bedroom when they were growing up. It was both luxurious and homey, merging the old antique furniture with more modern aspects, like the huge TV that hung on the wall.
Alisha bathed Iesha in the extra-large whirlpool bath, the little girl giggling a the bubbles of hot water as they swirled around her. Finished, she took Iesha out, and changing her into one of the fresh clean night dresses that was laid on the single bed at the side of the room, opposite the super kingsized bed of Asher’s, Alisha read her a story and watched as Iesha drifted off to sleep.
“Bed,” Asher ordered Alisha.
“I have nothing to wear,” Alisha proclaimed, although he had held her naked for hours earlier in the day in the bath. She really did not feel comfortable sleeping naked with Iesha in the room, and something about being in bed naked felt different to what had happened earlier.
“Hum, well, here is one of my T-shirts. You can wear it. We will go shopping tomorrow. Get you anything you need. In fact, maybe we can ask Becca to come. She used to love to shop.” Asher said, handing Alisha a t-shirt, then turned his back to her, giving her privacy to change.
“Erm, ready.” Alisha sighed.
Turning around and seeing Alisha dressed in his T-shirt did something primal to him. His length hardened, as he let out a low appreciative growl.
“Oi, control that thing, Iesha is just there,” Alisha whisper-shouted at him, but then gave him a cheeky grin, to let him know she was not really annoyed.
Chuckling, Asher pulled back the covers on the bed, then gently lifted Alisha up, and softly placed her in his bed. His heart felt like it would explode with joy, seeing his mate laid in his own bed, her hazel eyes wide, cheeks flushed.
“Erm, I will go get changed, I think I have some PJ bottoms somewhere,” Asher said, clearing his throat.
Opening a drawer, he pulled out a black pair of PJs with a red waistband, then headed to the bathroom, and quickly changed, before walking out into the room. Glancing at Iesha, Asher smiled. The pup was fast asleep, her little face looking peaceful, then he headed over to his bed, climbing inside the covers and pulling Alisha to his chest.
Alisha felt her heart pounding in her chest, something about being in her mate's actual bed, making her hormones scream for release.
“Hum, you say I need to have control, right back at you mate,” Asher chuckled.
“Shut up, and go to sleep,” Alisha laughed slightly, her cheeks burning from embarrassment.
“Hum, yeah, we should, although the urge to play ‘horses’ is strong tonight. However, I am up at five for morning training. You can come if you like, just to observe how we do things,” Asher sighed.
“Yeah, okay. Night night.” Alisha sighed.
“Night night, my beautiful Alpha Princess,” Asher softly said, then placed a soft kiss on the top of her head, and closed his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep and not think about playing horses with his mate.
As the training alarm sounded on Asher’s phone, Alisha awoke with a groan.
“No,” She whispered, snuggling into Asher more than she already was.
“Sorry baby, but training time. You can stay in bed if you like,” Asher smiled, loving how cute she looked with her face scrunched up in protest of having to wake up, her hair all messed up.
“It’s fine, I am awake now. I think I am getting used to being lazy and sleeping till past 7 am. I used to run on four hours of sleep per night maximum.” Alisha said stifling a yawn.
Asher nodded his understanding, then swallowed his anger at the mistreatment of his mate once more. They had turned a corner, but he knew his mate needed to spend time with Cheryl, to help her deal with everything she had gone through.
“Your ‘thing’ is out of control again!” Alisha accused, but then followed up with a small giggle.
“I am not surprised, I was dreaming of playing horses all night,” Asher chuckled.
“Your scent is particularly tempting this morning,” he countered.
“I am not surprised, I was dreaming of riding a stallion all night,” Alisha grinned, blushing wildly at her confession.
“Oh hell,” Asher let out a soft groan, her confession begged him to do something sinful about it, but with Iesha in the bed next to theirs, he was not about to start something that the pup could witness.
“Morning,” Iesha’s voice said brightly.
“Morning Iesha,” Alisha smiled at her sister.
“Asher is going to training. Would you like to come to watch, or stay in bed and have a lie in?” She asked her.
“Is Bradley going?” Iesha asked.
“I think he went home last night, he lives in Spain,” Asher explained.
“Oh, okay, what about Nana Cheryl, will she be there?” Iesha asked.
Alisha looked wide-eyed, she was happy her sister was making friends and trusting people, but she could not help but feel a little rejected by her only wanting to go with them if other people were around.
“I doubt it, Andrew only does the evening and afternoon training sessions normally, “ Asher answered.
“Woah, how many training sessions do you do?” Alisha asked. Training at Matlock was just three times per week, even at Edensor they only did it once per day Monday to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were rest days.
“Three training sessions per day for adults. Two are compulsory, the other optional. I attend all three mostly, then two on a weekend, when I am here. The pups have their own sessions and are required to train daily at the academy, then with the pack on a weekend,” Asher explained.
“Wow, that is a lot!” Alisha exclaimed.
“Dad and Mam are of the opinion, train hard, fight easy, if we ever have to. We also have specialist training twice a week that has been added to the schedule, on how to fight humans with weapons, without hurting them if possible,” Asher sighed.
“Why would humans be after us with weapons?” Alisha asked, confused.
Not wanting to upset Iesha, Asher looked at Alisha and slightly shook his head, then turned to Iesha.
“So do you want to come out with us this morning, little princess?” He asked the pup.
“Alisha, please may I stay in bed this morning, it is so comfortable, I don’t really want to get up,” Iesha asked.
“Of course you can. I will come and fetch you at breakfast. What flavoured protein shake do you want this morning?” Alisha asked.
“Chocolate, always chocolate, the strawberry one is yucky,” Iesha smiled, then turned over in her bed, and snuggled down, going back to sleep.
Alisha pulled on the leggings she had from the day before, and her jumper, as Asher changed into his training kit, then taking hold of her hand, they walked out of the suite. Alisha gasped, the sparks between them seemed to have intensified even since yesterday. She could not help but wonder if that was because she was no longer holding on to her past and blaming him, or if her wolf was getting a little stronger, so the mate bond was naturally increasing. However, unlike in the past, she was not annoyed by the sparks, rather she drew comfort from them, along with a great deal of pleasure.
“Okay, I am going to grab my own protein shake before we start, do you want one?” Asher asked, grabbing a cup with his name on, then found one already made up for Alisha, and handed her it.
“I guess so. I hope they put me on soup soon. I really want chicken soup again,” Alisha sighed, taking the milkshake.
“We can ask Andrew when he examines you later today. I am guessing if you are craving it, then your body is ready for it, but that is just my opinion and not medical advice,” Asher shrugged.
“Oh, shit, hold on, I forgot something,” Asher declared, then ran back up the stairs, taking them two at a time, before returning a few moments later.
“What is that?” Alisha asked at the suspicious brown shaker her mate was holding.
“Itching powder, that is going to go in Hamish’s joggers, and you are going to help. Pranking my little brother is a right of passage,” Asher grinned like a naughty school boy, making Alisha laugh and shake her head.
“Seriously, I am going to hug him, and pull down his joggers, you will quickly and stealthily add the powder, he will presume the prank was his pants around his knees, and that you have nothing to do with it,” Asher grinned excitedly.
“Can I ask something? What was the look for about training to deal with humans with weapons about?” Alisha asked.
“Yeah, we will go in-depth with you about it. As an Alpha you will need to know, it was part of what I was supposed to impart to all the Alphas on my list to make them aware. Are you familiar with the werewolf sighting three years ago where a wolf shifted on the great wall of China? Tourists caught it then the wolf suddenly disappeared?” Asher asked.
Alisha shook her head, she knew nothing about what was going on around the world over the past few years, her only information was limited to hushed conversations or overhearing something when she was doing her chores.
“Okay, so to cut a long story short, Liane’s mother was a transporter wolf-like she is, only she had an almost werewolf version of dementia. She was transported to the great wall of China, after kidnapping my sister’s baby, the omega triplet Catalina. Anyway, she shifted, and tourists filmed it and uploaded it onto the internet. That sparked debate, and more and more humans who rejected their werewolf mates, have stepped forwards saying that we are real. On top of that, there was a criminal organisation filled with both ex-mafia, and rogues, with the intent to take over the world, operating. The humans used firearms with silver bullets against us. We wiped them out eventually, but they also were taking pups after killing their parents and building a pup army to fight against packs. That is where Bradley came from. So now we train to fight against armed humans as well,” Asher explained as quickly as he could.
“What, that is really bad. When did it happen?” Alisha asked in shock.
“Three years ago. It is why we probably missed your situation, as we were busy with all that shit going on. However, that is no excuse for us not to have triple checked on you and Iesha, or checked your pack lands,” Asher added, finally telling her why she was forgotten for three years.
“Oh!” Alisha simply replied, blinking her eyes. Shame that she had been so angry at Asher and his family, when they had been dealing with such a terrible situation, began to fill her mind.
Asher smiled, then took her in his arms.
“It is okay, do not feel guilty for how you reacted. We fucked up Alisha, no matter what we were doing, we should not have taken our eye off the ball back here, and we did. Your feelings were justified,” he gently told her.
“Now, let’s go, it is almost time for your first prank,” Asher grinned.
Alisha smiled, and nodded, but little did her mate know, her first prank was not going to be against his little brother, but against her mate himself, and she supressed a giggle as she planned just how she would prank him, knowing he would never expect it.Chapter Thirty- Two. The Forgotten Mate and The Alpha Prince.