Heated Summers

Chapter Four

Ashlin

"No,"

That one word resonated inside of me harsher than the previous rejections I'd faced from him. His voice was clipped, cold, not the least compassionate or sympathetic to my cause.

It was the voice of an Alpha and a father. The combination had the animals and the girl cringing.

"But, dad, I-"

"I don't want to hear it, Ashlin," my father replied sharply. "I know you don't understand my motives, and that's okay. But please, you have to stop with these incessant, useless calls. I'm not changing my mind on the subject." 

My body shook. It wasn't from anger, though there was a healthy dose that was sparked from his callous words. No, my body shook from pain. My insides churned, twisted, flipped and pulled in different directions, creating an agonizing weight that pressed down heavily on my lower abdomen. No longer did I feel the curling heat of desire run through my veins, or the liquid sensation preparing my body for a mating. My core didn't clench with longing or anticipation, but clenched in agony that was rapidly spreading from my stomach to all parts of my body, unfurling slowly but steadily like a disease.

I was scared and not for the first time in my life, I wanted my mother.

"Daddy," I whimpered, closing my eyes as yet another violent shudder passed me. I gasped when my stomach flared with pain. "P-Please, daddy. You d-don't understand the p-pain. P-please. Let me come ho-home."

There was silence on the other end before a muffled conversation ensued. I could faintly hear the sounds of arguing, snarling and growling erupt all at once. I heard my father snap something and the other voices immediately fell silent, bowing submissively to an Alpha's command.

"I'm sorry," my father sounded like he was apologizing to not only me but his current company who I suspected to be my brothers. "But there's nothing you can say that will sway my decision. Goodbye, Ashlin, and good luck."

Panicked, I grasped at empty air. "What would my mother think of you doing this to me?"

When I heard my dad's sharp inhale of air, I knew that I had crossed an unspeakable line. There were not a lot of things that could shake my father, but my virginity and my mother were both red buttons of panic on his heart. Pressing them simultaneously set off something inside the man's ice-cold chest.

I bowed my head in defeat when I heard the empty dial tone.

"Not again," Jim sighed a few minuted later as he sat beside me on the couch, the surface dipping under his weight. I let him draw me into his lap, my body shaking, this time with sobs. "Oh, Ash-girl, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"N-not your f-fault, Jim." I tried to contain my sobs. While I cried for the pain wracking my body, I also cried for my father. My father was a cold, demanding man and while impervious to most emotions, even he had to know he was asking too much of me, his only daughter. While I could accept his reasoning, I couldn't accept his actions and the lengths he'd gone through to keep me away. Even if I did decide to return to the pack on my own accord, I knew my father had female sentries posted around the territory, preventing me from crossing the boarder.

 "He's being a bastard about this," Jim rubbed comforting circles in my back, the familiarity and heat in his hand only briefly numbing the pain. I peeked up through wet lashes to see him glaring at the cordless phone. For the first time, Jim looked truly peeved, not desperate like last night when he caught me crumbled into a ball in the bathroom. No, now he looked angry.

"Yes," I agreed, then added, surprising the both of us. "He's also being a father. I mean," I sniffled and ran a hand under my nose. "Would you knowingly - willingly - let your only daughter sleep with a man she wasn't suppose to be with?"