The Sea Witch's Alpha Wolf

Meeting Again

Asher's POV

I knock on the door feeling nervous and excited. The house is more like a mansion and surprisingly is even bigger than the pack house and much, much grander. The whole place screams decadence and opulence. It's easy for me to imagine Echo growing up here. Something about her always lead me to believe she came from wealth and now that it's been confirmed I can think of all the instances where she acted very much like the lady she was probably brought up to be. Though she's still a sea witch meaning she has a coven to take care of and the Sea Witch to follow but knowing Echo she's probably one of the strongest witches they have.

Finally the door opens and my mouth drops open at the miniature Echo standing in front of me. From the tip of her white blonde head down to her sparkly, blue painted toes this girl is Echo's twin. I blink several times before I start to spot the subtle almost unnoticeable differences. "Are you the babysitter?" She asks as she looks me over with a critical eye.

"Actually I'm here-" Before I can finish my sentence she's grabbed my hand and is pulling me into the house.

"MAMA THE BABYSITTER IS HERE!" I look around as several other children join us in what must be the main foyer. Two other little girls one bounces over to her sister, who's still holding my hand, and grabs her other hand. The two could be twins but one is slightly taller and a tiny bit older looking than the other. The next girl is clearly a year or two older than the other two and is carrying a squirming little boy.

"That's nice dear," a voice from the top of the staircase replies. "You can all go down to the beach now. Lydia and I are going to be in the Pink Room and Echo is dealing with coven matters and will meet you all down there later."

"OKEY DOKEY!" Shouts the girl and then the group of us proceed through the house and outside to the beach. I barely have time to assess what's happened before I'm standing shirtless in the water with the little boy, whose name is Ty, on my shoulders as we play in the ocean. If someone had told me before I entered the house that instead of having a shouting match with Echo and dragging her home with me I'd be on the beach behind her house with her siblings I'd have said they were higher than a kite. But here I am... On the beach... No Echo... Just her siblings. Somehow things spiraled out of my control when I wasn't looking.

After about three hours of us playing I've gotten all of them rounded up and sitting on the giant beach towels drying off. Maggie is building a sandcastle with Serena and Bea while Ty tries to dig a moat around it. Suddenly Ty looks up and takes off running toward the steps. "ECHO!" I whip my head around so fast I can hear it crack.

There she is. Walking toward us her arms outstretched as she catches Ty and swings him up into her embrace. She looks exactly as I remember her except something undefinable is different. The way she walks and holds herself is more refined and powerful. The girls all rush over to greet her too and for a moment I can't tell where she begins and they end. Her attention is focused solely on them but when she raises her gaze it clashes with mine as we stare at one another.

~

Echo's POV

My breath catches as we lock gazes. The kids are still rambling on about something but the world seems to have stopped as I stare at Asher. I knew the moment he entered the house that he was here but that still doesn't make seeing him again any less shocking or nerve-racking. I'm scared. Scared of what he'll say, what he'll think of me, how things between us will turn out. Nothing about either of our lives is easy. He's an alpha wolf and I'm the Sea Witch. It sounds like a love doomed from the beginning. But hope still lingers in my heart despite all the doubts and fears I have. Maybe, just maybe we can make things work.

"Why don't you all head up to the house," I force my gaze away from Asher and back to my siblings. "Mama and Lydia are finished training for the afternoon and they can help you all clean up. Okay?" They all nod obediently and scamper off, up the steps, and into the house like the good little monsters they are. Sighing I turn back around to face Asher who is now striding toward me with a hard look on his face. Crap.