Chapter 22

KNOX

"They've been gone for hours." I sigh and Jax rolls his eyes. "I never thought I'd say this, but I almost wish I'd done the dishes."

"Stop complaining. Ash makes her nervous so that's a pretty good sign. He's still with her, so it must be going well."

"Yes, he's forcibly marked her." I tell him jokingly but he turns his head in my direction with alarm in his eyes. "I was joking. He wouldn't." He raises an eyebrow, doubtful. "No. He wouldn't I'm sure."

I don't know whether it's my brother or myself I'm trying to convince. I know that Isa is more relaxed with Jax and me and that we had to leave them alone for this relationship to see the light of day. Argh if only Ash could be a little less himself for a change.

I sit on the couch a bit more while Jax is still on his laptop. He receives a message on his phone and rests just as soon after seeing the glimpse.

"Who are you ghosting?" I ask him amused.

"Me? Nobody. Our brother though..."

"Who texted you?" Just as I ask him the question I get a notification on my phone. I look at the message and immediately understand the situation. "Nicole. Damn, she says she's tried to contact Ash several times but he won't take her calls or answer her texts."

"Yeah she told me the same thing. But she knew what she was getting into with him."

"They all do." I confirm.

All three of us are alpha, but Asher being the eldest is even more so, it's biological. Young werewolf women are naturally attracted to us and I'm not going to lie, we've taken advantage of it. Especially me, which I owe to my great natural beauty, but my brothers are not to be outdone.

I start laughing as I imagine Nicole barging in here if Isa were here too.

"I know what you're thinking and it would be better if this never happened. I'll manage Nicole so she won't be a problem." Jax tells me seriously.

"Manage? Like in a hole in the forest?" I tell him, twitching my eyebrows, and he clearly doesn't appreciate the joke. I'm really the only one with a sense of humor in this family.

"If it's necessary." Okay so here we are. We won't let anything or anyone get in our way.

The apartment door opens and I turn around quickly. Asher is alone but he has a stupid grin on his face.

"Someone's happy I see." I tell him as I stand up. Jax closes his laptop and watches us from his spot on the couch.

Ash doesn't even bother to reply and continues walking towards the corridor.

"Okay, is that how you play it? You're not going to tell us anything?" I say, following him.

"I'm not a teenager. I'm not going to tell you in detail what happened."

"All right, then. By the way... Nicole is harassing us with Jax. Maybe you could give her a call and tell her to leave us alone and find herself some new rich prey."

"Nicole?" He asks me, turning around. Ah well, now I've got his attention.

"Yeah. I made the mistake of answering yesterday when she called me and now she won't stop." Jax confirms.

"I'll take care of that problem." He tells us seriously.

"You want me to get out the shovels?

"What are you talking about?" He asks me, frowning.

"Never mind." Jax tells him, rolling his eyes. "So how'd it go with Isabella?"

"It really did go well. She showed me her drawings and I helped her find publishing houses. And we kissed."

"Does she want to write a book?"

"Did you kiss her?" Jax and I ask these two questions at the same time. I'll let you guess who asked what.

"Yes, she kissed me. And yes she wants to write a children's book. She's really good. Her drawings are beautiful and she has great ideas... What?"

Jax and I look at him with round eyes. It's the first time I've seen him so passionate about something that affects someone else. Actually, no, I've never seen him like that, period.

"It's good to see you like this, and on top of that she's shared something with you that she's never told any of us." Jax tells him and Ash smiles again.

"It makes me happy too. Her jerk of a husband told her there was no point in her drawing." He adds, rolling his eyes.

"I can put out a shovel for him too if you like." I tell them and he looks at me like I've lost my mind.

"Could someone please explain to me his obsession with shovels?" Ash asks, losing patience.

ISABELLA

"And you stayed with Asher all afternoon?"

"Yes it went by so fast. I showed him my drawings and he thought they were great, we looked into finding publishing houses for my project. The good thing about him is that I know he's sincere and if he gives me a compliment it's not just to please me."

"Aaahhh that's what I like to hear. I'm so happy for you. You're finally getting what you deserve."

"I'm seeing him again tonight. He invited me to dinner, I don't know where we're going but he made me feel comfortable."

"Now I'm jealous again." He tells me through the phone and I can't help but giggle like a teenager.

"I know. It's so crazy I wonder if it's really true."

"It is. Get out the white summer dress we bought last year with the puffy short sleeves. It'll be perfect for tonight."

"I've never worn it..."

"I know. Put it on. It's a fresh start. Tomorrow I'm counting on you to meet me at the gallery in the afternoon to tell me all about it. I've got an appointment at 2pm but I'll come by afterwards."

"Have a good evening, Isa. Enjoy it instead of me."

"I'll try. Have a good evening and thanks again. Love you."

"Love you too."

I hang up and take the white dress out of the closet. The one time I tried to wear it, Dom told me it didn't fit at all and made me look fat. I hate that his words still affect me. I take a deep breath and decide to put it all behind me. It's a fresh start.