Yeti’s POV Alpha Dale was a mess. I saw him breaking apart in front of me, but I could only watch and do nothing to help him. It squeezed at my heart. I knew how bad it was to feel… powerless. Especially for a man like him who had all the power in the world. Seeing your loved one suffer was… well. A punishment I didn’t want to endure. Janine was not taking this well either. Earlier, I had had to watch her argue and then fight with Alpha Dale. I had no idea what it was about, but I knew it had something to do with that uncle of his and the stupid council. I clenched my fist as I thought of them. They did this to her. They put Amber in this state. She was finally healing, and they sent her spiraling over the edge. I was going to—I didn’t realize I was gritting my teeth or that my abilities were spilling out of me until I felt a firm but warm touch on my shoulder. I blinked, looking up to meet my mother’s warm gaze. I sighed, and she sighed as well. Removing her hand from my
Yeti’s POV My mother was lying to ne about working with Alpha Derrick. I knew I needed to tell someone but this was my mother we were talking about and I could be wrong. Still, I had seen her use her abilities when she said she wasn’t working with Alpha Dale. Clearly heard the lie. What did that mean? Was she still working with him or was she hiding something? Whatever it was, I didn’t want to find out and I didn’t want the others to find out as well. I sighed heavily, stumbling back when I felt the priestess’s eyes on me. My mother had left in a hurry an hour ago and the priestess had taken her place. “Is she going to be aright?” I asked, trying to shake the feeling that her stare was pressing inside me. for some reason, I felt guilty, exposed. Like she could see my deepest, darkest secrets. “What did you see, child?” she voiced, taking a seat on the chair beside Amber’s bed. I know you saw something that day. Was it one of her memories?” I glanced at Janine whose eyes were n
Amber’s POV My body was on fire. Not from the scorching sun or the heat that caused sweat to run down my blistering skin. It’s been three days since they tied me here, and since then, I’ve been flogged, stoned, spat on, growled at, clawed, and subjected to every horrible thing imaginable. Rope dug into my hands and legs, and my broken skin and the sweat that rolled down my body made everything worse. I was thirsty, but I couldn’t ask anyone to get me water. Not with how swollen my tongue was. It’s been only three days, and it already felt like hell; Alpha Derrick had decreed this punishment was to go on for seven days _if I even survived it. On day one, I had simply been a mode of entertainment for the pack. They all came to watch me as I suffered. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear their arrogant chatters and their scornful judgement. Of course, I was the one at fault. I had tried to ‘run away.’ On the second day, I had begun regaining my vision, and that was when Celia vi
Amber’s POV Murmurs filtered through my ears, disturbing my sleep. Even if I was not awake, I could tell that something was wrong. I felt… different. I felt everything when only a while ago, I had been unable to feel anything at all. I felt the hair on my body, the air around me, the blood that pumped in my veins. My eyeballs as they moved beneath my eyelids. I felt everything except for one thing. Pain. The absence of pain was the first thing I noticed. The headache that had attacked me for days and made my head feel too heavy was…gone. My tongue, which had been swollen in my mouth, was okay. The coppery smell of blood, which had clung to me like a second skin, was not in the air. Instead, I smelled flowers, cinnamon, and musk. The scent made something rouse in my chest, pulling at an invisible string that made me feel an aching need. The voices hushed for a second, and then altogether, they started talking at once. I blinked my eyes open, wincing as the glare of light almost
Amber’s POV I killed a person. I killed a councilmember.The weight of what I did settled heavily in my chest as I could barely breathe. Memories of the moment rushed to the surface of my mind, and I saw the way my abilities had twisted inside him. It was like a lightning whip, except this whip had clung to his organs like a lifeline, sucking every life out of him until all the light in his eyes faded. I recalled the horrified looks of everyone in the room as they took in the horror that was unfolding right before their eyes. They had looked at me like I was a… monster. And I had relished and basked in the fear that evaporated from them. The truth—raw and unforgiving—burned through me. I had killed someone, and in the thrill of the moment, I enjoyed it. I could still feel the rush of power his life had given me, the hunger that gnawed at me after that. I wanted me. The monster in me couldn’t easily be satiated. So, no one could tell me anything—I had killed that man. It
Amber’s POV Izzy and Fabian threw me unceremoniously into the damp cell. I was fast enough to catch myself as I stumbled onto the stone floors, but I couldn’t say the same for Janine, whose sharp cry echoed through the cell as her knees scraped the ground. She muttered under her breath, cursing at the guards and whoever may have offended her. Yeti rushed to her side, trying to help her up, but she brushed Yeti away, breezing to the bars only to catch the guards back as they left. “A bunch of ungrateful fools.” She cussed out. “I can’t believe they’ll betray Alpha Dale like this. What did that old man promise them? What could be more expensive than their loyalty to their Alpha? ”I glanced at Yeti, who had settled herself in the corner with her back pressed to the wall. It was obvious that this was not her first time experiencing something like this. I bit my bottom lip, wondering just what this girl went through in that godforsaken pack. Janine paced like a caged animal; each sto
Amber’s POV It’s been three days since we were thrown in this cell. Three long, crawling, stinking days. None of us were saying it out loud, but today was the day. The day of the execution. On the first day of our imprisonment, Janine had nearly bitten the bars off. She had banged, screamed, cursed, clawed, threatened, and kicked until her voice was hoarse and her knuckles bled. I stopped her when she started yanking at the meat with her teeth. Usually, she was the most controlled of all of us, but the more the days went by, the more she lost a little of that control. Yeti looked like she was faring better than the rest of us. She said nothing and ate very little when they finally brought our rations, giving up her food for Janine, who only knocked her plates away. After hearing the things Yeti kept from us about her mother, she had decided she couldn’t trust the girl. As for me, I had no idea what to do or think. I had tried several times to reach Alpha Dale through our bond, b
Amber’s POV Alpha Dale’s uncle smirked at the stunned silence that followed his words. “Runaways.” He repeated with a mocking jest, rolling the word around on his tongue. “That’s the story. Alpha Dale’s precious mate ran away because she couldn’t stand her dangerous power. She couldn’t stand being a danger to him or anyone else. Of course, her friends went with her.” Janine lunged forward, but the guards held her back. “You sick, lying piece of—!” “Careful now,” he warned, his voice dangerously calm. “You don’t want to make your last hours more painful.” “Are you really going to kill us?” Yeti’s voice broke as she spoke. “You’ll kill Anber? Alpha Dale won’t let you get away with that. You should know— ”He glanced at Yeti impatiently. “Did I not mention Alpha Dale will never know? To him, you all ran away. But don’t worry, Amber here won’t be executed, if that’s what you’re worried about. ”He waved a dismissive hand, and the guards shoved us forward towards a black transport t
Dale’s POV … Mallory was dead. Her limp body crumpled on the ground under me, her neck bent to a sickening angle, revealing a gash where my wolf tore through her. He had torn through every part of her like paper in his pure act of rage and anger. Without permission, he had initiated a shift, tearing through me like a tornado. Blood dripped from his fur. Blood was everywhere in the room. His head snapped up as the wind carried the scent of magic to our nose. He sniffed, growled and snarled. The wolf turned sharply to the closed door, as a deathly snarl ripped from his throat. Just then, the heavy oak door blasted open, crashing hard against the wall. My wolf growled at the intruder and rage rose inside me like bile. Witch, I hissed inside. Outside, my wolf growled. I knew he wanted to say that this was my fault as well. I had trusted her and brought her into the home I shared with my mate, but I didn’t want to hear it. Guilt was already eating through me. the people attacking my
Dale’s POV Everything was peaceful and warm and I was wishing it would remain this way forever. I smiled down at the figure beside me, grateful to the goddess that I got to share this moment with her. Amber was barefoot on the grass, her hands in mine and on her face, a smile that was as radiant as the sun. Mine. I told myself. She was mine and will always be mine. I frowned as her smile faltered, my eyes darting to her feet. “Maybe we should get you some shoes,” I said, my smile snapping back in place. When I looked up at her, she was trembling. My smiled fell as I saw blood pooling into her white dress. Her hands clutched mine desperately and she fell to the floor. I fell with her, holding her face with both my hands to keep her focused on me. Panic and pain burned through me and I began to feel hollow and empty. What was this feeling? “Wake up,” she whispered, placing gentle a hand on top my own. “Wake up, Alpha Dale.” My frown deepened and I struggled to understand what
Amber’s POV I saw only red. Athena wanted to charge at Derrick, pour all our powers into him but this was the only chance I got to save Alpha Dale till who knew when again? Still, I couldn’t take my eyes off Yeti’s lifeless form on the ground. I felt a pang of pain in my chest. She was here because of me. “What did you do?” I cried, my fingers digging into Alpha Dale’s skin unconsciously. “What did you do to her? Do you have no conscience?” The smile that formed on his lips made me froze. He looked like someone who had lost their senses. But then, that made complete sense. Only someone who was insane would be capable of the things this man did. “Now, you have seen the kind of person that I am,” he said softly as if we were on a date and he was trying to convince me to accept his heart. “Even my daughter cannot get in-between me and what I want.” I was momentarily stunned that I did not know my jaw was hanging open. Did he say… “What do you mean by that, you bastard?” I fired. “
Amber’s POV The last thing I wanted was to meet Alpha Derrick, but that was exactly what Celia intended to achieve. Panic flooded my chest as she led us through the wide hallways. Even with the loud music blasting through the walls, I could hear my own heartbeat and Yeti’s. There was no getting out of this without looking suspicious. Besides, Celia wasn’t the kind of person who backed down once she had set her sights on something. I could only hope our glamour was enough to see us through meeting Alpha Dale. My heart stuttered the closer we got to the ballroom and as soon as we crossed the door, time seemed to stop. My mind ignored the swirling ballgowns, laughter and glittering chandeliers and immediately focused on the man in the middle of it all. Even with his back to us, I still recognized him. My panic metamorphosed to full-blown fear but this time, I was desperate to maintain my control and composure, although those words sounded very foreign to me. As if hearing my thoug
Amber’s POV I stared at her. For too long than was considered appropriate. Celia. Saying her name in my head stroked chords of fear and anger. I still dreamt of her, and I hated to admit that a part of me still felt that tremor of fear. I dreamt of all the punishments she made me endure. The strikes of whip that tore my flesh. For a minute, I forgot to breathe. My lungs were frozen and no matter how much I tried, my nose just wouldn’t take in any air. She was here. In front of me and I was the weak, vulnerable and frightened girl that was left for dead in a well. Once again, I was trapped in that suffocating cell and starving because they refused to feed a prisoner like me. I heard her laugh and it felt as though a knife was scraping down the inside of my skull. Rage bubbled through me. My hands began to tremble and my vision became blurry. Athena surged to the surface and her fury seeped into my bones. I squeezed my eyes shut, desperate to regain control and push the memorie
Amber’s POV As Yeti predicted, her glamour was sloppy but the bad work wasn’t that noticeable. Except someone was standing too close and then they’d definitely see the glitches. So, including rule number one which Yeti had spent at least fifteen minutes drumming into me, I now had to add a second rule. Don’t go too close to anyone. We left the hotel an hour later. The anxiety that I was feeling kept me from noticing how beautiful Free City had become with all the decorations for the Culling. Although, I didn’t fail to notice that the city was packed with people three times the usual. “Free City is hosting the Culling this year,” Eric supplied. “It’s been almost seven years since we hosted the Culling. Too bad it had to be this way.” I glanced out the window, thinking about Derrick and the fact that he might be here. Alpha Dale and I were supposed to be enjoying this day, instead, we were being forced to fight to be together. “The pack house is only a mile away,” Eric said, glan
Amber’s POV Days and nights blurred together and before I knew it, a week went by. Beta Trent and Eric spent the one week before the Culling training me even harder than Alpha Dale used to train me. and not just physically, my abilities were tested as well – as best as they could which wasn’t even scratch the surface deep, but at least I got to know that my abilities had something to do with manipulating emotions and elements. While Beta Trent and Eric spent the day sharpening my senses and helping me be more in tune with my wolf, I spent the night trying to suppress the growing ache in my chest whenever I thought of Alpha Dale – which was always. I found little consolation in talking to Athena – who I was getting to know more and more – and talking to the life forming inside me. On the seventh day, I didn’t feel the least ready but I still dressed in a black hoodie – Eric was sure would hide my face and Janine had gotten me a cream which would mask my scent – I pulled my long,
Amber’s POV My heart pounded in my chest and my lungs constricted as I waited for Eric’s answer. There was a frown on his face as he pondered the question, then the frown deepened, and his lips pursed. “Who is Derrick?” he asked. “Am I supposed to know him?” I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding. But then, I realized if Yeti’s mother was now actively working with Donn, then it only meant Alpha Derrick was somewhere in the picture. Perhaps, behind the scenes, pulling the string and my airways constricted once more. “Derrick is the former Alpha of Moonstone pack and the man who raised Amber,” Beta Trent explained. “He’s Alpha Dale’s number one enemy.” Eric looked lost but he didn’t ask any further questions. Meanwhile, my mind was going through a lot of scenarios. What if Derrick had been working with Donn from the very beginning? What if he was the reason Donn came to Free City and brought the council with him? It was plausible and fit right into the puzzle. I
Amber’s POV For the next three days, it was as though we were in denial. None of us wanted to talk about what had happened, nor even think about it, although it was my waking thought and the last thing I thought about before sleeping. We all wanted to forget about it. But I couldn’t forget Alpha Dale’s expressionless face as he stood beside Mallory with her hand in his. I couldn’t forget him chasing me through the woods and I sure as hell couldn’t stop thinking about the what ifs. What would have happened if he had caught me? Janine couldn’t forget about what role Yeti’s mother played in all of this, and although, I saw her trying to act indifferent, I knew how hard it was for her, seeing as Yeti was once a friend. Yeti… I had no idea what Yeti was thinking. She was quiet and closed off and never left her room except when it was time to eat. Beta Trent couldn’t forget about the fact that Alpha Dale’s uncle was now in control of Free city. Although, we didn’t say it out loud, o