Amber’s PoVWe sat through each and every trial, and I know initially I felt pity towards Kelly for her death sentence, after learning just how deep her depravity was during the trial of her lover and true mate, I found that little spark extinguished quickly.She deserved everything she had coming to her.Peter and her true mate Rick knew everything and ultimately faced the same fate as she did. The death sentence was rarely given among our kind but no amount of time they were forced to serve would ever atone for what they had tried to do to our kingdom.My stepmother Ann was sentenced alongside my father, both of their sentences determining that they would spend life in prison alongside some of the most terrifying criminals that existed in our world. My father was also charged with the illegal killing of Ryans parent’s, with Ryan standing as a witness and finally, he received the justice that he had sought for most of his life.And Viola?She too had played a part and for the crime o
(Amber's POV) Today was my eighteenth birthday and it seemed as though I had been waiting for this day forever. For years I had been hidden away from the rest of the pack, a dirty little secret whose mere presence brought shame on my father, the Alpha of the Scarlet Pack, and today was the first day that I had ever been seen in public. For so many years I have lived here as a slave, my true identity kept from anyone. But recently, out of the blue, my father told me he was going to have a Bar Mitzvah for me and introduce me to the entire werewolf world. My wolf Rae and I have no idea why he's doing this. To be honest, I have a bad feeling that this is definitely not a simple bar mitzvah. I wasn't a child anymore, I didn't believe in fairy tales. But I can't resist, I'm not just any daughter who can be capricious and disobey her father, I'm just an unloved slave. I am not even allowed to see my real mother. My mother is still lying in a hospital bed, relying on instruments to keep h
(Amber's POV) I felt my soul leaving my body as darkness engulfed my vision, rendering me unable to move a single step. "How disgusting! This filthy Omega's blood has stained my latest designer dress..." It was my stepsister's mocking voice that made me realize I wasn't dreaming. My father had actually used his claws to pierce through my mate's throat. On the ground, my mate was still writhing in agony. Rae's angry and pained voice brought my focus back. My gaze turned into daggers, aimed at my stepsister and immediately shut her up! "Listen... Amber! Have you forgotten my words?" My father smirked, stopping me from approaching my mate. As his grimy hand clung to my arm, a sickening knot formed in my stomach, and a fiery surge coursed through my veins! Despite in pain, Rae took over. My hands turned into sharp claws and angrily threw my father aside. We immediately rushed towards our mate! "Please... No! You'll be fine," Rae kept licking his wounds, making a last-ditch effort t
(Amber's POV) Three years later, in the cell. "I curse you..." I still remembered the night that my mate died vividly... it replayed over and over again in my mind and my mate's dying words haunted me endlessly. I'd thought of taking my own life, but I knew my mother was still waiting for me. Though I didn't know if she was still alive, until I heard definitive news of her death, I wouldn't give up on my own life! My father had only imprisoned me; he hadn't killed me. I believed that in his eyes, I still held some value. So while he demanded my obedience, he wouldn't let my mother perish. However, I wasn't simply kept locked in a dungeon. For the past three years, I had been kept here in solitary confinement, with only the stoic presence of the guards and the unwanted advances of the men that my stepmother sent to try and take the one remaining precious thing that I had left to me. My virginity. She and my stepsister viciously tried to turn me into a whore. Thankfully, none of
(Amber's POV) As I left the dingy hallways of the dungeon and stepped out into the light, my eyes squinted shut reflexively as my hands flew up to shield them from the glare. After so long in the darkness, the warmth of the sun's rays was a welcome relief on my pasty skin, but the light was almost excruciatingly painful for my eyes. As I take a deep breath, I finally feel Rae's awareness of the three years that Rae has been in a deep sleep because of our mate's death. Rae?" I stop myself, worried that it's just my imagination. "Amber, it's me, I'm back." After a short silence, Rae finally answers me. Suddenly I feel the sun begin to warm. I heard my father click his tongue in disapproval at our reaction to being outside after so long, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of provoking a reaction. So, I resolutely followed him in silence, shielding my eyes and glancing to the sides furtively to see if anything had changed within the layout of the pack land on the walk from
(Amber's POV) "What is she talking about?" I asked furiously, my tone holding a dangerous edge to it. "Don't worry Amber, Daddy found the perfect match for you," My stepsister's voice rose gleefully as she clapped her hands in excitement, "You should be happy that he went out of his way to find such a good match for you, especially after your public disgrace." She tittered as I growled lowly. "Are you for fucking real right now?" I scoffed angrily as my father's face darkened, "You hold me in a dungeon for three years, subject to the horrors of the guards that your bitch of a wife personally handpicked to punish me and now you retrieve me only to marry me off to goddess knows who?!" I could feel Rae's rage building at a far faster rate than my own and it took everything in me to stop her from wrenching control from me and surging towards these two conniving little bitches that directed everything behind the scenes. "Your sister is right. After what you did at your Bar Mitzvah..."
(Ryan's POV) I was in total darkness and all I could see was two men writhing together in the distance, one of them my father. I yelled and ran as hard as I could. But no matter what, I couldn't get close to them. "Father!!!" I shouted out to my father but he didn't reply, simply turning his head from his position on the floor and smiling half heartedly at me as the man who sat above him lifted his arm and plunged his claws straight through my fathers chest. Blood spurted out. "NO!!" I woke up with a start, my chest heaving as the emotions of the nightmare still ran rampant inside of me. I looked around in confusion at my surroundings but it didn't take long for me to realize that I had obviously fallen asleep in my office and the memories of that night had haunted me in my dreams once again. I let out a long breath and ran my hands over my face as I forced my heart to slow its rapid beating in the comforting silence. That was part of the reason that I worked so hard... to escape
(Amber's POV). I waited patiently outside the doors of the pack house waiting for the Beta to return but instead an Omega was sent to collect me and showed me to my room. "Is... is Ryan alright?" I asked her as we walked through the corridors, but she didn't answer me and avoided my eyes completely. I turned to thank her for bringing me to my room, but I was forced to step back hastily as the door closed quickly and narrowly avoided hitting me in the face. "Great. We've traded one prison for another." I muttered despondently as I sagged down onto the bed, "I don't understand any of this Rae, why would he react this way to us?" Rae whined softly as she paced in my head in distress. "I don't know. It doesn't make any sense. This was the first time that I've ever seen him, so there's no possible way that we could have offended him somehow." "Maybe our stepmother set this up for us... or our stepsister... they're petty enough." Rae growled. "I don't know... it wouldn't make sense to
Amber’s PoVWe sat through each and every trial, and I know initially I felt pity towards Kelly for her death sentence, after learning just how deep her depravity was during the trial of her lover and true mate, I found that little spark extinguished quickly.She deserved everything she had coming to her.Peter and her true mate Rick knew everything and ultimately faced the same fate as she did. The death sentence was rarely given among our kind but no amount of time they were forced to serve would ever atone for what they had tried to do to our kingdom.My stepmother Ann was sentenced alongside my father, both of their sentences determining that they would spend life in prison alongside some of the most terrifying criminals that existed in our world. My father was also charged with the illegal killing of Ryans parent’s, with Ryan standing as a witness and finally, he received the justice that he had sought for most of his life.And Viola?She too had played a part and for the crime o
Amber’s PoVRyan received word from Tom first that Kelly and her lover had been successfully apprehended and by all accounts, things went off without a hitch for them.The team that went after Peter and Viola, however, had a tougher time once they had found him as his personal guard had never been far away from him. The absence of my sister was noted though and when pressed for information, he reluctantly admitted that Viola had been moved to the cells as punishment for setting Ryan and me free, as well as her inability to provide concrete evidence that we were no longer a threat.She was currently being attended to in the cells by the doctor here at the safe house.As for my father, he hadn’t even put up a fight. Surprisingly, my stepmother had injured more of the mercenaries than he had, furious that her hard work was going to come to nothing.I smiled to myself as Ryan draped his arm around me lazily as we took a short walk in the grounds of the house. It was the first time we had
Tom’s PoVBy the time our party arrived at the packhouse, the sun was already casting long shadows through the leaves of the forest. It was these shadows that we moved through to the entrance I had escaped through with Lily in what seemed like an eternity ago.After a brief discussion with the mercenary leader, they agreed that I should lead the raid on our former pack house. As Ryan’s Beta, this was personal to me and I felt as though I had a score to settle as he couldn’t be here himself. This thought only made me more determined to succeed.The mercenary leader had taken a few of his men to lead a smaller raid on Alpha Luke’s territory with the intent of snatching him without too much issue. He had never invested in defensive infrastructure as much as he should have, so getting in and out for them would be easy.The air inside the tunnel that I led my band of misfits down seemed to be thick with tension as we made our way silently through the darkness, stopping only when we reached
Tom’s PoVI rose early the next morning, making sure that I didn’t disturb Lilly as she slept. Delores wanted the mercenaries ready to move out at a moment's notice and Ryan was counting on my support so I did the only thing I could think of and began making sure that my own preparations were in order.By the time I had everything organized and moved to wake the mercenary leader, Delores was already hovering in the corridor, watching me with interest.“What do you want?” I grunted as I went from door to door rousing the men as the leader got himself ready.“I’m just watching you work Tom. You’ve grown into quite a capable Beta, just as I knew you would. It makes my heart full with joy and pride to know that I was right.”I snorted and rolled my eyes as her gaze burned into me.“You didn’t know for sure back then, but you were still willing to leave two teenagers high and dry without the slightest idea what they were doing. I’d say that was pretty heartless.”“Really?” She mused, “I wo
Amber’s PoVThe Elder’s were true to their word and wasted no time in getting down to business.Once they had eaten their fill and reviewed the evidence, requesting copies to be taken into their closed-door meeting, they disappeared off to one of the more secluded rooms on the second floor with Delores leading the way.Lily made sure they had a tray of drinks and snacks to take in with them, more as a show of goodwill and hospitality on our part more than wanting to sway their decision. They had been good enough to travel all this way, the least we could do was to make sure that they were well cared for while they were here.“So what do we do now?” I asked Ryan, biting at my nails nervously.“I guess now we wait,” He said, letting loose a long breath.“Do you think they’ll take long to reach a decision?” Lily asked as she pulled her chair closer to mine.“I doubt it,” My mother answered gloomily, “They have everything they need and more to make a well-informed decision. The longest pa
Amber’s PoVThe Elder’s arrived as inconspicuously as they possibly could so as to not draw attention to the safe house location.As they were ushered into the hall and heads bowed in respect as they passed, I would be lying if I said I didn’t expect them to be more…imposing.The eight members of the council filed quietly through the crowd with benign smiles on their faces as they approached the head table. Both Ryan and I stood to greet them and bowed our heads in respect as we greeted them warmly.“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you all,” Ryan said seriously as their smiles remained in place.“Well, we come when called, and in the event of serious issues…I would say that the alleged events qualify as serious issues…wouldn’t you?” The man at the front answered with a sigh.“Delores said that the Alpha King is still alive?” another Elder asked curiously, “Would it be possible to see him?”“Come now Cecil, can it not wait until after we’ve eaten?” Delores grinned as she appeared behin
Amber’s PoVI still hadn’t made my peace with the fact that my mother hadn’t been able to somehow let me know that she was okay sooner than my wedding night, and I was still reeling from the fact that Ryan had planned to completely destroy me in every way possible in order to get revenge on my father.I know that I had managed to win him over by being the exact opposite of Viola, but it still didn’t sit right with me because he seemed to be quite happy to spit in the face of the Goddess and our mate bond just to get his own back for the death of his parents.I had no part in their demise yet he would have happily thrown me to the proverbial wolves. What happened to the benevolent Alpha that took care of his pack and helped even the Omega’s feel safe under his care? Was it all just an act?“Amber?” Ryan’s voice came from outside the locked door that I refused to open for him, or anyone else for that matter while I tried to get my thoughts in order.“What do you want? I told you I wante
Tom’s PoVIt wasn’t difficult to track down Alpha Luke’s head of finance. When we found that he wasn’t anywhere near his workplace, we headed to the only other location that he was known to frequent.The smell of stale sweat that assaulted our senses as we entered the bar made me want to gag, but I did my best to hold back the urge.“I don’t see him here.” The mercenary leader murmured as we scanned the faces of the patrons here.I grunted in response and pushed my way past the bouncers who looked at each other hesitantly. This was a private club and only members were allowed, but with the mercenary leader at my side, engaging us was more of a risk for these men on the door.“He won’t be in plain sight.” I replied, “He has specific tastes that aren’t fit for public knowledge.”The mercenary leader’s face darkened as soon as he understood what I meant and he lifted his lip in disgust.“The back rooms then.” He snorted as he turned and headed straight for the door where an increasingly
Amber’s PoV“I see you still enjoy turning people’s lives upside down with your prophecies, Delores.” My mother said with a soft chuckle as she stepped forward to hug her tightly before turning her attention back to me, “I know none of this is what you wanted to hear Amber, but this curse…it feeds on secrets and lies and only draws strength from it. You must..”“No! I don’t have to do anything. “ I hissed, “All of this talk about curses, secrets, prophecies, and lies…I never asked for any of this. All I have ever worked for was to free myself and my mother from my fucking deadbeat father's grip and now, I find out that not only my father, not only my mate, but it’s looking like my mother had a hand in all of this?! What the fuck is going on?!”“Amber I promise you, I had no idea what your father was capable of when I accepted the mate bond.” She said as she stepped towards me.I felt trapped being surrounded by so many people that I felt had betrayed me in the worst way.“We met entir