(Amber's POV)Ryan held the door to the car open for me with a gentle smile and I slid into my seat, marveling at this new side of him that he was only just showing me now. Was starting to see what Lilly and the rest of the pack saw in him. If he had been like this from the start then I had no doubt that we would have settled into a routine with each other very quickly."I couldn't tell you inside Amber but, we haven't been able to locate your mother yet." He said as he slid in next to me and closed the door behind him, "We are looking though and Tom is the best at what he does so I'm hopeful that it won't be too long now before she's found."Amber felt her heart still as she struggled to take in his words."You're looking for her?" she squeaked, her voice thick with emotion."Of course!" Ryan smiled softly, "I don't want you to worry about her anymore. We've been keeping an eye on the Scarlett Pack for a little while now and there are plenty of leads still to follow. It really is jus
(Amber's POV)I was a little bewildered by the rapid mood swings that Ryan was undergoing at the moment, but if he intended to seduce me everytime he felt a little jealous, then I wasn't going to complain.His urgent kiss had taken me by surprise, but there was no resistance from me as I allowed him to deepen the kiss, his lips working fiercely against mine, his hands gripping my head like his life dependent on it.He broke away suddenly and stared intensely into my eyes and for a moment I felt as though he was going to swallow me whole. The desire reflected in his eyes was almost frightening."You're mine Amber. MINE. No one else's." He growled furiously, his fingers tightening in my hair."I know Ryan..'m yours..no one else's," I soothed as the eyes of his wolf flashed alongside his and Rae reacted eagerly, her desire fuelling my own.Ryan's face darkened as he inhaled deeply and without another word, he picked me up and walked purposely to his bed, depositing me carefully on the mat
(Ryan's POV)I was careful not to wake Amber this morning when I slipped out of bed and headed to my office.I had woken up early thanks to Tom's mindlink this morning and rather than take his report with the distracting naked body of my mate next to me, I had asked him to meet me in my office.He was already standing outside the door with a lopsided grin and clutching two large mugs of coffee which I gratefully accepted as I ushered him inside."So, tell me, did we manage to get any useful intel?" I asked as I leaned back in my chair, sipping on the coffee."Not a lot unfortunately, Alpha. After they had healed sufficiently from your punishment, we began interrogations and no matter what method we used, the ones who survived still refused to tell us who was behind the attack."I could feel my wolf reacting angrily to the lack of progress and I wasn't pleased either, but if they had managed to withstand all of our interrogation methods, then it meant they weren't just anyone who had b
(Ambers POV)I was exhausted by the time Lily had finished helping me get ready for the date with Ryan. It didn't matter how much I insisted that it wasn't a date, and that it was simply a dinner, she wouldn't hear any of it.After we had found a dress that met her specifications, she insisted on helping me fix my makeup that she had managed to gather from the curious omega's who also volunteered to help out. Before I knew what was happening I seemed to have a small army of women running around and chattering excitedly at the fact that they were helping their Luna to get ready for a date with their Alpha.I had gotten so tired of correcting them , that I eventually gave up and let them have their gossip. I didn't see any lasting harm coming from it. The worst that could happen is perhaps Ryan became angry with me…but if that resulted in his naked body next to mine again then I couldn't honestly see myself complaining.I felt a little overdressed for something as simple as a dinner, bu
(Amber's POV)I blinked at him in confusion.Had he not listened to a word I had said?He seemed so fixated on the idea that she was rejecting him and she was sure she had never said that. As for not satisfying me, nothing could be further from the truth. I was sure that as long as his skin was next to mine, then there was no possible way that I could dislike anything that he did to me in bed.But I couldn't shake the fear that he would one day grow tired of me. I had already experienced his cruelty first hand and regardless of his reasoning, it didn't mean that he wasn' capable of reverting to that behavior again if he grew tired of me or if I displeased him in some way."Ryan, listen to me. Why do you want all of this so suddenly? If it's only because of the mate bond and you feel that you owe me something, then you're already doing enough. I don't want us to head down this road if you don't truly feel that connection with me because it will only lead to heartbreak if it fails.""Fa
(Ryan's POV)I was proud of how I'd handled the whole date situation, despite not being very good at romantic gestures or discussing how I felt and I was confident that Amber understood just how much she meant to me."Of course she does! Otherwise she would never have agreed!" My wolf chuckled happily, his chest puffing out in pride."I still don't like the thought of bringing her with us right now," I sneered, "Last time he was anywhere near him, his eyes spent more time ogling her tits than they did paying attention to what he was supposed to be talking about with me.""Well, it was your decision to utilize her feminine assets and use them for your benefit. You can't be pissed that she did exactly what you wanted.""I'm not pissed with her, I'm pissed with his lecherous eyes and the thoughts that I know have been swirling in his head since he saw her last." I snarled furiously, "She's ours. I will not share or tolerate another man thinking of her in that way.""I hate to break it to
(Amber's PoV)I knew that he wouldn't leave without one more attempt at getting me to leave with him and as he paused at the doorway and cast one last look of longing towards me I felt Ryan tense beside me."You know, if you ever change your mind or your Alpha here messes up, you'll always have a place at my side." He grinned lopsidedly as a furious roar reverberated through the air."I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but there's not a chance that I'll let you leave this room alive if you carry on attempting to steal my Luna. She is MINE!""Amber is her own person. You can't own a person Alpha…this is why I hate pack life and precisely why I built my mercenary empire." He shrugged cockily as he leaned on the doorframe, utterly unbothered by Ryan's fury."You fucking.." he snarled, taking a step towards him."Ryan please.." I said softly as I placed a hand on his chest, "I have no issues being his friend but I need you both to stop this."Ryan bristled slightly but the furio
As I opened my eyes the next morning, I realized almost instantly that Ryan had made good on his promise. I winced as I tried to turn over in bed and much to my dismay, even this simple movement made my body scream in protest. When I finally managed to turn to the other side, my heart sank in a sort of bittersweet disappointment.The place where Ryan should have been was empty and by the feel of the cold sheets next to me as I ran my hand over them, he had clearly been gone for some time. I sighed internally and threw the covers back as I sat up, gritting my teeth as I tossed my legs over the side of the bed.“Don’t be too sad Amber,” Rae soothed, “He has a busy schedule, you know that.”“I know, I just…it was stupid of me to hope for something a little more. Is a ‘Good Morning’ from him too much to ask?”Rae whined in response to the sadness that pricked at my chest before suddenly she began showing a lot of interest in the bedside table in front of me..“Wait! Look! He’s left you a
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