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
After a much needed and refreshing shower, I decided to visit Lily. I still hadn’t managed to successfully choose a dress for the party tomorrow and whenever I asked Ryan for his advice on the designs we had been sent, he insisted that everything was far too revealing and not acceptable in the slightest.I quickly decided that in future, I wouldn’t ask him for his advice because he was clearly bordering on moon-mad with his irrational behavior towards how much skin I was showing. Lily was the closest person that I had to a friend and it seemed like a good alternative for me to seek her opinion.As soon as I entered Lily's room, I found her amidst a chaotic sea of dresses, carefully inspecting each one with frustration written all over her face.“Wow.this is quite a collection!” I gasped as she turned to me and her face lit up in a smile.“I know! The designers just keep sending them and I can’t forward them on to you until I’ve made sure that there’s no faults with the needlework or d
Lily's PoVThe way my heart was hammering in my chest, I felt certain that Tom must be able to hear it and it was doing nothing to calm the flush on my cheeks that bloomed of its own accord.“Is everything okay Lily?” He asked and the way my name sounded on his lips sent a pleasurable shiver down my spine.I was terrified that if I spoke out loud while my emotions were raging this way, that he would instantly know just how much I craved him, so I simply nodded and offered a weak smile.I could feel Amber’s questioning gaze on me but I tried my best to ignore it. She wasn’t stupid, I’m sure that she would figure it out pretty quickly, but I trusted her not to say anything.“I wanted to ask you about your brother, actually,” Tom said as he took a step closer and I stiffened, causing him to rub his neck uncertainly at my reaction, “Has he given you any more trouble?”I shook my head and forced my emotions down so that my voice wouldn’t betray me.“No, he’s left me alone mostly since Ambe
Ryan’s PoVI stood under the running water of the shower with my cock clasped tightly in my hand as I pumped my fist furiously.The image of Amber’s body underneath me tormented me in ways that I couldn’t describe and it was all I could do not to tear her underwear off and bury myself inside of her.I wanted to silence those pretty little moans and thrust my cock into her mouth, feeling her silky lips clamp down on the edges of my cock as her tongue caressed me, but I knew that there was no way that she was ready for the majority of dark desires that flooded my mind whenever I thought of her.I shuddered as my climax neared and I braced myself on the wall as my hips thrust into my tight fist, the image of her tight little holes clear in my mind and as I released my seed against the wall with a stifled grunt, I knew that tomorrow, after the party was done, I was going to fuck her into submission whether she liked it or not.I stood a few moments more under the hot streams of the shower
Ryan’s frown remained in place as we made our way past the guards that lined the walkway and up the red carpet that lined the stairway, following it into the entrance hall. As soon as we found a spot to wait for the Herald to announce our arrival, Ryan leaned forward to murmur into my ear quietly.“Is this something I should be concerned about?” He asked cautiously, but I just smiled up at him secretively.“I don’t think so. Let’s wait and see how things play out. I don’t want to embarrass myself if I’m wrong.”Ryan pursed his lips, but didn’t press the matter which I was grateful for. I didn’t want to put either Tom or Lily into a difficult position if I was wrong, it might make things uncomfortable for them if my suspicions got back to them.It wasn’t long before various dignitaries began to make their way over, introducing themselves to us and welcoming me into their circle.I knew I was under scrutiny tonight and I had every intention of showing my best side to everyone here. Yet,
Amber’s PoVAs soon as the guests had all been accounted for, we were ushered through to the performance hall in preparation for the talent show that had been arranged in honor of the prince’s birthday.‘A little warning would have been nice,’ Rae hissed in annoyance as I made my way to my allocated seat.‘To be fair to the Alpha King and his Luna, they arranged these celebrations earlier this year. If you think about it logically we were a late addition to the guest pool. We haven’t been mated to Ryan long, and it probably never occurred to them to ask us to participate at such short notice.’ I answered as I tried to appease Rae.She was still riled from the confrontation with Anna and uneasy that Ryan had disappeared off to discuss business matters with a few other Alpha’s. He had assured me that he wouldn’t be long and Lilly had been at my side, but for some reason, she had been seated at the far end of the hall. Sitting alone in my seat with no one else seated near me left me feel
I stood uncertainly on the stage in front of all of the guests that still clapped enthusiastically in the wake of my unexpected performance, and I wasn’t really sure what to do with myself next.I had been so used to being the one that nobody noticed and nobody cared about back in my fathers pack, that receiving attention like this was rapidly becoming overwhelming.I could feel my face begin to flush and the bright lights that focused on the stage interfered with my ability to see too far into the crowd in front of me. All I wanted was to focus on a friendly face instead of the disgusted and furious expressions that radiated from where Anna, Viola and Kelly stood together., but I couldn’t see Lily anywhere.Then, all of a sudden, Ryan was there, sprinting through the bright lights and up the steps to the stage and pulling me into his arms.“I’m so damn proud of you, Amber, I never knew you held such talent. Why didn’t you tell me?” He murmured softly into my hair before pulling away
We stopped dancing for a moment as we turned to watch both Peter and Viola slow dancing together, their eyes locked into each other’s gaze as they turned slowly in the center of the dancefloor.We weren’t the only ones that had stopped dancing either as the majority of the couples on the dance floor had paused to see what was happening. Before long the entire ballroom was filled with the low hum of chatter as word spread.We moved towards the edge of the dance floor as the rest of the couples did the same, leaving only Viola and Prince Peter in each other’s arms with the whole room’s attention solely on them.“Oh! Did Prince Peter find his mate? How lucky!” A hushed whisper reached my ear.“Who is that?” Another voice came with a confused tone, “She can’t be a ranked member if I don’t recognise her face.”“Isn’t that the other daughter of the Alpha of the Scarlett Pack? I heard she has a terrible temper.”“Wow. How wonderful that both of his daughters have managed to land themselves s
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