Prologue - Amber & I

6 months after Amber turned 18

Amber - 18 years old

Zach - 21 years old

ZACH.

“Can you believe it? Amara and Jace ended up together? It only feels like yesterday we were picking up Amara in the middle of the forest after Jace threw her out, and now they’re waiting for their pup!” Amber kept blabbering, and her hands were everywhere in the air, like always, whenever she enjoyed the conversation.

Amber was like a ray of sunshine. On my bad days, all I needed to do was look at or talk to her, and she would easily calm the chaos within me. She had always been my very own sunshine since we were pups.

I chuckled and shook my head, but a smile was still playing on my lips. “Jace was an asshole,” I replied without looking at her, my eyes focusing on the busy motorway of the Neutral City.

“He was! But she loves him.”

“I think we know that since…” I paused and chuckled again. “...forever? But it doesn’t change anything. He was still an asshole. A very asshole move coming from someone like him.”

“Well, every asshole has a strong female behind him that will put him back in the right direction.”

“Can I argue with that?” I glanced at her, and I loved the way her eyes sparkled.

“You can be my asshole, Zach. I will still love you just the same.” Her eyes softened, and her words warmed my entire being.

“I can be an asshole to everyone but not to you, Amber. Never to you.” I meant it. Amber had been my whole world ever since she evoked a feeling in my heart while we were growing up.

I didn’t know when it happened, but I just woke up one day, and I knew Amber was the Luna I wanted. From that day on, I promised myself that I would always be there to protect her, whether she ended up falling in love with me or not.

I waited for the day her wolf would come out. I’d been praying to the Goddess she would give her to me as my fated mate. But Amber didn’t shift on time, which meant she could not scent her mate or vice versa.

No one was worried at the beginning, as despite being an Alpha’s daughter, Amber’s mother was an Omega and didn’t shift on time.

No one was worried except me. We kept waiting—full moons after full moons—but nothing happened until I couldn’t just let time pass by.

A month ago, I finally decided that it didn’t matter anymore if she didn’t have a wolf. It didn’t matter if she would be the only Luna without a wolf in this generation. I still wanted her.

And I was confident that I could protect her with my life. 

I got lucky because Amber loved me back.

Ever since I confessed to her a month ago what I felt for her, she has also become very vocal about her feelings for me. No one could stop us after that. We wanted each other, so we finally decided to go for the Claiming.

This was exactly why we were still out today. We had just come from the Council Territory, and I had to drive her home first.

We listed ourselves for the next Claiming, which was two months away.

An Alpha Female, born in an Alpha Family, such as Amber, cannot be claimed by anyone except by her fated mate. In case of rejection or if she never finds her mate, she can be claimed through Claiming—but only by an Alpha or a Beta.

My name is Zachary Vernon Adams. I am the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack. And I am willing to put my life on the line to win Amber in the Claiming Arena in case any other Alphas or Betas showed interest in claiming her.

I never doubted my capability in combat, both in my human and wolf forms. I had known about the Claiming since I was eight, and I had been training all my life for this, knowing Amber might not end up as my fated mate. I’d been preparing to fight for her.

And I knew I would win because there was no way I would let anyone intercept her from me.

After the Claiming, Amber will officially be my Luna. My Chosen Mate.

Mine.

“I love you. Do you know that?” I said as our gazes locked.

Her eyes watered as she nodded her head before she slowly raised her left hand, fingers spread out, and slowly turned it around so the back of her palm was in my direction, showing me the amber engagement ring I had given her.

“You asked me to be your Luna, so I guess you love me.”

“I do. With all my heart, Amber Rose.”

“I love you, too, Zach.” She smiled sweetly at me. “Will you promise not to throw me out on our first night?”

I swallowed as I looked at her, holding the steering wheel tightly. “I might do the opposite. I will never let you out of our room.”

Since we became a couple a month ago, Amber and I have been kissing and groping each other. Yes, my fingers had found their way into her private parts, but we had never gone all the way.

“Would you like to stay in our house tonight? I’m sure they won’t miss their Alpha overnight.” She was referring to my pack, which was just the next territory to hers.

“Amber…”

“Zach…” She playfully glared at me. “What if we ended up not being compatible in bed and were already married? What I mean to say is, what if I disappoint you?”

“You will never disappoint me.”

“I’m not good in bed.”

“I am.” I chuckled. I was joking. I never had sex with anyone. I never had a girlfriend, either. I’d been saving myself for her. “I’m good at sleeping at it.”

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest.

“Do you really want to have sex?” I asked as my heart drummed loudly. If there was anyone who needed to worry, it was me.

At this point, I was torn between wishing I had fucked before this so I could pleasure Amber the way she deserved to be pleasured. Maybe this was the reason I was adamant about holding on until the night of our union, so whatever happened after our first night, she could not get away from me anymore.

She nodded her head.

“Tonight?” I swallowed.

I wanted this more than anything else. I was not sure if watching p**n could help me.

When I was younger, I asked my father what I needed to do to know how to have sex. He said my body would know what to do when the right time came. I never asked more after that, even when he offered to talk about it again during my teenage years.

Amber nodded her head in response, but her eyes remained on the road. When she acted sad like this, I always ended up giving in to her.

“I want that too,” I replied and tilted my head to look at her, a grin playing on my lips. “So tonight?”

Her head snapped in my direction as her mouth opened wide.

“Can we start the foreplay now?” She said excitedly. She immediately ejected her seatbelt, and I knew she would move toward me for a big hug or grab me.

I laughed heartily. “Amber…”

“Yes, yes, Zach. Now!”

“Can I say no to you?” I asked, my eyes still on her.

Her face told me she would really do this. “So, is that a yes?”

I winked at her instead of answering.

This was not the first time Amber gave me a handjob in the car, but this was the first time on a highway.

She opened her mouth, but instead of a shriek of excitement that I expected, a different sound resonated around us.

An explosion.

And it was too loud for my werewolf ears.

The road became a hazard with blinding lights and deafening sounds of tires screeching on the asphalt.

My head turned forward, and I saw a big trailer full of metal bars speeding toward us.

I steered my car out of the way. But even with my fast reflexes, I was still unable to avoid the collision—not just with the trailer but also the truck before it and other vehicles behind us.

Everything happened too fast. All I knew was that my hand moved on its own and ejected my seat belt before I lunged to Amber’s side and wrapped my whole body around her, fearing that without her belt on, she might get thrown out of the car.

I would have wanted to shift into my wolf and let Apollo protect her, but she was too small—too fragile—and the last thing I wanted was for her to be crushed by my wolf and the airbag.

Her airbag came off and I felt my car was bumped on every side.

I didn’t know what was happening, but I kept gripping the most precious thing in my life tightly.

The last thing I heard was Amber’s piercing cries, and then, there was darkness.

And then lights—I saw different lights everywhere, even if my eyes were closed.

But it was too quiet. For the first time, I feared the silence.

I felt numb, but I did my best to move. Then, all of my senses came back at once.

There was a pain in my knees, back, and every joint of my body. My head was dizzy, and I could taste blood, but despite the smell of something burning surrounding me, I could also smell Amber.

And then I heard her labored breathing.

“Amber…” I fought to open my mouth even if my throat was so dry and painful.

“Zach… Zach.” She was stuttering and having a hard time talking.

I tried to pull away, but I couldn’t move my back. It was too painful.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I closed my eyes again and kissed the top of her head. She was inside my arms, wrapped up in my protective embrace.

“No. But we’re alive, Zach. We’re alive.”

“Yes…” I responded, but the pain kept coming. It kept heightening, and I felt like I would pass out. “Call someone.”

I had no idea how she would do it. We are cramped up in this little space of my crushed car. I could hear the sirens of ambulances and firefighters, but I couldn’t see anything. Outside the cracked windows was pure darkness.

“Siri…” Amber said in a loud voice, but I could tell she was crying. “Call Dad…”

Silence.

Silence. It felt like waiting for something that would never come.

I struggled to keep my eyes open as the pain in my back intensified.

And then it happened—the sound of a phone dialing out came from somewhere, and a ring finally came at the other end.

The last thing I heard was Alpha Caspian’s voice before darkness took me again.