Chapter 20: Chapter Twenty

AMBER|

“My pack?” I repeated after him, every tension from minutes ago instantly disappearing from my body. I only thought about why he mentioned my pack so casually like he already found out that I lied about who I really was.

He nodded, studying me. I tried to keep my espression guarded, afraid to let him see through me and my lies and give him a reason to finally kill me since he climbed to have had me under investigation since I got here. I was like a prisoner here but in fancy clothes, in a fancy room and having this kind of connection with the Alpha that’s making me shamelessly throw myself at him.

What would he do to me once he figured I lied about who I was?

“Why?” I asked, my mouth going dry. “I can’t go back there, I have been banished.”

“I won’t let you go back there either.” He said somewhat possessively, as if annoyed that I could even think of wanting to return.

“You see, the Alpha of your pack has been asking me to visit for a very long time now. Until you came along, I have had little to no interest in them but now I would like to see what sort of father banishes his daughter.”

A father who hated his daughter to bits and would pick the son of another man whom he barely knew but thought he did, over her. That was simply who my father was but Alpha Raze didn’t have to know that.

I already lied to him once, I could do it again.

“No! You can’t!” I didn’t mean for my voice to come out as a yell, an estranged one but it did. His brows furrowed.

“Why? Is there another reason why you don’t want me to go?” He said, looking directly at me. I looked away, I had no idea what to say to him and looking straight at him could give away my lies through my eyes.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you.” I told him.

“That is not the answer I want to hear from you. I want to know more about your past. More than you just being banished or I’d honor the Alpha’s invitation and go see for myself.”

If only he knew the Alpha in question was my father and he had been the one to toss me out of his pack without a second thought.

Think! Think! Think! I coerced my brain, trying to think of what to say to him. While a part of me did the thinking, another hoped something would happen that would distract his attention from me.

He was looking intently at me, waiting for answers.

And that was when I knew it was hopeless. No one was coming to save me from Alpha Raze. I only had myself to do so and that was all I needed to convince myself to conjure up the tears that welled up in my eyes.

I sniffled.

“Amber…are you…are you crying?” He asked like he couldn’t believe his eyes. His voice was tender and it prompted the tears to flow even further down my cheeks. I let the waterworks down, my lips trembled and the sound of the tears wasn’t just a low rumble starting from my throat. I let it leave my lips as I broke down in tears.

“Amber…” he called, inching closer, his warmth and scent fogging up my space once more.

“I’m—sorry…I’m sorry.” I stuttered.

“No…no, it’s okay. Don’t cry. I didn’t mean to make you cry . It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it now, we can always talk about it later.”

No, there wasn’t going to be a later. I would end it all right that moment.

“My mother…she died while giving birth to me.”

That was one truth amidst a thousand lies I’d be telling. It was the truth and it was painful enough to leave me in tears because I never got to know my mother and she would have never sat and watched my father treat me this way even if I was born an Omega.

I would still be the precious child she birthed and her love for me would remain unconditional.

“Oh…” his voice trailed off. I hoped my antics were already working on him as I hoped they would.

“My father hated me because of this. He preferred to have his wife alive than his daughter who was born an Omega.”

Flashes of how my father treated me ever since I was old enough to see it move across my eyes.

“He refused to treat me like his own and would rather take in another.”

I remembered how he cherished Reece like the abusive bastard was his real son.

“The one he took in…he wanted me to…” I choked on the tears.

“He wanted me to mate with him.”

An angry rumble left the chest of the man listening attentively to my woes. They were the truth and it would only take one lie to wrap it all up. He didn’t have to know who I really was. I was a nobody back at my pack anyway and being the daughter of the Alpha didn’t change it. I had to remain a nobody even in the eyes of Alpha Raze. I couldn’t trust anyone. Not even the man who makes me feel things like no one else has.

“Did he?” Alpha Raze asked me.

I nodded. It wasn’t easy telling him Reece forced himself on me a couple of times but I had to. Through my tears, I saw how Alpha Raze’s lips ran with cusses that he whispered too low for even my ears to catch. The man’s veins were literally protruding and his jaws were set tight because he had them locked that way out of anger.

I was thankful to God that the mating mark was gone.

After rejection, it disappeared immediately because I had been the one to reject Reece. All I had left from him was memories of him hitting me and memories of him leaving his mark and painful presence between my thighs.

“My father wanted me to bear a child…he hoped it would be a son that wouldn’t be an Omega like me but I refused to be pregnant for a man who hit me.”

“That fucker, I am going to kill him!” He swore loudly enough for me to hear this time. He really did have a murderous gaze.

“When they caught me using a drug to prevent me from getting pregnant, they got mad at me and sent me out of the pack. I would be killed if I ever return to my pack.”

I wrapped up my sob story and then hurriedly went on my knees , grabbing the Alpha's arms with all the courage I could muster.

“So please…I don’t want to go back there. Please…”

I hoped my tears would be enough pleading for him to not do anything. To not think of going to my pack and discovering I lied from the start. I couldn’t have told him the truth from the beginning anyway. It was hard to trust him. Or any man again.

Alpha Raze’s eyes softened as he looked at me.

“You shouldn’t let tears ruin those pretty eyes of yours.” He whispered. He used his hand to slowly wipe them away.

“You shouldn't let them stain your rosy cheeks either.” He brushed his hands on my cheeks and even though they were rough, they provided some sort of comfort that made me lean further into them.

“You shouldn’t cry, Amber. Not anymore. I don’t want to see tears in your pretty eyes unless it’s from so much pleasure than you can handle.”

I waited with bated breath for him to say what I really wanted him to say. It was the whole reason for being this dramatic.

“I won’t go to your pack. You have nothing to worry about.”

My face lit up. “You won’t?”

“I have never liked the pack anyway and now I have even more reasons to detest the place. You won’t go back there, neither will I. You will stay here.”

He paused and brushed my hair to the side, eyes looking at me tenderly, going against everything this man is known for.

“With me.” He completed his words.

“Will you keep investigating me? I already told you the truth, I swear I am not a spy. I am too weak to be one.” I said. It was the truth. I was an Omega and I didn’t stand a chance with powerful packs like this enough for me to be a spy.

He chuckled.

“I know…there will no longer be an investigation.”

“But…you would still let me stay? Why?” I asked.

“Because…I need you. The pack needs you.” He replied.

I was confused, “Why?”

He paused for a few seconds before moving away from me.

“You’ll find out in due time, in the meantime, I want you to make yourself comfortable here. I would also train you myself.”

I snapped up, “Train me?”

“Yes. You won’t be a punching bag to any fucker again. Not in my watch.” He said with anger blazing in his eyes.

“I lost my appetite, Amber. Finish up your food and have Arya take you back to your room. I have things to attend to.”

With that, he turned around and left. I didn’t know what was going through his mind but I saw his clenched fists and it was enough to tell me he bought my sob story and I was safe.