Chapter 28 I'LL KILL HIM
DEREK’S POV
“We spotted three rogues just outside the border of the Golden moon pack and ours,” one of the pack soldiers reports through the mind link.
“Are they in custody now?” I ask, the last thing I need added to my plate of worries is a rogue attack, which will be a chore right now, even though their attacks are easy to dissolve.
“Yes, Prince Derek, what should we do?” he asks, but I don’t get a chance to reply when I feel someone else link to me.
“It’s two days to the blood moon, Derek. Why haven’t we felt a connection yet?” My father’s voice sounds through, instantly overwhelming the other link, forcing me to focus on him.
“A day is enough for me to have sex with my mate, father,” I say to him firmly, not appreciating his meddling in this, adding to the pressure I feel.
Since yesterday, I’ve been unsettled with my mind trying to craft up ways to get out of mating with Amber.
The fact that I now see her and feel her prominent emotions everywhere doesn’t help my dilemma.
This, coupled with the pack issues, has me in a steady state of unrest.
I feel lost each time I think about her. Knowing that we are still mates to this point automatically proves that there’s no replacing her, hence my distance from her right now seems like a self-induced punishment.
Yet the thought of giving in to our bond makes my skin crawl. That would be ridiculing my loyalty to the pack, which I pride as the foundation of my principles as an Alpha. Most of all, it will be betraying the memory of a woman who didn’t deserve to die the way she did.
A woman I never got to know because she was taken away from me on the day I was born. Killed without sympathy by people we did no wrong to.
On one hand, Amber is my mate, and I’m stuck with her for eternity, so I might as well stop tormenting myself, but on the other hand, she’s a curse that would have me questioning the accuracy of the mating bond forever.
“Then get right to it, Derek, you are running out of time,” he says fiercely before shutting the mind link, and I sigh, rubbing a hand over my face.
I’m not sure if it’s the desperation in his tone or the weakness despite his attempt to sound strong, but I feel pity for him.
He has been a shadow of himself for as long as I can remember, deteriorating each day, barely holding on so he could raise me.
Now I’m scared that the induction ceremony might not just be him handing over authority to me, but it might be his last duty as my father.
This worries me each time I hear the tone of his voice and see the lifelessness in his eyes. For a wolf who lost his mate decades ago, he has proven his strength by surviving up till this point, and as an Alpha, he has ensured that his heir is beyond capable of taking over before letting his pain overpower his will to live.
His strength gives me a sense of pride, but also a sense of sadness that often has me wondering about my future with Amber.
The conflict of choosing either her or respect for my pack and my family slowly drives me crazy.
“Cedrick, behead the rogues and pin their heads on stakes, right outside the boundary. This should serve as a warning to whoever would think of making camp outside our boundary,” I link the pack security before creating a link to Damien.
He is supposed to be in charge of this sort of thing, but he has been cooped up with my mate, and I’ve allowed it, giving myself multiple reasons why it’s for the best, with my wolf constantly calling my bullshit. Still, I do nothing about it.
“Damien, it doesn’t take much to inform her about her role before the ceremony and get back to me. Why haven’t I gotten any feedback yet?” I ask, my voice stiff and calm, ignoring the nagging voice in my head that says it’s stupid to send a mateless wolf to keep my mate company.
I trust Damien, and besides, he is my beta, her protector.
“I’ve been trying, but each second I bring your name up, she shuts me down and changes the subject,” he says, instantly annoying me.
“Damien, it’s been more than 24hours, and you’ve been unable to deliver a simple message. What are you doing, still talking to her then?” I ask, my anger picking up by the second.
“I’ll prove it to you. We are in the garden. Stand by the pathway, and I’ll try telling her again. I promise, I’ve been trying,” he tries to reason.
I don’t bother replying, but stand up and walk to the pathway by the garden. I’ve felt my patience grow thin with each minute he didn’t reach out to me, so this will either ease my doubt or infuriate me further.
“I’m here,” I say stiffly to him, barely biting back my obvious annoyance.
I listen in once I see him nod in my direction, and I watch him approach Amber, who is hopping from one flower patch to the next, and smelling it.
“Hey,” he says casually, and she looks up at him.
“Hey, is it time to go in? Does Derek need you?” she asks curiously, standing up.
“Soon, I want to talk to you about something,” he says, and she lifts an eyebrow at him and immediately replies.
“I don’t want to hear it if it’s about Derek,” she says straightly.
“It's important, Amber,” he says. She shakes her head, and I frown.
“I don’t want to hear his name, Damien. Anything you have to tell me about him will just put me in a bad mood, and I don’t want to ruin the amazing mood I’ve been in since yesterday. So please stop trying to bring him up in our conversations. I don’t want to hear it,” she says firmly, and my frown deepens.
“But it’s important, Princess,” he insists, and she frowns.
“Damien,” she says with a warning tone, and he raises his hand in surrender, which tips my displeasure.
I don’t bother standing to watch them anymore. It’s obvious that they have grown extremely close, and she obviously has more than an appropriate effect on him, because he isn’t a man to easily give in, regardless of who it is, even me, but with a simple warning tone, he folded.
“You see?” he says through the link.
“She sleeps with me this night, I’ll handle it,” I say through the mind link, ready to rip her out of her comfort zone and into the reality of her lack of opinion.
OVER MY DEAD BODY