Chapter 29 OVER MY DEAD BODY
CHAPTER 29
AMBER’S POV
‘I can do this!’
‘There’s no difference!’
‘I’ve done this before, sleeping with him shouldn’t be an issue.’
I’ve been telling myself this since Damien told me in the garden that he requests that I join him in bed today, against my straightforward request for him not to bring up Derek's name.
Just as I predicted, I was instantly put in a terrible mood, dreading the evening.
Here I am in front of his door hesitating to knock on it, thinking about how wrong this feels.
I can’t be swooning over a male during the day and then sleeping on the same bed with another at night.
I’ve been avoiding thinking or talking about Derek for this main purpose. The turmoil.
The confusion in my mind as to what is going on and what I’m feeling for both werewolves.
I know Derek is my mate and I always feel connected to him but I cannot ignore the pull I feel towards Damien and the instant calmness his presence brings to me.
I don’t get a chance to dwell more on my thoughts when I see the door handle being turned and I wait, a second, then another. I keep my breath held for a minute, and then a few more seconds, before there’s a pull on the handle.
The door opens and Derek’s dark green eyes bore mine with a sense of longing that ignites sparks within me for him that I thought were non-existent.
For a moment we both say nothing and I realize how long it’s been since I’ve seen him. Besides hearing his voice as I walked through the walls we haven’t met face-to-face, and as much as I hate it, I realize that I missed him.
His eyes, his hair, his presence, his –
“Come in,” he says, his voice breaking the trance as he ushers me inside, shutting the door when I enter the room.
I don’t turn my back, moving straight for the bed and getting under the covers without missing a bit.
It just dawns on me that I’ve masterfully ignored his existence and his presence so much that I didn’t feel the effect he has on me for days, but here in the same room with him, enclosed by these four walls, which seem to be too close, making the room smaller, I feel everything.
Like waves of emotions crashing through me, I feel the weight of everything I made him feel during my time with Damien. I feel jealousy pour through me in waves, I feel frustration crowd my senses, I feel agony, and most of all I feel his loneliness.
I grip the duvet tightly trying to shut him out with the magnitude of his emotions, confused as to why they seem to be attacking me, but it’s hard when I feel him so close as he gets under the covers with me.
“Amber we need to talk,” he says coldly, his voice sounding the opposite of what I expected it to be and I stiffen once I feel the weight of his disdain.
A feeling that I’m very familiar with.
“Can we not? I’ve had a long day and I would rather sleep right now,” I say with a monotone trying hard not to let my voice portray how overwhelmed I feel.
“A long day spending time with another male,” he says through clenched teeth and I can tell he is getting annoyed.
I’d rather not have a fight with him this evening so I decide to indulge him by moving to a sitting position and looking straight ahead, just like he’s doing.
“What do you want to talk about?” I ask but he doesn’t reply to me, which makes me turn to him to find his features portraying his fury.
Jaws clenched and palms fisted, fixing a deadly glare on the door. “Derek, what do you want to talk about?” I ask again with a calmer tone.
“My induction ceremony will be held at midnight tomorrow and you have roles to perform as my mate before it begins,” he says to me and I yawn out of exhaustion.
“Okay, your wish is my command, can I sleep now?” I ask, genuinely tired and ready to silence the rushing emotions within me, but the next words instantly take sleep out of my eyes.
“I need to have a prominent connection with my mate hence why we will mate before the ceremony,” he says with the same cold tone and I can’t help the laughter that flows through me.
“What do you mean mate? You must be crazy cause we both know that’s not going to happen,” I say with my laughter dying down with his unbroken stare on me and his stoic expression.
“It’s going to happen, it’s your duty as my mate,” he states with a firm tone and I turn to him sharply, leveling him with an incredulous look with my annoyance picking up by the second and he doesn’t look away.
“You must be joking. Did you just say duty? You’ve kept me locked up in isolation ever since I got here, I’m sure duty was of little importance hence why I wasn’t allowed the littlest bit of freedom. I don’t care what you need or what my duty is but you are not laying a finger on me, ever, over my dead body. I’m never letting you touch me,” I say loudly, feeling my annoyance roll over me in waves.
What the heck does he take me for? A tool at his beck and call? An object that he can have whenever he pleases?
“Go to bed,” he orders authoritatively, completely shutting me down, not engaging as he moves to lie back on the bed.
I watch him observantly as he relaxes into the pillow, and I choose to do the same, feeling completely spent, not ready for the gravity of the discussion, I’d undoubtedly say something I’m not supposed to.
The energy in the room that was almost peaceful and comfortable, has turned into is cold and caused borderline discomfort.
I will myself to sleep as my mind keeps looping every word he just said about having to sleep with him but him being next to me now makes me hyper aware.
After what seems like forever, I finally fall asleep and I wake up to find that Derek had spooned me underneath the covers which has me freezing up upon realization but I don’t get the chance to dwell on this when the door is suddenly opened forcefully and someone steps in.
“You'd better tell me that your mating has already been completed and I’m yet to feel a connection because I’ve not been close to you for a while,” Derek’s father says, barging in, and I freeze at the sound of his voice and the implications of his words.
Derek groans, waking up, subconsciously wrapping his hands around me tighter, but I immediately begin to wiggle with all the self-control and knowledge of self-preservation I have.
“Good morning to you too father,” he says and I stare between both of them, putting some distance between and tv
“I’m not here for pleasantries Derek. You have a duty, have you done what is expected of you?” Derek’s father asks, and I visibly shrink at the implication of his words, mating with Derek wasn’t a joke at all and now my whole body feels itchy.
STRIPPED AND BROKEN