Chapter 46 WHIPLASH
DEREK’S POV
“How can you treat me this way, after all we’ve been through?” I ask Damien, furious about his betrayal.
“You mean like the way you sent me to my death in purgatory? I’d say, I’m quite merciful to do this,” he says with a casual smirk, with amusement in his eyes.
“It’s not just me, you scoundrel! You would let our pack burn to the ground all because of a female?” I ask appalled, looking at Amber, who stands by his side quietly with a proud smile as she holds his hand supportively.
“You mean a pack that has been nothing but cruel to my mate?” he asks, bending to place a kiss on Amber's cheek, and I see red, attempting to stand on my feet, but the Spirit pack's soldiers hold me down.
I’m currently on my knees as well as the rest of the blood moon pack, some dead and most in shackles, and my once beta, brother, and best friend stands here, dressed regally and smiling in scorn as he watches us being oppressed.
“She’s my mate, you bastard!” I spit out, struggling against the hold of the soldiers.
Damien walks up to me, annoyed by my statement, and slaps me hard across the face.
“Don’t you ever make that statement again, you are not worthy of being mated to someone as pure and kind as my Amber,” he says, and I growl, as the sense of desperation overwhelms me, as I realize how powerless I am in this situation.
“She’s carrying my pups, damnit!! She’s my mate!” I yell in frustration, feeling the fear and misery of my pack rush through me.
I had failed them, I let an enemy get too close, and she stabbed me in the back by luring my beta to her side, all like I suspected. She is incapable of not betraying me, yet I gave her a chance, and now, I’m paying dearly for it.
“What do you mean, Derek? What pups? Are you in some sort of fantasy? Damien is my mate, just look at the mark,” she says, getting closer to me and pushing the hair off one side of her neck to show me the visible mark on her, and my wolf wails in agony. “Why do you think I’ll ever leave someone as sweet as Damien and be with you, talk more of having your babies?” she says, and my head drops in defeat.
“I thought you were pregnant,” I say sadly, welcoming hopelessness.
“Why would you think that, Derek?” she asks.
“Derek?” Damein asks.
“Derek”
“Derek.”
“Derek?”
My name rings through their lips as a chant, and I shut my eyes tightly, trying to shut their mockery and the feeling of being a failure out, but it’s impossible.
“Alpha Derek!” A loud voice has me opening my eyes instantly, and I find that I’m in my study and Cedrick is seated in front of me, leveling me with a scrutinizing stare.
“Cedrick, how long until the meeting with my father?” I ask, standing up from my seat.
“Three hours, Alpha,” he says, standing up with me, still observing me.
“Good, I want to be alone until it’s time to see him. I don’t need any disturbance,” I state, walking out of the study with him hot on my tail.
“But Alpha, what about the education project we were just talking about?”
“Later. I don’t want to be disturbed for the next three hours,” I say firmly to him, and he nods.
I walk to my room, with my mind crowded with thoughts of the possible meaning of that dream and why exactly it’s coming now.
It’s been a week since I sent Damien away, and this is the first time I’m having such a dream.
It was so detailed, the emotions were so raw and vivid, I can still feel the frustration I felt pulsing through me.
I get to my room, intending to take a cold shower and fall asleep for the next three hours. For days, I’ve been struggling with adjusting to the new dynamic between myself and Amber, and also the impact of Damien’s absence. It has been hectic.
I’ve been lacking sleep, barely able to get 4hours of sleep in two days, which is associated with the fact that Amber’s presence in my room and on my bed has me staring at the ceiling like a hawk all through the night for seven days.
Her presence still calms and relaxes me, but I’m determined not to let these mating bond-induced feelings make me drop my guard again.
I won’t be made a fool of twice. It was insanity to let her get that close to me to the point of hurting me to the extent of subjecting my beta, someone I’ve known all my life, to eternal torture and possibly death.
My first mistake was trusting that she wouldn’t somehow manipulate Damien and turn him against me.
‘Once bitten, twice shy,’ they say. I’ve learnt my lesson the hard way.
It’s afternoon, so I know she’ll be in the garden. She has made it her second home ever since Damien left, and with each day that passes, I feel the depth of her sadness weigh down on me, but just like every other feeling I have that concerns her, I ignore it.
I open the door to the room, and I’m surprised to see her seated on the bed, legs resting on the floor, and head bowed.
I take in her appearance, and it reads misery, and a dark part of me revels in this for the pain she has caused me.
“It’s been a week since you were discharged; it’s high time you begin your role as Luna. I’m not going to have you lying around every day doing nothing when everyone else works to provide food, clothing, and shelter for you. You have responsibilities, and you have to carry out all of them,” I say to her, staring at her in disdain and ignoring the voice in my head urging me to comfort her.
“Okay,” she says weakly, and I can tell she’s broken, which only annoys me, because with Damien’s absence, this shows the extent of affection she had for him.
She might be broken, but I haven’t begun torturing her. When in done, she’ll be in shambles, with no pieces to salvage.
ACT AMBER, DON’T THINK