Chapter 97 NO MORE DISTANCE
DEREK’S POV
I was not expecting Amber. That is the truth. When I step outside and see her standing there, my mind freezes for a moment. I blink, just to be sure I am not imagining things but she is real. She is here. My heart hits my ribs so hard it almost hurts.
“Amber?” I say her name like I am afraid it will disappear if I speak too loud.
She looks tired, but her eyes are steady. “Hi, Derek.”
I cross the distance between us without thinking. Relief floods through me, warm and heavy.
“What are you doing here?”
“I needed to see you,” she answers. “I couldn’t stay away anymore.”
Those words undo me. I ran a hand through my hair and let out a breath I did not know I was holding.
“I’m glad you came. You have no idea how glad you are.”
She studies my face. “You don’t look okay.”
I let out a short laugh. “That obvious?”
She steps closer. “Talk to me.”
I hesitate, then nod. “First, I need to say something.” I meet her eyes.
“I’m sorry. For everything. For fear and for the distance. For putting you through this.”
Her lips part, but she says nothing.
“I never wanted you to feel pushed away,” I continue.
“I just didn’t want you in danger.”
“I was already scared,” she says quietly. “Being away didn’t make that better.”
I swallow. “I know. And I hate myself for that.”
She exhales slowly. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth sooner?”
“Because I thought carrying it alone was better,” I admit. “I was wrong.”
We stand there in silence, the air heavy with everything we never said. Finally, I speak again, my voice low but sure.
“Amber, I love you.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Derek…”
“I’ve loved you longer than I allowed myself to admit,” I say.
“When you left, everything fell apart. The pack felt empty. I felt empty.”
She looks down, then back at me. “I felt it too.”
I step closer, careful, like she might pull away. “You should know something else. About the first attack.”
Her shoulders tense. “What about it?”
“We weren’t responsible,” I say firmly. “Neither of us. The pack didn’t plan it. We didn’t know it was coming.”
Her brows pull together. “Are you sure?”
“I swear it,” I say. “I would never lie to you about something like that.”
She searches my face, then nods slowly. “I needed to hear that.”
“So did I,” I admit. “Because carrying that blame was killing me.”
I reach for her hand, unsure, and when she doesn’t pull away, hope sparks in my chest.
“I don’t want to lose you,” I say. “Not again.”
Amber squeezes my hand, just once, but it feels like a promise.
“I didn’t come here to leave,” she says.
Those words hit me harder than any fight ever has. “You have no idea what that means to me.”
She steps closer, her voice softer. “I was torn. My family needed me but so did my heart.”
I nod. “I never doubted your love. I just didn’t want to be the reason you felt trapped.”
“You were never a trap,” she says. “You were the one thing that felt real.”
I let out a slow breath. “Then let me be honest with you. Everything I do, every decision I make, it’s to protect what matters. You matter.”
She looks at me for a long moment. “I was scared you had changed.”
“I haven’t,” I say. “If anything, I finally understand myself.”
She tilts her head. “And what do you understand?”
“That loving you isn’t a weakness,” I answer. “It’s the reason I keep going.”
Her eyes soften, and I see the wall she built start to crack. “I missed you,” she admits.
“I miss you every single day,” I say. “The pack felt your absence. I felt it the most.”
She smiles faintly. “Trent said I was better off staying away.”
My jaw tightens. “Do you believe that?”
She shakes her head. “No. I believe we choose what we fight for.”
I nod. “Then fight with me. Not from far away.”
She steps into my space, close enough that I can feel her warmth.
“I need honesty.”
“You have it,” I say. “From now on.”
She studies me again. “Promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“No more carrying things alone,” she says. “No more silence.”
I nod without hesitation. “I promise.”
The tension between us finally breaks. I pull her into my arms, holding her like I have been waiting my whole life to do it again. She rests her head against my chest, and everything feels right for the first time in a long while.
“I love you,” she says quietly.
My chest tightens. “I love you too.”
We stay like that, letting the moment settle. The danger is still there. The world has not suddenly become safe. But she is here, and that changes everything.
I pull back slightly so I can look at her. “Whatever happens next, we face it together.”
She nods. “Together.”
For the first time since the attacks began, hope feels real. Not fragile or even borrowed. It was real. Amber came back, not out of fear, but out of love. And I swear to myself, right there, that I will protect that love with everything I have.
Now that she was here, I didn’t even know how to act without making a fool of myself but I was only too glad she was here, now for me despite everything we had been through.
I had treated her badly in the past and I knew I couldn’t afford to do something like that ever again simply because she was for me and I couldn’t keep treating her like thrash while expecting her to love me in return. It just didn’t work that way and I hated to have been so mean to her when she had been nothing but kind to me ever since.
That was never going to ha
ppen again and this time around, I meant it.
WHEN HEARTS CHOOSE