Chapter 40 Chapter 40
Amber
For the next three days, I tried very hard to focus on classes.
But every time I walked into Professor Thompson's war strategy lecture, or combat theory, or pack dynamics, my eyes automatically drifted to the back corner where Damian usually sat.
The chair remained empty for three days straight.
Not that any teacher would dare call out an alpha heir for skipping class, but the absence gnawed at me in ways I didn't want to examine too closely.
Where was he? Was he hurt? Had Clarke's men figured out he was investigating them?
The memory of that night at the club kept replaying in my mind—Damian's hands on my waist, his mouth on my neck, the way we'd kissed like the world was ending.
And then I was met with radio silence.
He'd vanished like smoke, and I hated how much that bothered me.
"Amber?" Ellie nudged me during lunch. "You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Staring at nothing and looking like someone kicked your puppy."
I blinked and realized I'd been staring at my untouched food for the past ten minutes. "I'm fine."
"You're a terrible liar." Maya leaned across the table. "This is about Damian, isn't it?"
"No."
"Definitely about Damian," Jess agreed.
"It's not—I'm just worried about—" I fumbled for a believable excuse. "The upcoming exams."
All three of them gave me identical looks that said they weren't buying it.
They were my friends yet I hadn’t told them anything about the pub or me making out with Damian. Because they would never stop pestering me about it and it would be too complicated to explain everything.
They teased me enough as it is and I quashed down the guilt of hiding stuff from my friends who truly cared about me.
"Maybe he's on a mission or something," Ellie suggested. "Alpha heirs do that sometimes, right? Secret pack business?"
"Maybe," I said, but the knot in my stomach refused to loosen.
What if he was lying somewhere injured? What if Clarke had figured out we were investigating him? Or maybe I was worrying for nothing and he was just busy with Amy…
I needed a distraction.
"I'm going to the post office," I announced, standing abruptly. "I need fresh air and also need to see if my sis…if my friend sent a letter back”
"Translation: she needs to run away from this conversation," Jess whispered loudly to the others who all giggled.
I ignored them and headed for the exit.
The walk to the post office was a short one and the afternoon sun was warm, students were milling about between classes, and for a moment, I could almost pretend everything was normal.
I truly hoped Jolene had sent something, that father hadn’t intercepted the letter and refused to even let her know that I wrote to her.
I missed her, and the warmth of my home, the smile of my mom as we three would huddle up together, hearing stories about mom and how she met my father, how she fell for the cold alpha who was soft to her.
I pushed open the door to the small building and approached the counter where the elderly man sat in his usual seat, reading his newspaper.
"Anything for Amber Miller?" I asked.
He glanced up, then shuffled through a stack of letters. "Let me check... ah, yes. Here you are."
My heart lifted as he handed me an envelope.
I could recognize Jolene's handwriting instantly. For a good minute, I just stared at it, trying to not be swept by emotions.
I hadn’t truly realized how homesick I felt until I saw that familiar letter in this harsh, unfamiliar world.
I clutched the letter like a lifeline, already imagining what my sister had written. Probably updates about her classes, complaints about father being overbearing, smiling like an idiot.
But the envelope was suddenly ripped from my hands.
"What the…"
I spun around to find Alice standing there, holding my letter with a triumphant smirk on her face.
"Give that back," I said, my voice dangerously low.
"Hmm, let me think." She tapped her chin mockingly. "No."
Her cronies,three girls who followed her everywhere like shadows, giggled behind her.
"Alice, I'm serious. Give it back!"
"Or what?" She waved the letter teasingly. "You'll challenge me to another car wash? Oh wait, you can't even join a proper faction."
My hands clenched into fists. "That letter is mine."
"Not anymore."
She tossed it to one of her friends, who caught it and immediately threw it to another girl.
I lunged for it, but they kept passing it between them like some cruel game of keep-away, laughing the entire time.
"Give it back!" I shouted, trying to intercept, but they were coordinated in their cruelty.
Finally, the letter made its way back to Alice. She held it up, making sure I was watching.
"This," she said sweetly, "is payback for ruining my reputation. For making me look like a fool in front of the entire academy."
"You did that yourself!"
“You dare talk to me in that tone?”
She tore the letter in half.
My heart stopped.
"No!!"
I lunged at her but her friends grabbed my arms and legs, stopping me from moving as she continued to rip it into pieces. Until my sister's words were nothing but confetti raining down onto the floor.
Rage exploded in my chest, white-hot and blinding.
"You bitch!!"
"Ah ah ah." Alice wagged her finger. "That's what you get for trying to be oversmart. Next time, know your place."
“Let me free and I’ll show you what your place is!” I snarled.
She looked slightly afraid but feigned indifference as she looked around for a new prey and her gaze fell on someone across the courtyard.
I followed her gaze to see Ellie, who was just walking out of a classroom, books in her arms, completely oblivious to what was happening.
"Oh, perfect timing," Alice called out. "Ellie! Come here!"
Shit!