Amber

by Sherry Foster

  Amber’s parents weren’t the only ones with tears in their eyes that day as they watched their only child mate with their future Alpha. Dylan had refused their oath earlier saying he wanted to wait until they returned to take any oaths.

  In the corner Cody watched the pair, hate in his heart and revenge on his mind. He thought he was safe with his thoughts until he noticed Edward looking at him curiously. He never noticed when Dylan raised his head from kissing Amber and looked around. He didn’t see the flash of fury in Dylan’s eyes before the Alpha lowered his gaze back to his mate’s lips. He couldn’t hear the first words Dylan sent through the mate bond to Amber so he didn’t know how short his future had just become.

  I feel hate in this hall. Who is the boy in the corner in the blue shirt and why does he hate you? Or is it me he hates?

  He hates me. He blames me for Fletcher’s death. He said he would make me pay. This is so cool. I can hear you but you sound different in here. Wait, how do you know he hates me? I can’t feel it.

  Darling, I am probably almost as strong in my powers as Edward over there who is looking at the boy oddly. Edward feels something off I would bet you. I am going to have the kill the boy now.

  So you are stronger than Edward? Wait you can’t kill him.

  No, in power I may be close, not in physical strength. That man would wipe the floor with me. It takes physical and Alpha power to beat another Alpha. I couldn’t take him in a fight if that is what you mean by stronger. But if he can’t feel that hate, and the boy is in his pack, then my power might be a fraction more than his in that particular ability. Remind me to explain to you, in detail, later, about the various ways an Alpha can use his power and how many variations of the power exist. Oh yes, I can’t leave someone alive who hates you.

  Why not now? And lots of people probably don’t like me right now. You can’t kill them all.

  I want mate. I Super-wolf.

  Oh god no.

  Said I can talk as soon as mate.

  I meant after she shifts. I said after she shifts.

  So her shift now. Shift now little one. Come play. He gave a barking call to his mate and the pack watched as Amber shifted for the first time. Her blond hair giving way to a darker color. She lifted first one foot to examine her black paw than then the other.

  Da da da da Super-wolf — without the cape. Defender of females, protector of the innocent, slayer of the guilty. I am Super-wolf.

  The pack was confused when the little wolf rolled over on her side laughing and more than one person wished they could hear what the chocolate colored wolf was saying to his tiny mate.

  We have to change back now so we can leave.

  Now? I have tell of heroic battles.

  Tell her about the battles later, when we are alone. Remember, the faster we leave the sooner we get our mate to ourselves.

  Yes. Leave now. Come we go.

  Not in your body.

  Fine. But you not hero. I one who fights.

  Dylan pulled his pants on and called to his mate to shift back. Soon the two were in the car with a pair of guards behind them headed for the small cabin he had rented for their first days together. She wouldn’t stop laughing at him and he couldn’t stop the embarrassment from showing on his face as he drove.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “I want to join his pack.” Cody stared defiantly at the center of Edward’s chest. That was as high as he could manage to drag his eyes upwards. He was angry, not stupid. He had watched the two mate and had seen the wolves mingle into one. He knew they were true-mates but that didn’t change his feelings. If Amber had just given Fletcher a chance they could have been happy. He knew it. She would have never met the new Alpha; and Fletcher would still be alive. If he joined their pack he could plan his revenge and make them both pay.

  Edward stared down at the boy. Barely twenty-two the boy had his entire life ahead. Edward could feel the anger from the boy but he wasn’t sure why the boy was angry. He didn’t know if the boy was angry at Fletcher for doing something so stupid or at himself for looking up to Fletcher for so many years. He didn’t realize how much Fletcher had told him or how deep the boy was in the plan with Fletcher. “The choice is yours to make but you need to be sure you are making the right choice. You have to have something to offer Dylan, a reason for him to take you in. You realize you will give your oath to the man to follow him as long as you are part of his pack. You would not be part of this pack and if you leave I will not take you back.”

  Cody jerked his eyes up to Edward’s face for a brief moment before regaining control. “What if it doesn’t work out?”

  “That’s the reason he will be spending time with everyone who wants to join his pack before he accepts them. He will interact with everyone and they will ask questions of him to determine if they will be a good fit. The only people who don’t get the option of making the decision will be any children. If the parents make the decision to join his pack the children go automatically. In some cases the pups may not be happy to leave their friends. I know Fletcher was your best friend but if you leave you will be leaving behind the rest of the young people you hang around with now. Your parents have no desire to join his pack so you have to consider carefully if this is what you want. Even if I give you my blessing that does not mean he will accept you.”

  “Why wouldn’t he? And that doesn’t explain what happens if it doesn’t work out. Why won’t you take someone back if it doesn’t work out?”

  “Because, though there is no shame in choosing to leave one Alpha for another, there is shame in returning to the original pack with your tail between your legs like a coward. If the new Alpha fails to protect his pack or shows himself unworthy then another pack could take you in. But part of the protection comes from the pack. If you can’t help the Alpha protect the pack then why would another take you in after you chose to leave? I have a strong pack, secure and stable, if you leave my pack it will be with my blessing since you leave it to strengthen the community as a whole. If you leave the new Alpha it will be because you did not think through leaving the first Alpha. You will have failed to research the situation and you will have failed to make it work. A good pack can help guide an Alpha on the best direction for the pack. We don’t make all decisions in a vacuum, we lean on the pack more than you realize to guide it in the right direction. If you can’t help the new Alpha form a new pack what would you have to offer me? You would be starting from nothing to help build a pack, if you fail at that I don’t need you in my pack.”

  “So you would turn your back on your pack?”

  “No, I would turn my back on another’s pack member. When, or if, you leave I rescind the oath you swore to me on your first shift. You give the new Alpha your oath. At time time I owe you nothing and I never will again. Do you understand? I won’t take you back and I will owe you nothing. I might help another Alpha for the good of the race but I don’t owe another pack one minute of my time. The time I spend helping Dylan start his pack or develop his pack is time I freely give, not time owed. You need to make certain that you are prepared to make it work with him because you will not reenter my pack if you don’t.”

  “I see. May I have more time to think about it?”

  Edward shrugged, “Time is what Dylan is giving the pack for reasons much like this. The older members of the pack are aware of how these things work, the newer ones aren’t. Dylan is aware because he was trained to be an Alpha. He knows what is involved and the risks. Anyone who comes to me with the request to leave, young or old, will be made aware of what they risk if they walk away from my pack. If you have family here, and you leave for his pack, you will be guarded on your visits home because I won’t be able to feel you the way I can now. You won’t have the best interest of my pack on your mind. Your loyalty will be to another pack and that is how it should be, but that also means you will no longer have free reign in my territory. Consider carefully what you want to do with your future but remember, all I can do is turn you l
oose, Dylan is the one who has to accept you.”

  Cody nodded as he turned to walk out of the office. He thought he could go to Dylan’s, ruin things for the man, and come home. Knowing he wouldn’t have a home to come back to scared him. He didn’t want to be without a pack and he didn’t want to destroy a pack if he would be stuck with it. He wished Fletcher was still here to tell him what to do.

  Chapter Twenty

  Not right.

  Am right. Am aways right.

  Not right here. The little wolf touched her nose to her mate’s head.

  Am right. Am hero. Am Super-wolf. Am hero? The last came out more as a question than a statement.

  Are crazy. Amber, curled deep within her wolf had to agree. She had listened as the two talked and she wished, again, she could talk to Dylan, the man, while the two wolves talked. No wonder the poor man always had such a range of facial expressions on his face when he and his wolf talked. His wolf was hilarious. She was going to have to find some books to read to him. She had to see if she could develop his personality more. He could talk better than her wolf but Dylan thought that was because her wolf was young and his was a couple of decades old.

  I tell story?

  No. No tell.

  You shift back?

  No, go run.

  Then shift back? I get story from Beautiful.

  Deep within her wolf Amber giggled. She no longer wondered why Dylan’s wolf wanted to be called something other than Dylan. He had a unique personality and he didn’t see the world the same way Dylan did. He was so different from her wolf. Her wolf wanted to run and play and hunt and mate. Dylan’s wolf wanted all of that plus conversation. In the beginning the only thing the wolf had called her was mate. A few days after being mated, when she was reading to Dylan, the wolf, his attention firmly fixated on her, had heard Dylan call her beautiful. Since Dylan called her that on a regular basis somehow his wolf got the idea that was the name she should be called. It confused her wolf to no end since she knew they should both be called Amber but the human part of her thought it was sweet and she refused to correct his wolf. So Beautiful was her name and mate was her wolf’s name and she thought that was grand. Dylan had been confused when she started talking about Joseph on the third day and had looked at her with such a look of betrayal she hadn’t been able to stop laughing. She still remembered his words, “You aren’t suppose to encourage him. You don’t understand. You are going to make him impossible.” She had laughed then and she still thought it funny.

  The lovemaking was incredible. Her mother had talked to her about sex but nothing her mother had told her could compare to the real thing. She understood, after that first day, why Dylan had rented them a small cabin away from other people. She wasn’t ready to leave but they were heading back today which was one reason her wolf was so adamant about going for a run. They would be too busy when they got back to do much running. She let the movement of the wolf lull her to sleep as the thought of all the things they had to do when they returned to the real world.

  Hours later they stopped at the edge of Edward’s territory to check in with his pack. Amber felt weird about checking in to the place she had called home all her life but she was trying to adjust.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Dylan had arranged with Edward to stay for two nights, much to Edward’s dismay. As the happy couple walked into the house Edward snarled. Amber was taken aback and scooted behind Dylan. Her former Alpha no longer felt safe and familiar like he did before she left. Dylan had warned her but no amount of warning could have prepared her for the reality.

  Dylan gave a long-suffering sigh, “Yeah, yeah, I know mate, trust me I know. I don’t want to be in your house anymore than you want me to be here. But you are scaring my mate and you know I can’t have that.”

  Edward looked at Amber, or what he could see of her hiding behind her mate. “I wasn’t growling at her. Wait till you have to welcome another Alpha’s female into your home and see how you like it. And you will you know. From what I understand it isn’t so bad for the female as for the males, but it isn’t easy either. The wolf wants to protect the home from outsiders and no one is more of an outsider than the leader of another pack.”

  Amber peeked around Dylan, “I know. Dylan explained. But I didn’t expect you to seem so scary. I never realized how big you were until we walked in. You never seemed that big when I lived here.”

  Edward raised his eyes to the ceiling before dropping his gaze back to the pair in front of him. “Yeah, so I have heard. Come in. I arranged the furtherest bedroom for the two of you. The pack is gathering, no, the ones who have questions and are considering joining your pack are gathering over at the hall. Drop your things in the room, Amber knows where it is, and meet me back here. Amber, don’t touch anything but what is in that room. You understand? Julie comes to visit and even if she doesn’t understand yet why she feels uncomfortable around other Alpha’s mates, I don’t want to give her cause to feel uncomfortable in my home. It is hard enough for her to share a house with Dawn.”

  When the two returned Edward gestured toward the door and let them precede him from his house. As they walked toward the hall he told them, “I have eighteen people who want more information, not including your parents, Amber. They will be in the meeting because they feel, and rightly so, they should be included in any meeting that concerns the future of their new pack. They also are requesting you take their oath today. They have been working on the house and outbuildings this last week trying to get everything ready for you to move in once you leave here. The credit card you left with them came in handy as you needed new furniture throughout most of the house. They didn’t feel they should move anything from your small house so they left room at the new house for anything you wanted to bring. The only ones I opened your current house to was the pair of them since they are the only ones you know will be part of your new pack. They also were the only shifters allowed in the Western property home although the outbuildings were visited by the eighteen potentials.”

  “You were generous of your time, Edward. I will not soon forget.”

  “Thank you, Edward. Are mum and dad excited to be moving?”

  Edward snorted, “Excitement is for the young. They are, well you will have to ask them.” He reached out and opened the door to the hall and walked in the two trailing along behind him. The sudden snarl at his back caused him to immediately turn, keeping himself between Dylan and his pack. He felt the hair on the back of his neck rise as he glared at the young Alpha.

  Dylan was staring at Cody, snarling. “You are not welcome in my pack. I will not have one in my pack who has hatred in their heart for my mate. Get out.”

  Edward, prepared to defend his pack, instead found himself watching Amber as she attempted to hide behind Dylan. Dylan for his part had eyes only for the young man as he kept his body between his mate and Cody. Cody had a look of naked hatred on his face he didn’t even try to disguise and Edward, instead of defending the pup moved to the side as Dylan used his body to push his mate out of the young man’s path to the door.

  Cody?

  Yes?

  We will talk when I am done here. You have some explaining to do. Dennis is coming over. You will go with him and you will wait with him in my office. You will talk with no one through the pack path until I give my permission. Do you understand me? Edward pushed the command enforced with his power to the young man’s mind.

  Yes, sir. I understand.