by Cara Wylde
Amber’s whole body started shaking, and she sat down before her knees gave in. She should have been angry at Stephan for having insulted Tyler so horribly, but fear had almost paralyzed her. He knew about Tyler. He knew she had been with him the night before. He knew she was staying with Rebecca. What else did he know?
“Are you… Are you spying on me?” Her voice was barely a whisper. “You hired someone to spy on me. Oh my God! You’re so sick! You’re a psychopath, Stephan!”
“Oh, spare me the drama!”
She could almost see him roll his eyes.
“You didn’t think I would let my wife run to New York with my daughter and do whatever the hell she pleased, did you? You’re so naïve! If I hadn’t married you, you would have never made it in life. This world would have eaten you whole and spat you out.”
“You freak… Stay away from me. Stay away from me and Ava.”
“I can’t, Amber. We’re married. And you’re coming back home. End of story. I have no intention of being the first Castell to divorce. You don’t get to treat me like that, Amber. No one does.”
“I’m not coming back.”
Stephan started laughing. “You are, honey. You’ll see. Sooner than you think. You could, of course, spare yourself the pain and humiliation by coming home tomorrow. I can send a private plane, if you want.”
“Fuck you, Stephan! You’ll never see me again, do you hear me? I’m not coming back!”
She screamed into the phone and ended the call with a determined tap of her thumb. The last thing she heard him say was: “You pick up the phone next time I call, Amber.” It sounded like a threat. It was a threat. She stared at the black screen for a long while, trying to process what had just happened. Tears started running down her cheeks, ruining the light make-up she had put on in the morning. It was almost lunchtime, and Becca and Ava would be back soon. She needed to pull herself together, wash her face, and pretend that everything was fine for the sake of her daughter. But she couldn’t. She simply couldn’t. She let the phone fall on her lap and buried her face in her palms. Her shoulders started shaking uncontrollably and she gave herself permission to cry as hard as she needed. She had to get it out of her system if she wanted to be able to think clearly later and come up with a plan with Rebecca.
“Oh my God, he knows about Tyler…” What if Stephan did something to Tyler? He was insane enough to go there, and he certainly had the power to do it. It would all be her fault, too. All of it. “What am I going to do? Shit… what am I going to do?”
After a while, she stopped sobbing and decided she couldn’t sit there forever. She had to clean herself up. She stood up, but a wave of nausea overtook her, her knees buckled, and she caught the edge of the table before she collapsed. The smartphone hit the soft carpet, and Amber’s hand flew to her mouth, afraid that she might throw up before she got to the bathroom. Nothing happened, though, and the dizziness soon subsided, leaving a faint headache throbbing between her temples.
“I haven’t eaten anything,” she concluded. “That must be it. I need to eat.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Amber spent her whole day with Ava. Rebecca worked in her home office, and Amber knew she could leave Ava for a while and go talk to her friend, but she didn’t want to. Stephan’s words had scared her so much that she felt like she had to keep an eye on her daughter all the time. They weren’t safe. No, they couldn’t be safe when the man who was supposed to be the most important person in their lives was completely mad.
They finished the fairy house, and Amber baked it for a couple of minutes. While the beautiful masterpiece was cooling off, Ava said she was tired and wanted to sleep for an hour, so her mother tucked her in, kissed her forehead, and didn’t leave the bedroom until she made sure Ava was asleep. Even then, she left the door cracked open. She went to make some tea for her and Rebecca, taking the time to think about what she was going to tell her. Everything about Tyler and what had happened last night, of course, but first she had to warn her about her husband. As she was pouring the hot water in two cups, her phone rang. She smiled when she saw Tyler’s ID.
“Hey!”
“Hi, sweetie! How are you? I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. I was stuck in a long, boring meeting. My boss wants to do some re-branding on the newest advertising campaign, even though it’s supposed to be launched in two days. I swear, these people have no idea how branding and design work.”
Amber laughed. It was amazing how Tyler could cheer her up so easily. All he had to do was call her “sweetie”, and butterflies would start fluttering in her stomach. But it wasn’t only that. He was telling her about his job, treating her as an equal. Stephan had never done that. He had always given her the impression that she was too dumb to understand the important work he was doing at his father’s software company.
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll manage it,” she said.
“I don’t know,” he said jokingly. “I’ve been really distracted lately. I can’t remember half of what’s been discussed in the meeting. There’s this image of this beautiful, sexy lady popping up in my mind every time I try to concentrate on work.”
Amber chuckled. “You’re so sweet.”
“No, you!”
She dipped the tea bags in the hot water, then went to get the honey.
“So,” Tyler continued. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much…” Should she tell him about Stephan? She didn’t want to sound whiny. “I was just making tea and getting ready to chill with Rebecca. I’ve been working on a polymer clay fairy house for the past few hours and I’m whipped. My fairy princess is wiped too, ‘cause she’s asleep. She didn’t even wait for the thing to cool off.”
“That sounds like so much fun!” Tyler laughed wholeheartedly. “When will I get to meet your fairy princess?”
Amber bit the inside of her lip. She appreciated that he cared about her daughter and wanted to meet her, but she couldn’t possibly let Ava know about Tyler. She was already lying to her by not telling her about the divorce. Introducing Tyler to her as a friend when they were actually lovers didn’t sound right.
“I… I don’t know. It’s not exactly the right time.”
“I understand,” he said immediately. “I completely understand. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“It’s okay…”
There was a moment of silence, which was weird for them. Amber knew it was because she was holding back. But what else could she do? She hadn’t yet decided how to react to Stephan’s threats, but there was one thing she knew for sure: she had to keep Tyler out of it. She couldn’t risk getting him into trouble. He hadn’t done anything either than make her feel loved and appreciated.
“I actually called to ask if you have any plans for this weekend,” he said.
It took Amber a second to remember what day it was. Friday.
“Because if you don’t, you and Ava are invited to my cabin. It’s not very far from the city, we’ll take my car, stuff it with all the delicious food you girls want, and disappear for two days. What do you say?” When Amber didn’t answer, he sighed. “Oh, I’m such an idiot. You just told me it’s too soon for me to meet Ava. I just… I’m sorry. I really want to spend the weekend with you.”
“No, no… don’t be.” She swallowed hard before speaking again. “It’s not that, Tyler. I would love to spend the weekend with you, and I can’t wait for you to meet my daughter. I think she’ll love you! But…”
“But what…?”
She leaned against the counter and got ready for a long explanation. The tea would be cold by the time she finished, but she had to tell Tyler the truth. He cared about her so much. She couldn’t lie to him. He had to know how dangerous her husband was.
“I talked to Stephan earlier. I had been ignoring his calls since yesterday, and this morning my attorney insisted I needed to talk to him. It’s bad, Tyler. It’s so bad… I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“Calm down, sweetie. Just calm down, t
ake a deep breath, and tell me everything. We’ll find a solution together.”
“We can’t.” She sounded harsher than she meant to. “He hired someone to watch me. He knows we were together last night, he knows where I’m staying…”
“What are you saying?”
“We can’t see each other anymore. At least, not for a while. Not until I get this divorce thing sorted out.”
“Amber…”
She heard the pain in his voice and she hated herself for pushing him away, but she had no other choice. For now, this seemed to be the only solution.
“He’s rich and influential, Tyler. He’s also fuckin’ nuts and capable of anything. He doesn’t even have to get his hands dirty. He can have someone else do it for him at a snap of his fingers.”
Tyler groaned. His bear thrashed and kicked inside him, demanding to be let out. It wasn’t a good time to have an inner argument with his beast, since he was at the office and there were people around him, so he made an effort to control the wild animal. He had learned how to keep his beast in check years ago, and he had perfected the art of behaving like a human when, in fact, he was a bear-shifter, but Amber had a special talent of provoking the beast more often than necessary.
“I’m sorry, baby…” It was the first time she was calling him “baby”, and the word tasted strange on the tip of her tongue. “Please don’t be mad at me. I’ll solve this, I promise, and when Stephan is out of our lives, we’ll be free to do everything you want, spend every weekend at your cabin. I’m sure Ava will want to teach you how to make a polymer clay fairy house.”
She chuckled, but it didn’t sound genuine. In reality, she was holding her tears back. She realized she was, technically, breaking up with him. Or trying to. She hadn’t planned on it, but it was exactly what was happening. Her instinct was telling her this was the right thing to do. It was wrong to drag Tyler into this mess. He had nothing to do with her failed marriage, and he surely didn’t deserve to suffer because of it.
“You don’t have to do this alone,” he whispered.
“You don’t know my husband.”
Tyler sighed and ran his hand through his disheveled hair. “I do, Amber. You have no idea…” He bit his lip before he added more.
He was dying to tell her he had known all along. He had known who Stephan Castell was since the first day she had told him about him. He should have said something then, ten years ago. Why hadn’t he? Had he really thought Stephan wouldn’t be like his father, and his grandfather, and all the men before them? This was all his fault.
Amber closed her eyes and took a couple of focused breaths.
“Please, I need some time to think about it. I saw my attorney today and things are worse than I thought. Then, Stephan practically told me he’s been aware of my every move since I came to New York… I can’t deal with all this right now, I need time and space to put my thoughts in order.”
He wanted to protest, but instead he whispered: “Okay, sweetie. I understand.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much, Tyler. I…” She was just about to say “I love you” when Rebecca entered the kitchen. “I have to go.”
“Sure.”
“Talk to you later.”
Becca took a sip of tea and scrunched up her nose when she realized it was cold.
“So, are you ready to tell me everything?” she asked.
Amber smiled and motioned for her to take a seat at the kitchen table. She took her own cup of tea from the counter and sat down opposite Becca. The story was long and complicated, and she had to finish it before Ava woke up.
***
The rich scent of wood and moss invaded his nostrils, and the brown bear inhaled hungrily. Oh, how he had missed running through the woods, rolling on the grass and twigs, chasing small animals for fun! He stopped when he reached the edge of a stream and stood up on two legs, head held high so he could sniff the air and check if there was any human around. He didn’t expect to meet anyone this late at night, as he was in the part of the Reservation which was least appealing to hikers, but he could never be too careful. When humans freaked out, they could do some crazy things. Satisfied, the huge bear fell back on all fours and took a long sip of cold water before turning around and launching himself in a new round of running, rolling, and chasing squirrels.
After talking to Amber, Tyler had finished his work quickly so he could leave his office two hours earlier. Once at his apartment, he threw a couple of clothes into a bag, hopped in his car, and drove up to his remote cabin on the Blue Mountain Reservation. He needed to let off some steam. He needed to be in the middle of nature and let the bear take over for a couple of hours. Since he had tasted Amber’s soft skin and worshiped all her curves the night before, he couldn’t think straight. Yes, he would have loved for her to join him, but on the other hand, he too needed some time to think.
Tired of running around, the brown bear strolled lazily back to the cabin. The wind was ruffling his fur, and he felt invigorated. It was good to let go from time to time. That’s why Tyler had bought this small cabin in the most isolated part of the Reservation: so he could escape the crowded city when he felt he had kept his bear caged for too long. It had taken him years to control it so well, to tame the beast into submission, and he was pretty proud of his achievement. Only a very well trained eye could have told he wasn’t entirely human. Not even another shape-shifter could have figured it out. And it was all because Tyler had perfected the art of hiding among humans, of behaving exactly like them, of burying his bear so deep underneath his skin that sometimes he could barely even hear the animal’s growls. Then Amber showed up and started messing with his head.
Back at his cabin, he turned on the small porch and grabbed the clothes he had left on the floor. Entering the cozy living room, he rolled his shoulders and popped his neck, enjoying the slight burn in his muscles.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” he whispered. “I should do this more often, or I’ll get out of shape.”
Not bothering with underwear, he pulled up his jeans and threw a T-shirt on, then went into the kitchen to grab a sandwich and pour himself a glass of white wine. He studied the bottle before opening it, thought of how awesome it would be if Amber were there to share it, sighed and decided he might as well drink all of it. It was almost midnight, but he didn’t feel sleepy. In fact, given the circumstances, he was pretty sure he was going to pull an all-nighter.
Tyler never went anywhere without his laptop, and now he pulled it out of its case and laid it on the table. He had some digging to do. Lately, he had been too distracted by work and the stupid project his boss changed his mind about every day to work on his other “project”. He was pretty sure he knew everything there was to know about the Castell family, but it didn’t hurt to do another search and try to dig even deeper. His hacking skills weren’t perfect, but they did the trick. He had been keeping tabs on Stephan Castell and Castell Technologies for a little over ten years. He knew about the guy before Amber had even met him, but he couldn’t tell her that. He couldn’t tell her that the Castells were much more than just some wealthy software developers. He couldn’t tell her their lineage went back to the Late Middle Ages, that their initial wealth came from cloth trade, and the guild whom their ancestors had belonged to had developed, at some point, into something else. Why? Because that would have meant telling her about the existence of supernatural people and the secret society which had been hunting them for ages. That would have meant telling her about his bear.
He emptied his glass, then refilled it and sighed. All his life, he had thought the reason for which he hadn’t told Amber anything had been that he didn’t want to risk exposing himself and, possibly, other shape-shifters to the Castells. In reality, he had made the decision for an entirely different reason: Amber deserved to live a normal life with the man she had fallen in love with, even if that man was Tyler’s enemy. He had never met Stephan Castell, but they were enemies out of principle. They were enemies beca
use that was how things worked when people belonged to different species.
He typed away at his laptop for an hour, then went to grab another sandwich. It was almost morning when he came across something truly interesting and intriguing, something that hadn’t been there before. And it had nothing to do with the Castells.
“The Order of the Severins…” he whispered. “What the heck is this and when did it appear?”
Apparently, it was new. He couldn’t find out who started it. Whoever they were, they knew how to cover their tracks while giving enough information to help someone, who was really interested in joining them, get in touch. He spent another hour researching the strange organization, and came to the conclusion that, indeed, it was pro-supernatural people. In fact, it seemed to be more than that: The Order of the Severins aimed to bring supernatural people together to finally make a stand against the common enemy that had been harassing them since the Middle Ages.
“Fascinating…”
The cursor hovered over the contact button for a couple of long minutes, before Tyler changed his mind and closed the window. Not yet. He had to learn more about this Order before he made a decision. It all sounded too good to be true. It could have very well been a trap, and now, more than ever, he couldn’t afford getting into trouble just because he wanted to follow this lead out of curiosity or dumb hope. Right now, he had to focus on Amber and what he could do to protect her and her daughter from her crazy husband. He didn’t doubt he could take down Stephan Castell, even if the guy had his entire family to back him up. For Amber, he was ready to risk his life. But he had to convince her first. He had to show her who he was and what he was capable of.
Tyler had to tell Amber the truth.
***
“Amber, there’s someone here for you!”
