No Remorse

by MaryLynn Bast

  The two men were on either side of her when they walked down the steps of the front porch and towards the line of trees. All three of them instinctively scanned the woods for any possible threats.

  Gabrial Hamilton slowed his pace and when they were deep into the woods. Amber and Blake turned to look at him.

  “I believe we are out of earshot of everyone in the house and no one dared follow us.” He informed them, smiling.

  Gabrial couldn't help himself and pulled Amber to him again for a tight hug.

  “So I hear you were using the last name Scott instead of your family name.”

  “Uh, yeah?” Amber was surprised by his statement and she stared at her grandfather at a loss for words.

  This is how he starts explaining? She sent Blake a questioning frown.

  “It was to keep from being found,” Blake explained on her behalf, as they began walking again.

  “Blake, you keep your mouth shut for now. I think my granddaughter has some explaining to do.” Gabrial looked at her sternly with his hands dropping to his sides.

  “I have some explaining to do?” Amber exclaimed, stepping away from her grandfather in stunned amazement. “You dump me in a car and send me away and I have some explaining to do?”

  Her grandfather stared at her for a moment, but couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. “I knew you would have spunk,” he said, shaking his head and began walking again. “First of all, I didn't dump you in a car. I put you in the car for your safety. I sent Blake to the shelter to keep an eye on you.”

  Amber stopped in her tracks. “Hold up.” She cocked her head to the side and looked from Blake to her Grandfather. “You knew my grandfather before you met me and you never told me? You knew my mother?”

  Blake had the good sense to look embarrassed and shrugged. Amber stared at him hard, her eyes narrowed suspiciously while her grandfather continued.

  Blake could no longer hide behind the reason he had been drawn into her life. He knew it was cheating, but having her grandfather there might help explain a few things and keep her from losing complete control and disappearing on him. He had already screwed up with her and hopefully this could help fix it.

  “I put Blake there to watch over you. Instead, he helped you run away and hide from us all,” Gabriel continued in a disproving voice as he cut his eyes towards Blake with an irritated frown.

  “This doesn’t explain anything to me.” She didn't quite know what to call him.

  “You can call me, grandpa.” He said when she paused slightly before addressing him.

  “OK.” She said hesitantly “Grandpa.” The word rolled off her tongue, it felt right and she smiled slightly, but quickly wiped it from her face. She was not going to let this go just because she was with the one family member she had longed to meet for more than just a few minutes.

  “Let's start from the beginning,” Gabriel suggested and they continued walking through the woods. “I don't know everything your mother told you to keep you on the run this many years, but I can probably tell you that most of what she said was not true,” he informed her.

  Blake and Amber stayed quiet to let him continue. Surprising Blake, Amber slipped her hand into his and his body instantly became warm at her touch. She squeezed his hand in response and smiled weakly at him. She needed his strong support at the moment and touching him helped to sooth her.

  “Winona told you these stories to keep you from wanting to contact the pack. She did this for good reason, Amber. The council has been looking for you ever since they found out you were born on the full moon.”

  Amber had tons of questions ready to burst forward, but respectfully kept them bottled up inside to allow him to continue.

  “I know she told you that she was raped, that wasn’t true. She slipped out of the house one night when her mother and I were, uh, kind of busy,” he told her with a slight cough to cover up his embarrassment. “She had heard of a party, so she snuck out. To make a long story short, she ended up in the back seat of that bastard’s car.” Gabrial sneered in disgust at the thought.

  Realizing Amber was staring at him, Gabrial stopped curling his lip up in a silent snarl and continued. “You remember Tommy from the diner. If I recall correctly, you pointed a gun at him.” His face broke into a large approving smile at that thought.

  “That man is my father?” Amber asked with revulsion.

  “Honestly, I guess he's not a bad man. He is a respected member of the pack, and follows the council’s orders. Winona and Tommy were wild when they were younger, and your mother thought the lust she was feeling was love.” Gabrial shook his head in disgust at the thought. “The only time you saw Tommy, you were influenced by Winona’s fears. You felt that your mother was scared of him and he was there to take her back home. He was acting on council’s orders to bring you both back. No one, including me, has ever told him that you are his daughter. They lied to him, he didn’t know the reason they wanted you back,” Gabrial told her honestly.

  Amber shook her head in denial. She didn't want that man to be her father.

  Blake pulled her closer and sent warmth spreading through her body at his touch. She stared up at him in amazement, still not understanding that just his touch alone was beginning to sooth her troubled mind.

  “Tommy is an Enforcer for the Council and returns members back to the pack who has committed crimes. Tommy was convinced that Winona had committed a crime by running away from the pack when she was pregnant and had lost the child. He was determined to impress the Council by returning Winona to the pack and he didn't stop to really look at you or he would have known the truth. It was the full moon phase and his wolf was pounding at him to follow orders to take his wayward pack member back, so that is what he did. The Council knew that you had survived, but didn’t tell Tommy because they were using him. Even though you don’t see it right now, Winona was trying to protect you and had been strong enough to let you go because she knew what they were really after.” Gabrial paused for a moment.

  Amber stared intently at her grandfather, willing him to continue. She wondered what had happened to her mother when she was returned to the pack, what had happened to Byron. She didn’t understand why the council would want her so badly.

  “I had convinced Tommy to call me as soon as he found your mother. He still didn't realize who you were.” He smiled sadly at the long ago memory. “I hated sending my only granddaughter away to that safe house. But it was the only way I had to protect you.” Again he paused.

  “You see, Amber, the moment you were conceived, you were different. You are the only female werewolf that has ever been born on a full moon and the Council could feel that that you were special. When you were born, you were given special abilities along with the ones you already possessed, and the Council wants those as their own.”

  The three of them had reached the small lake in the middle of Blake's thousands of acres. Gabrial stood looking out over the calm water and continued telling her the story she had longed to hear.

  “Since I am a member of the Council, I knew what their intentions were. They wanted your blood to run tests on it. And honestly, they didn’t care if you were a tiny baby, or later a young woman; they only wanted to see how they could experiment with you to grow their own abilities. You see, Amber, the older members of Council has the mindset that our pack is better than all other packs around the world. They feel that with your special blood they would be able to rule the world.”

  Blake stared at Amber while she stared at her grandfather. Her lips were drawn into a tight line; she listened intently. Blake heard all the questions she had rambling around in her head, but was proud that she held her tongue to let the Gabrial continue.

  “I know you can shift at will.” He looked at her and nodded his head when she confirmed with a nod of her own. “And now that you have mated with Blake, he can, too.” He nodded once again when Blake confirmed as well.

  “Do you still have the stone?” Gabrial as
ked her and smiled when Amber pulled the chain from her shirt, showing him the stone. He was pleased. She had wrapped leather string around it and formed a loop to run the chain rather than have a hole drilled through it. She had kept the stone pure.

  “Good girl,” he told her and explained that the stone had been specially crafted for her. “I know this has been and still is frustrating for you, but you were too young to understand what would be happening to you with the change. If you had shifted at the school when you came of age, your ‘other’ abilities would have been noticed and the council would have been notified.”

  Leaning against a couple of large boulders that lined the shoreline of the lake, Gabrial continued telling her the tale of her life from his perspective. Blake sat against the hard surface, pulled her backside to him and wrapped his arms around her. Thinking to him self that this was going better than he thought it would.

  You are not off the hook for not telling me about this when you met me at the shelter. You had plenty of time then and now.

  Punish me later, you need to hear what he has to say, Blake responded and nudged her, nodding in her grandfather’s direction.

  Gabrial hadn't even noticed that they were holding their own conversation while he continued talking. “Blake informed me that you had a run in with the bully at school and was ready to take off.”

  “That was your car again!” She said and slapped her forehead in annoyance for not noticing it at the time. She had been too distraught over the fact that she was leaving Blake behind to pay attention to the car itself.

  Blake smiled, reading her thoughts and kissed her neck, sending a shiver down her spine. She had to stop the moan of pure pleasure and pulled away from him with a haughty look mouthing silently “What are you doing?”

  Blake shrugged with a devilish smile and pulled her back against his hard groin. Just touching her was making his senses go into over drive.

  “Tonight is the full moon,” Gabrial responded, catching on to Amber's embarrassment and her elbow in Blake's side.

  Her face flamed red at being caught and Blake actually laughed out loud while her grandfather turned; a knowing smile across his face.

  “I was young once.” he told them, leaning closer and whispering loudly “When you have mated, that feeling does not go away with age, either.” He admitted and straightened back up, so he could continue looking out over the calm water.

  The sun was climbing higher in the sky and the day was becoming warm. The heat from Blake made Amber hot, but she didn't want to move out of his embrace.

  “One day, sweetheart, you will have to forgive your mother. She meant you no harm,” Gabrial continued in a soothing voice. “She didn't do things the right way to begin with, but she did what she thought was best for you at that time.”

  Amber wanted to tell him that she didn't know if she could ever forgive her, but Blake squeezed her lightly so she remained silent.

  “Before she was to give birth, your mother ran away from home. She made it to her friend’s house where her family took your mother in. Of course, they called me so I didn't have to worry, so I made arrangements with them to allow you to be born there, away from the seeing eyes and the senses of the council.”

  “Long story short, the family your mother stayed with was very powerful witches. They cast a protection spell over you the moment you entered the world.”

  Amber caught the present tense he had used. Realizing the gory details of the witch’s family dying was just another lie her mother had told her.

  “I am going to tell you something, but hear me out.” He looked over his shoulder and waited for her to agree before he continued. “The friend’s mother was dating a vampire.”

  Amber gasped, her eyes widened and Blake laughed at her surprise.

  “Yes, there really are such things as vampires.” Gabrial laughed at them. “You believe in werewolves, don't you?”

  He didn't give them time to continue to dwell on the thought. “The vampire was very taken with you, Amber. He was there when I came to visit right after you were born. All he could do was gaze at you, and touch your foot in amazement. Even at a couple days old, you were very aware of those around you. You would kick and get excited when he came into the room.”

  Amber stared at her grandfather. “Really, a vampire, aren't we like enemies with them or something?”

  Again he laughed and answered. “No, they are actually our allies, most of the time. Of course, there are some real asses, but that is the case in all races and most species.”

  “At first, when I saw him eying you, all I could think about was him sucking you dry. But he opened his mind to me and I could see that he was truly amazed and intrigued with you. He showed me how your blood sang to him. He impressed upon me that you were very special and you needed to be taken care of and protected at all costs.” Gabrial paused.

  “Amber, I already knew that you were exceptional, he just confirmed what I had been thinking. So I made a deal with him.”

  He stopped talking and turned to look directly at Amber. She waited anxiously to hear what he had to say; but was let down when he started talking about the witch again. She wanted to know more about the vampire!

  “The witch had cast a protection spell around you, but it wasn't enough. When you were older, I went back to her. The stone around your neck is a work of her magic. She blended three stones together. I honestly don't know how she did it, but the amulet actually inhibited your ability to change. It also stifles your pheromones, so that werewolves and other were creatures could not scent you once you did shift.”

  Gabrial looked at her with a crooked smile “Ironically, it also made it to where I couldn't track you, either. So I sent Blake out to make sure that you were safe, that is until he screwed that up.”

  “I didn't screw it up, she ran off from the hotel your driver dropped her at.” Blake defended himself.

  Amber waved off Blake’s argument. “More on this vampire stuff. Why would I have never met another vampire if he was so attracted to me? Wouldn’t I attract others?”

  “Yes you would have, but you have been marked. Like werewolves, vampires are very territorial and once someone has been marked other vampires know to stay clear or risk clan wars.”

  Amber shook her head. She didn’t know what else to say and sat blinking in disbelief at what she was hearing.

  Gabrial chuckled at her response. “So, what other abilities do you have?” he asked, then added as an afterthought while staring at nothing on the water, “that you know of?”

  Amber leaned back and looked up at Blake. His eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled down at her, nodding his head in encouragement. Amber stepped away from him and into nothingness. She emerged directly in front of her grandfather who was not expecting her to appear so suddenly. She startled him, causing him to jump back against the rock. His hand came up in defense, but quickly dropped so he could look around when she vanished again. Amber reappeared on the other side of the boulder that stood slightly in front of him.

  “Holy crap!” He exclaimed in excitement.

  Amber laughed joyously at his startled expression and funny response. She evaporated again and rematerialized where she had started, back in Blake's arms.

  “You know that's not a werewolf’s ability don't you?” Gabrial asked her, leading her to come to a certain conclusion.

  The reference he made went completely over her head. “Honestly, since I’ve pretty much been on my own and haven’t really been around other werewolves, I don't know what all their capabilities are.” She looked at him attempting to figure out what he was trying to tell her.

  “Think about it, honey.” Blake urged, having already figured out what conclusion Gabrial was waiting for her to come to.

  Cocking her head, her eyebrows drew together in concentration. Suddenly like a switch was flipped she gasped and her eyes opened wide, mouth dropped.

  “You allowed the vampire to bite me!” she concluded triumphantly.r />
  Blake laughed and pulled her closer against him, if it were possible.

  Now she was excited. “I can control minds too,” she told him proudly, excited to know why she could accomplish some of the new abilities.

  “You have other skills, too, but I’m guessing they have not appeared yet.” her grandfather said, settling back with a smug look at his cleverness. “So you are not angry that I let a full grown vampire bite a newborn baby and exchange some of his blood with you?”

  “I suppose if you think about it, it is kind of creepy. But I am thankful that you did.” She reached over and gave him a hug.

  “But there are a lot of risks with people knowing this, especially now.” He told her, looking deeply into her eyes. “The Council is aware that you are alive and that you have special abilities.”

  “But how?”

  Blake released a frustrated sigh and glared out at the water. “I didn't think they would make contact that quick. “I should have killed Donald and Stewart instead of letting them walk away.” He growled.

  “Bloodsworth’s death already drew the interest of the Council, especially since you were involved,” Gabrial told Blake pointedly. Blake caught his eye and stayed quiet on the subject. Now was not the time to bring that up.

  Gabrial stood up and stretched his arms, rotating his back. “I think the years are starting to catch up to me,” he was grinning down into Amber's happy upturned face.

  “So there really are vampires out there?” Amber asked excitedly. She was elated that she could finally understand who and what she was. She didn't feel like she was a freak among her own kind any more.

  “Yes, as I mentioned, there are other were creatures such as were-bears, were-cats, or they would rather be called were-panthers and leopards and tigers and so on.” Gabrial couldn't help but smile at the eagerness she exuded.

  “And this,” Amber pulled the stone out from her shirt once again and caressed its smooth surface, “kept them from sensing me.” Then the realization hit her. “All the time I thought I was surrounded by werewolf, it could have been other creatures?” At Gabrial’s nod she let that sink in, and then turned to him excitedly. “Are there fairies and trolls and,” Amber laughed along with the men as they all began walking back towards the interior of the woods again.