Saving Amber

Dale’s POV

I snapped my head up. He was mentioning that word again, but for some reason, I could not bring myself to ask him anything about it. Like before, his finger went under my chin, and he pushed my face up till I was staring into his pool of blue eyes.

“Tell me, are you okay?

”I nodded. “Yes,” I added almost immediately. “I am fine.”His arm around my waist tightened. It took every shred of strength within me to keep my face straight and a scream from escaping my throat.

A knock sounded on the door, and an auburn-haired lady waltzed in.I breathed a sigh of relief when his arm around me relaxed and he stepped away. I lowered my head again, digging my nails into my skin to keep myself from feeling the biting pain in my side.

“This is Gwen, the omega I told you about. She will help you with settling in. If there is anything you need and I am not available, let her know. She will make sure you get it.” He turned to the lady who had just arrived, nodding curtly at her.

“Gwen.”She nodded back. “I will take care of her, Alpha. Don’t worry.”Amber looked like she had gone through a lot, but that was a problem for later.

Now, there was something bugging me about the girl, and it was not the fact that my Beta somehow stumbled across her ‘home’ in her former pack or that I couldn’t shake the feeling that Alpha Derrick was hiding something from me.

Because what did he mean by the cryptic words he told me on the day I went to pick Amber up? She is not all she seems. Keeping her here was for her own good? Obviously, being in that pack had not done her any good, but as I said, that was something I would deal with later.

For now, I needed to know why someone went through the trouble of binding her wolf and then making her believe she was wolf-less, suffering stigma for such a long time. For some reason, my wolf was drawn to that bound, suffering wolf.She was my mate. I could feel it, but she couldn’t because she had no access to her wolf.

“What do you think?” I asked, glancing at Janine, who was busy rearranging her office. Janine was a woman in her mid twenties and one of the few people I trusted not because she might be mated to my beta but because of our shared pasts and also because she was the best healer in our pack.

“If you are sure of what you scented, then maybe she is hiding a wound, and it may have gotten infected,” she shrugged before turning to the large shelves.

“I might have to take a look. You can bring her by later, and I would love to meet this girl…” she smiled, wriggling her brows suggestively.When I returned to the infirmary again, Amber was in tow, and I could tell by the look on her face that she was uncomfortable being here.

“Amber,” I said. “Meet Janine, our finest healer. She would be taking a look at you.”Amber nodded but kept her eyes lowered. A gesture that was beginning to grate harshly on my nerves. Even my wolf was eager to return to her pack and tear into anyone who might have beaten an Alpha wolf like her in submission.

Backing Janine, who was getting up from her seat, I slid my arm behind Amber’s back, watching closely as she scrunched her face up in pain, although she tried hard to mask it. The telltale signs were there.

“You’re hurt, Amber. Janine would take care of you.” She looked away, unable to meet my gaze. “Tell me how you feel. I want to know.”“I’m… I’m fine.”‘Lies!’ My wolf growled inside me. ‘I can smell the blood on her. Her scent is different from other werewolves; I know, but the smell of the blood on her is overpowering.

’“Listen, Amber,” I said, struggling for control with my wolf, who was fighting to take over. “I don’t care about what they must have drummed into you in your other pack, but while you are here, I would like for you to feel at home and, most importantly, tell me the truth when I demand it. My wolf has the ability of smelling lies.

”Her head snapped up to meet mine. For a moment, I was taken aback by the gold in her irises. It was the one thing that had drawn me to her at first. That and the strange scent.As quickly as her head snapped up, it snapped back down as though she just recalled her training. I shook my head, turning my eyes briefly to meet Janine’s.

“I will ask you again, Amber. How do you feel? Are you injured anywhere?

“Yes.” She blinked, peeking up at me from below her long lashes. “But I’ve taken care of them. I’ll be fine in a few days. I don’t heal as fast as werewolves because I have no wolf, but I heal faster than humans.”She talked fast. Too fast. It was as though she feared we would beat her if we believed she was too weak. Did they beat her for this in her pack?

My wolf growled at that thought. If anyone dared to lay a hand on a hair on her head -“Come here, Amber. Let me see.” Janine’s soft and soothing whisper pulled me from the edge I had been going over.

I snapped my attention to Amber, who was frozen on the spot she was standing. My arms were wrapped around her, and I could feel her body trembling. Without thinking, I pulled her closer, conditioning my body so she could feel the heat radiating from my wolf, and my wolf would feel close to hers. It was the only way I thought to help her.

If it worked, I would never know, because Janine snatched her from me too soon. My wolf growled his displeasure, but knowing that Janine meant our mate no harm, reined him in.

“If you feel any pain or you want to leave, let me know, okay?”She nodded.“I will need your words, Amber. I cannot read your thoughts. At least for now. When I mark you and we are bonded, I will know what you are feeling and thinking, but till then, I will need you to communicate those feelings and thoughts to me.”If her eyes could get any wider, they would have at that instant as she gaped at me.

“Mark me?”I smiled. “Yes, Amber. I will mark you very soon. When I said you were my mate, you did not think I was joking, did you?

”She turned a confused expression to Janine, then to me. “But…” whatever words she wanted to say died on her lips. Her nails dug into flesh, a habit I noticed she did often, perhaps to remind herself of reality or to forget the other pain she felt; I had no idea. What I did know was that the habit was hurting her.“Stop that.” I demanded. A bit too harshly, I got a scolding from my wolf not to scare our mate.

“You have a wolf, Amber. I told you before. It is bound, but I will find a way to unbind it.”“Alpha, would you let me work?” Janine said, pulling Amber to sit on a small bed in her office. “I’m sure you both can sort out whatever this is later on.”I kept shut as Janine began working. I wouldn’t want her sending me out of her office. Only she had the power to do that, and I wanted to be here for my mate.

Slowly, she pulled Amber’s dress to one side, then off her skinny body.It was neat, but twice her size. But it was a far cry from the clothes she had arrived here in. Soon, she would fill out all the bones, and all her clothes were going to be a perfect fit; till then—My wolf growled as I took in the long gashes on her broken flesh. There were lots of scars, but the wound, which they never allowed to heal, stood out the most. Amber moved, bundling her clothes up to cover herself after seeing the horrified looks on both our faces.

“I’m fine. I’m fine, I swear, I can take care of this,” she said, jumping off from the bed.My wolf growled, startling me and everyone in the room. Amber froze; the fear in her eyes tugged at my heart, and guilt rushed through me. I took a deep, calming breath, pushing my wolf down before it did irreparable damage.“You are not fine, Amber. You need to stop saying that.” I pinched my brows trying to rein in my boiling temper.

“Who did this to you?”Her head snapped to Janine’s face as if seeking an ally, but Janine was just as curious as I am. I grabbed her hands, pulling her into my body while being careful not to injure her further.

“Let me see the rest of them,” I whispered softly.

“Please.”

Without waiting for her approval, I tore the rest of her clothes off her, and that was when my enraged wolf let out a loud, piercing wail that shot through my soul.