Chapter Three: The Omega Died. The Bride Was Born.

~Amber’s POV~

Men were irrevocably assholes.

It was a fact that had been proven over and over again by what three years ago I would have tagged as sets of bitter females. 

But I knew better now.

And it fed directly into the anger coursing through my veins as I turned away from that man, from his cruel smile and his outstretched hand full of money I refused to touch, and walked out.

I didn’t think.

Didn’t plan.

My feet just started moving and then I was running, my wolf speed carrying me through the forest faster, trees blurring past as my bare feet barely touched the ground.

Services.

The word replayed in my head on a vicious loop.

How dare he?

How dare the universe let me get my heart broken by Ian, then in the same span of one night let me find my mate, have sex with him in the wilderness, only to wake up and be treated like a whore while he attended to his fiancée?

My mate was getting married to someone else and he had still taken my…

I stopped my thought and that sealed it. I was done with men.

Once I got my things from Ian’s pack, I was returning to my title, to the palace, to who I really was, and there was nothing in this world that would ever get me to react again..

Nothing.

I didn’t know how long I ran or when I crossed into familiar territory.

All I knew was that one moment I was tearing through the wilderness, the next the pack house came into view and then my eyes landed on the scene at the entrance. 

My feet carried me forward before I could process it and the moment I reached, I screamed.

“What the hell do you think you are doing, Melissa?”

I scrambled to pick up my things tossed all over the ground while she stood at the entrance of the pack house still throwing things out.

"Melissa, stop it." I gritted out, my Alpha female aura slipping out before I could stop it.

That stopped her for a moment, surprise catching in her eyes before I watched her shrug it off. Her face was without pretense now, no more fake sympathy. "As you are already aware, my mating ceremony was last night, and as future Luna I need more space to keep my things. So I'm making your room available."

"And who gave you the right to do that?"

The air changed with a new presence and Ian emerged from inside. "I did."

Melissa's smile grew. She reached for him, pulling him into a kiss in front of the crowd I suddenly realized was growing, then pulled away and turned back to me.

"I spent the last three years putting up with your never-ending talking out of pity. That's right. I only became your friend out of pity." She paused, letting that sink in. "But I cannot be friends with a slut who sleeps her way through existence."

She reached into the pile of my belongings and pulled out a small leather-bound book. My journal.

My stomach dropped. "Melissa, don't—."

She opened it, flipping to a page she had clearly marked ahead of time. “Oh, before you go, everyone should hear this.”

 She then read aloud. "'I saw Ian training today and my heart actually stopped. Is this what love feels like? I think I would do anything for him. Anything.'"

Laughter rippled through the growing crowd.

She flipped to another page. “Maybe if I try harder. Maybe if I’m better, quieter, smaller, he will finally see me.”

“Stop,” I whispered and Roxanne let out a growl beneath my skin wanting me to physically stop it. 

But I shoved her back because despite everything, I couldn’t reveal who I was. 

She snapped the journal shut and threw it at my feet. " How pathetic. Three years of this pathetic drivel. And you want to know the truth Ambre?” She stepped closer, her voice dropping just enough that only I could hear the venom underneath. “I read every single entry. And I laughed. We all did.”

My hands were shaking, Roxxane pushing me to react but I forced them still. 

She raised her voice again, addressing the crowd now. "And apparently the heartbreak wasn't enough to keep her legs closed, because one of our patrol wolves saw her leaving another Alpha’s territory this morning and she is still dressed like the slut she is." 

She looked me up and down with disgust. "The entire pack knows what you are now."

The crowd's murmurs grew louder and I felt every single eye on me.

I looked at Ian,  not even knowing what I expected, but expecting something. Anything.

But I got nothing and made to leave when his hand brushed my skin. “Ambre wait. You don’t have to leave. We can figure this out.”

Hope flared in my chest, against rationality before I could stop it. "What?"

"You can stay. In the pack. We will find you a room and—"

"And what, Ian?" Melissa's voice cut sharp as glass. She grabbed his arm, yanking him back toward her. "She stays and does what? Watches us? Pines after you while you are mated to me?"

He looked torn for a single second, like he was actually considering keeping both of us and that second broke something in me worse than the rejection had.

"The Alpha Gathering is next week," Melissa continued, and her voice took on something poisonous. "Every important Alpha in the realm will be there. Including the Princess making her first public appearance." She looked at me with absolute contempt. "What will they say when they hear you were ever involved with an Omega? Every connection with her needs to be severed right now.”

Ian's face hardened. And there it was. The final confirmation.

I closed my eyes, letting myself feel the pain one last time. Let the tears fall without trying to stop them, feeling every single eye on me. Then slowly, I gathered what I could from the pile at my feet.

And with as much composure as I could force into my body, I walked past them, into the pack house, and headed for the pack phone.

I dialed the only number I knew by heart, not caring who heard.

He picked up on the first ring and I didn't wait for him to speak. "I'm ready to come home."

There was a pause, and because no one knew me like my father, just like I knew him, I knew he knew.

He knew that I had gotten my heart broken. And I knew he had his eyes closed, hating that he couldn't protect me from this pain.

Then he spoke. "I will send a car immediately."

Another pause followed and I gripped the phone tighter, willing myself not to cry when he spoke again. 

"Amber. You don't have to."

I closed my eyes knowing he was referring to and every single thing played out as I opened my eyes then spoke steel, returning to my voice.

“I am a Princess and I keep my word. I lost the bet.” I stopped sucking a deep breath before I finished. "I consent to the arranged marriage. As soon as I return, I shall mate with the Alpha you intended for me."