Prologue - Amber & I

6 months after Amber turned 18

Amber - 18 years old

Zach - 21 years old

ZACH.

Amber and I. It has always been us. 

I couldn’t remember exactly when I fell in love with her. She had been around me since I was a pup, and I just woke up one day, and my whole world was already revolving around her. 

Amber was my ray of sunshine. On my bad days, all I needed to do was look at or talk to her, and she would easily calm the chaos within me. 

“Jace was an asshole, yet she still loves him,” I told her. We were talking about one of our friends who did something terrible in the past. 

“She believes in him.” She mumbled. 

I just shrugged my shoulders.

“You can be my asshole, Zach. I will still love you just the same.” Her eyes softened, and her words warmed my entire being.

“I can be an asshole to everyone but not to you, Amber. Never to you.” I meant it. I could be cold and blunt to anyone, but never to her. Even when we were younger, she was always the exception. I had appointed myself as her best friend and protector, hoping that one day, I would be lucky to become her destined mate. 

But fate surely knows how to play games.

Amber turned eighteen and her wolf didn’t surface, which made her unable to scent her mate or for her mate to scent her. 

Given the lineage that she had—having a half human Omega for a mother—it didn’t come as a surprise. They all knew she would shift later, just how her mother was. 

No one was worried, except me. I kept waiting—full moons after full moons—but nothing happened until I couldn’t just let time pass by.

A month ago, I finally decided that it didn’t matter anymore if she didn’t have a wolf. It didn’t matter if she were to be the only wolfless Luna in this generation. I still wanted her.

And I was confident that I could protect her with my life. 

I got lucky because Amber loved me back.

Ever since I confessed to her what I felt for her, she has also become very vocal about her feelings for me. No one could stop us after that. We wanted each other, so we finally decided to go for the Claiming.

Even if her mother was an Omega, her father was an Alpha, which made her an Alpha Female, which, in the absence of a fated mate, could only be claimed through the Claiming. 

This was exactly why we were still out tonight. We had just come from the Council Territory, and I was on my way to drive her back home. We listed ourselves for the next Claiming, which was two months away.

My name is Zachary Vernon Adams. I am the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack. And I’m willing to put my life on the line to win Amber in the Claiming Arena in case any other Alphas show interest in claiming her.

I never doubted my capability in combat, both in my human and wolf forms. I had known about the Claiming since I was eight, and I had been training all my life for this, knowing Amber might not end up as my fated mate. I’d been preparing to fight for her.

I knew I would win because there was no way I would let anyone intercept her from me.

After the Claiming, Amber will officially be my Luna. My Chosen Mate.

Mine.

“I love you. Do you know that?” I said as our gazes locked.

Her eyes watered as she nodded her head before slowly raising her left hand, fingers spread out, and slowly turning it around so the back of her palm was in my direction, showing me the Amber stone engagement ring I had given her.

“You asked me to be your Luna, so I guess you love me.” She answered playfully, her eyes gleaming with happiness.

“I do. With all my heart, Amber Rose.”

“I love you, too, Zach.” She smiled sweetly at me. “Will you promise that whatever happens on our first night, you will not throw me away?”

I swallowed as I looked at her, holding the steering wheel tightly. The topic of sex has always made me uneasy. “I might do the opposite. I will never let you out of our room.”

Since we became a couple a month ago, Amber and I have been kissing and groping each other. Yes, my fingers had found their way into her private parts, but we had never gone all the way.

“Would you like to stay at my house tonight? I’m sure they won’t miss their Alpha overnight.” She was referring to my pack, which was just the next territory to hers.

“Amber…”

“Zach…” She playfully glared at me. “What if we ended up not being compatible in bed and were already married? What I mean to say is, what if I disappoint you?”

“You will never disappoint me.”

“I’m not good in bed.” She pouted. 

“I am.” I chuckled. I was joking. Like her, I was a virgin. I never had sex with anyone. I never had a girlfriend before her, either. I’d been saving myself for her. “I’m good at sleeping at it.”

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest.

“Do you really want to have sex?” I asked as my heart drummed loudly. If there was anyone who needed to worry, it was me.

At this point, I was torn between wishing I had fucked before this so I could pleasure Amber the way she deserved to be pleasured. Maybe this was the reason I was adamant about holding on until the night of our union, so whatever happened after our first night, she could not get away from me anymore.

She nodded her head.

“Tonight?” I swallowed. 

Amber nodded her head in response, but her eyes remained on the road. 

“I want that too,” I replied and tilted my head to look at her, a grin playing on my lips. I also wanted this more than anything. Maybe this was the right time, a celebration for us getting listed for the Claiming. “So tonight?”

Her head snapped in my direction as her mouth opened wide.

“Can we start the foreplay now?” She said excitedly. She immediately ejected her seatbelt, and I knew she would move toward me for a big hug or grab me.

I laughed heartily. “Amber…”

“Yes, yes, Zach. Now!”

“Can I say no to you?” I asked, my eyes still on her.

Her face told me she would really do this. “So, is that a yes?”

I winked at her instead of answering. This was not the first time Amber gave me a handjob in the car, but this was the first time on a highway.

She opened her mouth, but instead of a shriek of excitement that I expected, a different sound resonated around us.

An explosion.

And it was too loud for my werewolf ears.

The road became a hazard with blinding lights and deafening sounds of tires screeching on the asphalt.

My head turned forward, and I saw a big trailer full of metal bars speeding toward us.

I steered my car out of the way. But even with my fast reflexes, I was still unable to avoid the collision—not just with the trailer but also the truck before it and other vehicles behind us.

Everything happened too fast. One moment, we were being naughty, and the next, we were being thrown into hell. All I knew was that my hand moved on its own and ejected my seat belt before I lunged to Amber’s side and wrapped my whole body around her, fearing that without her belt on, she might get thrown out of the car.

I would have shifted into my wolf and let Apollo protect her, but she was too small—too fragile—and the last thing I wanted was for her to be crushed by my wolf and the airbag.

Her airbag came off, and I felt my car was bumped on every side.

I didn’t know what was happening, but I kept gripping the most precious thing in my life tightly.

The last thing I heard was Amber’s piercing cries, and then, there was darkness.

And then lights—I saw different lights everywhere, even if my eyes were closed.

But it was too quiet. For the first time, I feared the silence.

I felt numb, but I did my best to move. Then, all of my senses came back at once.

There was a pain in my knees, back, and every joint of my body. My head was dizzy, and I could taste blood, but despite the smell of something burning surrounding me, I could also smell Amber.

And then I heard her labored breathing.

“Amber…” I fought to open my mouth even if my throat was so dry and painful.

“Zach… Zach.” She was stuttering and having a hard time talking.

I tried to pull away, but I couldn’t move my back. It was too painful.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I closed my eyes again and kissed the top of her head. She was inside my arms, wrapped up in my protective embrace.

“No. But we’re alive, Zach. We’re alive.”

“Yes…” I responded, but the pain kept coming. It kept heightening, and I felt like I would pass out. “Call someone.”

I had no idea how she would do it. We are cramped up in this little space of my crushed car. I could hear the sirens of ambulances and firefighters, but I couldn’t see anything. Outside the cracked windows was pure darkness.

“Siri…” Amber said in a loud voice, but I could tell she was crying. “Call Dad…”

Silence.

Silence. It felt like waiting for something that would never come.

I struggled to keep my eyes open as the pain in my back intensified.

And then it happened—the sound of a phone dialing out came from somewhere, and a ring finally came at the other end.

The last thing I heard was her father’s voice before darkness took me again.