Chapter two

CHAPTER TWO:

**Amber’s POV**

I sat stiffly on the cold tiled floor still clad in my nightie from the previous night, rocking my now numb body and ignoring the many people who strutted past to pay their homage to my late parents.

A few of them stopped by to check on me but I ignored them, I couldn’t seem to think, or to breathe. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to live either.

From the corner of my eye I saw Camille sitting amongst a small group of her friends wailing; and my heart shook in my chest as thoughts of how she was my responsibility now struck me.

A few minutes later, the large mahogany doors leading outside the throne room were forcefully flung open; and almost immediately it did, I could hear the sudden uproar in the crowd.

It sounded like a situation where a lot of people were trying to speak at the same time, and was so unpleasant to the ears that I instantly stuck my index fingers into my ear holes.

They were screaming some almost indecipherable words that involved people moving out of the way in order for the undertakers to pass.

In curiosity, I looked up at the doorway only to find a group of very tall, scary looking men carrying two large caskets on their shoulders and into the room.

I swiftly stood up and walked towards them; and as soon as they dropped the coffins to the ground and pried it open, I took a few more slow steps closer to the coffins and peered inside.

It was true!

I immediately gasped at what I saw. They were my parents alright but the burns they had sustained were too much and too raw, it was almost impossible to look closely at it.

They smelled their usual, but had a touch of blood and smoke wafting around their bodies due to the fact that they had been recently involved in a fire accident.

I immediately felt a pang of intense hurt claw at my heart, it ran up the length of my body so intensely that I had to hold onto the walls for support as I suddenly couldn’t move.

My eyes blurred with unshed tears, and even my body throbbed from the array of sensations coursing through it. From the corner of my ears, I heard Camille’s loud wailing and it hurt me even more.

I couldn’t move. I even didn’t want to. It felt like I had been suddenly kept in place by some magical force.

“Mom, dad, wake up!” I called softly, shaking their now cold bodies which laid unmoving in the large boxes. “Please… I beg you.” I added, my voice breaking at the end of my sentence.

“Please wake up.” I tried again, a little more desperately this time, but they wouldn’t even move.

I felt fresh tears build up in my eyes but I did nothing to stop them. I allowed them to flow freely, soaking onto my chest and falling to the floor.

I still do not know for how long I stood there like a statue, crying until I felt someone tug at my arm gently. Looking up, I found Camille who also had a pained expression clouding her face.

She looked just as drained, wrenched of life and tired that I immediately felt bad for her… and myself.

As we walked out of the throne room, hand in hand, I couldn’t help but notice the way people stared at us… pitifully. It frustrated and enraged me at the same time, making me want to dig out the floor and bury myself into it.

I was about to make a comment about it when I suddenly heard someone say something along the lines of; “…poor Beta Vincent’s children.”

I stopped in my tracks, turning to pay attention to the middle aged woman who had said it and was even shocked when she said it again. She said;

“I wonder what would become of poor Beta Vincent’s children now, they’re good girls but would be a liability to this pack…”

My heart broke in disbelief; I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that they would even think something like this. I also couldn’t believe that these were the same set of people whom my parents would’ve willingly sacrificed everything for.

In despair, I turned and walked away angrily, cursing at death for taking my parents and leaving such despicable people behind…

**^**

It has been about a week since Dad and Mom were dead and buried, and ever since then, I could say that life has been one roller coaster to the other.

People still looked at Camille and I as though we were about to drop dead in a minute, while a few of them still brought in flowers and gifts whenever they visited, thus making us, especially me, a little uncomfortable with their gestures.

Surprisingly, Alpha Caleb had taken Camille and I in, as though we were a part of his family and even offered us some of the unused rooms in his palace. To top matters, he even offered to cater for us and talked about helping us get new jobs while we lived with him for the meantime.

I couldn’t believe that he could be this nice to me after rejection, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable with his kind gestures.

I sat quietly down in my new room with my back to the door, and absolutely oblivious to my surroundings. I still had flashes of nice moments when my parents were still alive, and right now I was having one.

I could vividly remember how dad would always try to make mom cook with him even though she couldn’t and how she would complain but still help him.

The memory made me smile momentarily, allowing me to relive the sweetness I had experienced in the past; I immediately felt a single tear drop from my eye.

I was suddenly thrown back into the present when I felt the warmness of someone’s hands slowly glide against my back.

In fright, I jumped away from the window only to find out that the intruder was Alpha Caleb, who was staring at me with obvious lust clouding his deep dark eyes.

I moved slowly away from him.

“Amber…” He drawled slowly, taking a few steps in my direction while I in turn, took a few steps away.

“Don’t come any closer!” I snarled, backing away from him in fright.

“Stop acting like a little kid, Amber…” he drawled, moving closer to where I stood against the wall. “You know what I want from you, so stop denying us both the pleasure we’ll enjoy from this.”

“Alpha…”

“You can call me Caleb, darling, seeing as we are supposed to be mates.” He quickly interrupted me with a suggestive smirk plastered across his face.

“Please do not do this,” I cried softly, “Do not, we’re not mates, you’ve rejected me—”

“But you didn’t reject me, Amber!” He snapped, quickly cutting me off. “And this whole thing doesn’t have anything to do with mate bond, I want your body!” He growled.

I took another scaredy step away from him, a little petrified of the dark look that had suddenly formed in his eyes. He suddenly looked crazed… demon-like even.

“Caleb…” I tried again in desperation, in a bid to make him have a rethink about what he was trying to do, but he scoffed at the name I had called him and snarled;

“Stop acting like such a pussy when we both know how badly you want me deep inside you!”

“I don’t!”

Seeing the crazy look in his eyes, I quickly ran towards the door but stopped in my tracks when I noticed in annoyance that its key was no longer in its keyhole; and when I turned to look at him, my heart fell when I noticed him waving the key in my face with a smug smile plastered across his face.

He advanced towards me slowly, with the look of triumph still evident on his face while I waited, with a beating heart, for what he wanted to do…