CHAPTER 7: "WHAT'S HIS NAME?"

Amber

I grabbed Ethan’s arm, just as he turned for the car door. 

“Ethan! Remember what I said about my family?” 

He halted and turned back to face me. Then, he took an evaluative glance at the road block before us and swallowed hard. 

“They really don’t talk, huh?” 

I shook my head and he chuckled lightly, which sounded like a fruitless attempt to kill the tension because his brows were knitted very tightly with anxiety. 

“So me getting out of the car to say ‘hi’ would just be signing off my death.” He forced another laugh to replenish his rapidly declining courage. “They are staring at my head. And I’d be glad to give them—.” He turned back to me. “If I had actually gone on one date with you.” 

“But you haven’t,” I quickly finished for him because Hunter was coming closer, and he had something in his hand, which I’m pretty sure is a sledge hammer. “So go, Ethan.” 

I grabbed the car door handle when he stopped me again. 

“Can I text you then? Later, I mean. Cause, I would miss your voice, and we need to talk more about that date—.” 

“Sure, Ethan,” I hurriedly leaned over and kissed his cheek—out of courtesy mostly, for sending me home—and flashed my friendliest smile, “We’ll talk later. So, once I get out of the car, as soon as I close the door, you reverse and take off, okay?” 

“Reverse and take off.” He repeated seriously, which was kinda cute. 

Like a puppy.

So I patted his cheek. 

“Reverse. Take off. And keep driving. Don’t look back until you’re out of this road.” 

He gave the obedient nod. 

In a swift motion, I got out of the Mazda and shut the door. Then, I held my breath and watched Hunter lifting the sledge hammer, his mouth opened to say his peace—.

Only for Ethan to do a professional reversal and disappear into the darkness. 

Silence befell us. 

I crossed my arms, my glare more ferocious than the ones given to Ethan earlier, and, instantly, all the guys wiped their glares off and dropped their gazes to the ground. 

All except Hunter, who was now resting the sledge hammer on his shoulder like a baseball bat. 

But the alcohol was making me hate that sexy stature and that beautiful bloodthirsty expression even more than I previously loved them.  

“What’s the meaning of this?” I demanded.

“Who the fuck was that?” He demanded back. 

And I scoffed incredulously. “Like it’s any of your business.” 

He was equally incredulous. “What did you say?” 

“I said,” I stood my ground, unmoving until I was invited into one of their cars to take me back to the mansion, “you’re not my father, so it’s none of your business, Hunter.” 

He tossed the sledge hammer like it was a screwdriver at the guy nearest to him—which two others dashed forward to help catch it—and strode closer, his ember eyes darkening. 

“I’m your uncle—.” 

“Step-uncle.” I spat the reminder in his face. 

Which made him more furious, and he took the final step. Arriving right in front of me, a tower of heaving muscles, I could feel the heat of his fury radiating from his body, and my alcohol infused brain suddenly recalled his hot body pressing mine when he was deep inside me. 

The vivid images clutched my next breath. 

But I kept still. I don’t want him to know that he still has an effect on me. 

And his silky voice grew dark. “Is that the guy who gave you flowers and told you to go out with him?” 

There was so much rage in his ember eyes, I thought he would kill Ethan. And that helped me regain my composure.  

“What now, are you gonna kill him?”

He snarled under his breath, “You think I won’t?”  

“Well, then why don’t you kill yourself first, Hunter,” I snapped. Then, I lowered to the same private decibel and hissed, “because you fucked me, remember? Stuffed your entire dick into me last night. But he—.” I pointed at the empty space where the Mazda was and added, “he only kissed me.” 

As soon as I mentioned last night, something flickered in those eyes. But before I could read it, it was gone. 

And so was his anger. 

The nonchalance returned. But only on his face.

“And did you kiss him back?” He snarled, the promise of death in his tone.  

I shoved my glare into his stupid face. 

“Why in hell should I answer that? And where did you even get the confidence to ask me that! Don’t act like a jealous lover when you don’t give a shit about me that way, Hunter. JUST DON’T.”

I pushed him aside to get away before he caught the tears welling up in my eyes. 

But he grabbed my wrist, squeezing it as though trying to knock some sense into it. 

And I viciously yanked it free. 

Only to be caught in the same hand again. 

“Let go of me, Hunter,” I ordered, in the tone of the Alpha’s daughter and the pack’s Luna. “I’m going home.” 

“You’re taking my car.” He squeezed harder. 

But I wrenched myself free once more. Holding my chin high, I threw him a “ I make my own decisions” and stomped towards the car nearest to me, which I knew wasn’t his. 

And the guys retreated like I was a live bomb. 

Strict orders from his Blackness. 

“Please, Luna,” one of them whispered pleafully, his eyes still glued to the road, as though I hadn’t granted him audience, “we’d be minced if you take our car.” 

And his Minceness was behind me, waiting with a smug grin on his face.  

So, I decided then and there. 

“Fine.” I clasped my bag to my side and removed my heels. “I’ll walk.” 

But the guys now swarmed into an airtight circle around me, barricading me from taking another step forward and fulfilling my own decision. 

Again, Hunter’s orders. 

And my anger went through the stratosphere. 

“What is this?! Get out of my way!” I thundered. “How dare you! I’m your Luna, and he’s not the only one who can rip your heads off!” 

I was about to karate my way through this Great Wall of Hunter Dickhead, when the dickhead himself lifted me off the ground like a fucking damsel in distress. 

As if I wasn’t embarrassed enough. 

“What the fuck! Put me down, you dickhead!” I screamed, my kicks as vicious as his grunting.

“You call me Hunter, you rude punk.” 

And then I was thrown into the passenger’s seat of his car. 

Before I could scramble away from him, the seatbelt fastened around me. Then, the door slammed shut and locked itself faster than I could remove the seatbelt. 

And even as I succeeded in taking off the seatbelt, Hunter had slid into the driver’s seat next to me, and without a word, he re-fastened the seatbelt and whisked us off into the cold, silent night. 

*****

Hunter’s supercar sliced through the rows of pine trees like a bullet, heading for the iron gates. 

Inside, the interrogation continued. Despite my open protests from earlier. 

“So you drink now?” Hunter asked.

I stared at the trees reeling past outside the window.

“How much did you drink?” 

And I scoffed. Like I’d tell you. 

“Okay. I’ll ask Eva then.” He tapped on his phone—.

And I snatched it off the panel. In a glare. 

“What’s his name?” He asked quietly. 

And that single look—a notch softer but still deadly—felt more dangerous than that kissable mouth. 

I threw his phone back on the panel and slumped back into my seat, went back to staring out the window. 

Go ahead and call Eva. She’ll tell you no shit.

“Okay, don’t give me.” He was squeezing the wheel so tightly his knuckles were ashen white. “I’ll get that name one way or another—.” 

“Don’t you dare!” I warned, genuinely worried for Ethan’s life.

And the man took one look at me and grew more livid. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? That guy? Really? After all that ‘I love you, Hunter. You’re the one I want to marry’, and then you went for that piece of soft threat?!” 

I don’t fucking believe this. 

“How dare you,” I snarled, “You think I was joking?” 

He sensed something in my voice and took a quick look; and something on my face told him that he had trampled on a landmine. 

“I didn’t say that.” 

“So you’re saying that I’m a whore like you now that I’ve lost my V-card?” 

He slammed the wheel. “Fuck, that’s not what I meant!” 

“Then, what is it, Hunter, huh?” I was so angry my voice was shaking. “Because you were right: I did say all that. And you very bluntly showed me that you didn’t want me! Now, you’re slapping my face with the confession you rejected?”

The car went furiously faster. 

“So you went drinking in swimwear with the first guy who asked you out? That’s your idea of a first date?!” 

I tugged the front deep-V, yelling, “This is a dress, you blind buffoon!"  

“If that’s a dress, then I’m a fucking nun! Have you seen yourself in that thing? It’s showing everything!” 

The only skin that’s showing are my shoulders, collarbone and limbs. 

“MY DRESS IS DECENT—AND THAT’S NONE OF YOUR FUCKING  BUSINESS!” 

“Decent? Half your boobs are showing! And your hemline’s way above your knee! Goddamn it! Why the hell do you think I told the guys to look down?!” 

Shit, I can’t crumble. Not in front of this jerk, no.

But when I spoke again, I sounded like I was about to cry. 

“You moved on! Fucked the next woman who came your way. So what do you expect me to do? What should I think? Sit around and wait for you? Come to you crying?” 

The car came to a screeching halt, and the man of my dreams turned to me, looking more angry than I was. 

“Nothing happened,” he breathed, his voice low and dark. “And you agreed to that. So what the fuck are you complaining about?” 

His words stabbed me yet again. Right in the same spot. 

And I hate myself for putting me right back where I started. 

Eva was right: my crush is hard to die. But she’s wrong because from this second on, Hunter Black is not going to live rent-free in my head anymore.  

“I wasn’t the one complaining, Mr. Black.” I stared firmly. “You are.” 

Those black irises dilated with surprise. 

But before he could refute what I had rightly pointed out, I barked, “Unlock the car now. We’re done.”, then threw the car door open, jumped out and ran into the mansion. 

I didn’t look back until I was safe behind the locked doors of my room. 

And then, I exploded into tears. 

*****

The next morning, at the breakfast table, everyone was quietly—and peacefully—eating. 

It was as though everyone knew what happened last night between Hunter and I, and no one wanted to talk about it. 

I scoffed with an eye-roll and took my usual seat: to the right of my father—across the table from Hunter. 

I wasn’t in a mood to talk either, so I tucked in as soon as the plate of scrambled eggs and sausages was placed before me. 

But as soon as I sipped my morning coffee, I noticed a strange grin on Hunter’s face, which felt unnerving. 

And then, my father shut his iPad and cleared his throat. 

“Amber.” 

I swallowed and laid down my cup to give him my fullest attention. 

He kneaded his temple—the way he always does when he was about to do something he finds challenging—and said, “I’ve asked Hunter to take you to school. Starting today.” 

“What?” I shot a glare ahead. 

Hunter had finally looked up and was chewing nonchalantly at the Alpha when he added, “To school and back home, Hunt, just as we said.” 

“Just as we said?” My glare demanded. “I didn’t agree to it!” 

And my father bounced his gaze between his stepbrother and daughter, his forehead creasing with worries. 

“It’s for your safety, Amber.” He sighed, his gaze heavy with concern. “Hunter’s told me all about it. All those guys who’d been pestering you, and how you were having a hard time dealing with them….”

I stared at Hunter Black in utter disbelief, silently cursing that angelic grin of evil mischief.