CHAPTER 4

BLAKE’S P.O.V

Intense pain and guilt filled me as I forced myself to leave that room. I had zero plans of leaving her unattended but I knew that the wisest decision was to give her space. She would fall asleep soon enough considering how drowsy and sleepy she looked while she was speaking to me.

I waited the better part of seven minutes before I pulled the door open and sure enough, she had fallen asleep again.

I slowly made my way over to her and stroked her cheek softly. I have never had the privilege of seeing Amelia sleep. She is always awake and always running around and doing something that she always looked so stressed but in her sleep, she looked like she was at peace.

As I stroked her face, I couldn’t help but think about how we first met. She was grocery shopping and I was there with some friends of mine. We were being stupid and racing our grocery carts and I hit her with mine. Her bags tore and everything spilled and I will never forget the way she started apologizing to me and simultaneously crying over the groceries.

I had seen her around school before because I knew Brittany and I offered to buy her groceries back on the condition that she went on a date with me. She was stunned of course and she asked me if it was a prank and if it was then I could just lie to my friends instead of actually embarrassing her.

Something about her pulled me in that day and as I got to know her, I fell head over heels in love with her. She was the smartest, kindest and most beautiful person I knew and it hurt like a bitch to reject her on that balcony but I had to do it.

Before I started walking around with the cool kids, I was an adopted kid and everyone knew it. I was thin and lanky and all the kids would pick on me. It took years of masterful planning to get to where I am now and the thought- the idea of having all that power at my fingertips. No one will ever be able to hurt or bully me again.

I love Amelia but I need to have that level of support behind me and Brittany can give it to me. It is no secret that she is the favorite daughter. If she asks her father for the moon, he will string it on a leash and bring it to her. If she asks for every star in the sky, he will not hesitate before giving it to her.

If I mate with her then I am secured for life and that is something that my love for Amelia cannot guarantee me.

I looked down at her sleeping features and pressed a small kiss to her forehead. She stirred a little but she did not rouse and I hoped that she would understand and one day come to forgive me for what I had done to her today.

I knew my actions would make her life worse than it already was with the bullies but I figured that if I got the Alpha position then I could at least help ease the pain a little for her.

I stared at her for a minute longer before I realized that it was time to say my goodbyes. I reluctantly left the room to inform her father that she was now resting and I would be leaving but he wasn’t in the living room.

I made my way towards Brittany’s room hoping to see her there but she was not their either. I decided to roam the corridors as a last minute attempt to find them when I heard voices coming from a door.

I peeked in and saw Brittany and her father standing in the room. They were facing the other end so they couldn’t see me and I wanted to announce my presence but something stopped me from doing so.

“You did a good thing today Brittany,” I heard him say as he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, “I would have never been able to come up with it myself; you are brilliant.”

        “Thank you father,” I saw her preen at the compliment, “Blake is an attractive man and I wanted him so I thought why not get him? Amelia was simply an afterthought.”

“Did you slip her the pills today?” her father asked and my interest was piqued.

       “I couldn’t father; she made breakfast and she didn’t leave the table once, there was no chance for me to slip it in.”

“That was irresponsible of you Brittany,” I had never seen or heard him scold her like he did, “Don’t you realize that you could have cost us everything today? She could have shifted from the amount of emotion she was in. If I hadn’t seen what was going on and shot her with a dart then she would have.”

I was instantly confused. I thought back to the balcony and how Amelia was writhing in pain on the floor. Looking back I realize that her posture and her moans of pain did remind me of when I was shifting for the first time and if that is true then why would they want to stop her and why would her father have hit her with a dart to prevent her from shifting?

If anything, they should be excited that she was finally about to shift. Her inability to shift has been the cause of contention in the pack for a while and it has cast some doubts on their family.

“I’m sorry father,” Brittany’s voice brought me back to the conversation. “I just thought it wouldn’t matter because we have given it to her every day for years. I figured that one day would not make a difference.”

       “You know the truth Brittany, and you know how powerful it is,” he chided, “There is a reason we give her that poison every day and you were about to ruin it in the span of a few minutes.”

I had to slap my hand over my mouth to stop the gasp that escaped me when I heard the word poison. Thankfully, the duo didn’t hear me because Brittany still had her head cast down and her father was staring at her with a disapproving look.

How could they even think of poisoning their family so she wouldn’t shift? I knew that there were so bad blood lost between all of them but I had no idea that it ran this deep. I had no idea that they would do something as despicable as this to their family.

Amelia is the nicest, kindest person that I know. Everything that she does, she does with her family in mind and it would kill her to know that they have been doing this to her for years. I can only imagine the hurt and the heartbreak that she would experience hearing this. It has already been a terrible day for her.

I didn’t want to hear any more so I quietly slipped away and made my way towards Amelia’s room. I had to warn her about it. Even though I knew it would break her heart, I knew that she deserved to know that she was in danger. I just hated that I was going to have to be the one to break her heart two times in a day.