Blake looked at the group now surrounding them and back to the two men who remained on the porch, Marcello's stepbrothers, Donald and Stewart Bloodsworth, JD’s blood sons.
Marcello watched the men stare intently at him and cautiously leave the safety of the front porch. Without a word, Donald and Stewart climbed into the old Ford truck that sat in the driveway and drove away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Blake worked to control his anger. The pack was growing larger by the day, and so were his responsibilities. Releasing Amber and moving towards Marcello, they grasped forearms and leaned in to each other, touching shoulders in their brotherly manner. You know this is not over, Blake spoke only to Marcello.
Yeah, I know, Marcello responded sadly. I had no choice. We have to find out what they are going to do.
Blake knew he was referring to the two stepbrothers they had allowed to walk away. From the hatred in their eyes, it was only a matter of time before the Council got wind of where Amber was. Blake had to protect her, and the only way he could think to do that was to perform the blood ritual, connecting her to everyone in the pack. They say there’s safety in numbers, the more werewolves that were connected with Amber the better. Marcello agreed.
“Send out the call. We meet tomorrow at dawn,” Blake said to no one in particular. “Marc, we have to contact Sheriff Downs.” Marcello nodded, so Blake turned to the group that stood quietly staring at the body lying on the ground. Blake knew that most of these men had grown up around the old man. Even though they didn’t like him, they had stayed, mainly for Marcello. They understood that even though Marcello had moved to Blake’s pack, it was only the beginning of changes to come. Bloodsworth and both his sons had begun enjoying killing humans way too much and involving them in pack business, like hiring the three humans to stand guard out in the woods. What purpose had that served other than to increase the body counts if war had broken out.
Amber looked on with sad curiosity, but kept quiet and out of the way. She didn't quite understand why they would alert the sheriff, especially with the claw marks across the dead body. She wondered if that would make the sheriff start questioning them. She would have to ask Blake later when they were alone. Keeping the walls around her thoughts closed tight, she didn’t allow Blake in when she felt his gentle probe. Right now, her emotions were too raw and might allow him to see too much if she let him in even a tiny bit.
The feelings from the day were too much for her. She was still becoming accustomed to being with other werewolves. Since helping Blake at the wreck, there had been nothing but drama. She didn't do drama. Her wolf beat at her from the inside, wanting to be released. Her wolf wanted her to shift, to run free in the woods. Amber wanted to be alone for a while, away from everyone, including Blake. She had to clear her head, to think.
Blake was in the middle of pack business, but still felt when Amber began distancing herself, mentally and physically. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her inching away from them and wanted to go to her, but couldn't. He was torn--he had to ensure that his mate was taken care of, but at the moment he had the responsibility of the pack.
Amber could feel his turmoil, but didn't know what she could do to alleviate his anxiety. All she knew and felt was that her whole world was turning upside down. Bloodsworth had used her as a pawn in his game to hurt Blake and to gain power, the type of games she wanted to avoid. Amber’s emotions were unstable at the moment. How could she play an important role in Blake’s pack if she couldn’t handle events such as todays? Maybe she was meant to be alone, after all, to only deal with whatever comes her way on the road. Perhaps she should really consider continuing her life on the run.
Blake felt her wall closing tighter and tighter against his probes. The more he pushed, the stronger her fortifications were becoming. He could feel her with him yet feel her pulling away. Hearing the voices of the men around him, but not what they were saying, Blake’s eyes caught the sadness in her eyes, saw the tear that slid down her cheek before she disappeared and was gone.
The strange ability she had to vanish had helped him and his pack, yet now it was used against him. His heart hurt and felt like it was about to burst in his chest. He couldn't breathe. His wolf seethed, but not in anger that had almost overtaken him at the old man’s actions. It raged at him over his mate closing him out, running away from him.
The pack felt the sudden shift in his fury and stepped back. Adam rushed to his side.
“Blake, you can’t let her leave.”
“I don't have a choice when she can just disappear like that now, do I?” Blake clenched his fist, nearly shouting at Adam. For someone who is normally calm, Blake felt like his emotions were in a constant state of chaos. Since finding Amber again, he couldn’t think straight, couldn’t concentrate on his taking care of business. She was all he could think about, wanted to be with.
Marcello moved forward. “I can handle this, Blake, go to her, she needs you.”
Blake knew the truth. She didn’t need him, but he needed her. She was his love, his life, his soul. She had been since the day he met her. Blake looked at his friends, his wolf brothers, old and new. Without another word, he turned and began running, ripping the shirt and pants from his body. Mid stride he was a man, then a wolf, quickly disappearing in the direction of the faint trace of scent Amber had left. Blake’s wolf actually calmed him for a change, reminding him that Amber was not hiding from him fully if she left her scent for him to follow her by.
The members who had just sworn their allegiance to the pack did a collective intake of breathe; amazed that Blake had changed so quickly, looking at each other, puzzled. “It's not our phase yet!” One exclaimed, looking to Marcello for the answer. The group began bombarding him with questions. About why the council sought the woman, her strange abilities and most of all, how Blake could shift outside the full moon phase. Marcello responded, “As far as the council, Blake and Amber will have to explain that, when it’s time. The other abilities; well, they are the reasons why he leads the pack.” The men acknowledged that and quietly nodded their in acceptance
Adam began gathering the shredded clothes when he heard Sheriff Downs making his way down the road towards the drive. Nodding in Marcello’s direction, Adam disappeared around the rear of the house and into the woods where Jonathan was waiting for him with the ATV. He wasn’t ready to face the sheriff after he had caught him with his daughter.
∞∞∞
Blake's black and gray wolf could smell her faint scent that mixed with the smell of the forest, dried leaves, and dirt. He followed the scent that she had trailed for miles, deep into the forest, his nose twitching when her scent became stronger. Finally, there she was, sitting with her back against the tree, leaves scattered around her, eyes closed tightly, head leaning against the tree while dried tears streaked her cheeks.
Blake quickly shifted back to his human form and started towards her.
She didn't hear the slight rustle of clothing when he walked. At his approached, she shook her head without opening her eyes. “You seriously need to carry a backpack with you or stash more clothes if you are going to keep shifting. What if there were people out here?” Her voice was tight with more unshed tears.
He sat down beside her, mindless of his nakedness. “You wouldn’t be just sitting here if there were people. If there were, then they can just see me naked. I don't care. I thought you were running away from me,” he told her, his own voice tight.
She could feel the trepidation that had clenched his soul while she floated away. Once out of the site of the men, while still in her clear form, she had allowed her wolf to emerge. It had been a smooth transition, like it had been when she shifted in her human form. Amber was pleasantly surprised that she could disappear in her wolf form, too, and that she could reappear in her human form, fully clothed. But that slight joy did nothing to ease the ache her heart felt with every step she took away from Blake. That’s why she’d stopped; the pull on her heart wouldn�
��t allow her to flee any further.
Amber collected her thoughts before responding to Blake. In a voice little more than a whisper, “I have stayed here longer than anywhere else, I have never been in a place long enough to get to know anyone. Something kept me here. Maybe I was meant to save your life, I don’t know. I have only been around your pack for less than twenty-four hours, but I find myself caring about what is happening here and it scares me. I thought I could be a part of this. But I don’t know any more. I’ve been a runner, Blake. When things get tough, I take off. My mother taught me that.”
Blake listened to her every word, his chest tight. He wanted to pull her into his arms and make love to her, make her forget everything but him. Instead, he forced himself to sit still and keep his voice calm, which he didn’t feel.
“If you don't want to stay, I understand. Marcello can see to the pack needs and I’ll just go with you. I don't want to lose you, again.”
Head shaking, eyes still closed, Amber refused to look at him, even when he pulled her face to his. “No, Blake, I wouldn’t ask you, I won't let you do that. You are a born leader and the pack is loyal to you. They need you.” She paused to catch her breath, thinking sadly to herself, I need you, too. Her throat hurt from fighting back the tears that still wanted to fall.
“Baby, I need you,” he whispered in a broken voice. “I can’t survive without you by my side. I don’t want to be without you. These past ten years have been pure torture for me. Not knowing where you were. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you. You were out there completely alone, no one to talk to, to confide in. While I had my friends and the pack, you were alone. I am so sorry that you had to face the world on your own and would have given anything to have been with you through all this. Amber, you are the only one for me. I knew that the moment I met you at the safe house. If I could go back in time and change things I would. I would never have let you leave me behind.”
She had years of pent up frustration, anger, sadness, and loneliness. The scariest part was that the walls that she kept so carefully built around her were quickly crumbling, and she felt completely exposed. Blake suddenly felt all of this and became silent. He slipped his arm around her shoulder and waited for her to continue.
She spoke after a few moments. “I don't understand why Bloodsworth tried to kill Marcello over money. I know women are treated like shit in packs, but never thought there was so much drama between the males.”
“Honey, Bloodsworth lived in the past and didn't want to believe things could change. JD has always been a renegade, has always been cruel and an abusive stepfather to Marcello. That’s why Marcello left the pack, along with most of the others. When the old man kidnapped the humans and Charles' son, he crossed the line. No one is allowed to use humans in any type of disputes. Pack laws stipulate that no weapons are allowed, only bare hands, when fighting to retain pack leadership. Then when he tried to kill you, there was no turning back.”
Amber wanted to ignore his last statement. From what she had seen and felt from Marcello, Bloodsworth had been a very cruel man, even more so of late, but she didn't want to be part of the reason why he was dead. She was tired of death and wanted to move away from that thought.
“How did Marcello learn to fight like that?”
“Marcello left home the moment the military would take him. Although he’s not part of the forces, he still does covert jobs for them, when they need someone with his abilities and stealth.” Blake knew she didn’t want to talk about what happened, but pushed forward anyway. There was too much to be said. “When Bloodsworth went at him with the knife, Marcello had no choice but to kill him. Even though pack laws are slowly changing, there are still traditions that are followed, like fighting and challenges. There’s no way of changing how people think and feel about certain things. If Marcello hadn’t killed the old man when he broke fighting rules, Marcello would have been considered weak. Marcello is well respected and my second in command. With him pledging his pack to ours, he relinquished leadership to me, even though he could have left our pack without any issues. Marcello is a very honorable man and a great friend.”
Amber listened to what Blake had to say, and she believed that Marcello was who Blake said he was. But that didn’t stop her mind from wandering.
“And that takes us back to my point of what I’ve been saying all along. I don't like all the rules and crap that is required to be a pack member. What if I offend someone? Are you going to have to snap my neck because I say or do the wrong thing? If you don't kill me, will someone challenge you as a weak leader? You are honorable and a friend to those in the pack.” Amber pointed out.
Blake couldn't help but laugh, even though he knew she was being serious. “Everyone makes mistakes and no one is going to snap your neck and challenge me. Anyways, I don't think they could take you if they were to try,” he told her teasingly.
Amber didn’t find it amusing. “My mother said the council killed my grandmother because she made a mistake, she had supposedly gone against pack laws. From what I understand about our heritage, my grandmother was blood born into the Council. ”
“Honey, things really are different from what your mother told you growing up.” Blake chose his words carefully when he spoke of her mother and grandparents. Blake debated telling Amber about the stories, the lies that Winona had told to keep Amber on the run, to protect her from the Council, but he kept his thoughts shielded so she couldn’t read them. He wasn’t sure how to tell her this yet. Tell her that her life on the run had been one big lie.
Amber sighed, shaking her head sadly.
“Blake this still doesn't make me feel any better about being in the middle of any of this. I don't like it, plus I'm not used to being around so many people all the time. I need time to myself, away from everything and everyone.”
“Are you going to leave me?” he asked her point blank. “I lost you once when I let you leave me at that shelter. I am not foolish enough to let that happen again. Amber, if you leave me, I will follow you to the end of the earth.” He brushed her cheek with his hand, staring into her chocolate brown eyes. Leaning forward, he couldn’t help but kiss her.
Amber allowed his lips to glide against hers softly, but didn’t reply to his question of her leaving him. Instead, she responded with a question of her own.
“So you would stalk me?” she asked, closing her eyes at his tenderness. Smiling at the image he projected of his wolf stalking hers playfully.
“How do you do that? You calm me even when I don't want you to,” she whispered against his mouth and leaned into his kiss, wanting more, her heart was slowly melting.
“I do this to you because I love you. And even though you won’t admit it yet, you love me too. Amber, we are meant to be together.” Blake’s lips were back on hers in a passionate kiss.
Breathless from the deep kiss, Amber pulled back and looked into his caramel eyes then down his naked torso. His body responded even more than it already had to her attention. Amber stood, looking down at Blake, a soft smile slid across her lips. The night sky was still dark, but their eyes glowed brightly as they stared at each other.
His eyes followed while she took a few steps back and away from him. Amber allowed herself to disappear, and then she reappeared in her wolf form. I want to run, her wolf told him.
Are you saying you want to run away from me? He asked insistently, not quite sure he was ready for the answer she kept locked away in the recesses of her mind.
When or if I decide I am ready to run away, I’ll let you know. She told him and felt the pain her words caused, but she was being honest with him. She was still not convinced staying was the smartest thing for her to do. Even though she did love him, she still didn’t want to say it out loud. If she did, that would give him more of a hold over her, more to power to keep her there with him.
Amber didn't tell him she wouldn't run from him, but she didn't say she wanted to leave him either. So Blake took what she was offerin
g and let it go for now. He realized that she had shifted while in her clear form and would ask her about that later, for now he wanted to run free with the woman he loved and he allowed his wolf to emerge and they ran.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Amber picked up the clothes from the cabin floor that had been tossed there a couple hours before. They had barely made it in the door before the clothes they had managed to scrounge for after running were pulled off in the heat of the moment. Blake had made love to her over and over into the early morning hours. Her skin flushed once again at the thought of how he made her body respond to his with just a look or the slightest touch.
Blake lay on the bed and followed her graceful movements, she practically floated around the room, picking up their clothing, until she stopped and stood in the middle of the room. He was becoming used to that far-away look on her face. This time the look didn't bother him because he was in her mind and knew that she was thinking of him loving her. His thoughts gently caressed hers, pulling her attention back to him lying on the bed. The sheet slung low across his hips, one leg sprinkled with dark hair stuck out from the white linen. Her eyes traveled across the muscular leg to the erection the sheet did nothing to hide. When her eyes made their way slowly to his face, she couldn't help but smile at the hungry look she found there. She really liked it when he looked at her like that.
Amber suddenly dissolved to float above him on the bed, watching while he looked around for her. Laughter filled the room, she surrounded him, touching and invading his mind. When she reappeared her slight weight surprised him, she was straddling his hips. Leaning down, she planted a hard and quick kiss on his mouth. When she felt him move to bring his arms up to embrace her, she disappeared again.
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