Chapter 10
Amber’s POV:
The following year, through sheer determination, I surpassed Winthrop University’s admission score by thirty points. But instead of heading to the capital, I chose to stay in Blackberry Hollow, where the misty forests and shadowed valleys felt more like home. The pack had always kept me grounded, and with the business I’d just begun to get off the ground, I wasn’t about to leave it.
What I didn’t expect, however, was running into an old, familiar face–Nick
We had both taken the college entrance exams in the same year, but somehow he was already a professor here, in this sleepy town surrounded by the dense forests we had
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both grown up in. Watching him succeed, I couldn’t help but wonder–if my own acceptance letter hadn’t been stolen from me by a pack member in a mysterious heist -would I have had an equally bright future ahead of me? Nick, sensing my thoughts, merely smiled.
“I’m just a junior lecturer,” he said. “It’s nothing to be impressed about. You have a whole world ahead of you, Amber. No doubt about that.”
Encouraged by his words, I plunged headlong into my studies. I attended
lectures during the day, absorbing all I could, trying to outpace the ghosts of my past. At night, I worked diligently on my business, often staying up till dawn, hearing the distant howls of the wolves in the forest as I sat alone in my room.
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At last, my efforts were rewarded. I was chosen for an international exchange program in my third year. My company also took off in the meantime. I set up my own factory, becoming financially independent. But when the plane took off into the sky, I was shocked to find Nick sitting beside me. He grinned apologetically.
“The pack is sending me overseas for training,” he told me. But I knew better. No overseas training placements were available that year. Still, I said nothing, aware of how much Nick had watched over me all these years.
Yet, despite everything I’d endured–betrayal, heartbreak, and the secrets surrounding my own identity–I wasn’t ready to surrender my heart to another human being. Not yet.
The next few years were a blur. I finished my
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studies overseas, earning my master’s and doctoral degrees. Nick was by my side every step of the way–not as a teacher, but as the one managing my thriving business abroad. I saw him negotiate with foreign investors, his assertiveness uncompromising. And no matter how busy he was, he never failed to drape his coat over my shoulders when the chill came. The weight of his care was more reassuring than anything I had ever known.
One cold winter evening, as we stood outside in the biting cold, I realized it was time to take the next step. It was time to give the man who had waited for me all these
years an answer.
I looked at him and said, “This New Year, introduce me to your pack.”
Nick’s eyes widened in shock, clearly not expecting my words. I took his hand and
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smiled. “I want to be with your pack. I want to marry you.”
His face lit up like a wolf bathed in the first light of dawn, a wide smile spreading across his face. That evening, he booked our return flights. Upon our arrival, we immediately went to the headquarters of the pack.
His family welcomed me with open arms, embracing me as their own, and regaling me with stories of his childhood, his wild adventures, and the pack’s rich history.
That was when Ryder showed up.
I saw him in the town square, his wolflike eyes scanning the crowd, holding an old photograph, stopping each passerby and asking if they had seen me. And then his
eyes locked onto mine. Ther
widened in shock before he sprinted toward me.
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“Amber, I’ve finally found you!” he exclaimed, grasping my hand firmly. “Let me take you home!”
I pulled my hand away, staring at him with cold indifference. “Excuse me, sir. Do we know each other?”
Ryder’s body stiffened, his eyes wide with disbelief, as though I had struck him. “Amber, it’s me! I’m Ryder. Your mate! You don’t remember me?”
His words were a twisted echo of the past -times when I had fled, when I’d left behind the pack that had once been my family. But I was no longer that naive, love–struck girl. I had learned the truth about Ryder–the lies, the betrayals, the secrets hidden behind his charming smile. The wolf inside him had never truly wanted me; he had wanted
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power. And after everything I had been through, I would never forgive him. Never.
“Let me go, Ryder,‘ I said, my voice cold and commanding. “You made your choice. You pushed me away for her–go be with Sage and leave me out of it.”
His face twisted with rage, then confusion. “You’ve been with him, haven’t you? With Nick? You were always weak, weren’t you? He’s the reason you never came back to me. He’s the one who stole you from me, just like he stole your heart!” He lunged at Nick, claws bared, the wolf within him ready to strike.
But I stepped in front of them, halting Ryder in his tracks. “Enough! This doesn’t involve Nick. You’ve already made your choice, Ryder. You don’t get to choose me now.”
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Ryder’s face contorted with despair, his voice thick with desperation. “Amber, please. I still love you. I always have! I’ll stand by you, no matter what. I’ll do anything–please, just come back to me.”
I had begged him for years to love me, to commit to me. But now, after everything- the lies, the deceit, the death of our child–l could not bear to hear him.
“You lost me the moment you tore up my acceptance letter,” I said, cold as ice. “You lost me the moment you chose her over me. You lost me when you killed our child. You and I… we’re finished, Ryder.”
Ryder winced, disbelief clouding his face as if I had done him some terrible wrong. But he had never truly loved me. He had only loved himself. I turned away from him, resuming my walk.
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Nick and I returned to the pack’s home. His parents welcomed me as family, and we began to plan our future together. The pack, which had always been a family to me, was now where my heart found its place.
The years passed joyfully. Nick and I built a life together, surrounded by the love of our pack. Then, as spring arrived, bringing with it new beginnings, I knew my past was finally behind me. With a child on the way, I married Nick, the man who had stood by me through everything. Soon, we were blessed with twins–a testament to love and strength. A reminder that after all the suffering, I had finally found where I belonged in the world.
No more turmoil. No more pain. Only the warmth of family, and the distant howls of wolves echoing through the forest as we walked hand in hand.
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The End.
Book 2
Greta Winslet was destined to be Luna- until her mate, Alpha Jonah, betrayed her. Left broken and powerless, she faked her death and disappeared. But Jonah’s guilt consumes him, and when he learns she may still be alive, he’ll stop at nothing to find her.
Now stronger than ever, Greta has one goal -revenge. But as secrets unravel and old flames ignite, will she reclaim her power or let the past burn?
A gripping tale of love, betrayal, and redemption in the world of wolves.
10/10
