What else 70
1128 Words
Chapter 70
Amber POV
The second I got inside, I didn’t stop walking. I needed space.
Answers. Air.
My chest was still rising and falling too fast, my body aching from the shift. Every step felt off, like I wasn’t fully in control of myself anymore.
“Amber, honey…” Mom started.
I spun around.
“No.”
My voice cracked, but I didn’t care.
“No more ‘honey.’ No more calming tones. I want the truth. All of it. Right now.”
Silence filled the room. Dad stepped forward, his jaw tight. “You need to calm down.”
“I just turned into a wolf!” I shouted. “A wolf I didn’t even know existed! Don’t tell me to calm down!”
My hands were shaking now.
“I have a dragon. Now a wolf. What else, huh? What else are you all hiding from me?”
No one answered. That hurt more than anything.
My gaze flicked between all of them, Mom, Dad, Alpha, Aunt Joy, Uncle Randy…
Then…Ripley. He was standing slightly back, watching me like I might shatter.
That look… Why did that bother me so much?
“Say something!” I demanded.
Mom took a shaky breath. “Amber… we didn’t tell you because we didn’t know when your wolf would come in. It’s rare, what you are” I'm the same way, wolf and dragon.
“How rare?” I cut in.
Dad answered this time, voice low.
“Same as your mother, she was a wolf first, then became a dragon,”
That made my stomach drop.
“You were born different,” he continued. “Stronger than anyone we’ve ever known. Dragon and wolf… it shouldn’t be possible.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Well, clearly it is.”
Mom stepped closer. “We were trying to protect you”
“By lying to me?” I snapped.
“We never lied,” she said softly. “We just… didn’t tell you everything.”
“That’s the same thing!”
My wolf stirred inside me, restless.
“”They’re still hiding something,”” she whispered.
“I can feel it,” I said out loud, my voice dropping. “There’s more. What is it?”
Again… silence. My heart started pounding.
“What. Else.”
No one moved. But I felt it. A shift in the room. Something unspoken...And somehow… It pulled my attention back to him.
Ripley.
Ripley POV
I shouldn’t be here. That was the only thought running through my head as Amber stood there, breaking apart in front of us.
Every instinct in me was screaming to go to her.
To hold her. To tell her everything.
“”She’s our mate,”” Ax growled. She deserves the truth.!I clenched my fists.” Not yet.”
“You’re hurting her.” I knew that. I hated that.
But I also knew what would happen if I told her now, everything would change. Her life, her choices… her freedom.
And I promised myself I wouldn’t take that from her. Even if it killed me.,Then her eyes landed on me. And everything in me froze.
“Ripley,” she said, her voice quieter now, but sharper somehow.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Shit. I forced myself to relax. “Like what?”
“Like you know something.”
Because I do. Because I know everything. Because you’re mine.
My dragon pushed forward, a low, possessive rumble building in my chest.
“”Tell her.””
“”No.””
“Amber,” I said carefully, “you’ve been through a lot tonight. Maybe you should rest.”
Her expression hardened instantly.
“Don’t do that.”
My stomach dropped.
“Don’t deflect. Don’t treat me like I’m fragile,” she said, stepping
closer. “Answer the question.”
Every step she took toward me felt dangerous. Not because I feared her.
Because I wouldn’t be able to hold back.
“You’re hiding something,” she continued. “I can feel it.”
Yeah. She can. The mate bond was there… buried under the cloaking spray, but not completely gone.
Her wolf and dragon could feel it. And soon. She would too.
Amber POV
My heart was racing for a completely different reason now.
Standing this close to him…,It felt like something was pulling me in.
Like I needed to be closer. What is this?
“Ripley,” I said softly, searching his face, “what aren’t you telling me?”
For a second..Just a second..I saw it. Conflict. Pain. Longing.
And something else… Something that made my breath catch.
His hand twitched at his side, like he was fighting the urge to reach for me.
“Amber…” he started.
My wolf surged forward.
“It’s him.”
I froze.
“What?” I whispered internally.
“”It’s him, she repeated. Our mate.””
My heart stopped.
No. No way. That’s not…That can’t…My eyes snapped back to Ripley.,Everything suddenly felt louder. Sharper. Clearer.
The way he looked at me. The way I felt around him.
The way my dragon had reacted earlier. Oh my god.
“Ripley…” my voice barely came out.
His jaw tightened.
He knew.
He knew.
“You knew,” I said, louder now. “You knew.”
“Amber..”
“You knew!” I shouted, stepping back like I’d been burned. “And you didn’t tell me?!”
Pain flashed across his face.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“By lying again?!” I snapped.
“I didn’t lie!”
“You hid it!”
“That’s not the same.”
“It is to me!”
Silence crashed over the room again..My chest felt tight.
Everything hurts.
“You don’t get to make that choice for me,” I said, my voice breaking now. “You don’t get to decide what I can and can’t handle.”
“I know,” he said quietly.
But his eyes….They were full of something that made it worse.
“I just… wanted you to have a life before me,” he added.
That hit harder than anything else. Before him?
Like he was inevitable. Like this… us… was unavoidable.
My wolf stirred again.
“”It is.””
I shook my head, overwhelmed.
“I can’t do this right now,” I whispered.
And before anyone could stop me, I ran.
Ripley POV
The second she turned and ran, something inside me snapped.
Go after her. I didn’t hesitate this time .I followed.Because hiding from her? Lying to her?.That was one thing..But letting her walk away thinking she was alone in this? Not happening.Not anymore.
- Writer
