Amber POV
After my father decided he wanted the fake mate bond undone, David was contacted and arrangements were made to have everything ready. We were all gathered in the in one of the bedrooms. Multiple beds were brought in so that if you walked in you would almost assume it was an at home healthcare suite. My father was lying in one of the beds staring off into space. He hadn't said much since he came to his decision, it was almost as if he had decided to just check out and accept that he wouldn't survive this. My mother and David were lying in the two beds next to him, David being the one next to my father because my father couldn't even stand to look at my mother. I took a few steps towards my father and gently squeezed his shoulder. "Daddy, everything will be OK." I whispered to him.
He closed his eyes and a single tear escaped down his cheek. I had spent so much time being angry with my father, but I couldn't hold onto that anger any longer knowing everything that I knew. I wrapped my arms around him as I begged him, "Daddy please don't do this. We will find another way."
He returned the hug, squeezing me gently. "I have to my beautiful rose. I can't live like this anymore. I spent so much time in love with someone that I wasn't supposed to love. The only good thing that has come from my life is you. You are my light, but you are strong." He paused. "Amber I don't think I will make it out of this. Please don't cry for me, I want you to remember if I don't make it out of this you are the future. I will live through you and I will watch you from the skies. You have already made me the proudest father in the universe, and I know you will only continue to make me even prouder." I started sobbing as my father continued to speak. He had already given up. How can someone who has no fight left in them fight through what was going to be an excruciating process?
"Daddy no! I need you! Please don't give up!" I cried. "Please stay with me! Don't let her ruin you, don't let this ruin you!" my shoulders shook as I sobbed into his chest. Panic was consuming me. I ached for him for so long believing he was dead. Then when I found him I was angry that he had left me. Now I finally, finally have him back and he isn't going to fight to be around.
He gently stroked the back of my head as I sat there crying into his chest. "Shhhhh, honey everything is going to be OK. You will be Ok, better than OK. You are everything good in this world; please don't let this ruin you. Don't hold hate for your mother, she was wronged as well. Please hold onto the light inside of you and don't fall into the darkness."
I heard the door open. Footsteps slowly were heard entering the room and then I heard my uncle's voice. "It's time, is everyone ready?"
I looked up to my uncle with tears streaming down my face. I heard my father's voice, "Yes, just get this over with. If I die, let it be known that Amber is to take my position. Damian will rule by her side, whether he be a mere werewolf or not." My fathers voice was resolute.
My uncle acknowledged what my father said with a nod of his head. He turned to look at me and then to Damien. "You two will probably want to leave for this. I don't want anything to go wrong and affect you two."
I looked over to Damien as he nodded his head and started towards me. Fear started coursing through my veins as I gripped onto my father. "No no no no! I can't leave him! He can't go through this alone!" I screamed frantically. "Please?! Please?! I am begging you!" I begged as I started to hyperventilate.
My father looked to be and took my face in his hands making me look him in his eyes. "Amber, honey, please go. I can't have anything happen to you. You are my sunshine, you always have been. Please go with Damien." He pleaded as tears started rolling down his cheeks again. He put his lips to my forehead and left a lingering kiss on it. "I love you now and forever my beautiful daughter.
I felt like my whole world was crumbling. Clinging to him for dear life I just kept shaking my head no. Sobs wracked through my body, I knew…I knew he wasn't going to make it. I felt Damien's arms come around me from behind, but even those tingles from the mate bond weren't enough to calm or console me. Fighting his grip, I tried with all my might to hold onto my father.
"Please Amber, we have to go." Damien pleaded. Wrestling with me he finally pulled me from my grip on my father, but I still continued to fight to get back to my father.
"No Damien! Please! Please! Let me go!" I screamed at him. My pleas fell on deaf ears as Damien continued to pull me to the hallways. "Daddy! No I need you! Please fight!"
We made it out into the hallway and the door shut behind us. As soon as the door shut there was a flashing light around the doors edges and I feared something was wrong. Damien let me stand on the floor as he wrapped his arms around me. I looked up at Damien and pleaded. "I have to go in there Damien. I have to be with him! Please?!" I begged.
"Amber, you can't go in there. Your father had a witch seal the door with magic so no one can go in or come out until after the ceremony is finished. " Damien said to me, a look of guilt flashing across his features.
"You knew?! You knew this and you didn't warn me? Why?!" I screamed at him. I tried focusing on the other side of the door, closing my eyes and trying to focus all my energy on transporting back into the room. As soon as I felt the energy start to course through me, it died down again. It wasn't working. I tried several times but nothing.
I started banging on the door, begging and pleading with them to let me in. I heard grunting and cries of pain from the other side of the door, but I didn't care about any of them except for my fathers. Every noise he made broke my heart into pieces. I felt Damien come behind me and try to put his arms around me. I pushed him off of me once I turned to him. "Why?! Why would you do this Damien. Why wouldn't you warn me?!" I screamed.
I could feel his guilt consuming him, but he took a step towards me and took my face between his hands. "Amber, you are pregnant." He solemnly stated. He took one of his hands and rested it on my stomach. "I couldn't let you put yourself or our baby in harms way. Your father agreed."
I gasped. How did he know? How could he know and I couldn't? "How? How do you know?" I asked.
"When you came back yesterday I could hear the heartbeat, not to mention your scent is different. I couldn't tell you with everything going on, I didn't want you to find out like this." He explained.
In that moment I didn't know what to think or feel. I slid to the floor, holding onto my stomach letting everything crash over me like a wave in the ocean and I cried. I clung to my stomach as I cried for everything, all the heartache. So many lives ruined because of one person's actions, creating a rippling effect that was never-ending. Damien came to the floor beside me and just held me. He let me cry while holding me in his protective embrace.
It seemed like hours until the door was opened and we were able to make our way back into the room. I ran to my father, his eyes were closed. I reached out to touch him, and he didn't react. I shook him gently again with no reaction. "Dad! Dad wake up!" I yelled. He still had no reaction as I shook him vigorously.
"Amber, he didn't make it." My uncle spoke gently.
"I'm so sorry honey." My mother said to me as she tried to get up from the bed.
If my whole world was broken before, it just became shattered, beyond repair. Rage consumed me. "No!" I screamed as I held my hand up to her signaling her to not come any closer to me. "Don't come near me. Don't come anywhere near me! You did this, this is your fault!"
"No Amber, this is my fault." My uncle whispered.
I turned to him, "No, you were forced to do something by your father. You were just forced to do something against your will knowing it could kill your own brother. " I cried. "She had a choice, she had a choice to keep secrets or reveal them, and the one time that her keeping a secret would have kept my father alive, was the one time in her life she decided she needed to tell the truth. She is a selfish selfish woman." I continued. I turned to her with venom in my tone. "I hope you and David are happy with one another. Don't come near me, I don't want anything to do with you. You took my father from me again, this time for good. I wish you the best, but that best will be without having to do anything with me."
I turned my attention back to my father and placed a kiss on his forehead. "I love you forever and always daddy."