Damien POV
I stood there watching as Amber was at her father's side, hugging him and crying. Crying for the man she thought was dead, only to get him back again and then have him ripped away from her again. I could feel her heartbreak through the bond; it was agonizing. There isn't anything I wouldn't do to take this heartbreak away from her.
I took slow steps towards her, trying not to seem as if I was in a rush. Making my way towards her I gently put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards me. "My love, I really should take you up to our room. You need to get some rest." I whispered to her.
She looked up at me with such sadness in her eyes with tears streaming down her face. "Damien, I can't leave him." She mumbled. "I can't leave him here all by himself." I pulled her to me and wrapped both my arms around her. She buried her face in my chest and started sobbing.
Gently stroking her hair with my hand, I kissed the top of her head. Lowering my face down to her ear I whispered to her, "Amber, Baby, you need to get some rest before we make arrangements for his funeral. He wouldn't want you to stay here crying for him." She just wrapped her arms around me tighter and gently nodded her head.
"Okay," her voice came out defeated. "Can you carry me?" she asked ask she lifted her head to look at me with pleading eyes. I looked down at her trembling form, my heart breaking all the more seeing my mate so defeated and broken.
I scooped her up in my arms without a second thought and brought her to my chest. "I will carry you anywhere you need to go for the rest of our lives my love." I declared as I walked out of the wretched white room that had just taken away Amber's dream of having her father in her life.
I quickly made my way up to our bedroom cradling Amber to my chest. Both of us lost in our own minds not a word was spoken until I gently laid her on the bed. As I stood up Amber rolled to her side and looked up at me. "Will you lay with me?" she asked.
"Yes, but first I have a few things I must take care of. I will be back in a few minutes." I responded to her.
She reached out and grabbed my hand in hers. "Just for a minute Damien? Until I fall asleep?...Please? I don't think I can fall asleep without you." She admitted.
I let out a small sigh, knowing that I could never deny her, especially after everything that just happened. "Just until you fall asleep." I sat down on the bed and scooted my way up to her. She moved over to make room for me until I was comfortably laying down and then came back to lay her head on my chest with her arm wrapped around me. I wrapped my arm around her protectively and kissed the top of her head. "I love you Amber. I am sorry, sorry for everything."
She let out a deep sigh. "I am not happy with what you and my father did, not in the least bit." She paused. "But I know that if I had rushed in there and something had happened to our baby… I would have never forgiven myself or anyone else." She admitted. She squeezed me a little tighter as she took a deep breath.
"Nothing will ever happen to our baby my love, or you. I will die before anything will ever happen to either of you." I promised her. I felt her whole body relax when she heard my words.
"I love you Damien." She whispered.
"I love you more Amber. Always and Forever." I whispered back to her.
After about five minutes of lying there with her, her breathing evened out and I could tell that she had fallen asleep. I gently scooted out from underneath her and replaced myself with my pillow. For a second I just stood there smiling at my mate clutching my pillow. She really is everything perfect in this world.
Quietly making my way out of our room, I closed the door and made sure it was locked. I quickly made my way back to the white room where this disaster happened.
Everyone was still in the room, sitting there quietly. I cleared my throat as I entered the room, giving harsh looks to everyone.
"How is she?" came the question from the mother of the hour. I looked over at her with such disgust. Disgusted by the woman that she is and everything that she has done.
Pointing my finger at her I said, "Natasha, you don't get to ask me that question. From this moment forward you don't get to ask anything about Amber. You are lucky that you are my father's mate, otherwise I would have you killed for all of the ugly crimes you have committed."
"Now you wait right there son-" my father tried cutting me off.
In the flash of a second I was in front of his face, pointing my finger in his face. "No, you wait. I don't need you speaking up for her. You may be my father, but you never treated me as a son. You and your mate can have each other. Just keep yourselves far away from my mate and I. Amber may wish you both well, but I certainly don't. My wish for the both of you is to live a miserable life together. I hope by the end of it, you two can't stand the sight of each other. You may have had your mate taken away from you, but the way you chose to deal with it was disastrous and it was ugly. You broke everyone around you." Pointing my finger at the both of them, and then towards the door. "Now if you both will get your shit and get the fuck out of here I would greatly appreciate it. If I ever see either of you around here, I will have you thrown in a dungeon somewhere to rot for the rest of your lives. You are never to come near me, Amber, or any of our children for the rest of time."
"Don't let the door hit you where the great lord split you!" Todd yelled as they were exiting the room.
I turned to him with a look of exasperation. "Really man? Was that honestly really necessary?"
"Damn straight it was necessary! Those two can kiss my ass, and everyone else's Asses for the rest of eternity. Ohhhhh better yet, that should be their punishment. You stick them in a dungeon, set up a kissing booth, but a specialized kissing booth so there is just a little area people stick their asses into perfectly placed for those two assholes to pucker their lips and give them some smooches!" Todd explained animatedly with hand gestures and all. I just shook my head at his explanation. "And the kicker is, you just have to find the most disgusting Asses in the kingdom to line up for them to kiss. Like I am talking gorilla hairy, oozing acne, post workout on a 100 degree day smelling ass's!" he clapped his hands together wiggling his eyebrows as if asking me if I agreed with his absurd idea.
I just shook my head at him and laughed under my breath. While it was childish it was also actually funny to think about what he was suggesting. "Todd you are just on a whole other level."
Looking back to make sure that Natasha and David had left the room, I turned my attention to Adam. "Are you ok?" I asked him.
"I'll be Ok. I just prayed that this day would never come, and it has. I just lost my brother and it is all my fault." Adam was staring at the ground as he answered me, looking lost and utterly broken.
"No Adam, you didn't do this. Not intentionally at least. This was the work of your father, and Natasha just completed the actions your father put into motion. This is not your fault. Ashton didn't think so and neither does your niece." I explained to him.
Adam just stood there looking at the ground. I looked over to Todd for his help in making Adam see that it wasn't his fault and Todd looked at me with a deer in headlights look. Shaking his head no vigorously, he was pleading with me to not make him speak. I gave him a glare letting him know that he better speak now.
"Dad, as much as I am angered by what you did, I know it is not your fault. The only thing that is your fault is keeping the secret for so long. But you did do the right thing in the end and told everyone the truth. That is what matters." Todd stated reluctantly.
Adam looked up with hope in his eyes. "You mean it son?" he asked, so full of hope.
"Yes Dad. I mean it. Now lets go get you some rest so you can start feeling better." Todd extended his hand to his father. Adam took Todd's hand and looked at me with thankful eyes.
"Thank you Damien. I have someone coming to get Ashton's body. They will prepare it for his funeral. We should workout all the details tomorrow, the kingdom will have to be notified."
"Ok, what should I do in the meantime? I came down here to see what needed to be done, and to kick out those good-for-nothing nitwits." I explained.
"You should go get some rest with your mate. We will have a very busy day tomorrow as well as a very busy next couple of months. On top of funeral arrangements, Amber taking over will have to be announced. Since there is a new ruler, she will have her choice to keep the same Elder council or if she would like to elect new elder's to work along side her. You two will also have to figure out what you are going to do with your pack. You need to decide if you will still reign as alpha over your pack and also as alpha over the kingdom, or if you would elect someone else as alpha of your pack now that you have a whole kingdom to rule. You two will have a lot of decisions to make." Adam explained before he walked out of the room.
Standing there overwhelmed for a minute thinking through everything that Adam just stated, I decided it probably would be best for me to just go up the bedroom with my mate and take a nap with her.
I quietly made my way back to our room and stripped down to my boxers. Gently getting into bed I moved my pillow out from under her death-grip and replaced it with my body. Amber's scent immediately did wonders to calm me down, and within 30 seconds of her head resting on my chest I was out like a light.