Amber Read online

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Epilogue

  Author Notes

  Amber

  By

  Sherry Foster

  Dedication

  To the family I adore,

  my friends who keep me sane,

  and the readers who love to read.

  A special thanks to the man who

  continues to believe in me.

  I have some incredible readers.

  I want to thank each and every one

  of them for reading these books.

  A special thanks to the JIT team

  This book is a work of fiction.

  All of the Characters, organizations, events,

  and places portrayed in this novel are products

  of the author's overactive imagination.

  Copyright © 2019 Sherry Foster

  DAS Publishing

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication

  may be reproduced, stored in a

  retrieval system, or transmitted

  in any form or by any means.

  ASIN: B07SBGHR28

  If you want to stay up to date on what is happening in the series join me on face book at

  https://www.facebook.com/SafeHavenWolves/

  Chapter One

  “Come on, Amber! We have to go. Hurry up.”

  “Wait. Just wait.”

  “No! We gotta go.” Nadia looked around nervously before turning back to see Amber headed toward the stage. “Where are you going? We have to go, come on!”

  Fletcher raked his hand through his blond hair and glared at Mary, his blue eyes burning with anger. “Leave her alone. I promised she could enjoy this festival for her birthday and you’re ruining it.”

  She turned on him, her moss green eyes shone with fury. She shoved her brunette hair from her face, “Don’t be an idiot. I knew we shouldn’t have come. If we had asked I bet Edward would have sent guards with us. Her birthday is in a few days and we need to keep her safe, not to mention I wouldn’t mind staying safe myself.”

  “Yeah, how much fun do you think Amber would have with guards breathing down her back? Look at her? She is having the time of her life listening to her favorite singers.”

  “And if the wrong person finds us? How much fun are we going to have then?”

  “You worry too much. I told you I checked out the venue. I have been coming to these festivals for ages. I go to all the festivals where Peter and Virginia and Lynette are singing. But this one also had Dean and was less than two hours from home. I promised her if he was at the next festival I would bring her. Ah, listen, he is singing Fools Gold, that is one of her favorite songs. Why don’t you listen to the music and relax?”

  “Because I don’t want to lose everything I have. I never should have listened to her, or you.” Nadia spun around and headed toward the stage. With narrowed eyes she watched Dean finish the song and lean over to say something to Charlie. A moment later he started the next song which she knew was about the guitar player beside him. She had a feeling something bad was going to happen and she wanted to get home. She never should have agreed to sneak away from the territory. She knew better. She knew, well she had heard, how awful things could be for the unprotected female. She was as much of an idiot for agreeing to come with them as Fletcher was for proposing the outing in the first place. She thought if Edward had not taken Julie on a picnic today Fletcher probably wouldn’t have suggested they come to this festival. Edward had been different these last four months, happier and more content. The way he ran the pack had changed over the last few months and she thought Julie and Trisah had a lot to do with the new attitude.

  The pack had been surprised, and a bit shocked when Edward had brought back a mate from the United States. The fact that Dennis had also brought back a mate, sister to his Alpha’s mate had sent ripples through the pack. At first Edward had clamped down hard on the freedom of the pack. He tried to ban baseball in the territory because of some trauma his mate went through. Fortunately she had put her foot down and baseball had not been banned after all. If the pack thought Edward had been secretive and selective about others in the territory before it was nothing to how he was after bringing the two females home to Australia. But Julie and Trisah weren’t the only two females Edward brought back. Dawn, the mate to an entirely different Alpha had come with them and stayed with Dennis. Edward had almost driven the pack crazy when Trevor had kept his word and shown up every day to visit with his mate.

  Nadia’s lips twitched as she remembered a few scenes over the last four months. Dennis had all three American females living at his house and the females had their own views about how things should work in a pack. Since all three females had, at one time or another, been captives, the pack thought they would be happy with the way Edward clamped down on the restrictions, but the pack had been in for a surprise. The women didn’t want to feel like prisoners in their homes and as a result things had changed and not the way Edward wanted. But his mate had him wrapped tightly around her finger, and Dawn and Trisah had Julie’s ear for everything.

  Edward had worked with some packs in the States to make some state-of-the-art security changes. Those changes made sneaking into the territory difficult and leaving the territory harder than before but Fletcher was good with computers and had managed to put some of the security feed on a loop to get them a day of freedom. At first Nadia had been thrilled, but the longer they were away the more she thought about the stories she had heard of what the three American females had gone through. The more she thought, the more nervous she got. Now all she wanted to do was go home but Amber and Fletcher didn’t want to listen. She grabbed Amber’s arm and jerked her backward.

  “I want to leave. Now! You can come back with Fletcher tomorrow if you want. The festival lasts all weekend but I want to go home.”

  Amber tried to shrug her best friend’s hand away but Nadia wouldn’t budge. Finally she turned to look at her friend’s face. What she saw there caused a deep sigh. “Fine. We will leave. But next time you want to do something I am gonna remind you about this.”

  Nadia shrugged and rolled her eyes, “Remind me all you want. I don’t care. I just want to wake up in my own bed tomorrow, not locked up in a stranger’s basement waiting till I turn twenty-one to see daylight again.”

  “You worry too much. We don’t have the rogue problem as bad down here as they have in the States. You know that. We have never so much as seen a rogue. Edward takes care of those types of men.”

  Nadia made a show of looking around the venue before releasing Amber and crossing her arms. “Well why don’t you show me where Edward is right now?”

  “Oh fine. Let’s get Fletcher and go home. You’re gonna pout and be miserable if we don’t.” Amber, bottom lip poked out in a definite pout stomped toward Fletcher.

  Nadia watched her friend for a moment before muttering, “I’m not the one pouting.” She hurried to catch up to Amber but she didn’t miss the brief look of hatred that crossed Fletcher’s face before he got it under control. A shiver went down her spine. She didn’t care much for Fletcher, she never had. Her best friend, however, thoug
ht he was one of the greatest men on the planet, but not in the same category as a mate. She worried about Amber sometimes, she seemed so naive about others. She didn’t notice how Fletcher looked at her and the few times Nadia had brought it up Amber had laughed at her. How could the little idiot not see that Fletcher was in love with her, or thought he loved her. After the last time Nadia had given up trying to talk to Amber about it. In a few more days Amber would be twenty-one and Nadia was certain Fletcher would declare himself.

  It wouldn’t do him any good, she knew Amber wouldn’t settle for anything less than a true-mate. She worried what Fletcher would do when Amber turned him down, and she would turn him down. Amber had already talked to Edward about being allowed to travel under escort to Trevor’s pack and if her mate wasn’t there she was willing to travel to North America and check the four packs Edward was now connected to in order to find a true-mate. If Fletcher thought Amber would give up her dreams for a friend, when it involved the rest of her life, he didn’t know Amber as well as he thought he did.

  After Edward had returned from the States he had called all the families together who had females close to mating age and the ones who were older than twenty-one yet unmated and informed them of the plan to allow the females to be escorted to the packs in the States to look for a mate. He had requested they keep the information to themselves for the time being so Nadia didn’t think Fletcher even knew of the plan unless Amber had disobeyed Edward.

  Nadia crawled into the back seat while Fletcher helped Amber into the front passenger seat. She watched him slam the door before he strode to the driver’s side. She saw the way his fists clenched and unclenched and worried anew about him. She drew her shoulders up and made the decision to talk to Dennis as soon as they returned. She would have to confess what they had done in sneaking out, and she knew there would be consequences but she was getting a bad vibe from Fletcher, worse than usual. He should be protecting her and Amber, not taking them into danger. She didn’t know if he was just desperate to win Amber or if something else was going on but as far as she was concerned whatever the problem was, it was about to become Dennis and Edward’s problem.

  Amber tried to include her in the conversation on the way back but Nadia didn’t feel much like talking and her friend finally gave up. Amber was so excited about the festival she wouldn’t stop talking about it. Nadia saw Fletcher smirk a time or two through the mirror and each time a small tremor of fear caused her heart to stutter in her chest. She was actually glad when they reached the edge of the territory and she and Amber got out of the car so they could sneak back in where the cameras were on a loop.

  Chapter Two

  “Nadia! Where have you been? I looked all over for you. And don’t lie to me.” Her mum’s furious whisper echoed through the kitchen.

  Nadia swallowed hard before turning to face her mum. “Where was I? Um, with Fletcher and Amber.”

  Her mum’s lips tightened into a scowl. “Nice try. The truth but terribly lacking in information. Would you like to try again?”

  Nadia gave a half-smile, “Not really.”

  Kayla glared at her daughter. “I needed you to watch your sister earlier and I couldn’t find you. I couldn’t find Amber.” She snorted, “You do realize when I couldn’t find you or Amber I called for Fletcher. Can you imagine my surprise when I found he was not in range of my thoughts?” She held up her hand when Nadia opened her mouth. “I am not done yet young lady. Fletcher, who hangs around Amber as though his life will end if he doesn’t see her, yet he isn’t her mate, goes missing and I can’t find my daughter or her best friend. So again, where were you? Remember, you just admitted being with someone I know for a fact left the territory far enough I couldn’t reach him. And oddly enough no one else knew where he was either. Dennis is at Trevor’s with Trisah and Dawn or I would have gone immediately to him. Edward is still romancing his mate on their picnic, though what kind of picnic last six hours when they can’t consummate the mating?” She stopped to shake her head and draw in air before continuing. “You are lucky you came back when you did because I was seconds away from calling Edward back from his picnic.

  Horror filled Nadia as she realized how much trouble interrupting Edward while he spent quality time with Julie would cause. “I’m sorry mum. Fletcher planned a surprise for Amber and she wanted me to go with her. I didn’t realize we were going so far from the territory. I thought we would be just out of bounds. Truthfully, I don’t think Amber realized it either. You know how she sucks at geography.”

  “That doesn’t tell me where you went.”

  “We went to a festival so Amber could see some of her favorite bush balladeers in person. I know I should have demanded we return as soon as I realized what was going on but Amber was so happy, mum. You should have seen her face. Does dad know we left?”

  “No, he doesn’t. I didn’t realize you were missing from the territory until moments ago. I thought, at first, you were with Amber and since I can’t pack speak to either of you until you reach twenty-one I had to do things the way I always do and search for you by calling people. Amber’s parents are over at her folks house so it took time for me to locate them and verify you weren’t with them. I didn’t look for Fletcher until I realized no one in the territory had seen you or Amber today.” Kayla shook her head and glared at Nadia before her eyes grew wide. “You went where? A festival? Are you insane? What were you thinking? No, don’t tell me. You’re grounded. You will not leave this house for any reason for the next month other than to visit Julie and Trisah and ask them to recount their horror stories of captivity. You will do this every week because apparently the stories we have been told haven’t penetrated you little head. Go in the living room and get your baby sister. She probably needs to be changed. I just fed her and I still have those errands to run that I didn’t get to run earlier. Watch your sister while I am gone. And Nadia? Don’t even think of leaving the house for the rest of the week for any reason. Do you understand me? And no using the phone.”

  “But mum,”

  “No! Not for any reason. Unless the house is on fire you will not so much as walk outside for anything. If you want to put yourself in danger and risk the chance of being locked up, I can make that happen for you without putting you in actual danger. I still have to tell your dad what you did. I am furious with you right now and your best bet is to keep your mouth shut and obey me because I will not be responsible for the things I may say if you don’t.”

  Nadia’s shoulders slumped as she watched her mum grab her purse and storm from the house. She needed to talk to Dennis, but apparently he wasn’t home. She dared not call Edward from his picnic. He didn’t get to spend as much time with his future mate as he wanted and her mum had explained to her some of the problems Edward faced. Having his wolf clawing at him for their mate, and not being able to claim her for five more months made him a bit grumpy at times. Well, at least Amber should be home by now and wouldn’t be leaving the rest of the day so she was safe. Nadia heard her baby sister whimper from the other room. A smile replaced the worried look as she hurried to get her sister before the whimper became a full blown tantrum.

  “Hello little one. Did you miss your Nadia today? I missed you too.” Nadia rubbed her nose against her baby sister’s nose before kissing her cheek. “You were such a little surprise for us you know that? Yes, you were. Do you have a wet diaper? Oh, my, look at you. Mummy told a fib on you. You don’t have a wet diaper do you? No you, oh my god! Really? Why didn’t you hold that till mum got home. How nasty. Now you stink. Eww gross. Shhh, no, no Kimmy shhh, Nadia isn’t mad at you. Oh, little one, I love you. I just wish you had waited to make a stinky. I swear, I am never having kids.” Nadia held her sister until she thought she was probably finished before she laid her on the changing table. Babies were messy and gross. Amber loved helping her take care of Kimmy and couldn’t wait until she could have one of her own. Nadia thought she would change her mind pretty fast if she lived with a baby all the ti
me. They cried, a lot. They always seemed hungry or dirty and often she was the one who cared for the baby. Her mum and dad both worked, though her mum’s job was only four days a week, still, for four days she was responsible for the baby and at barely eighteen she didn’t want to be responsible for a baby.

  Chapter Three

  “Shhh, come on. I parked the car behind the hay barn. If we hurry we can be back in Maidenwell before everyone turns in for the night.” Fletcher whispered as he tugged Amber’s hand. “Watch out for the hole. Good girl. Did you reset the alarm when you left?”

  “No. Was I suppose to reset it?” Amber whispered.

  “It would have kept them from realizing you were missing. Maybe they will just think they forget to set it. It doesn’t matter. Even if your mum goes in to wake you at seven like she always does you will have a couple of hours to mingle with everyone in the morning before they figure out where you are. I bet you Nadia rats you out in no time.”

  “No, she won’t do that. She knows how important this festival is to me. She told me I could go back tomorrow but without her so I am certain she won’t tell anyone where I am. Did you get a tent for us?”

  “Yes dear, I got us a tent. I went back earlier and set it up for us while it was still daylight. I even managed to get us some snacks and water. We can eat in the morning with the others and you can meet the musicians. They are all right friendly.” He helped her in the car and closed the door quietly. The triumphant smile on his face would have worried even his closest friends had they been there to see it.

  The drive back to Maidenwell didn’t take nearly as long that night as he made it take earlier when he was trying to spend more time with her. In less than an hour he was escorting her into the tent he had set up the night before after making the arrangements weeks ago to take her to the festival. He had been enraged when she invited Nadia but he hadn’t let her know of his anger. He hadn’t mentioned a word to either of the girls about the plans he made. He brought the girls to the festival and took them home again, leaving the tent there with the hope he could convince Amber to return with him that night. People told him Amber wouldn’t say yes to mating him but he knew differently. No one else knew her like he did. He knew if he told her about the festival and offered to bring her and set a tent up she would agree. His wolf was happy, he was happy. They may not be true-mates but she would be his mate. He would make sure of it. He had all night to convince her how much he loved her. He would have to be extra careful not to let the wolf take control and ruin her ability to shift in a few days but he was confident by morning she would see how much she loved him. By the time anyone from the pack found them he would have her promise to mate with him and only him and give up the pipe-dream of finding a true-mate.