River & Christian: Amber Eyes Series 5

Chapter Five

-River POV- 

I wake up, and I am surprised to find myself on the bed. I remember going to sleep under the table. I am not used to a bed or a room this big. I look around the room remembering everything that happened yesterday.  

“Christian.” I whisper his name and think of him. 

‘That boy saved us.’ A say to Ariel. 

‘Yes, he was really nice.’ 

I get up from the bed and walk around the nicely decorated room. I have never seen anything like this. There is so much color.  

I stop completely startled when I see a mirror and my reflection on it. 

“Is that... is that how we look like now?” I haven’t seen myself in two years. 

 I get closer mesmerized with my reflection. 

My hair is short because that is how they kept it. Doctor Edison said it got in the way.  

“We are actually... quite good looking.” I say out loud and laugh at myself. 

‘Yes, we are.’ Ariel says sounding proud. 

I look at my body. I look skinny but my womanly parts do not go unnoticed. Even though I know there is no one around, I still look around the room. I then cup my breasts lifting them up together and admire my figure. 

Ariel starts to laugh at me.  

I pout feeling embarrassed. “Stop it... I’m just curious.” 

‘Alright, just don’t do that in front of people.’ She says. 

I sigh and start walking to the door. I slowly open it and I am quickly met by someone I don’t know.  

“Hell-” 

I growl and quickly close the door. I breathe hard feeling scared. I don’t trust anyone. I don’t know any of them.  

The person knocks on the door but I push on it trying to keep them out.  

After a few seconds, there is silence now. 

“What do we do now? I think it was a girl.” 

I put my ear on the door. “I think she left.” 

I move away from the door and head to the window. I am overwhelmed by what I see. 

“So many... so many people.”  

I peer down from the window and see people walking about. I can see a forest that stretches for miles and that, I love. But not the people. They scare me. I have been used to seeing the same small group of people for so long. This all causes me anxiety. 

I remember Sarah, our unofficial teacher in the compound had told us once that our kind lives in packs outside of the compound. I am assuming that that is what this is. I remember seeing a few people last night when Christian brought us here but now, I am looking at many more. 

A few knocks come from the door again. I jump and when I hear the door opening, I run into the bathroom. I close the door and hear someone walking into the room. 

“River?” I hear Christian’s voice. 

Hearing his voice makes me gasp a little. I slightly open the door and see him. He gives me a smile and I get butterflies. 

'He is so handsome.' I say.

'Compare to the old men in the lab we are used to seeing every day, yea, he definitely is a good change for our eyes.' Ariel says.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” He asks. 

I think about it and notice that even though my shoulder and body feel sore, I am not in pain. 

I take a deep breath and answer him. “Good.” 

He smiles. “That’s good. This is Sasha by the way.” 

He motions to his side and a girl walks over. I am completely shocked when I see her eyes match mine just like that Marco guy last night.  

“Marco thought you might feel more comfortable with her.” He says. 

I vigorously shake my head. 

She looks nice but I don’t trust her. 

She looks at Christian. “She’s all yours then.” She says with a smile and leaves.  

Christian scratches the back of his head looking a little embarrassed. 

“Are you hungry? It’s noon, do you want to get some lunch?” He asks. 

I nod and slowly open the door. When I step out, he looks at my shoulder with a bit of surprise. 

“Are you already healed?” 

I look at my shoulder and move it around. Other than soreness, it doesn’t hurt so I nod. 

“Wow... that is... fast... really fast.” He says looking confused. 

Now he looks me up and down. My body tenses up but this time, in a good way because I can’t deny that I am liking his attention. 

He clears his throat and looks away. “Come with me. Let’s go talk to Marco and then get some food.” 

I nod and follow him out. As we walk down the hall, I am completely overwhelmed by all the people. I scurry over to Christian and walk close to him. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to mind.  

I watch him from behind as we walk.

'He's so tall.' I say to Ariel.

'And muscly .' Ariel says.

'And he smells good.' I say.

'And he's just gorgeous.' She says in a dreamy state.

'... yea.' I agree.

As we reach the bottom of the stairs, a tall man walks by us but he stops and leans in towards me. He is only inches away and starts to smell me. 

I instinctively growl at him and turn around ready to sink my claws at him if he doesn’t back away.  

Christian quickly puts a hand in front of me in a shielding way. “Bret, back off!” 

The Bret guy steps back but he narrows his eyes on me. “Why does she smell so weird?” 

I feel a bit offended by that comment. 

I squint my eyes at him. “You smell weird!” I say almost shouting.  

Christian gives me a side glance, probably because he is surprised at my outburst. 

The Bret guy just continues to look at me as if I am from another world and I continue to glare at him but I stay close to Christian.  

He gives a small growl in my direction and then walks away.  

Christian sighs. He then takes my hand and pulls me with him. I am a little startled at the contact of our skin touching but I enjoy it.  

We walk back into Marco’s office where that girl Sasha stands again with another guy next to her. 

“Glad to see you look much better.” Marco says. 

I give him a small smile. 

“Please sit. Let’s talk.” He says. 

Christian sits on a chair in front of the desk and I reluctantly sit in the one next to him. 

“You already met Sasha, this is Mason, her mate.” He says. 

Mason smiles and I smile back. 

Marco looks at me curiously. “Your shoulder is healed?” 

I nod.  

He stares at me for a bit looking surprised but drops it.

“Okay... so what happened? Where did you come from? Why were those vampires after you?” 

I know I owe them an explanation. Christian saved me and they have given me a bed, clean clothes, and fed me.  

I take a deep breath. “I... escaped from the compound.” I say softly. 

“The compound?... What is that?” He asks. 

I don’t know how to answer that. I feel all their eyes on me and it makes me nervous.  

“Home... I guess.” I say. 

"Is that a pack?" Marco asks.

I shake my head. "No. Just the compound."

They still look at me puzzled so I decide to start from the beginning. 

“When I was a child, my mother... was ill. She was a rogue and she was dying. These... people told her that they would take care of me. So she left me with them. There were a few of us... werewolves I mean. The human doctors would do things to us.” 

“Human doctors... scientists?” Marco asks and I nod. 

I grip my hands nervously as I continue. “But they weren't the ones in charge. The vampires were."

I stop, thinking carefully about my words. “It wasn’t so bad in the beginning. Having food, a place to sleep, companionship. But then, two years ago... they... put me in a room and I wasn’t allowed to leave it at all. They focused all their attention on me.” 

“They experimented on you?... That could be why your scent is different and probably why you have healed so fast.” Marco says pensively. “Do you know what they were trying to do? What was their goal?” 

I shake my head. “No, they never told me. But the mistress was always fixated with my eyes.” 

Marco’s eyes widen. “Mistress... Lavinia?” 

I nod slowly surprised that he knows her name and now I panic. 

“Do you... do you work for her?” I ask getting up from the chair and readying myself to run. 

Marco gets up holding his hand up. “No, we know who she is because she is our enemy.” 

I look at Christian who has a worried expression. He nods at me confirming it and I slowly sit back down. 

“It’s our eyes.” Sasha says. I look at her confused. “That’s why she’s focused on you. Because of the gift... she probably didn’t know about it until her path crossed with ours.” 

“...What gift?” I ask lowly. 

They all look at me surprised but then go on to tell me about my eyes to which I am shocked and not sure if I believe it to be true. I mean how can someone die and come back? That’s impossible... right? 

“River, you are safe here and we would be glad to have you in our pack.” Marco says taking me out of my thoughts. 

I am shocked again at what he says. “But... why? You’ll accept me just like that?” I ask. 

He sighs. “I think it’s time that we explained a few other things.” 

He goes on to tell me that I might be related to them. The fact that they might be my family stuns me.  

“We would need a DNA sample to make sure but I am pretty sure you are our sibling. Our father was... promiscuous.” Marco says but I honestly don’t know what that word means. 

Daniel, the healer from last night walks in and over to me. 

“I will get a blood sample from you.” He says and takes a needle out. 

I quickly jump out of my seat shaking my head. “You are a doctor!” 

I don’t know how I do it so fast, but I end up behind Christian again. 

“I think you have a misconception of doctors River.” Marco says. 

Christian turns around. “He’s not going to hurt you River... well, the needle will prick you but he just needs a bit of blood. He won’t do anything else.” 

I don’t know why but his voice calms me down. It makes me believe that I am safe. He slowly guides me back to the chair and I completely comply. 

Daniel tinkers with the needle and I look away. My body feels tense as I feel Daniel hold my arm. Christian leans into me and holds my head on his chest in a comforting way. I feel the sting of the cold needle enter my arm and I hiss in pain. Christian’s hand caresses my hair and I relax. 

“All done.” Daniel says putting a band-aid on.  

I look back at him and he smiles. “There are good doctors and there are bad doctors miss River. I like to think of myself as the good kind.” He says and winks at me. 

“I beg to differ.” Marco mumbles and Daniel narrows his eyes at him. 

Daniel gets up. “I’ll have the results in about an hour... oh...” Daniel looks at Marco again and gives him a wicked grin. “I’m going to need some of your blood too... to compare.” 

“You already have my DNA!” Marco says. 

“You are not showing great sportsmanship here Marco. The young lady here just went through an ordeal and she still gave me some blood... are you really being a baby right now.” Daniel says almost mocking him. 

Marco’s eyes flare. I can hear Sasha and Mason lowly laughing behind us. 

“FINE!” Marco says. 

Christian gets up with a smile. “Come on, let’s go eat.” 

I nod and follow him out. As we walk out, Marco’s and Daniel's distant voices can be heard. 

“You fucker that hurts!! 

“Then don’t move!” 

“I’m not!” 

And then I can hear Sasha and Mason laughing. 

‘What an odd group of people.’ I say to Ariel. 

 ‘They seem fun.’ She says giggling. 

As I walk into the dining room, everyone in there stares at me.  

(I hate this.) 

I feel small and threaten. And when that happens, my instincts kick in. I look at everyone as if they were my enemies. I am ready to give a warning growl if any of them makes a move towards me. But then, I feel Christian's hand take mine and pulls me with him. That little contact with him calms me.  

He leans into my ear as he leads me to the table. “No one will hurt you here.” He whispers. 

I sink into a chair next to him and he puts a plate in front of me with food.  

I am still overwhelmed by all this but I believe everything he says. 

We eat silently. I don’t think either of us knows what to say to each other. When we are done, he takes me back to Marco’s office where Daniel, Sasha, and Mason also wait. 

Marco looks at Daniel who is looking at a paper.  

“Well, seems like you are related to Marco and Sasha.” He says. 

Sasha claps. “We have another sister.” 

Marco smiles at me and I hadn’t noticed that I have my mouth opened in shock. 

‘We have a family...’ Ariel says. 

I look at Christian and he also smiles at me. 

Marco stands. “So now that question is... River, do you want to be part of this pack?” 

I look at everyone and they all smile at me.  

Ariel gets excited at this. ‘We’ll be part of a pack...’  

I slowly nod at them. 

“Then it’s settled.” Marco says. “Welcome to the Red Moon Pack.” 

I finally give him a genuine smile. 

“Now River...” Marco looks at me like he has another question. “Have you ever been to school?”