Chapter 107

Amber’s POV

Returning into Alice’s exam room, I approached her bedside while holding the necklace.

Julian zeroed in on it at once. “Is that…?”

“The magic is not as strong, but, yes. Anna and Carla collected and tried to repair it. I just hope it helps somehow.”

Julian helped me lift Alice up and then slowly I lowered the necklace over her head. Immediately, she seemed to relax more fully, the crinkle in her brow smoothing out, her frown lifting slightly.

It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it did seem to be helping, which was a relief.

“She’ll still be in danger if her emotions overwhelm her,” I said. “But this should give her some sense of comfort.”

Julian nodded, though his own face remained hard with tension. I couldn’t tell him not to be concerned or protective or to want to fight for his daughter. I felt all of those things too. So, for now, together, we just stood at Alice’s bedside, stewing in our own unhappy feelings while making sure our daughter was safe.

After a time in the silence, Julian said to me, “We should continue on with our trip.”

I glanced at him. “It’s too dangerous. With Alice unwell again, I can’t chance it. And Olivia is still on the loose.”

“Olivia being on the loose is precisely why we should go,” Julian said. “She’s been here. She knows where everything is. If we were on the road, she wouldn’t be able to track us as much.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I can’t think of anything right now. Ask me another time.”

To my surprise, he backed off, not bringing it up again as we watched our daughter sleep.

It wasn’t until later, after Alice woke up and we took her home, after Julian excused himself to take a long phone call from his Beta, that the topic came up again. This time, it wasn’t Julian who brought it up, but Alice.

We were sitting side by side on the couch in the living room, with Julian just returned from the kitchen, his phone still in his hand, when Alice said, “When are we going on our trip?”

“I think the trip is canceled, honey,” I said, as gently as I could.

Still, her eyes went as wide as saucers. “Because of me?”

My heart twisted in my chest. “No, honey. Oh, no.”

“Because of my wolf?” she asked next.

“No,” I said, though that was part of it, I wouldn’t tell her. “There are still bad people out there.”

She frowned deeply then. “Like Uncle Chase?”

She should stop calling him Uncle, after what he had done, but I would wait until she was in a better emotional place to talk to her about that. After all, the stuffed animal he gave her was still packed away in her suitcase.

What a mess.

“Yes,” I said. “Unfortunately, like Chase. And Olivia.” I didn’t want to frighten Alice by telling her she should be afraid, but if Olivia was bold enough to approach the school, then she might try approaching Alice. It was better for Alice to know who to be cautious around.

To my relief, and a bit to my alarm, Alice didn’t seem surprised by my inclusion of Olivia. Maybe her intuitive sense – or her wolf – had been keeping her on guard against Olivia all this time.

Julian spoke up then, “Would you want to still go on the trip, Alice?”

“Yeah,” Alice said, coiling her fingers together on her lap. “I wanted to go really bad.” She turned her doe eyes from me to Julian and back again. “Could we still go?”

“We have to talk about it,” I said.

She perked up immediately. “Oh, Mom! We have to go! Please! I really, really, really want to.”

Her sudden insistence did brighten my mood somewhat and I laughed. It was hard to say no to that face.

“Let Julian and me talk about it,” I said.

“Right now?” she asked, already hopping from the couch. Before I could stop her, she raced to the hallway. “Talk right now, okay?” Then she disappeared around the corner.

I sighed in fond exasperation. She seemed to be feeling better to have this much energy and be this upbeat. Typically after shifting, she would be miserable for a long time. I didn’t know what the change was this time – the existence of the necklace, the excitement of a potential vacation, or the fact that Julian was here.

Either way, this change was a massive relief, and left me feeling more open to talking to Julian, who walked closer to the couch. I stood up to talk to him, not wanting to be seated while he loomed over me.

“I still think it’s a good idea for us to go,” he said. “Now more than ever.”

“Because Alice wants to go?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “But also because after this happened, I put some of my team on research, searching for ways to help cure Alice. There’s nothing truly substantial yet, just threads that could eventually lead to something more. But some of the neighboring packs have been mentioned in the texts the researchers are looking into.”

“I’ve seen those texts,” I said. “They are rumors, nothing more than gossip.”

“Isn’t that worth checking, though? Maybe the stories are just that, but maybe they are actually what leads us to a cure.”

Maybe. I could admit that even a longshot lead was better than none at this point. Things I had discarded in the past might be worth another look.

But that didn’t protect us from the people who were still out there, potentially wanting to do us harm.

“But Olivia is still out there…” I said as I wrapped my arms around myself.

Julian swayed closer to me. At his full stance, his posture was all confidence. Looking at me, deep into my eyes, he promised, “Amber, I will keep you and Alice safe.”

I had so many reasons for not believing him, but after his actions today, with how quickly he shifted to protect us and how fiercely he had been ready to fight for us… Maybe I had been too quick lately to misjudge him.

Truly, he was a good man. A good father, who wanted to protect his daughter. While I still didn’t fully trust his feelings for me, I knew he would do his best to protect Alice, and that was good enough for me.

As Julian looked at me, his eyes softened a little, taking on some sadness. Like he could read my thoughts, he asked, “What do I have to do to win back your trust?”

I wished I had an answer that would suit us both. If only I had a switch in my heart that I could turn on and off. Real life was more complicated, and my feelings were in a constant storm.

“I don’t know,” I said.

He inched closer. I didn’t move way.

His arm brushed alongside my own and I found myself swaying into him without thought, seeking the comfort of his warmth and presence.

“We should go,” he said. “It would be good for all of us.”

This time, I couldn’t argue. I only replied, “Okay.”

Olivia’s POV

Olivia, disguised in a wig and sunglasses, watched from beyond the chain link fence of the small town airport as Julian led Amber and Alice across the tarmac to his private jet.

Alice seemed excited, Amber seemed content. And Julian looked pleased.

It made my blood boil.

“Enjoy this,” she growled beneath her breath. “Because soon I will have my revenge.”