Chapter 116

Amber’s POV

For the next few days, Julian held me whenever I asked him to, without any questions or need for explanation. He was simply there, ready to be my rock or my anchor, keeping me steady against the storm raging through my mind and heart.

Despite knowing I was safe, I couldn’t convince my body I was. It was still producing adrenaline, fueling my fight or flight instinct until exhaustion eventually won out. I tried to be present for Alice, and for the people of the town that wanted to celebrate the cure.

They even threw a great parade in my honor, with Alice and me on the final float. Alice threw candy to the once-again healthy children.

After, the mayor pulled me aside and promised changes to be made regarding factory regulations and waste management.

All of these were good things, and yet, I didn’t feel present in these moments. I felt like I was watching them happen to someone else while the real me was trapped in some kind of nightmare.

Ever beside me, Julian watched me. He smiled when appropriate, gave praise and thanks when needed, but when his eyes were on me, they were filled with concern.

No one else but he and Alice knew me well enough to understand that I was not myself, and Alice was too young to understand why. That meant that only Julian knew the terrors I was fighting in my own mind, the memories of the plane crash mixing up with the horror of the freefall, tangling up in a living nightmare.

It was over now. I was safe.

I knew that and yet I didn’t.

I had no idea how to move on and let go of the fear.

At night, after putting Alice to bed, Julian would hold me. His arms seemed to be the only thing that reminded me of safety. With his closeness, I could breathe and relax.

Despite our kiss that night of the crash, he never pushed me in these moments. He let me fully take the lead, holding him as I needed him.

I was grateful for this. That kiss had been wonderful, had grounded me at that time and reminded me that we were both alive. But in the wake of it, of the kiss and the accident, I was remembering things that might have been better left in the past.

None of this would have ever happened if Julian had been faithful to me, physically and emotionally. Because he wanted to keep our marriage secret, because he had pushed me aside for Olivia, I had gotten on that plane that crashed. And from there, everything, like a chain reaction, had led to this second accident.

It was difficult not to feel resentment, even as I took comfort in the cradle of his arms.

This comfort had to be temporary. When I was strong enough, I would have to push Julian away, for good this time.

Yes, he could remain part of Alice’s life, now and forever, but I’d never allow him back into my heart.

But maybe it was already too late.

Maybe we really were just trapped in a never-ending cycle of hurt.

I had no idea how to get us of it. We seemed destined to care for each other to our folly. How many hurts did we have to face before we finally accepted the truth – we simply weren’t meant to be?

Even knowing that, or perhaps because of knowing that, I clung to him extra tightly that night.

Julian returned my embrace with equal feeling, even kissing the top of my head.

Closing my eyes, I could have cried. Instead, I listened to his steady heartbeat until I fell asleep.

Julian’s POV

I found no sleep that night, despite holding the woman I loved in my arms. Though I knew I physically helped her body relax, I could see the lingering pain in her eyes. I could only wonder if my closeness was doing more harm than good.

After all, wasn’t all of this really my fault?

The driver had been from my pack, which meant that he was likely after Amber to hurt me.

I might have saved her life in the end, but she had only been in danger because of me, because of my love for her.

How was I to forgive myself for that?

An hour passed while I held Amber mulling over my regrets and trying to decide what I should do next. What could I do, to earn Amber’s trust again?

After an hour, my new phone started to gently ring from my bed. Besides Amber, only one person had that number.

My Beta.

Maybe he had some answers at last.

Eager for the truth, I slowly and carefully eased a sleeping Amber out of my arms, turning her so that she was cuddling a pillow instead. Then, grabbing the phone, I walked through the living room and out of the room itself.

The hotel rooms opened to the outside. In this outdoor hallway, knowing no one else was staying at this hotel, I felt comfortable answering the phone.

“Alpha,” my Beta said. “We have more information regarding that individual you asked us to look into.”

“I’m ready to hear it,” I said. “What have you learned?”

“For the past several years, the man has been working as a chauffeur,” Beta said. “Olivia’s chauffeur.”

I gripped the phone tighter. It started to creak in my hand.

“Is it possible she could have arranged what happened?” I asked, but I already had my own growing suspicions.

Beta didn’t speak to that. Instead, he said, “There’s something else. Digging further into his past shows that he was once an airline mechanic.”

Everything around me froze. Or maybe it was just that I couldn’t focus on anything but the voice coming through the phone. “Which airline.”

The Beta told me, and I recognized it at once as the same airline Amber had used when she fled my pack – fled me – six years before. The plane that had mechanical failure and crashed, killing everyone but Amber and nearly killing her as well.

“Was he working that day?” I asked, trusting that I didn’t need to explain.

“Yes,” Beta said. “In fact, he left early, after Amber’s plane took off. He resigned during the investigation. That was when Olivia took him in. There’s evidence to show that she was protecting him. Money transfers, paperwork going missing, investigations that abruptly ended… That sort of thing.”

“You are telling me, that Olivia not only had her fingerprints all over this recent abduction, but in that plane crash as well?” I said. Saying it allowed, even with evidence, still felt so surreal.

But then, this was the same woman who had tried to get Chase to hurt Alice, a young girl. Knowing that, was there anything she wasn’t capable of?

“We are still compiling evidence, Alpha, but everything so far does seem to point that way.”

“We have to find Olivia,” I said. “Call in every favor I’m owed. Reach out to other packs. I don’t care what needs to be done, but she cannot be allowed to continue like this.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

No sooner did I end the call than the door behind me opened and Amber appeared. Seeing the phone in my hand, she stepped forward, closing the door behind her.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“We have to go back to my pack,” I said firmly. “For your own protection, Amber. I have to keep you somewhere safe until we can stop this danger that’s hounding you.”

Her expression went very flat as she responded, “No.”