Chapter 13

Amber’s POV

I rested on the couch, thinking about how I needed to get up and start making dinner, when the door knocked open.

This wasn’t unusual. My friend Roman walked in, smiling widely. His arms were piled with beefy, fresh steaks and luscious vegetables, the colors of their peels popping as though they’d been painted.

Roman strode straight past the couch and into the kitchen, where he set the food piled in arms down with ease. Alice ran over to him, shouting his name, and he picked her up and kissed her on the forehead.

I met Roman, the Alpha of Dawn Pack, last year at Dawn Pack Hospital. He’d needed treatment for wolf venom, and I’d taken on his case. He’d taken a liking to me immediately.

Since then, we’d been inseparable to a degree, as Roman insisted on becoming my healer’s assistant, helping me heal others. I began to trust him, and I allowed him to come over to the house and share the load. He would often care for Alice and help with the cooking, which took a lot off of my plate.

I felt very grateful towards him. He’d helped me arrange our arrival in Thorn Pack, finding me a house and helping me pack up Alice’s and my things. He’d help us arrange for our things to be moved, and when we’d arrived in Thorn Pack, he’d helped us unpack the same items and get settled in our new environment.

It was nice to have a friendly, familiar face with us during this transition.

However, that’s all I could see Roman as. A friend, not a lover.

There was nothing wrong with Roman. On paper he fit every trait one could want in a potential partner and step-father, as he was gentle, considerate, and truly loved my daughter as if she were his own flesh and blood.

Despite it all, I just wasn’t attracted to him.

Roman began to cook, and Alice joined me on the couch to watch her cartoons. I basked in the happy peacefulness.

“Mommy, I forgot to tell you,” Alice said. “I found my dad yesterday!”

My heart dropped into my stomach. What was Alice talking about? I calmed myself, realizing that she couldn’t know who her father really was.

“Where did you meet this “dad,” honey?” I asked.

“Yesterday, in the hallway at your hospital!” Alice replied. “He was so handsome and as tall as a skyscraper. He helped me touch the ceiling, he was so tall!”

I listened, wondering who the man had been who’d made such a big impression on my daughter.

“He even played ball with me, Mommy!” Alice exclaimed.

I didn’t know what to do, or how to explain our situation to Alice. Although I tried to provide everything we needed, Alice wanted a father so badly.

The next morning, I drove Alice to school. She attended the best kindergarten in Thorn Pack’s capital city. I’d been able to get her in due to my Healer’s status and my connections. Having an Alpha as a close friend probably helped as well, even if he was from a different pack.

I wanted my daughter to have the best education possible. I wanted her to be able to do anything she wanted with her life, and I would do anything to provide that for her.

Julian’s POV

I walked through the school gates, taking in the lively campus. Although I didn’t have the required invitation for the open house, the gatekeeper had recognized me as the Alpha.

“Alpha, what gives our school the honor of your visit?” the gatekeeper had asked when I walked up.

“I’m here to visit a friend’s child who really wanted me to come to her open house,” I explained.

The gatekeeper nodded, letting me through without another question.

Like I said, the Alpha status granted me certain exceptions to the norm.

As soon as I entered the auditorium, where the children’s work had been put on display for the visiting parents, the little girl spotted me. She ran over, taking my hand and dragging me off towards her own project.

The large room was filled with artwork, each child displaying a project they’d made. Alice’s project was a butterfly lamp she’d constructed out of paper, with tiny people holding hands and dancing across the lampshade. The lamp glowed warm yellow and cast colorful light in every direction.

I found it truly enrapturing.

“Wow,” I said to Alice. “This is an incredible piece of art. You did very well, little she-wolf.”

Alice beamed, and other parents admired the work as well.

A voice came over the microphone, announcing that the charity auction would begin shortly. Each child’s work would be auctioned off in order to raise money, and I had my heart set on taking Alice’s work home.

When the auctioneer presented her piece, Alice scrambled onto the stage, her voice loud and eager over the speakers.

“This is my lamp!” she said. “It’s a gift for all children, all over the world, no matter their pack, or their skin color, their abilities, or their language.”

I was touched by her words, so profound for a child so young. Her mother must be raising her right.

The crowd watched as Alice pulled a string, and the lampshade began to slowly turn. The paper figures adorning the shade danced hand in hand, the colors spinning across the auditorium, which filled with gasps and applause.

The auctioneer took the mic again. “Bidding starts at fifty dollars for this beautiful piece!”

I prepared to raise my hand, but another man across the room beat me to it.

“One hundred,” the man said.

“One thousand,” I proclaimed, my hand in the air.

The other man turned to glance at me, confusion flashing across his face. “Five thousand.”

“Ten thousand,” I said without hesitation.

Murmurs rippled through the auditorium. People were stunned. Was this piece really worth that much? I kept my paddle up, undaunted by the crowd’s reaction or the other man’s competition. But Julian kept his bidding paddle up, unwavering.

I wanted everyone to know this little girl had a dad. No one would dare bully her again.

“One hundred thousand,” the other man said.

“Five hundred thousand,” I countered. I could do this all day.

I looked over at my competition. The man seemed familiar, as did the woman who sat beside him. I wracked my mind, but I couldn’t place the couple.

We volleyed back and forth.

“One million,” I declared, my paddle raised proudly in the air.

I looked over to see if the other man was still in, only to find that he’d slipped away. The woman who’d sat next to him had vanished as well.

“This lovely lamp to the man over there,” the auctioneer cried, obviously astounded by our fight over this kindergartener’s school project. The money I’d bid would go to the orphanage, and my heart glowed at the thought of how many other young children it would help.

Alice ran over to me, overjoyed at the result of the auction. She hugged me and kissed me on the cheek, leaving slobber behind. I laughed, gently wiping it away.

This was worth much more than a million dollars.

Despite my joy, my mind couldn’t help but wander back to the woman who’d been sitting with my competition. Her figure haunted my thoughts. Her golden hair, her graceful curves, the confidence she’d radiated.

The more I thought of her, the more familiar she seemed.

I couldn’t wait any longer. I sprinted out of the auditorium, out of the school altogether, hoping that she’d still be there.

My breath stopped.

There she was, glowing in the sunlight, literally taking my breath away. I had no more doubts.

Amber Wood, my wife who was supposed to have died years ago, was here in Thorn Pack.

But there was another man standing beside her.