Chapter 154

Julian’s POV

I knew my family didn’t want me to tell Mom the truth about Olivia and Amber, but the more I thought about it, the more I disliked the secrets. Yes, I knew Mom preferred Olivia, mostly since she didn’t really know Amber. This had been my fault for keeping Amber secret for so long.

But as I was resolved to fix things with Amber, that meant making sure everyone else knew of her place in my life now. Even my mother.

I didn’t want to upset her, but I was sure that if I came upon the topic gently, that she would be able to understand. If she could accept it, I would love for her to actually meet Amber and Alice before the end, while she still had the chance.

So I went into her room. Tony was already there, but I joined them, sitting on the other side of Mom. She was awake and talking, but whatever they had been talking about ended abruptly as Mom saw me. It was like she lost her previous train of thought as she took me in instead.

“There’s my son,” she said with pride.

“Hi, Mom,” I told her as I took my seat. “How are you feeling now?”

“Very good,” she said. “Better, seeing you. Before you came to see me here, you were gone so long. It’s not good for the pack for you to be gone so long.”

“I know,” I told her. “But it was necessary. I had to take care of some things. Some personal things.”

Mom’s brows started to raise. “Oh? What kind of things?”

“I, uh, had to get my mate back,” I said.

Tony shot me a warning glare from behind Mom’s shoulder.

I ignored him.

“Do you remember Amber…?” I asked.

Mom’s face went a little pale. “The famous Healer? What does she have to do with anything? When you were gone, you went to find Olivia, right? Is she here?”

“No, Mom. I don’t think you understand.”

As I tried to explain, my phone chimed with a text. I was feeling frustrated and unsure, so seeing the text was from Amber, I thought it might calm me to see what she had to say. Plus, I was determined to absolutely never miss a message from her ever again. Not after what happened before.

I was resolved not to take any more medicine, but it was still in my system, so I couldn’t take any chances. Our connection through the mating bond was presently unreliable.

So even though I was in a serious conversation with Mom, I said, “Just a minute, I have to check this,” and opened the message.

The message was confusing. It was just a bunch of numbers and… wait.

It took a minute, but then I realized what this was. This was flight information.

“Is everything alright, Julian?” Mom asked me.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I just have to make a call really quickly.”

I stood up in a hurry and stepped into the hallway, pressing call on my phone before I was even fully outside the room.

Amber had a smile in her voice as she answered, “Are you surprised?”

“I don’t understand,” I said. Though I had some suspicions what this could mean, I was afraid to hope too much, only to find out that it wasn’t what I thought and be disappointed.

“Alice and I are going to come visit,” she said, then paused. When she came back, her voice was less bright, more unsure, “If that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay,” I told her. Some of the weight I’d been dragging around immediately felt lighter. “I miss you and Alice so much, it would be great to see you.”

“It’s not too soon?” Amber asked, still uncertain.

“It’s not,” I told her. The details said they’d be here late tomorrow. “Honestly, it can’t come fast enough.”

I was so relieved that things seemed to be returning to normal between the two of us that it didn’t immediately occur to me why I should be more cautious about this.

“I won’t keep you,” she said. “I know you are busy there.”

“Seeing you will be a relief,” I said. “I’m happy. Truly. But I do have to get back.” I couldn’t stop smiling as I said, “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Tomorrow,” she replied, a smile in her voice too. “Until then.”

“Until then,” I told her and hung up. My smile lingered even after the phone call was done, as I allowed the relief and happiness to flood through me. The medicine must have been wearing off, because I felt a pleasant thrum through our mating bond.

But then, I turned to return to the room, and I remembered where I was and what my mom thought.

Amber and Alice coming here maybe wasn’t the wisest choice right now. I’d been so pleased by the news that I hadn’t even thought about all the reasons it was a bad idea.

And even now, I couldn’t bring myself to care overmuch. If I had to keep Amber and Alice separate from my family for now, so be it. But maybe this was the perfect opportunity. Maybe after I talked to my mom, she could meet Amber and Alice and they could all get along.

I kept that hope in my heart as I walked back into my mother’s hospital room.

“Olivia and Julian have been happily married for a while,” Tony was telling Mom. “Have you met their little girl yet? She’s adorable.”

“Tony,” I snapped.

Mom looked at me, with tears in her eyes. “A child with Olivia, Julian? And married! I’m so happy. I was so afraid you were going to end up with that other woman. She would have given you nothing but misery. I’m so pleased you made the right choice.”

Immediately, I glared at Tony, but Tony looked to the side, avoiding my accusatory stare.

My medicine was definitely wearing off, because right now I felt murderous.

Amber’s POV

Ever since surviving that plane crash, I hated flying, but there was no denying it was the fastest way to travel. And with my need to avoid the public and therefore public transportation, a private jet was the only way to really get from the heart of Rafael’s pack to the heart of Julian’s instead.

To keep myself from panicking, especially when we were midair, I tried to focus on Alice instead. She was oddly quiet sitting next to me, worrying her small hands in her lap.

“Is something wrong?” I asked. Ever since I told her about our trip, she had been a bundle of nerves. She’d already promised me she wanted to go, but her nerves only seemed to increase the closer we got to our destination.

“Do you think Daddy is going to be mad at me?” she asked.

“What? No, of course not.”

Alice shook her head, not so easily accepting my easy words. “Last thing I said to him was I hated him…”

“Oh, Alice.” I leaned over and wrapped my arm around her shoulders, offering her as much motherly comfort as I could. “I’m certain he’s forgotten all about that.”

Alice looked at me with doe eyes. “Really?”

“I’m sure. And if you apologize, why, I’m sure everything will be okay.”

“Okay,” she said, then seemed more determined than before. She had a plan now, and was going to see it through.

“He’ll be waiting for us when we land,” I said. “You can tell him then.”

“Okay!”

I wished I hadn’t promised that. As we exited the plane, I expected to see Julian there to greet us.

But he wasn’t anywhere to be seen.