Chapter 160

Julian’s POV

Tony wasn’t the only one of my family who was furious. All of them were moving in like a half-moon, closing in around me, forcing me back against the wall.

We could all still hear the chaos going on in Mom’s room, as the healers and nurses worked to save her from the medical emergency that was threatening her life.

My family wanted an explanation, an answer to Tony’s question about what had happened. I still didn’t think I had done anything wrong, so I said straightforwardly, “I told her the truth about Amber.”

My family reacted at once, some groaning, most becoming increasingly angrier.

“I’ll fix it,” I said.

“How?” Uncle Peter demanded.

Grabbing my phone, I walked through the arch they had made around me. When I moved into the more open waiting room, I unlocked my phone screen and called Amber.

“Hello?” she said. Her voice, even in the one world, sounded somewhat standoffish, colder than I expected.

“Amber,” I said. “I need your help.”

She was quiet a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice was softer. “What’s going on?”

She must have been able to hear the alarms going off behind me, in Mom’s room. Or maybe she could hear the guilt and worry in my voice.

“Mom’s taken a turn for the worse. I hate to ask you this, but… do you think you can come here and take a look?”

She had already said she would last night. Then, I had wanted to keep her out of my family drama, but now, with Mom in her current state and with it being my fault, I was much more receptive to the idea. There was no one I trusted more than I trusted Amber, and I knew how good of a doctor she was.

If she was here, maybe she could help…

I didn’t know what else to do.

“I’ll have to bring Alice,” she said.

“I can watch her,” I said. “I’ll keep her in the waiting room. She’ll have to meet my family…”

Amber was quiet another moment, and I understood her hesitation. I felt it too. I wasn’t thrilled about potentially exposing my daughter to my family members, especially when they were presently very angry with me.

But she was just a child. She was also their blood relation, and no amount of denial or anger would change that. Hopefully that would be enough to make the difference for them, and they could come to be more understanding and accepting.

Plus, Alice was very cute and likeable. If they met her and still chose to dislike her, there was seriously something wrong with them.

“You are sure?” Amber asked.

“I am,” I said. “I will protect her.” I didn’t just mean physically. I also meant her heart. If my family started to show any signs of rudeness to her, I would take Alice and leave. We could get ice cream or spend the day together somewhere else, while I restored her confidence.

My family had plenty of drama, and while I didn’t like to stand in the eye of that storm, I tolerated it for the sake of family. But I would not expose my daughter to the same experience.

“We’ll be right there.”

After hanging up, I turned toward my family, which had all followed me from the hallway to the waiting room. They were each looking at me expectantly, as if still waiting for an explanation about what I meant and how I was going to fix this.

“Amber is coming to help,” I told them.

“What good will that do?” Tony asked.

Penny knew and shushed him. “Amber is Healer Amber. Her reputation is legendary. She is one of, if not the best healer on the continent.”

“Says a teenage girl,” Tony snapped back at her. “I want an adult to tell me the same.”

“She was once Healer Amanda,” I said.

That stirred some recognition within him. “Oh.” He frowned deeper. “Well, I hope for your mother’s sake that she can live up to her reputation.”

“She is,” I replied. I hesitated with the next part, but I thought it important to prepare my family for what was about to happen – as well as to let them know to expect any punishments for their rudeness to my daughter. “She is bringing Alice and I will watch my daughter here in the waiting room.”

Some of my family’s faces went grim.

“She is six,” I said. “So I am warning you all right here and now that any unkindness to my daughter will not be tolerated. I might be your cousin and nephew, but I am also your Alpha. I will take any rudeness to my daughter very personal. Personal enough that exile might be on the table.”

“That’s extreme,” said Uncle Peter.

So I reminded him again, “She is six.”

This time, to my surprise, and clearly to the surprise of a few others in the group, my usually timid Aunt Kathy stepped forward. “I would love to meet the youngest member of our family.”

“Kathy,” Uncle Peter said, not quite scolding but not entirely friendly either.

Aunt Kathy ignored him, which was another strange event and truly spoke to how much Aunt Kathy loved kids. She had raised plenty of her own, so she must have known all about the bigness of a young girl’s heart.

In that moment, I wasn’t sure if I could trust the rest of my family, but I knew Alice would be safe with Aunt Kathy. I was relieved to know that I had at least one ally in the group.

“Thank you, Aunt Kathy,” I said. “I’m sure she will love you.”

That made Aunt Kathy smile. This woman deserved so much better than my grumpy uncle, but we were all creatures of habit, I supposed. After forty years of marriage, she was probably used to the old grump.

About twenty minutes later, Amber arrived with Alice, the two holding hands. She didn’t spare much time for me or my family, other than to pass Alice’s hand to mine.

To my surprise, though, Amber leaned in and kissed me quickly on the cheek.

“I’ll do my best for your mom,” she said. Then, after a brief goodbye to Alice, Amber hurried down the hallway toward Mom’s room. As several of the Healers recognized her from her time here, she was immediately welcomed inside.

Alice, clinging to my hand, looked between our family members with wide eyes. My family also looked back at her. Alice nervously shifted closer to me.

Aunt Kathy moved closer at once. She leaned down a little and gave Alice a warm smile.

“Hello, Alice,” she said. “I’m your Aunt Kathy. It’s very nice to meet you.”

Alice, even nervous, was still a polite little girl.

“Nice to meet you,” she said softly.

“Such a dignified little lady,” Aunt Kathy said.

I didn’t know if Alice understood what dignified meant, but she seemed to know it was a compliment, because she grew a little bolder, stepping out from my shadow.

“You think so?” she asked.

“I know so,” Aunt Kathy said kindly.

Behind her, even some of my other family members were softening then. I knew they would. It was difficult not to be immediately taken with Alice and her cuteness.

Olivia’s POV

They might have sent ‘Becky’ away but no one had made sure that I left.

So I didn’t.

And now, from around the lonely corners of empty hallways, I watched as Julian showed off his pup to his family.

Seeing them again made the anger swell inside of me. I hadn’t been able to get this close in a long time.

Maybe there was something I could do with this closeness, to finally have my revenge…