Chapter 168

Julian’s POV

As Aunt Kathy and Penny entertained Alice, I stepped to the side, needing a minute to catch my breath after all of this. Alice was safe, taken care of by her dear aunt and cousin, so I knew now was the opportunity to just step to the side, look out the window, and center myself.

Besides, I was still within hearing distance if Alice made any sounds of distress.

Really, I just needed a moment alone, so I was annoyed when Tony approached me. But, at the same time, if he was bothering me, he was away from Alice.

He’d acted okay today, but I hadn’t forgotten his initial reaction to Alice or the other things he had said.

That meant I was happy to have him away from Alice, but I couldn’t be outwardly rude to him. As family, I felt inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, especially since he apologized.

“I don’t understand how you did it,” he said.

“Did what?”

“Kept Alice’s condition a secret all this time,” Tony said. “Surely this can’t be the first time the wolf lashed out.”

“It’s been happening for most of her life. Whenever she gets too emotional, the wolf breaks free to protect her,” I said.

Guilt weighed heavy on me. Amber had been alone in trying to help Alice all this time, but no longer. From now on, the three of us were a team determined to find a cure.

“It’s very painful for Alice,” I said, frowning. “With some serious searching, Amber was able to locate and purchase a magical necklace that kept Alice’s wolf contained. But after a recent… accident, the power of the necklace had diminished. Amber and I are going to find a cure.”

“The websites I researched said there are no cures,” Tony said.

“Not yet,” I corrected. “No cures yet.”

Tony nodded, then looked out the window, as I did. There was big oak tree out in the yard. It’d been there for as long as I could remember, the trunk wide in diameter, the roots large and solid.

“I want to help,” Tony said after a minute, surprising me. I turned to look at him. “I’m not a Healer, but I do have connections. If there’s another necklace out there, or some other lead, then I can help find it.”

“I appreciate that, Tony, but you don’t have to. This isn’t your responsibility.”

“Alice is family,” Tony said. “And I owe it to all of you for acting like such an asshole. Please, Cousin. As a more substantial apology, let me help in this. Alice deserves the best chance at a normal life that she can get.”

He seemed genuine, but as someone who hung out at the theaters a lot, he could just be a good actor, having picked up some tricks.

I didn’t know if I could trust him at all, but if he wanted to do some of the legwork trying to help, I wasn’t really in a position to turn that down.

Truth was, without any idea really where to start with a cure, Amber, Alice, and I needed all the help we could get. And Tony, even if he was being disingenuous, might accidentally uncover something that could get us going.

I hoped he was honest though. Alice really deserved everyone’s help. She shouldn’t have to suffer this pain anymore.

“Alright,” I said. “Thank you, Tony.”

“Yeah, don’t sweat it,” Tony said. “The thanks can come after we cure the kid.”

Amber’s POV

“If this report is accurate, and I’m sure it is, then it’s likely our patient is still being poisoned, even here at the hospital,” I said.

“It seems so, yes,” the supervisor said. “Which means that that the family are our primary suspects. Unless we want to throw suspicion on the staff…”

He seemed hesitant to do that, and I could understand why. As Healers, we needed to work together as a team. If we started second-guessing and mistrusting each other, the patients could suffer, not getting the care they needed as quickly as they really needed it.

“I don’t,” I told him. “But we need to keep an open-mind here.” Literally anyone who came into contact with Julian’s Mom could be a suspect. “We need a way to catch the poisoner in the act, with enough explicit evidence that it cannot be questioned.”

“We can’t keep testing her after every visit. That seems cruel to her,” the supervisor said. “We need another solution.”

I considered a minute. “What if we installed a hidden camera? Then we could review the tapes after every visit, and see who messes with her IV or sticks her with a needle.”

“That’s not standard hospital policy…”

“There’s nothing standard about what’s going on here,” I said. “We can’t let this poisoner keep getting away with this. Not only are they messing with our patient’s mind, but this will ultimately lead to killing her. We have to stop that from happening. It’s our obligation.”

The supervisor nodded. “Yes, that’s true. Though for something like this, where the legality of a hidden camera might be in question, I would feel better if we had the Alpha on our side.”

“You want me to ask Julian?”

“Yes,” the supervisor said. “With Alpha Julian on our side, I would have no qualms. Not only could he shield us legally, but he is also responsible for the decisions regarding the patient. As the patient is not able to speak for herself, we need his permission for this. At least… if we wanted to do things the right way.”

Normally, I wouldn’t hesitate to go to Julian with this, especially since his mother was the victim here. But there was a major question in my mind about whether or not Julian would be able to doubt one of his family. Poisoning a family member was a major crime.

Could Julian see one of his aunts, uncles, or cousins as a potential murderer?

I didn’t know, but the supervisor was right. We didn’t really have a lot of choices here, especially if we wanted to do this in a way that could lead to prosecution.

“I’ll speak with him,” I said.

“I could, if you would prefer not to,” the supervisor said.

While I did think the supervisor could deliver the news in a more level-headed way than I was capable of, Julian deserved to hear it instead from me. I could help him emotionally, giving him comfort in ways that the supervisor, as more of a stranger, simply wouldn’t be able to.

“No,” I told the supervisor. “It has to be from me.”

The supervisor hummed, but didn’t argue, accepting my judgement. “I’ll head out now to purchase a small camera. Perhaps we could put it in a bouquet or a stuffed animal. Some type of get well soon gift, like the others that are already in the room.”

“Yes,” I said. A stuffed animal with a camera for an eye or in a bow tie around its neck would be the most innocuous and garner the least suspicion. We needed to make sure not to give any hints away to the poisoner that we were onto him. “The sooner we can have that set up, the better.”

“I’ll go at once.” The supervisor stood. As we both walked out into the hallway, I saw Julian, Alice, Aunt Kathy, Penny, and Tony returning to the waiting room.

My heart ached as I realized I was going to have to talk to Julian about this much sooner than I would have liked.

I could only hope that he would understand and not get defensive over his family.