Chapter 173

Amber’s POV

I was a shocked for a moment, not just that Gloria was awake, but also that she recognized me. Immediately, I rushed forward to her bedside.

“Oh, Amber, it’s been too long,” Gloria said. “How is Julian? And he told me… you have a child?”

“Alice,” I told her.

Her lucidity was exciting, and I tried to answer her questions as quickly and clearly as I could, just in case it wasn’t meant to last.

Everything else was pushed the side now, as my entire focus was her.

“Alice,” Gloria replied. “Such a lovely name.”

“She’s six now,” I said. “You have to stay with us for a while, and you will get to meet her. She’s been visiting you, and so has Julian. We are all back in the pack, visiting.”

“Visiting? Oh, no,” Gloria shook her head. “This is your home.”

This version of Julian’s mom was very surprising, and so much different from the woman even Uncle Peter described. Gloria didn’t seem torn about her son choosing me over Olivia. In fact, now that she was lucid, she hadn’t mentioned Olivia once.

“But… uh… Amber. Where am I? What is this place?”

“You are in the hospital, Gloria,” I said. “Do you remember anything?”

“Some.” Lifting her hand, she rubbed at her forehead. Perhaps she had a headache coming on. I couldn’t blame her. With the poison slowly clearing, it would take some time for her to fully remember anything. As the information came to her, it would almost be too much.

I made a mental note to get a memory specialist in here as soon as possible to help.

“But I…” Gloria looked around, and for the first time, she noticed Tony. At once, her eyes went wide. The heart monitor started to blare, as her heartbeat scurried forward at a quickening pace.

“Gloria, please, calm down,” I said, trying to keep my voice as level as possible, but her panic was making my own adrenaline flood through me.

“You have to get out of here, Amber. Get away from him!”

“From Tony?” I glanced back.

Tony’s smile disappeared. He openly frowned now as he crossed his arms in a disapproving gesture. “Is that any way to great your beloved nephew, Aunt Gloria?”

Gloria looked at me again. Her hands snapped out, and she clutched my wrists in a surprisingly strong grip. “He’s trying to usurp Julian’s crown. He wants the pack for himself!”

“Don’t listen to her, Amber. You know how she’s been. She’s nuts,” Tony said.

Gloria hasn’t been of sound mind lately, but that didn’t mean she was wrong right now. Turning, I put my attention on Tony.

If he was trying to convince me of his innocence, he wasn’t doing a very good job of it. His entire posture was tense, like a predator about to strike.

“I know what I’ve seen and heard,” Gloria said. “And for my knowledge, you attacked me. You muddled my mind, but I’m seeing things clearer now, Tony. I know what you did, you ungrateful whelp. After all that Julian had done for you, you still want to stab him in the back.”

“You don’t know what you are talking about,” Tony snapped. His good-humored façade was cracking now, showing the angry man underneath. The one no one took seriously before, perhaps. The little boy always underestimated, now grown up and filled with rage.

I’d seen people like him before at the clinics and hospitals I’d worked in. Usually they turned to drugs, but for some, anger itself was the drug of choice.

The rage pushed them into making decisions they wouldn’t normally make. But that was no excuse. There was no court in the entire continent that would excuse behavior like this – attacking, poisoning, murdering – because of rage.

“Your inheritance won’t support you forever. Is that why you want the throne?” Gloria asked. “I can’t imagine you actually want to rule?”

“I’d be a damn better ruler than Julian,” Tony snapped.

Just like that, the pretense fell entirely and only the angry man remained.

“Amber,” Gloria said quickly. “Run!”

I tried to obey. Recognizing the danger, I turned toward the door, but Tony, with his quick speed, blocked it before I could make it through.

Gloria’s voice filled with fresh panic. “Don’t hurt her, Tony! The family will never forgive you!” I could hear the bed creak as she struggled to rise, but I knew she was too weak to help me now.

Tony squared his shoulders and stepped toward me.

I backed up a step, desperately glancing around for something to defend myself. There wasn’t much in the room that could help me.

From his pocket, Tony revealed a syringe. Inside was a clear liquid.

I knew without proof that this was wolfsbane extract.

“You won’t get away with this,” I told him.

He huffed. “Who is going to stop me? Your useless husband?”

He lunged then. I tried to dodge, but he caught me by the arm. The needle from his syringe pressed into the side of my neck.

Then, I collapsed into darkness.

Julian’s POV

I awoke with a start, my chest aching, my heart beating fast. I sat straight upward in the bed.

The room was still dark. The clock read 3:12am.

I tried to focus on the feeling that had woken me, but as my heart slowed, I couldn’t detect it again.

It had only lasted for one minute, one sharp spike of fear that immediately vanished.

Could it have been Amber?

It felt okay, but I was still uneasy.

Standing, I went to the hallway and then down to the room she had been staying it. It was empty.

She wasn’t home yet. Maybe she had decided to stay at the hospital overnight.

But that didn’t explain that fear I had felt.

I didn’t know what to do though. Alice was still asleep, and in her delicate state, I didn’t want to wake her up and drag her into a potentially dramatic or dangerous situation.

Instead, I grabbed my phone. Texting quickly, I asked Amber, You okay?

I received no message in response.

Worried, my next call was to the hospital. It took some time to get through to someone, but when I did, I asked her to check for Amber.

I held my breath as she did.

When the nurse came back, she said, “Healer Amber is asleep at her desk. Everything seems okay.”

With relief washing over me, I thanked her, wished her a goodnight, and hung up.

I held onto that relief until morning, when Alice was awake and fed and ready for the day. When we made it to the hospital, much of the family was already still there. Mom’s condition hadn’t changed. She’d been unconscious all morning, per Aunt Kathy.

Leaving Alice with her, I went into the back to wake Amber.

I found her hunched over her desk, her head resting on her arms. Gently, I placed my hand on her back and shook her lightly.

She woke up gasping, her eyes wide with fear. Her gaze darted quickly from the left and the right before settling on me.

“Julian?”

“Are you okay?” I asked, surprised by her reaction.

“Is your Mom okay?”

“I think so,” I replied. “She was just sleeping.”

“I have a bad feeling. I need to check on her.” She shook her head a little. “But I can’t remember why…”