Chapter 237

Julian’s POV

I wasn’t thrilled about Amber dedicating herself to her work so soon after waking up. Even less so when she left her room to hobble down to the lab. I followed her like a shadow, making sure she didn’t fall, trying to convince her to leave this part of it to others.

But Amber had always been dedicated, hard-working, and stubborn. The only way I would ever be able to get her to stay in her medical bed was if I forced her to, and I would never do that. Instead, I was the dutiful mate, bringing her snacks and making sure she didn’t over exert herself as best I could.

At least she seemed to honor my fifteen minutes break for every hour of work rule.

During one of her hour-long work sessions, I went to visit my mother again. As I explained what Amber was doing, Mom seemed thoughtful.

“And you are sure that is something you want?” she asked, after a moment.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing bad, I assure you. I think searching for a cure would be a good thing, truly. But my question is… Do you really want Tony to be the one to be cured?”

“Being trapped feral is a terrible fate,” I said.

“It is,” Mom said. “I’m not trying to make any judgements here. But someone has to be the bad guy here and point out a few things, and if that has to be me, then so be it.” She took a breath. “Tony still has his supporters. And his returning to himself could keep the pack from unifying.”

I hadn’t really considered that. After all, I had won the fight, so there wasn’t much he could do from this point on to try to win Alpha.

Unless he wanted to use the fact that he had been drugged to try to contest the challenge results. If enough of the pack backed him, then the struggle to regain my pack might be elongated.

Yet, even knowing that, even knowing Tony was an ass, I didn’t think I could deny him a cure.

“I will not win back my pack at the expense of my cousin’s life,” I said.

Mom smiled then, and nodded lightly. “Good.”

That surprised me. “The way you were talking,” I said. “It sounded like…”

“I know, I’m sorry,” she said. “I just thought it was important that we see the issues from all sides. But I’m proud of you for deciding as you have.”

It was something of a relief to know that I had my mom’s support. “Thanks,” I said.

She nodded. “Truly, I just hope Amber can find the cure, or it won’t matter what we think, will it?”

“She’ll find it,” I said. “If there’s anyone who can, it’s her.”

Olivia’s POV

Everything continued to hurt, even now, after several days since my fall. Fortunately, I had been able to catch onto several flag poles along the way, which had slowed my fall, as did the final stretched banner that I landed on before plopping down onto the pavement.

Yet, everything still hurt.

After falling, I had scurried away with the help of one of my last remaining contacts in the pack. He’d been near enough to see me fall, and had half-carried me to the safety of an alley. He offered to take me to a hospital but refused to help more than that.

There was no way I was going to a hospital in this pack, not if I wanted to evade the consequences I knew would be coming my way – assuming Julian and Amber didn’t both just die.

They had a knack for survival though, so I wasn’t going to make myself known until I was certain they were dead.

I stayed in the shadows for weeks, moving from alleyway to alleyway, trying to give my body the time it needed to heal properly. At least I could walk now, but without medical assistance, I wasn’t sure just how well I was doing.

I’d dyed my hair, changed my outfit. To the rest of the world, I looked like a beggar on the street, wandering through the parks. They didn’t pay me much mind.

I used this to my advantage, particularly today. A man was watching the news on his phone. I inched closer without looking at him, eager to hear the news report, hoping for talks of a funeral to signify my success.

If Julian and Amber were both dead, then I could come out of the shadows and fill the void their absence, and Tony’s, had made. The people needed a leader, and I was ready to fit that role.

“Miraculously, Healer Amber has come out of her coma recently,” the newscaster reported brightly. “We have received a report that she is not only in good health, but is now also working on a cure to help Tony, who as we have previously reported is being contained due to his feral condition. Alpha Julian has already confirmed for reporters that once the cure is found, he will allow Tony to be healed.”

What? I had been trying to look inconspicuous, but this was too much. It had to be fake, right? Not an actual news report?

Yet, when I looked over the man’s shoulder, focusing on his screen, I could see that this was not the case at all. I knew that news station and those reporters. This had to be real.

Not only had Amber and Julian survived, but they wanted to heal Tony too?

Gods.

Everyone else around seemed impressed with the report. Even the Tony supporters liked what Julian had said, about healing Tony.

“I just think it’s a good sign,” said one man to his girlfriend. “If Alpha Julian is willing to help his biggest rival, maybe he’s not all bad after all.”

“You know, things under Alpha Julian really haven’t been terrible,” the girlfriend admitted. “Even when he was out of pack, he still looked after us. I think we’ve been too hard on him.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

The world was losing its mind. But now that it had, and now that I knew the truth, I had a harsh realization on my hands.

Julian was going to keep his pack now no matter what I did.

Well, unless he died.

I considered that. Maybe I’d been going about this all wrong, targeting Amber and Alice while letting others try to handle Julian.

As I seemed to be the only competent one around me, I knew I could only really trust myself. That meant that this time, I had to try to kill him myself.

Too long, I had been trusting others to take him down. No one had the necessary skills, or knew him as well as I did.

It would be tricky now. I played my hand with Tony and with Amber. Julian would know to be on guard with me. I had to find him in a way he wouldn’t expect, and take my opportunity as soon as it occurred, without giving him a chance to deal with it. Or escape.

With everything as it was, I knew this would be my last chance.

If I wanted to try to take his life with my own two hands, I’d only get one more shot.

I had to make sure it counted.