Chapter 244

Julian’s POV

I stood behind Tony and off to the side as he stepped up to the microphone to give his speech. We were on a small constructed stage outside of the jail, and from this vantage point, all of the press as well as the crowd could see us.

I looked down at the faces in the crowd, but they were many. They all blended in together. I had trouble picking any one individual out, though at a glance, I was certain I saw a few that were familiar to me.

My biggest concern in this moment was still what Tony was going to say. As he stepped up to the microphone, I braced myself, not sure what to expect.

“Is this thing on?” he asked. “Can everyone hear me okay?”

There was some cheering, especially from people in the back of the crowd.

“Oh. Good,” he said. “In that case, let’s get this thing going. I really should have written something down but I wanted to be honest with everyone today. I felt that would come from the heart.”

Tony cleared his throat. I held my breath.

“When I decided to make my bid to become Alpha, I had been under a lot of misconceptions about how things were around here. Part of that was because of some lies I had been told, but also from the lies I told myself.”

He glanced back and looked at me, then faced the crowd again. “I’ve been jealous of my cousin for a very long time. The whole family knew he was going to take his father’s place as our Alpha someday and they treated him differently because of it. It upset me, even recently, to see the pack give him so much leniency as he ran to other packs to find his mate and to help her finish her tasks there. Even if one of those tasks was helping their daughter.”

He dragged a hand down his face. “But the truth is, Julian and Amber are good people. They are a good couple who do right for each other, and they love their daughter. Amber will make a great Luna because she loves everyone, even those that can’t help her. Even after being shot full of silver, she still got up and found a cure for me. I’m only here today, able to talk to you, because of her.

“And Julian.” He waved back toward me. “He’s not a bad Alpha. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I’ve been looking around. Have any of us really had that hard of a time since he’s been working remotely? Seems like things haven’t really changed all that much…

“I guess what I’m just trying to say is, if you are holding out for me to take over, you don’t need to do that anymore. I’m out of the running, and I’m happier for it. Instead, I ask that you support Julian as your Alpha. If you struggle with that, I’ll remind you that I lost the challenge, fair and square.

“Julian is our Alpha, and that’s all there is to it.”

Olivia’s POV

During Tony’s speech, I made my way forward in the crowd, sliding between people. They seemed annoyed at first, but still got out of the way to allow me to continue. I was making good progress, nearly halfway through the crowd, when I noticed that more guards seemed to be gathering around.

Those guards started combing through the crowd, almost like they were looking for someone. My stomach dropped. Were they looking for me? Had I been spotted? Was my disguise not enough?

This speech would have been the perfect time to attack Julian, but it would be for naught if I was caught even before I could get a shot off.

For now, instead of moving forward, I started backing up.

The guards could look for me all they wanted but they wouldn’t find me in a crowd this size. I could easily slip away without being seen. I had plenty of practice at just this thing.

I slowly backed my way through the crowd. Then, when I reached the backmost row, I turned and ducked behind one of the news vans, using the very thing that had likely spotted me to help me now disappear unseen.

Amber’s POV

The guards drove me toward the jail. Aunt Kathy, Penny, and most of the guards stayed at the house to protect Alice, but I wasn’t going to be waylaid. I needed to get to Julian. I had to make sure he was safe for myself.

“They’ve increased the security patrol,” the guard in the passenger seat said, turning back to talk to me. “Tony is giving his speech and so far there have been no incidents.”

That was a relief to hear but I wasn’t fully convinced, until the car packed around back of the jail and Julian was brought out to me. By then, Tony’s speech was finished, everything seemed to have gone fine.

I was so relieved to see Julian unharmed that I rushed toward him across the small lawn, pushing through the pain from my silver poisoning that pushed through my veins. Where we were, there was a chain-link fence between us and the outside, as well as a brick wall separating us from the jail.

“Amber, what are you doing here?” Julian said, frowning. He seemed annoyed by my presence, but I didn’t care.

“I saw her, Julian,” I said. “Olivia. She was in the crowd. She was after you, not me. Not Alice.”

Even though he was right in front of me, I still needed to see if he was unharmed. I frantically walked around him, grazing my eyes all over his body looking for wounds.

Just because we didn’t hear any shots, just because no one said anything, didn’t mean something didn’t happen.

Olivia could have been more subtle this time. She could have attacked with a needle or some other means.

Yet, as I completed my loop around Julian, I found nothing telling. He seemed okay.

He was okay.

He had to be.

“Amber…” Julian grabbed my arms, holding me upright. “You shouldn’t be here. You have to go home. Now.”

He started urging me back toward the car. The guards that had driven me here were patrolling slightly, having moved out a few ways to check for dangers in either direction.

“Only if you come with me,” I said stubbornly, holding onto Julian’s wrists.

He gave me a stubborn look. “The speech is over, Julian. Please.”

When we reached the car, he dragged me around to the backseat and opened the back door.

As soon as he did, though, we both saw that the backseat was already occupied.

While I had run to Julian, and while the guards that were supposed to protect us had spread out to surveil the perimeter, Olivia had found her way to the car and crawled into the backseat waiting for us.

She had a gun her hand which she held toward us now.

She wasn’t dead. She was very much alive. Her eyes were wild with hate, but there was a smirk on her lips.

“Surprise,” she said.