Chapter 52

Amber’s POV

Through the crack in the door, I saw Olivia sitting behind her desk, looking critically at the man standing in front of her. His back was to me, and I didn’t recognize him, especially in his hat and coat.

I truly didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but that sounded like a threat. Or like blackmail. Though I didn’t have any love for her, if Olivia was in some kind of trouble, I still wanted to help her.

Maybe it was the Healer in me. Or maybe I just couldn’t stand to see anyone mistreated, even someone who didn’t like me.

Either way, before I could hear anymore, Olivia looked over and caught me standing in the doorway.

“One moment,” she said abruptly, stopping the man from continuing. She stood from behind her desk, walked toward me, and then closed the door right in my face, all the while holding my gaze with a hard, unwelcomed expression.

I stood there a moment, wondering if I should have done more to intervene. Maybe I should knock? Maybe I should tell someone what I’d heard or seen?

Yet, when I glance around, I didn’t notice anyone I recognized, or anyone I knew to be friendly towards me.

Perhaps I should stay out of this totally. After all, I hadn’t heard exactly what was said. They could have been talking about anything. Or maybe they were rehearsing a play or something. I didn’t have enough evidence to go on to know whether this situation was as bad as it seemed.

I hesitated for a long moment, but ultimately, I started forward, deciding there was nothing really I could do. Whatever was going on behind that door was not my business. And soon, I’d be washing my hands of this pack forever.

Leaving the headquarters building, I already felt lighter. On the drive home, I called Anna and told her what I’d done.

“Can you help me pack?” I asked.

“I’ll be there in ten,” she replied, but she didn’t hang up yet. “Are you going to tell Roman?”

Roman had apparently come by one night when I had been drinking in excess. I barely remembered see him, and I had zero recollection of what was actually said between us.

Since then, he had reached out a few times, but each time I ignored him. I didn’t know what possessed me to speak with him while I was drunk, but as a sober person, I was still infuriated with him for releasing a statement to the press that we were engaged despite my having turned him down.

He still hadn’t rescinded it. Until he did, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to speak with him.

“No,” I told Anna. “Not yet.”

As Anna didn’t like Roman, I wasn’t shocked that she didn’t argue the point. Instead, she said, “Do you think Alice will be okay with the move?”

Alice hadn’t really liked her school until Julian made an appearance, earning her points with the other students. Before, they had bullied her. Now, they were friendlier. Yet, even so, I believed Alice still felt the scars of that bullying.

I was fully confident she wouldn’t mind starting over again somewhere else.

“I’ll speak with her,” I said, “But I think it will be alright.”

“Good,” Anna said. “You both need a break.”

I could only agree.

Julian’s POV

I had a few meetings with various pack members throughout the day, keeping me busy. By the time I finally returned to the office, I was exhausted and ready to wrap up for the day. I just needed to check my messages and a few emails, and then I’d be free for the night.

I didn’t notice the folded piece of paper on the center of my desk until after I sat down at my desk chair.

Lifting it, I opened it and started to read.

Alpha Julian,

Please accept my resignation as Healer effective immediately.

Healer Amanda/Amber.

Such a short message. I read it, then read it again.

It was handwritten and made me feel somewhat homesick, missing the way Amber used to write me notes here and there around the house.

Please buy milk, taped to the fridge.

Have a good day, on the inside of the door.

Love you! On my pillow if I was working late and she had fallen asleep before me.

Always she had been so thoughtful and considerate of me, always making sure I felt her affection. Even though I had thought her lying at the time, finding notes in her hand still made me happy. Even when she was asking me to buy milk, it felt good to be domestic, knowing someone was depending on me when I came home.

This note was in the same hand, but it was very different.

This was Amber telling me she was leaving.

Again.

A sharp jolt of fear struck through me like a lightning bolt. The last time Amber had left, she almost died. I thought she had died, and I lived with that for years.

What if something like that happened again?

What if she stayed gone this time?

She’d had an affair with Roman, and was engaged to him. I had no right to interfere in any of this, yet…

I pushed away from my desk and ran out of my office.

“Alpha?” Beta asked as I rushed past, but there was no time to explain.

The elevator was too slow, so I ran down the stairs instead, taking two at a time.

In my car, I broke all the speed limits getting to her house.

When I arrived, the place was empty. I pounded on the door, but no one answered. A glance through the window told me most everything had been moved out.

Still not wanting to believe what was happening, I returned to my car and then sped in the opposite direction, going to the hospital now. I rushed up to Amber’s office.

Inside the lights were off. Amber’s desk was entirely packed away.

I stood there for a long moment, watching the empty desk, as if hoping she might suddenly manifest.

She was so thoroughly gone so quickly that I wondered if I had dreamed her into being. Perhaps she’d never truly been here at all.

But that couldn’t be. There were traces. The note, for one. The faint scent of her still lingering in the room, for another.

Inside, my wolf howled with mourning. He still wasn’t speaking to me, though we had made progress in our relationship. Now, however, I felt us step backwards again.

Her first time leaving had been my fault, and this time felt like my fault as well.

If I had been more honest with my feelings…

Would that even have mattered though?

She had a child with someone else. Someone she was engaged to.

Standing in that doorway, I had no idea what to do, where to go. What was I supposed to do now?

A soft voice cleared her throat behind me. I turned to see a young woman in a lab coat. She was holding a piece of paper tightly folded as small as it could go.

“I’m sorry, Alpha,” she said.

“For what?” I asked.

She didn’t explain. She just shoved the folded paper at me and then ran away.

Confused, I watched her go for a moment. Then, I unfolded the paper.

It was documentation of test results.

A paternity test between Alice and me.

I had already seen this, hadn’t I?

Yet… looking down…

No. This one was very different.

My heart stopped, then picked up speed all at once.

Alice is my daughter.