Chapter 58

Julian’s POV

Alice’s question filled me with the kind of joy and pride that made me puff out my chest a little. Of course Alice’s friends would think that her mother and I were a couple, we were still married after all. We also were Alice’s legitimate parents.

As for when we were going to get married… Well, we already were.

Alice clearly didn’t know that, and right here in this park did not seem like the time to tell her.

Amber had kept Alice in the dark on so many things, it seemed. That Amber and I were married, that I was Alice’s real father, that she could so easily be next in line to rule the Thorn pack.

I wasn’t pleased Amber had kept these secrets, but I could understand why she would. Out of fear of abandonment, I suspected. Why lift up Alice’s hopes just to watch them fall?

But I made an inward vow to both Amber and to Alice. Neither would be left behind again. Alice would be my daughter in every way. I wouldn’t keep her in the shadows as I had my marriage to Amber.

Perhaps Amber just needed proof that I was being genuine. But that made her reaction to my future plans all the more confusing.

I had thought she would be pleased that I intended to take Alice under my wing. Why did she look like I had given her the worst news imaginable?

Surely she should be joyous? After all, Thorn pack was so much more advanced than this rural wilderness. Yes, the trees and nature called to my wolf, but technologically, it was so far behind.

Alice deserved to be raised as the daughter of a prosperous pack Alpha should, with all the benefits that title would provide her. And here I was, offering that.

So why did she seem so distressed?

“No, honey,” Amber said softly. “Julian and I are just friends…”

The words cut into me more than I would have expected. Inside of me, my wolf whined anxiously.

Just friends? We were married!

Still, I held my tongue. For now, I would follow Amber’s lead on Alice. Soon though, we would tell her the truth and I would start to take a more proactive role in her care.

“Aww,” Alice said, pouting. She was immediately distracted though, when her friends called her name, beckoning her back to the playground.

When she was gone, Amber lowered her head. There was a delectable blush to her cheeks that enthralled me somewhat. How many times in the past had I prided myself on making her blush like that? It felt like a different lifetime now.

“I’m sorry about that,” she said.

Again, I was confused. Amber and I did not seem to be on the same page about anything anymore.

Maybe we never had been.

Even when we had been together initially, it was like we were talking but having two very different conversations at once. In all this time, that didn’t seem to have changed.

Yet, in the past, when I would have just given up and walked away. Now, I found myself wanting to understand her side of things.

In walking away before, I had only ever made things worse between us, creating a rift that had led to her keeping the existence of my child from me. I didn’t want to make those same mistakes again.

I didn’t want to push either Amber or Alice away.

What I wanted was to have my family back with me.

There were complications of course. Olivia being one of the big ones. And Roman, though he admitted publically his engagement to Amber was a misunderstanding.

But even with these complications, Amber should be able to see that the best way for us to be was all together. It made the most logical sense.

“Why should you be sorry?” I asked.

“Alice gets these big ideas in her head.”

“But… this one just happens to be true,” I said. “We are still married.”

She looked at me sharply, as her voice too took on an edge. “Only because you haven’t signed the divorce papers.”

“Why should we get divorced?” I asked. “Now that we have Alice –”

“Why would we teach Alice that marriage without love is acceptable?” she asked, her brow scrunched, her voice filled with disbelief. “I wouldn’t want her to end up in a marriage like ours.”

Cut after cut dug into me. Did she even realize what she was saying?

“It doesn’t have to be so dire,” I said.

She scoffed as she shook her head. “What about Olivia? She’s your fated mate, isn’t she? And I cured her infertility. Are you two having children yet?”

“It’s not like that,” I said. “You are attempting to simply everything.”

“Things are simple, Julian. We’ve both moved on.”

Jealousy seared through me, hot and bright. She’d moved on? With whom? Roman?

“I think we’ve had enough for today,” she said and stood. “I’m going to take Alice home.”

“Now, wait a minute,” I said, standing with her. Before she could walk away from me, I grabbed her arm, keeping her near me. I was careful to keep my hold light though, not wanting to hurt her. “We need to talk about this, and the future. Alice is my daughter, and that means –”

“We can talk visitation,” she said. “But if you think for one minute that I’m going to let you steal custody of my daughter, then know that you have a fight on your hands.”

Perhaps a remnant of the jealousy, anger rose within me next. “She is the heir of the Thorn pack. You cannot deny her that birthright!”

“She deserves to be raised in a loving home!”

“And you think I can’t give her that?” I demanded.

She looked me right in the eye and said, “No. I don’t. I’m not sure you even know what love is, Julian.”

In my shock, I let her go. She stormed forward, calling for Alice, and then led Alice off the playground, away from me.

I could hear my daughter. “I want to say goodbye to Julian!”

Amber replied, “You’ll see him again.”

That was the only thing that gave me comfort. Amber wasn’t fleeing with my child again, she was just creating space.

Amber had thrown that insult, primed to hurt. Of course I knew what love was…

Didn’t I?

I was furious, but I didn’t want Alice or the other children to see, nor did I really want to take it out on Amber. So I walked towards the woods, shifted, and let my wolf run off the aggression and the pain.

When I finally returned to my hotel, it was dark outside. I walked into my room, ready to head to the shower, when I noticed my phone still on the charger.

I had been so excited earlier to meet with Alice and Amber that I had forgotten all about it.

Checking the screen, I saw 15 missed calls from Olivia.

I sighed. I thought of ignoring her, but with so many calls, it could be an emergency. So I called her.

She picked up right away.

“There you are, darling,” she said.

I’d asked her not to call me that so many times, but it never mattered. “You called?”

“I was hoping I could come visit you…” she said.

“Don’t,” I said at once, with some guilt. I hadn’t been truthful with Olivia about where I’d gone.

The past few months had been something of a chore. Olivia hadn’t been happy with my many trips, my secret efforts to find Amber and Alice, nor had she been pleased by my overall distance, both physically and mentally.

She could have children now, and wanted to have children with me. But I’d had no interest in sleeping with her, or truly, in pursuing her at all.

All I’d been able to think about was Amber and Alice.

“That isn’t a good idea,” I told her. “Just stay in Thorn pack. I’ll be back soon.”

Olivia’s POV

On the phone of the screen, Olivia could see exactly where Julian was. She had turned on tracking to his phone without his knowledge. It infuriated her that he wasn’t where he told her he was going to be.

But she would have the last laugh.

“That’s fine, darling,” she said. “But I have a surprise for you… You’ll just have to wait and see…”