Chapter 60

Amber’s POV

As expected of an Alpha, Julian was a fast learner and in no time at all, had learned to be a good assistant. He even befriended Carla, shadowing her for a while to learn the in’s and out’s of what she did.

For a few days, he proved himself, as he claimed, to be a dutiful assistant. Every night after work though, he would ask, “Can I see Alice tonight?”

Every night, I would think up an excuse, still worried about getting the two of them together.

“She has homework,” I said tonight, an excuse I had already used twice before this week.

As his face darkened somewhat, I knew he was tired of hearing it.

“I’ll only stay for a few minutes. Just to see her and say hi,” he said.

Even that made me anxious. Knowing he planned on making her his heir, what if he snatched her when my back was turned and left for the capital. What if I was never able to get her back?

Perhaps my worries were unjustified. Perhaps my fears were making me think of worst case scenarios.

Julian had been nothing but kind to Alice since knowing her, even before learning she was his child. I knew he wouldn’t hurt her.

But… I also knew he wanted to raise her in Thorn pack. When pushed, I didn’t know how far he would go to see that happen.

“Maybe tomorrow,” I said, but was already thinking of ways to keep them apart.

My ultimate plan was to convince Julian Alice was better off with me in this rural little pack. I knew he had to spend time with her to see how well she was doing. But my fears were at war with my logical sense.

I felt like I was holding onto sand, trying to keep control of everything. And with sand, the tighter you held it, the more you would lose.

“Tomorrow,” he said. “She is my daughter, Amber.”

“Tomorrow,” I assured him.

After he left, my heart was heavy. Maybe if I brought Alice to the clinic and let them interact here, that would put me more at ease. This felt like my home turf, and I was more comfortable here. Especially if I ask Anna to cover the door.

When I went home that night, Alice asked me about Julian again, just as she had every night since we went out.

“You said I’d see him again,” she said. “When, Mommy? When?”

“Soon,” I told her. “Maybe tomorrow at the clinic.”

Alice pouted and dashed from the room. I knew she was upset, but considered the matter settled.

Still, I didn’t like the thought of her being unhappy with me. I paced, trying to think of ways to make this up to her. At 6, she couldn’t possibly understand all the dynamics at play here. To her, the only thing I was doing was keeping her away from the man she thought of as her dad.

Maybe I could make her favorite dinner as an offering of sorts?

As I was debating, Alice remerged from her room.

“Mom,” she said. “I want to go get ice cream.”

I thought of saying no. After all, she should at least wait until after dinner. But I was so eager to make this up to her, so eager to fix this small rift between us, that I decided to spoil her.

“Alright,” I said. “Let’s get some ice cream.”

She beamed.

In the car, she directed me, not to the ice cream shop that was closest to us, but to the one shaped like an ice cream cone that was nearer the shopping center… and the only hotel in town, where Julian had to be staying.

Hopefully he wouldn’t see us. Maybe if we ate in the car?

Yet as I parked and we approached the cone-shaped building, my stomach twisted. Julian was already here.

“Dad!” Alice shouted and ran to him for another hug.

“Thank you for the invite,” he said to her, then turned his smile up to me. “It was a nice surprise.”

The… invite?

Alice glanced back at me, then quickly away, looking guilty. A certain someone must have gone behind my back to see Julian. I was annoyed by this, but I could recognize my own part in it. By forcing them apart, I was only making Alice more curious.

For now, I supposed the damage was done. As long as I stayed close to Alice, I was sure I could stop Julian from stealing her away if he tried.

“My treat,” Julian said, righting himself. “What do you want, Alice?”

“Chocolate fudge sundae!” she said brightly. She must have realized I was going to let her get away with what she’d done, and I was… at least, for now.

Julian looked at me. “And Amber?”

I startled slightly, surprised to be included.

“I… uh…”

“Chocolate cone with extra sprinkles?” he asked, remembering the way I had ordered ice cream when we’d gone out once, long ago, before we’d even been married.

How could he remember that?

Despite my best efforts to keep my heart guarded and my feelings cold toward him, I warmed somewhat.

“Yes, that would be fine. Thank you,” I said.

Julian went to order our ice cream, while Alice and I found a table.

“You are in trouble for this, young lady,” I said.

“Okay,” she said, still smiling, with not a lick of remorse in sight.

“Later,” I added with a sigh.

After a few moments, Julian returned with the ice cream.

The extra sprinkles on mine added that extra kick of sugar that I so rarely allowed myself to indulge in, but what I could easily become addicted to if I wasn’t careful.

Before long, Julian had made Alice laugh, and for a moment, if I had forgotten who we were and all the complications between us, I might have thought we were a happy little family on an ice cream outing.

The sunlight warmed Julian’s handsome forehead and his clear, blue eyes, reminding me of the ocean, a warm ocean. He looked at me, and I couldn’t help but shiver all over.

Quickly, I masked it. But his gaze didn’t waver.

“Amber…” His deep voice was magnetic.

I hurriedly said, “Let’s talk about work.”

He paused for a moment.

Julian started talking about the project, explaining to Alice some of what I already told her – that during her upcoming summer break, we would go around to a bunch of different packs and help treat sick children. Alice was more excited when Julian told her than when I did, because I had left out the part about Julian coming with us.

Honestly, I still thought he might back out. Even with all the training he had been diligently taking part in.

With how excited Alice was now, I hoped he was genuine. It would hurt her greatly if he bailed on her after telling her he would come.

I still wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to happen.

The rest of the snack went fine. I grew nervous as it came to say goodbye, but Julian and Alice simply hugged. Then Julian let her go and Alice came to stand beside me.

“Goodbye, Dad!” Alice called. I didn’t correct her.

Julian smiled. “Goodnight, Alice. Amber.”

Then we parted ways.

That things went so well helped fill me with some measure of hope. I still was distrustful of Julian’s plans for Alice’s future, but thoughts of him simply stealing her away like some cartoon villain did slowly ebb from my mind.

I wasn’t ready to trust him, but I was actually starting to look forward to this project.

Yet, that morning, as I walked out of my office to greet my first patient of the day, I froze in place.

Olivia was sitting in the waiting room.