Chapter 71

Amber’s POV

“He was in some kind of a rage,” Chase said. “I didn’t even see the punch coming really. He moved so fast it was like a blur. One minute we were talking, and in the next I was on the ground with this.” He gestured toward his bruised up face.

Reaching up, I did what I could to clean the broken parts of skin. I did have some ointment that helped treat bruises, though it was tucked away in a different room storage closet. Most werewolves didn’t suffer bruises or cuts for very long, as most of them had high healing factors.

Chase, it seemed, was an exception, but that was all tied to his heart condition.

“You have to watch out for those Alphas,” Chase said. “When they go off the handle, they really go off. And it hurt too. Still does.”

“You are lucky you didn’t hit your head when you fell,” I said.

“Yeah,” he said. “I would have been luckier if I didn’t meet Julian at all in that parking lot.”

I considered his words as a growing darkness opened up in the pit of my stomach. “Are you sure it was Julian?”

Julian and I had been through a lot. We had our own share of problems. But I’d never known him to be overly violent. He did what he had to do, of course, as Alpha of the pack. Yet I’d never seen him lose control of his anger. I’d been told that even in combat, he maintained a steely persona.

So I found it very difficult to believe that Julian would attack a man in a darkened parking lot that he knew to be sick.

“I thought you might not believe me,” Chase said. He shrugged like he didn’t take that personally. “Who would? He’s an Alpha, who am I?”

“It’s not like that,” I said. Julian wasn’t a stranger. I felt like I knew the kind of man he was, cool and strong, not one to lose himself to his base feelings. At least, not outside of the bedroom. The thought made me blush a moment, but I quickly shook it away. Now was not the time for those thoughts.

“I can prove it,” Chase said. “I thought I might need proof in case anything came up in the future. I don’t want to think our Alpha would turn against me over something so petty, but a regular wolf like me needs to protect himself, right?”

Chase pulled his phone from his pocket, then scrolled to something in his gallery. When he found what he was looking for, he turned the screen to me.

On it was a video. Black and white, crude, it looked like security footage.

“I asked the woman in the hotel office for my own copy of the feed from the camera, just to keep safe,” Chase said. “Not that I think Alpha Julian will make it go missing…”

He let the words hang between us.

The footage showed the parking lot. That was definitely Julian talking with Chase. There was no audio to the video, so I couldn’t hear what had been said. Chase and Julian were having some kind of conversation…

I wished I could hear what was being said. Julian’s body language was growing more and more tense.

Then, like a flash, Julian shot forward, fist first. I blinked and Chase was on the ground.

There could be no mistaking this then, I realized, with that pit in my stomach growing bigger.

Julian had succumbed to his Alpha rage and attacked Chase.

“Honestly, I should have seen it coming,” Chase said. “There’s been rumors about Julian for years.”

At the end of the footage, Olivia appeared, reaching for Julian. That was where the video cut off.

What had Olivia been doing there? Why was she reaching for Julian?

I shook the thoughts away, trying to focus again on what Chase was saying.

“What rumors?” I asked. I didn’t remember hearing any rumors, but then, even when I’d been a member of the pack, I hadn’t been invited to any of the high society events. In public, I wasn’t really supposed to let anyone know my connections to Julian.

“Behind closed doors, he’s quick to violence,” Chase said. “I wasn’t sure I believed it until now. But it’s what everyone says. Many of the social elites are terrified of the man. They are so scared that… they don’t let Julian around their children, worried he might hit them too.”

I drew my brow together in confusion. Even after seeing this video, I couldn’t imagine the Julian I knew attacking children.

That had to be a mistake of some kind. Maybe Chase didn’t remember the rumors correctly, or perhaps the rumors themselves were based on some kind of misinformation.

Still… if he was the kind to be quick to anger… maybe I shouldn’t let him spend so much time with Alice…

“Be careful around him, Amber,” Chase said. It would have made me laugh if it wasn’t so serious. Julian had given me the same warning about Chase.

“Stay still and let me treat you,” I said. Chase dutifully froze. I dabbed at his wound and did my best to take away the pain from such a nasty-looking bruise.

I needed more time with Chase’s test results, so after doing my best for his bruises, I sent him on his way, asking him to return tomorrow.

Once he was gone, I sought out Julian and found him working in one of the offices, typing away at the computer. He stopped when he saw me standing in the doorway.

On reflex, I looked at his knuckles. He had used that hand to give Chase such an unpleasant wound, yet he showed no signs of what happened. Julian’s skin wasn’t even red. As an Alpha, his healing factor was better than most.

I was glad he wasn’t hurt, but when I thought of the lingering wound he’d given to Chase…

When I remembered what Chase said about the rumors…

“What’s wrong?” he asked me, looking up at me from his chair.

I decided to push a little, to see if Julian’s temper was that volatile. “Chase was just here…”

Julian was on his feet in an instant. “Did he do something?”

“No,” I said quickly. “It was just his usual checkup.”

Julian shook his head, anger sparking in his eyes. “He’s up to something, Amber. He’s going to try to weasel his way into your life.”

“I don’t think he’s –”

“I need you to trust me on this,” Julian said, snapping at me. “He’s not a good person. Keep your distance from him.”

I stilled, watching him for a moment. Then I spoke, slowly and clearly. I didn’t want there to be any kind of misunderstanding with what I was about to say.

“I can take care of myself, Julian. I don’t need you to tell me these things.”

“Not with him, Amber. He’s a vile snake and he –”

“He is my patient,” I said. “He has a disease and he needs my help. Whatever this is with you, I need you to back off of it.”

Julian straightened. “I’m warning you, Amber. He’s not –”

“I think I’ve heard enough,” I said. “Those dinner plans we had for tonight? Consider them canceled.”

His angry features immediately smoothed out with surprise. “What? Why?”

Whatever was going on with him, I couldn’t let him near Alice while he was quick to anger like he was. If this was a temporary thing or a long-term issue, I’d have to find out. For now, I wanted space.

“Just stay away from us for a while,” I said.