? 50%


    Julian’s POV


    Amber let out a loud scoff, “The pack needs me? Julian, I’m nobody to your pack. You’ve never made me public.”


    She refused, hard. “No, I’m not going to throw my life away to be your housewife again. Don’t you need to go take care of your


    Luna, anyway?”


    Amber turned to leave, and I stepped forward, ready to follow her. I wasn’t going to give up this easily. I’d grieved Amber for years.


    Now that I found her, I wasn’t going to let her go so easily.


    “Julian, if you keep harassing me, I will call the police,” Amber said, wielding her cellphone in my direction. “Try to keep what’s


    left of your dignity, Alpha.”


    Roman put his arm around Amber. Anger boiled inside me thinking of their rtionship. This other Alpha was with my chosen


    mate, my wife.


    It wasn’t fair.


    “Amber, let’s go home,” Roman said. She nodded, leaning ever so slightly into his body, as though she needed protection from <ol><li></li></ol>


    There was something in Roman’s voice as he spoke that didn’t seem quite sincere, though. As though his words were meant to


    barb me, to irritate me, instead of solely tofort her.


    Amber left with him anyway.


    I could only stand in the sunlight outside the auditorium, clenching my fists so hard they shook, and watch my wife walk away


    from me again.


    Amber’s POV


    I waited at the door for the Alice. I wanted to grab her and slip away before Julian could show up again. I couldn’t imagine what


    would happen if Julian ran into Alice.


    He would do the math, of course. He would figure out Alice was his – Julian had never been dumb, except when it came to his


    emotions and the feelings of others.


    When he figured it out, he might try to take Alice from me. His behavior was so erratic, he might even try to hurt her.


    I wouldn’t let that happen


    Alice ran towards me, her face full of joy. My heart broke for her. She deserved to feel happy without having to worry about Julian


    “He showed up! My new dad showed up and bought my painting!” Alice beamed, bouncing on her toes in excitement. “Now I can donate so much money to the orphanage!”


    12:36 PM Tue 26 Aug


    I knelt down so that I could talk to Alice face-to-face. “I know you’re excited, but you cannot talk to that man again. He’s


    dangerous, Alice.”


    Alice’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Mommy, he was really nice to me. I don’t think he would hurt me.”


    ? 50%


    “Alice, this isn’t an argument,” I said. I hated these moments, where I had to break Alice’s little bubble of innocence. “I need you


    to listen me, okay?”


    Alice’s face turned serious, and she pulled a little piece of paper out of her pocket. There was a phone number and an address


    written on it in blue pen.


    “You should talk to him, Mommy,” she said. “I want him to be my new daddy. He showed up when he said he would, and when he


    was here, the mean kids at school didn’t bully me at all.”


    I stroked Alice’s hair. My heart was now thoroughly pulverized.


    “What, you don’t want me to be your dad?” Roman teased.


    I’d forgotten he was here. While I appreciated all the help Roman had provided us with, I’d made it clear that we were only friends.


    It wasn’t his ce to ask my daughter if she wanted him to be her dad, because that wasn’t what I wanted, either.


    Irritation burned in my throat.


    “No,” Alice whined. “You’re not tall enough. You can’t lift me high enough to touch the ceiling.


    Roman’s smile froze. He didn’t say anything else, and I didn’t dare to speak. His usually gentle expression seemed to crack,


    revealing a hint of coldness.


    Julian’s POV


    “Beta,” I said as soon as I entered my office back at headquarters. “I need information on Amber Wood and Alpha Roman of Dawn


    Pack.”


    “With all due respect, Alpha,” Beta responded, speaking carefully, “isn’t Amber Wood dead? She has a plot in your private


    cemetery.”


    “There have been some changes in circumstance, Beta. Amber isn’t dead. I ran into her today.”


    I watched Beta’s face, knowing that what I was telling him shouldn’t be possible, but needing him to pretend it was nothing. I didn’t possess the ability to explore what her return meant to me yet, so all I could do was collect information on her.


    He took my words in stride, as though dead wives turned up alive everyday.


    “I’ll get to work immediately, Alpha,” Beta said, giving me a polite nod and heading off.


    Later that day, Beta returned. He told me that Amber’s name was in Dawn Pack’s hospital records along with work documentation. The dates were after the ne crash. She must have ended up in Dawn Pack after the crash somehow.


    She must have been treated there, then worked in Dawn Pack. I felt sad thinking of her working jobs at restaurants or shops while


    12:36 PM Tue 26 Aug


    she lived there. She deserved more. I could’ve given her more.


    It made sense, though, that she and Roman had met each other.


    ~ 50%


    She’de to Thorn Pack recently. Beta didn’t find any ne tickets under her name. Roman must have flown her over in his


    private jet.


    The more Beta told me about Amber’s whereabouts, the more jealous I became. Why would Amber do this to me?


    Why was my wife hiding from me in another pack for all these years, getting involved with another man?


    With another Alpha, at that?


    GET IT N…


    12:36 PM Tue 26 Aug