Betrayal sliced through me, though didn’t that make me the worst kind of hypocrite? I wanted to be mad at Amber for cheating, yet I was the one who had drunkenly gotten Olivia pregnant. I was the one who kept her at my side even when I did not love her.


    How could I be made at Amber?


    “Because she is ours…” My wolf whispered, his first words to me in a very long time. Yet, when I reached out to him for more, he stubbornly refused to answer.


    For the rest of the day, I tried to push these thoughts to the back of my mind. Above everything else, I was a professional, and I could focus on my Alpha duties without getting distracted by thoughts of my personal life.


    At least, in theory that was true. In practice, it proved to be much more difficult.


    Still, I was proud at how well I was keeping things together – right up until I overheard a pair of Gammas talking about Healer Amanda.


    “Yes, she has a big reputation, but is she truly doing enough to justify her standing at the hospital?”


    “I’ve heard she rarely actually sees her patients, and that she can be moody, canceling appointments without much thought…”


    Hadn’t Oliviained to me about something like that recently…? Maybe there was some truth to it then.


    It couldn’t be that I was just more willing to ept criticism about Amber because I was so furious with her. I would never be that petty.


    My duty as Alpha was to ensure that all of my pack members were well–cared for. If Healer Amanda … Amber was shrinking on her responsibilities, then I needed to look into it.


    This was how I ended up at the hospitalter that day, walking straight into Amber’s office. She was sitting at her desk, not with a patient. This only gave more evidence to the rumors.


    Amber looked at me. “Is there something I can help you with, Julian?” she asked, keeping her voice level and professional. It made sense, we were at her work ce.


    Or she was hiding something.


    “I’ve heard rumors that you’ve been cancelling appointments without any cause or notice,” I said. “There’s always cause,” she said.


    She wasn’t denying the canctions, just the reasoning. I frowned at her.


    “I hardly see any reason that a patient should be put off when they are in their time of need,” I said. <b>“</b><b>It </b>seems to me that you being fickle, using your power to y like a god, instead of respecting the vows you took to help all peoples.”


    “You really believe that?” she asked. Her eyes narrowed. “Or are those Olivia’s words?”


    Maybe they were Olivia’s words, but that hardly mattered right now, did it? Who cared who said them originally if they were true?


    “Do you deny them?” I asked. “You just admitted to canceling on your patients, don’t forget.”


    “I never cancel an emergency,” Amber said. “I only ever cancel on those who disrespect me right to my face. I have tremendous patience, Julian, but refuse to be disrespected by anyone. Not anymore.”


    “What is that supposed to mean?” I pressed, sensing that was a slight against me. Not anymore, like I had been the one disrespecting her in the past


    I shouldn’t have had to remind her that while I might have had a drunken mistake with Olivia, she was the one who had been actively cheating with Roman.


    Amber held my gaze, and the air felt charged between us.


    “So Roman treats you right, does he?” I asked before I could stop myself.


    Amber’s retort came just as quickly, just as barbed. ‘Why don’t you just stay with Olivia?”