<b>Julian’s </b>POV


    <b>I </b><b>was </b>surprised when <b>I </b>woke up <b>to </b>find my bed empty, and even more surprised when I came out of the


    <b>room </b><b>to </b>read a note on the table in themon area that Amber had already gone into <b>work</b>, starting <b>at </b>


    the clinic. She asked me to please watch Alice.


    The note was short and <b>to </b>the point, with no mention at all about what had happened between us the


    night before<b>. </b>


    While I was fully confident that Amber had thoroughly enjoyed herself, I wasn’t sure what could have


    changed for her<b>, </b>as she seemed to be running from it now.


    Did she regret what happened?


    Or was I thinking too much about this? Maybe she was just busy. We came to this pack to help with the clinics that were being overrun, after all. It made sense for her to bury herself into her work. She was also


    something of a workaholic most of the time.


    I knew that about her, so I couldn’t be mad. And I would stop specting aboutst night until I got the chance to speak to her face to face. Surely then, I’d be able to tell about the steps that had been made in


    <b>our </b>rtionship.


    <b>As </b>eager as I was to see those new steps in fruition, I could be patient. For Amber, I could wait.


    At least, that was what I told myself that morning.


    That evening, after she had texted to tell me she was workingte, I found it more difficult to be patient.


    She <b>didn’t </be home until after I had put Alice to bed and fell asleep on the couch waiting for her. She was gone before I woke up the next morning, still on the couch, but with a nket draped over me.


    By that evening, when she waste again, I was starting to worry about Alice. We ate pizza at the table, and though she seemed happy talking to me, I caught the way her gaze kept ncing to the side as if looking for her mom and wishing she was here.


    I felt the same.


    The next morning<b>, </b>nearing lunchtime, after still not seeing Amber at all, I put on Alice’s coat and my own, and we both went to the clinic. I was hoping <b>to </b>catch Amber to have lunch together, which at this point would have been better than the nothing Alice and I had been experiencing for the past day.


    As we walked into the clinic, I saw Amber in the hallway. For a moment, I thought she was speaking with <b>a </b>patient, but then my stomach dropped. That man was no patient, he was Rafael, the pack Alpha.


    Ugly jealousy reared its head within me, sending sharp ufortable vines coiling through my chest.


    Wildly, I wondered if this was the real reason Amber had been working so much. What if she only came here to spend time with Rafael?


    Furious, I wanted to confront them, but I couldn’t do that with Alice in tow, so instead I just stewed. At


    least until I saw a friendly face in the receptionist. Alice had bonded with her thest time we’d been at


    the clinic. The receptionist was a mother of four and a former professional nanny.


    Heading there, I asked if she could watch Alice for a moment while I surprised Amber. The receptionist


    seemed delighted, as did Alice. So leaving her there under the former nanny’s watchful eye, I returned to


    the hallway and to where Rafael and Amber were talking.


    Walking right up to them, I ignored Rafael entirely and said to Amber, “We need to talk.”


    Amber nced at me. “I don’t think we have anything to talk about. Besides, I’m already in a


    conversation.”


    I looked at Rafael then. “I need to talk with Amber. You don’t mind giving us a moment, do you?”


    Rafael’s jaw clenched as he openly red at me, indicating that, yeah, he very much did mind. But


    whether he would openly admit to that was another matter.


    As an Alpha, the idea of diplomacy was constantly beat into our heads. While some Alphas yearned for


    the days of old where wars and battles over territory ran rampant, the reality of today meant that peace


    talks and negotiations were king.


    The wars still happened, on asion, but they were not viewed in the same proud lens. Instead, the loss


    of life was frowned upon.


    For this reason, and maybe others, Rafael held his tongue. Instead, he looked at Amber.


    “It’s alright,” she said, after looking at me with some frustration. The feeling was mutual there. To Rafael, she continued, “Give us a minute please.”


    Rafael nodded then, though took the time to re at me before walking toward the front desk. I wasn’t happy with him saying hi to Alice, though Alice beamed upon seeing him.


    Damn it.


    “What’s this about, Julian?” Amber asked me, when Rafael was out of earshot. “I’m busy with the clinic.


    You see the waiting room. You know how crowded it is.”


    “You haven’t been <i>too </i>busy to talk to Rafael,” I said.


    “He’s the pack Alpha,” she replied. “I have to talk to him. It’s part of the job.”


    She was being defensive, but I supposed I could understand, since I was being aggressive to start with.


    I stopped, sighed, and ran a hand down my face.


    “If that’s all, I have to get back to work,” she said, and started to turn away from me.


    Immediately, I reached out, pping my hand on the wall in front of her. She red at me as she turned around to go the other way, but I pped my other hand on the wall on her other side, totally boxing her <ol><li>in. </li></ol>


    She pressed her back to the wall, keeping her hands at her sides while she looked up at me, annoyance in


    her face.


    Yet, under that annoyance was something else, something more raw. I couldn’t put a name on it though,


    not yet.


    “You are avoiding me,” I said.


    <b>“</b>I’m not,<i>” </i>she replied, but her eyes darted away.


    “Amber.”


    <b>“</b>Just leave it, Julian.”


    I had no idea what could have made her so cold to me so quickly. The only thing that had happened was


    something that should have brought us closer together. Unless…


    The realization made my heart clench. “Is this about the other night?”


    Her eyes found their way back to me, and for a moment, I started to think whatever this fear was in her,


    we could work it out. That night didn’t have to be something to be afraid of. It was passion and love and


    “That night was a mistake,” Amber said.


    The words were a knife through my heart.


    Rafael’s POV


    While I enjoyed seeing Alice and talking with her, my eyes were consistently drawn back to the hallway where Julian and Amber were talking.


    I hadn’t thought much of the way he shouldered his way into our conversation, and now, watching them,


    I thought even less about the way he seemed to be treating Amber.


    He was being way too domineering in the way he was treating Amber, boxing her in like that. Even the slight blush on her cheeks was not enough to stop the growl rising in my throat.


    He had no right to treat her that way.


    She deserved better.


    –