<b>Chapter </b><b>192 </b>


    Amber’s POV


    Seeing Roman again did something to me. I couldn’t really exin it. Yes, I was still furious at him for lying about being my fiancé, but we had so much history that I should have been able to put that aside to remember our friendship.


    Yet, maybe it had been because of the surprise of the situation, but I hadn’t handled it well. Seeing him had unlocked something within me, a kind of nervousness, like a memory of a past I was trying to move


    on from.


    We had a lot of history, and not all of it was bad. But I felt almost like a different person back then. Being


    confronted by him was like being confronted by that person that I used to be.


    I wasn’t ready to deal with that. Though I did regret being so standoffish from a friend. Even Julian’s reassurances hadn’t helped me feel like I’d been anything but an ass to Roman. Reasonable or no, he had


    still saved my life all those years ago. He still deserved more than my cold shoulder.


    So when he showed up at the clinic the next day under the guise of needing a physical, I didn’t turn him away. I knew his story was unlikely. He was the Alpha of his own pack, and that pack was not on my list


    of ces that needed my help. He had plenty of doctors and facilities there. If he truly needed a physical,


    he could have gotten one before he left toe to Rafael’s pack to visit.


    He was clearly just trying to see me, and perhaps get into my good graces. Still, even understanding the


    ruse<b>, </b>I allowed it, leading him back to one of the examination rooms.


    “I’m sorry about yesterday,” Roman said when he sat down on the examination table. I stood beside him with my clipboard and his folder. Technically, he was a new patient. As he hadn’t brought any records over from his pack, we had to start fresh. “It must have been surprising to see me so quickly. I wanted to


    take things slower but…”


    I waited for him to finish. When he didn’t, I prompted, “But?”


    Roman cleared his throat as he looked down at his hands. “Rafael thought it would be better to surprise


    you. He was very convincing.” He looked up at me again. “Is it true he’s your brother?”


    “We’re testing that,” I said. “We don’t know for sure.”


    He nods, an understanding look crossing his face. “It would be good for you to have some family. I never wanted you to be alone, Amber. You and Alice.”


    “I know that,” I said. At this point, I was using the clipboard as a shield. Studying it and its empty lines and checkboxes was easier than looking at Roman’s face.


    “I was hoping… Well, you know that I will always be here for you, don’t you?” Roman asked. “Even after all this time, I am still your friend. At least, I think so… Do you?<b>” </b>


    +15 <b>BONUS </b>


    I felt a little like he was putting me on the post, especially when he was supposed to be here for a physical. I knew from the start that had been a lie, but now, I lowered the clipboard to confront him with that knowledge.


    Put him on the spot for a change. “You don’t really need a physical, do you?” I asked.


    He lowered his head again. His shoulders slouched slightly, like a child who had been properly scolded.


    <b>“</b><b>No</b>,” he admitted. “I was just hoping to talk to you. With the way you disappearedst night, I wasn’t sure if you’d want to just talk to me face to face. Though, I understand why you reacted why you did. Last time we split ways, I wasn’t exactly kind to you. I’d wanted to protect you but I hurt you instead.”


    “You told everyone we were engaged,” I said. “We weren’t. We aren’t. We’ve never been.”


    “I know. I’m sorry, Amber. Truly. If I knew it would hurt you…”


    He did know. He had to. After all, he had asked me and I said no. Yet he had still pushed forward with the lie, taking my own decisions out of my hands. He’d always been like this, assuming he knew what was


    best for me even more than I did.


    There was a time where I had been grateful for it. After the ne ident, I had been so lost and so confused, I had needed a hero to swoop in and help make the decisions.


    But not anymore. While I was grateful for his actions of the past, he couldn’t keep acting like I was a


    damsel and only he could save me.


    “I’m sorry, Amber,” he said again. Looking up, I could see the sincerity in his eyes as he looked at me. He truly seemed to want to fix things. “Can we start over? Can we be friends again?<b>” </b>


    “Roman,” I said. I searched my heart for what I wanted, what I felt, and I knew, “We are still friends.”


    Roman smiled then, and I felt a bit of relief myself. At least, I did, for a moment. Then Roman flicked his


    eyes downward, ncing over my body.


    <b>It </b>was a lightning fast look,sting only a blink before his gaze returned to my face. But I had seen it as clearly as I had seen anything.


    He had checked me out.


    And I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, this man wanted to be more than friends.


    Julian’s POV


    With Alice at the tutor’s again and my Beta running things sessfully back home, I had nothing to do and nowhere to go. Normally, this wouldn’t bother me as much as it did right at this moment. But after the ambushst night, I was feeling restless.


    I couldn’t just sit around aimless at the hotel. Even a walk wasn’t going to be enough to satisfy me.


    So instead, I made my way to the gym to work out some of this aggressive energy.


    Ever since Roman appeared, I’d been filled with a strange kind of possessive rage. No, it had existed


    before Roman too. When I had thought Rafael was a threat interested romantically in Amber, I had been no less enraged.


    Now, in the gym, I walked right to the punching bag and worked out some of my anger. I threw punch


    after punch, not stopping for a long while, not even as my muscles strained and I grew sweaty. The punch


    bag began to creak precariously, and as I ripped the bag with my knuckle, I finally stopped.


    I cursed, then pushed my fingers through my sweat–damp hair. “What the hell is wrong with me?” <b>I </b>


    cursed under my breath.


    A patron who had been watching me for a while approached then.


    “Forgive the intrusion,” the man said, “But uh… I’ve seen something like this before…”


    <b>“</b>You have?” I asked, looking at him with urgency. He was an older man, his gray hair and wrinkles speaking of his experience. “Do you know why I feel this way<b>?</b><b>” </b>


    “This ragees from a strain in your mating bond,” the man said. He nodded, certain. “The only way to fix it is to reestablish the mating bond.”


    <b>“</b>You mean<b>…</b><b>?</b><b>” </b>


    “Yes,” he said. “You have to bite your mate again.”