<b>+15 </b><b>BONUS </b>
<b>Chapter </b><b>216 </b>
Amber’s POV
I didn’t sleep the night after Julian left. With him here, I hadn’t realized how safe I felt and <b>had </b><b>taken </b><b>that </b>
. </b>I was jumping <b>at </b>shadows,
worried that if I needed someone, everyone would be too far away to help me.
The depression that seemed to hang over Alice like a stormy raincloud hadn’t helped matters.
I’d made her go to the airport to watch Julian’s ne leave, though she didn’t talk to him and mostly just
cried. She cried most of yesterday<b>, </b><b>so </b>much, I didn’t make her go to her tutor’s.
I tried tofort her myself, even heating up her favorite meal. She ate it, but seemed no happy by any <b>of </b>
my efforts. Nor by her favorite tv shows, or her favorite toys.
When I told her, <b>“</b>Julian will be back soon,” she replied with a quick, “I don’t care if he is.”
That was a clear lie, spoken in a shaky voice.
“It’s okay to be mad at him for leaving,” I told her. “But it’s also okay to forgive him for having to go. If I
was sick, wouldn’t you want toe see me?”
She frowned deeply. “Then why aren’t we there?”
I lowered my head. “I have very important work here.”
Alice frowned deeper. The way she looked at me struck me more than any words she had said to this point. Realizing what I had said to earn that look, I understood.
I had just admitted fault.
We weren’t with Julian because I had deemed work more important.
Hopefully, someday, she would understand. <b>My </b>work was important, and because of my actions here, lives were being saved. She couldn’t see that now, but someday, hopefully, she could see. She could
understand.
After taking Alice <i>to </i>the tutors that morning, I went to the clinic to try to bury myself at work. Every morning, first thing, especially when I got there before anyone else, even Gail, I would take a moment to make coffee and sit at my desk to read the newspaper that was delivered to the clinic door every morning.
This morning, after making the coffee and pouring a cup, I sat down at my desk, <b>lifted </b>the <b>newspaper</b><b>, </b>
and then <b>froze</b>.
The headline across the front page read, TEST RESULTS REVEAL HEALER AMBER <b>AS </b>ALPHA RAFAEL’S
SISTER.
<b>1/4 </b>
My stomach dropped.
Immediately, I picked up my phone and dialed Rafael.
As he answered, he didn’t even greet me. Instead, he just said, “Where are you? I’m sending a car to get you.”
<b>“</b>I’m at the clinic.”
“Alice is at the tutor’s?” Rafael asked.
“Yes.”
“She should be safe there. We need to get you here though, and out of the public eye.”
“But my work…”
“Can wait,” Rafael said. “We need to n how to weather this, Amber.”
My work couldn’t wait, not really. After all, wasn’t that the reason I was here, and not where Julian was?
Yet, I could also sense the truth in Rafael’s words too.
We’d nned to keep the news a secret. For it to be out like this meant that it had been leaked. We hadn’t had time to get ahead of the story. I didn’t have a clue what I was supposed to say if the reporters showed up here.
<i>“</i>Okay,” I said.
In the background of the call, I could hear Mary screeching. “Why are you bringing her here? This is her fault! You should send her to jail! Or exile!”
“I’ll calm her down before you get here,” Rafael said like a promise, then hung up.
Of course Mary would think I was responsible for this. She’d been wanting to me me for everything from the start. She probably thought I orchestrated this whole thing so my birthright would be more difficult to exin away.
Gods, what a mess.
And I had no idea how to fix it.
Julian’s POV
In my mother’s hospital bed, Mom rested peacefully. The television was on, but it was some terrible reality television show. Since Mom was passed out, I grabbed the remote and switched over to the news.
Seeing the day’s top headline, my stomach dropped.
Amber was Rafael’s true sister? It had been confirmed?
<b>+15 </b><b>BONUS </b>
My stomach twisted. Why hadn’t she told me about this? How long had she known<b>? </b>
Grabbing my phone, I dialed her number, but after a few rings, it went <b>to </b>voicemail.
Again I tried, but with the same result. Voicemail.
“Hey, it’s me. I just saw the news… Call me if you need me, okay<b>?</b><b>” </b>I didn’t know what else <b>to </b><b>say</b>, so I hung up. But for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why she didn’t tell me about this.
I was about to try a third time, when Mom started to stir. Tucking my phone away, I clicked off the television and focused on her.
I’d been here a little while, but she spent most of that time sleeping. I wasn’t sure that she fully understood I was even here at all.
She looked so different from thest time I had seen her, even a few weeks ago. Whatever this illness was that was iming her, it was doing so quickly.
She was thin, her cheeks sallow. Her eyes seemed a little ssy as she turned and focused on me.
<b>“</b>Julian?”
“It’s me,” I told her gently. Without the pills in my system, it was easier to smile. But, the pain of this moment I felt just as distinctly.
We both knew she was dying, and our time together was finite. It made every second special, and every square inch of my chest ache with the pain of a loss I hadn’t experienced yet.
Mom looked around. “Where’s your
wife?”
I blinked, confused. She’d never met Amber, which was a great regret of mine. As I’d kept Amber a secret,
I never introduced Mom to Amber or vice versa. If <b>I </b>could go back in time…
But no. That seemed strange now. With her fragile mentality, how could she be thinking of Amber at all? Someone that she had only learned about through news reporting?
Had Amber made a big enough impression on Mom even in print, or…
Oh. Oh, no. She wasn’t talking about Amber at all.
Mom’s weary eyes met mine. “Didn’t you bring Olivia with you?”
Olivia’s POV
I knew crossing back into Julian’s packnds was a dangerous risk, but it was one I <b>had </b><b>to </b><b>take</b>. <b>I’d </b><b>run </b>out of my own money and had nothing left. The only people <b>I </b>could <b>hope </b><b>to </b><b>go </b><b>to </b><b><i>for </i></b><b>sanctuary </b><b>were </b><b>my </b>own parents.
They’d always adored me when I had an important <b>member </b><b>of </b><b>society</b>. <b>They’d </b><b>had </b><b>big </b><b>ns </b><b><i>for </i></b>me<b>, </b>but
surely they could see even now, those ns could stille to fruition.
<b>I </b>just needed money and a goodwyer. Then I could prove to everyone that I was still <b>worth </b>of being <b>a </b>member of this pack. And if I could convince Julian too…
I could still be Luna. I could still make their dream for me, as well as my dream for myself<b>, </b><be </b><b>true</b><b>, </b>
I just needed their help.
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