Julian’s POV


    I knew my family didn’t want me to tell Mom the truth about Olivia and Amber, but the more I thought about it, the more I disliked the secrets. Yes, I knew Mom preferred Olivia, mostly since she didn’t really


    know Amber. This had been my fault for keeping Amber secret for so long.


    But as I was resolved to fix things with Amber, that meant making sure everyone else knew of her ce


    in my life now. Even my mother.


    I didn’t want to upset her, but I was sure that if I came upon the topic gently, that she would be able to understand. If she could ept it, I would love for her to actually meet Amber and Alice before the end,


    while she still had the chance.


    So I went into her room. Tony was already there, but I joined them, sitting on the other side of Mom. She


    `was awake and talking, but whatever they had been talking about ended abruptly as Mom saw me. It was


    like she lost her previous train of thought as she took me in instead.


    “There’s my son,” she said with pride.


    “Hi, Mom,” I told her as I took my seat. “How are you feeling now?<i>” </i>


    “Very good,<i>” </i>she said. “Better, seeing you. Before you came to see me here, you were gone so long. It’s not


    good for the pack for you to be gone so long.”


    “I know,” <b>I </b>told her. “But it was necessary. I had to take care of some things. Some personal things.”


    Mom’s brows started to raise. “Oh? What kind of things?”


    “<b>I</b><b>, </b>uh, had to get my mate back,” I said.


    Tony shot me a warning re from behind Mom’s shoulder.


    I ignored him.


    “Do <b>you </b>remember Amber<b>…</b><b>?</b><b>” </b>I asked.


    Mom’s face went a little pale. “The famous Healer? What does she have to do with anything? When you


    were gone, you went to find Olivia, right? Is she here?”


    “No, Mom. I don’t think you understand.”


    As I tried to exin, my phone chimed with a text. I was feeling frustrated and unsure, so seeing the text was from Amber, I thought it might calm me to see what she had to say. Plus, I was determined to absolutely never miss a message from her ever again. Not after what happened before.


    I was resolved not to take any more medicine, but it was still in my system, so I couldn’t take any


    chances. Our connection through the mating bond was presently unreliable.


    So even though I was in a serious conversation with Mom, I said, “Just a minute, I have to check this,”


    and opened the message.


    The message was confusing. It was just a bunch of numbers and… wait.


    It took a minute, but then I realized what this was. This was flight information.


    “Is everything alright, Julian?” Mom asked me. <fn60c8> Content originallyes from f?i?n?d?n?o?v?e?l?</fn60c8>


    “I’m sorry,” I said. “I just have to make a call really quickly.”


    I stood up in a hurry and stepped into the hallway, pressing call on my phone before I was even fully


    outside the room.


    Amber had a smile in her voice as she answered, “Are you surprised?”


    “I don’t understand<i>,</i>” I said. Though I had some suspicions what this could mean, I was afraid to hope too


    much, only to find out that it wasn’t what I thought and be disappointed.


    “Alice and I are going toe visit,<i>” </i>she said, then paused. When she came back, her voice was less


    bright, more unsure, “If that’s okay<b>.</b><b>” </b>


    “Of course it’s okay,” I told her. Some of the weight I’d been dragging around immediately felt lighter. “I


    miss you and Alice so much, it would be great to see you.”


    “It’s not too soon?” Amber asked, still uncertain.


    “It’s not,” I told her. The details said they’d be herete tomorrow. “Honestly, it can’te fast enough.”