After putting Alice to bed, I met Julian back in the living room. It was surreal being in this house again, like returning to a past I thought had been long dead and buried. It must have been the environment, reminding me of the days when I thought we had been happy – before I really learned I was just some secret – but I felt my heart warming to Julian. <fn8f68> For original chapters go to FindN()vel</fn8f68>


    He was sitting on the couch with his arm stretched along the back of it. His eyes were hopeful as he


    asked me, “Sit with me?”


    Maybe I should have said no, but the good feelings from our reunion and the general vibes of this ce had me moving closer to him. I sank down beside him on the couch, and then leaned into him, pressing


    up against his side.


    ‘His arm fell down from the back of the couch and wrapped around my side instead. He held me tightly,


    and rather than push him away, I leaned closer, enjoying it.


    I knew all of this was bad, that I was sending mixed messages, and yet I couldn’t stop myself.


    I was like a fly, happily trapped in a spider’s web.


    Julian turned his head and ced a soft kiss to my temple. “I’m so d you are here.”


    “Me, too,” I said, realizing this was the first time I had truly been able to deeply rx like this. In Rafael’s


    pack, since my lineage leaked, everything had happened in kind of a whirlwind, and I’d been caught up


    in it while trying to keep Alice and me safe.


    I hadn’t even really had time to process the news. I wished I had more time to privately ept and


    understand the news before it had been made public. But I supposed that was what it meant to live in the


    public eye. There wasn’t much privacy about anything. Every bit moment in my life from now on, the


    good and the bad, would y out in front of a curious and eager public.


    As I was sitting there though, I realized that whatever I had been going through, Julian had been dealing


    with his own troubles.


    He’d been here, watching his mother die…


    “How is your mom?” I asked, hoping that wasn’t the kind of question that would lead Julian into darkness. I was opening the <i>door</i><i>, </i>offering to talk about this if he needed to, but if he wasn’t ready to talk about this yet, I would understand. I hoped he knew that.


    He hummed into my ear, so I knew he heard my question. His arms stayed tight around me though, so I also guessed he did know that I meant no harm. I just wanted to support him.


    “Her memory has some holes,” Julian said, somewhat evasively. “But I’ve heard that’s not umon for


    見


    her state.”


    “I coulde to the hospital and look her over,” I offered. “Maybe there is something I can do.”


    “No,” he said at once, abruptly and perhaps more sharply than he intended. His soft touch did not match


    his tone.


    I remembered now, how his Beta James had told me that Julian had deemed the hospital off–limits,


    forbidding me from going there.


    I had thought he wanted to protect Alice, but now, as I was offering to go myself without Alice, I wasn’t so


    sure.


    “It’s no trouble,” I insisted. “I’d be happy to do it. And I can confirm that everything that could be done has been done.” This kind of thing was directly in my wheelhouse, and if it would help his mom, I was happy


    to offer my services.


    I had confidence in my Healer abilities.


    Didn’t he?


    “I don’t want you anywhere near that ce,” Julian said.