“Didn’t you not notice, Alpha Julian?” Roman asked, polite yet firm. “You were hurting her.”
Julian’s POV
Fury coursed through my entire body.
I felt the urge to shove the man away. Rory snarled inside me, and I was glad to have him with me. He, too, was ready to rip the man apart limb from limb.
We were in public, though, and especially after our bidding war, our commotion was beginning to attract the interest of the onlookers. I was the Alpha. I couldn’t let things get ugly or out of hand.
She is MATE, Rory roared. Take her back.
“Hold back,” I told Rory. “Amber is angry as well. It would be a mistake to push her further now.’
I forced myself to rein in my own rage and turned my attention to the man standing next to her. I finally placed him – he was the
Alpha of Dawn Pack, Roman. We’d met at a previous counsel meeting.
Roman maintained a conservative leadership style. His pack hadn’t grown over the years, but it hadn’t shrunk, either. He’d seemed content to keep things steady.
He’d been polite and soft-spoken, but it had always come off as an act to me.
Why was Amber with him? I couldn’t figure it out.
I raced through the possibilities in my mind until a terrible thought struck me. What if, back then, Amber had left to be with Roman? She’d been flying to Dawn Pack, after all.
The thought unsettled me deeply, making my stomach feel sick.
“Come home, Amber,” I said, trying to keep my voice authoritative, not pleading like I felt inside. “The pack needs you.
Our house needs her. My office needs her. My coffee, my clothes; my cheek needs her kiss. I didn’t realize that all of this added up to me needing her.
But I could never say it out loud.
Julian’s POV
Amber let out a loud scoff, “The pack needs me? Julian, I’m nobody to your pack. You’ve never made me public.”
She refused, hard. “No, I’m not going to throw my life away to be your housewife again. Don’t you need to go take care of your
Luna, anyway?”
Amber turned to leave, and I stepped forward, ready to follow her. I wasn’t going to give up this easily. I’d grieved Amber for years.
Now that I found her, I wasn’t going to let her go so easily.
“Julian, if you keep harassing me, I will call the police,” Amber said, wielding her cellphone in my direction. “Try to keep what’s left of your dignity, Alpha.”
Roman put his arm around Amber. Anger boiled inside me thinking of their relationship. This other Alpha was with my chosen mate, my wife.
It wasn’t fair.
“Amber, let’s go home,” Roman said. She nodded, leaning ever so slightly into his body, as though she needed protection from
There was something in Roman’s voice as he spoke that didn’t seem quite sincere, though. As though his words were meant to barb me, to irritate me, instead of solely to comfort her.
Amber left with him anyway.
I could only stand in the sunlight outside the auditorium, clenching my fists so hard they shook, and watch my wife walk away from me again.
Amber’s POV
I waited at the door for the Alice. I wanted to grab her and slip away before Julian could show up again. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if Julian ran into Alice.
He would do the math, of course. He would figure out Alice was his – Julian had never been dumb, except when it came to his emotions and the feelings of others.
When he figured it out, he might try to take Alice from me. His behavior was so erratic, he might even try to hurt her.
I wouldn’t let that happen
Alice ran towards me, her face full of joy. My heart broke for her. She deserved to feel happy without having to worry about Julian
“He showed up! My new dad showed up and bought my painting!” Alice beamed, bouncing on her toes in excitement. “Now I can donate so much money to the orphanage!”
I knelt down so that I could talk to Alice face-to-face. “I know you’re excited, but you cannot talk to that man again. He’s dangerous, Alice.”
Alice’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Mommy, he was really nice to me. I don’t think he would hurt me.”
“Alice, this isn’t an argument,” I said. I hated these moments, where I had to break Alice’s little bubble of innocence. “I need you to listen me, okay?”
Alice’s face turned serious, and she pulled a little piece of paper out of her pocket. There was a phone number and an address written on it in blue pen.
“You should talk to him, Mommy,” she said. “I want him to be my new daddy. He showed up when he said he would, and when he was here, the mean kids at school didn’t bully me at all.”
I stroked Alice’s hair. My heart was now thoroughly pulverized.
“What, you don’t want me to be your dad?” Roman teased.
I’d forgotten he was here. While I appreciated all the help Roman had provided us with, I’d made it clear that we were only friends.
It wasn’t his place to ask my daughter if she wanted him to be her dad, because that wasn’t what I wanted, either.
Irritation burned in my throat.
“No,” Alice whined. “You’re not tall enough. You can’t lift me high enough to touch the ceiling.
Roman’s smile froze. He didn’t say anything else, and I didn’t dare to speak. His usually gentle expression seemed to crack, revealing a hint of coldness.
Julian’s POV
“Beta,” I said as soon as I entered my office back at headquarters. “I need information on Amber Wood and Alpha Roman of Dawn
Pack.”
“With all due respect, Alpha,” Beta responded, speaking carefully, “isn’t Amber Wood dead? She has a plot in your private cemetery.”
More Kickass Werewolf Reads
Dive into our collection of free werewolf romance novels—where fierce Alphas, daring heroines, and heart-stopping twists await. Every story burns with forbidden desire, loyalty, and destiny. Don’t wait—here’s a world where love bites hard and nothing is stronger than the call of the mate.
Leave a Reply