Chapter b134 /b

    Julian’s POV

    Alice’s outburst had pulled the attention of the entire table. It had been so extreme, over something as

    innocuous as a ne, that worry stirred within me.

    Did she simply adore that ne so much? Or did she hate Olivia enough not to want to show her

    anything? Or was there some other reason?

    “She’s protective of it,” Amber said. “She doesn’t like others to take it.” Amber said the words lightly, but

    there was a kind of tension in her face that made her mouth into a hard thin line and her eyes tight.

    This might have been the truth, but I didn’t think it was the full truth. There was definitely something more going on here. But… what?

    Thinking back, I remembered a time in my own pack when, after the g, Alice hade running to me.

    She had clung to me so tightly, that my suitcoat jacket had even suffered some pin–prick holes where her

    fingernails had dug in.

    At the time, I had wondered how her little human fingernails had torn through the fabric. A child that

    young shouldn’t have been able to shift, yet those markings had looked so much like ws…

    Since that night, a concern hadid dormant inside of me. This encounter, for whatever the reason, was stirring up those memories again.

    “It’s just a silly ne,” Olivia said. She held out her hand toward Alice. “Give to me. I just want to see

    it.”

    Alice shrunk back in her chair, curling her body away from Olivia and around her ne. Anna touched her shoulder protectively and red at Olivia. Amber leaned forward, like a mother bear about to

    retaliatei. /i

    Yet I beat her to it. “She said no, Olivia.”

    “So what if she did? She’s a child

    i” /i

    “No,” I said, adding more Alphamand to my voice, to show her I wasn’t fooling around.

    Alice was my child, and regardless of her reasoning for not wanting to allow Olivia to see her ne, if she didn’t want to share, she didn’t have to.

    “Back off, Olivia,” I said.

    Olivia scowled at me, clearly taking mymand personally. I’d hear about it at some point in the future, I was sure, during the next argument Olivia hoped to win.

    Let her be angry.

    Deheb 1/4

    I would not let her bully my child.

    “Well,” Ca said, reiming the attention of the table. “I think we all have some heirlooms that we treasure. My grandmother left me a mantle clock. It’s a simple thing, nothing of great design or value, but it would be the first thing I’d save if my apartment went up in mes.”

    Others at the tabletched onto this topic, each discussing something that was important to them, something left from their parents or grandparents. If it wasn’t a family heirloom, it was something else that held personal significance, like a gift from a child or a friend or even a patient.

    The table had returned to its usual bustle, the outburst seemingly forgotten as the sudden tantrum of a six -year old.

    I hadn’t forgotten it though, and made sure to keep an eye on Alice.

    Amber and Anna were whispering to her. I assumed they were speaking words offort, trying to help her feel better. Instead, she seemed deeply unhappy and ufortable.

    When our meals finally arrived, it was a blessing to have something to focus on. The food was good, and

    the conversation about heirlooms continued while we were eating.

    Alice, however, barely picked at her food, her face downcast, her eyes tired. Amber and Anna kept

    ncing at her with worried eyes.

    So did I.

    After dinner, I finally spoke up. “Alice, I saw there’s an ice cream bar for dessert. If your mother allows us, how about you and I go over there and make a couple of sundaes?”

    The thought of ice cream seemed to perk Alice up and she looked at Amber with pleading eyes.

    Amber looked at me as if sizing me up. Did she still not trust me with Alice? Did she think I would hurt my own daughter, or abscond with her? Had I not proved myself reliable?

    Did she not believe her when I said that I wanted to rebuild a family with her and Alice?

    My worries started topound – until she must have seen and understood my sincerity and said, “Very

    well. But only a small sundae.”

    “Okay,” Alice said. She and I both stood.

    “Don’t take all day,b” /bOlivia scoffed. She was clearly still mad at me. I didn’t care.

    Holding out my hand, Alice immediately took it and together we walked to the ice cream bar.

    There, two self–serve ice cream machines were positioned right next to each other, one vani and the other chocte. On the counter beside the machines sat several bowls of various toppings. Rainbow sprinkles, chocte kes, marshmallows… It was a smorgasbord of children’s dream food.

    So much sugar.

    I could see now why Amber had warned for Alice to only get a small sundae. They’d almost certainly been

    to this restaurant before and had this exact same experience. Probably more than once.

    “Chocte or Vani?” I asked, starting there.

    “Chocte,” she said.

    Grabbing one of the small dishes that were stacked by the machines, I used the machine to get Alice a bit

    of chocte ice cream. As I did, I nced over at her.

    Alice was holding the pendant of her ne with both hands, looking down at it.

    “That ne seems important to you,” I said.

    “Yes…”

    “Is it because your mom gave it to you?” I asked.

    “Sort of,” Alice said. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth for a moment, before sharing, “It helps me

    feel calmer.”

    I frowned a little. “Is that a problem you sometimes have?” I asked. “Feeling calm?”

    “Before the ne….” Alice said and nodded. Looking up at me, she said, “The ne helps.”

    I had so many more questions, but it didn’t feel right to pry the answers from a child. For now, whatever the ne was, it seemed to be helping her, and for that, I could be relieved.

    “I’m d it helps,” I told her and passed her the bowl of chocte ice cream. “Now… the really important

    question.”

    She seemed worried a moment, so I quickly continued.

    “Which toppings do you want?”

    The worry immediately cleared and she smiled. “All of them!”

    Oh, her mother was going to kill me, but I couldn’t say no to that smile.

    As Alice and I were on the way back to the table, Alice’s sundae overflowing with toppings, I happened to

    nce toward the bathrooms again.

    There, curiouslyb, /bI saw Olivia and Chase talking.

    No, not just talking. Not with that aggressive bodynguage, Chase crossing his arms while Olivia pointed at him a lot.

    600

    They were having a full–out argument.

    I knew they had to know each other more than they were letting on. Part of me wanted to go over there and demand the truth. The other part of me, the bigger part, wasn’t going to abandon my child to go do so

    Alice was and always would be my top priority.

    Whatever was going on with Olivia and Chase, though very suspicious, would have to wait.