Chapter b91 /b

    Julian’s POV

    I left the clinic out of respect for Amber. Seeing Olivia had clearly rattled her, and then overhearing what we said seemed to only make things worse somehow.

    Amber had been jumpy since my first appearance, and though I’d been hoping to win her over to my side, I could understand why she had been nervous about me returning into her life, and entering Alice’s.

    I had just started connecting with Alice, and wasying the groundwork to be a good father… And with that, eventually, I had also hoped to woo Amber once again. We could be a family so easily.

    I had visions of moving both Alice and Amber back to Thorn pack. Of remarrying Amberb, /bfinally making her the Luna she deserved to be, while also dering Alice our heir.

    Amber hadn’t been as receptive to those ns as I would have hoped, but I was still making progress, inch by slow inch. I had a long way to go to win her trust again. Or maybe for the first time.

    Olivia showing up had thrown the wrench into those ns somehow. I didn’t know what was said, but I was certain Olivia must have said or done something to Amber.

    I had half a mind to track Olivia down and shake the truth out of her.

    Walking outside, I realized I might have my chance sooner rather thanter.

    Like she was waiting for me, Olivia stood outside.

    “Drive me to the hotel?” she asked. She was holding a phone. “It’s hard to get a rideshare here. I think there might be one guy working the whole town.”

    “I will drive you to the airport,” I said. “Because you are not staying here.”

    “My things are already at the hotel,” she countered.

    I narrowed my eyes. “I will take you to get your things, then we will go to the airport.”

    “I’m not going to the airporti,/ii” /ishe said. “Not unless you areing back with me.”

    Though the clinic wasn’t particrly busy this time of day, there was still the chance of being overheard. As annoyed as I was with Olivia, as much as I wanted to know what she had said to Amber, I didn’t want to spread that information across the entire pack.

    I was still an Alpha. I had a reputation to protect.

    “I’ll drive you,” I said,mitting to nothing, knowing we could at least have some privacy in the car.

    We’d only made it to the first stoplight before I started my interrogation. “You said something to Amber.”

    “I simply told her the truth,” Olivia said.

    I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. “Which isb?/bb” /b

    “That she needs to give up on you and let youe home to your new family,” Olivia said.

    “What new familyb?/bb” /b

    “Why, me, of course, and whatever future children we might have.” Olivia gently patted her stomach.

    Because we were stopped at a red light, I turned my head to give her an incredulous look.

    “Olivia, we are not a family.b” /b

    b“/bNot yet,” Olivia said.

    I narrowed my eyes. “What exactly did you tell her? You told her this about the familyb?/b”

    She shrugged. “I told her I’m pregnant.”

    I saw red for a moment. “What?!” There was no way she could be pregnant, at least not with my child. And

    for her to lie to Amber about that…! No wonder Amber was so furious, if she thought I was abandoning my

    pregnant partner to traverse the packs with her! “You are not pregnant.”

    “Yes,” Olivia said. “But it’s practically the truth, so I don’t consider it a lie. Once you are finally ready, we’ll

    start our family.”

    “That isn’t happening,” I said firmly.

    “But what about our child that we lost? Don’t they deserve to have siblings?”

    They had a sibling. Alice.

    “This is ridiculous, Olivia. Even for you. You are only trying to start trouble.”

    “I’m trying ito /isolve things,” Olivia said with a huff. “You’ve chased Amber halfway across the continent and she still doesn’t want you. You are an Alpha, Julian, not a lovesick pup. It’s time toe back and start a family with me. Focus on your own pack and its needs. Give up the chase.”

    Hoping to develop a rtionship with Amber was only part of the reason that I came here. Connecting with Alice, my daughter, had been my main goal since discovering that she was mine.

    I’d kept that secret from Olivia, as I’d kept other things secret. Though I did consider Olivia a friend, and we had a past connection together,tely she had grown to be manipted. I couldn’t trust her not to use the knowledge of Alice against me somehow.

    Or against Amber.

    Or against Alice herself.

    But this was all the more reason I needed to convince Amber to allow me to take Alice back to the pack and make her my heir. Surely, Olivia would then give up her chase. And with an heir in ce, the elder council would stop pushing for me to marry Olivia.

    Perhaps, in time, they would evene to ept Amber as the true Luna of the pack.

    All of this was only additional benefits of having my daughter and my wife back in my life, which was

    what I wanted the most.

    But first I had to deal with Olivia. And that meant making sure she went back to the pack and stayed out of Amber’s way.

    “Come back with me, Julian,” Olivia said again, nearly pleading me.

    The light turned green and I drove forward.

    “The answer is no,” I said. “I have unfinished business here.”

    “The elder council will be disappointed to learn what you’ve been up to,” she said. “Pursuing a girl that doesn’t want you, when you have a perfectly good Luna waiting for you at home.”

    “This isn’t the elder council’s business.”

    I didn’t like that she was threatening me with that. The elder council could be a nuisance, as they often insisted on facets of my personal life that weren’t their business. But I could handle them. I’d kept them

    at bay this long, so I wasn’t worried that I’d be unable to in the future.

    “You keep fighting against fate, Julian,” Olivia said. “We are fated to each other. Why do you continue to

    fight so hard against that? Of course, I understand, you feel some guilt because you had been married to Amber and then she almost died… But it’s clear the girl wants nothing to do with you anymore. She even

    moved all the way here…”

    “You don’t know what you are talking about,” I said, though the truth behind the words stung. No matter

    how hard I tried, I could never seem to keep Amber from running.

    My behavior in the past had her spooked, and there didn’t seem to be much I could do to turn that around.

    Not yet, anyway. I wasn’t giving up. In time, I didn’t care how long it took, I would convince her that my intentions for her and for Alice were genuine.

    Sitting in the center console, my phone lit up with a message. I couldn’t see the message as I was driving but Olivia could.

    All of the sudden, she went very quiet.

    Then, after a long moment, she asked, “Who is Alice, and why did she call you Dad?b” /b