Chapter b148 /b

    Julian’s POV

    Seeing Chase outside the door made doubts creep into my mind.

    What was he doing here? How did he know were Amber lived? Did he oftene over?

    Were he and Amber really having an affair after all?

    No. I couldn’t believe that. I had to keep remembering how Amber had pushed Chase away, and how, though they had seen each other at the clinic since then, Amber had continued to treat Chase with professional friendliness rather than any romanticism.

    Chase seemed just as surprised to find me at the door. He cleared his throat. “Is… uh… Amber thereb?/b”

    “She’s on the phone,” I told him.

    “Oh…”

    “I could pass on a message,” I offered, eager to know just what the hell he was doing here.

    He didn’t seem overly happy about this, lowering his gaze for a moment and frowning, as if to himself. For a minute, I thought about just closing the door in his face.

    Amber might have been cordial with him nowadays, but that didn’t mean I liked him at all. I hadn’t liked him back in my pack where he’d made a name for himself as the most prolific yboy in high society, and I certainly didn’t like him now that he had set his eyes on Amber.

    But, as she had told me many times now – basically whenever Chase came up between us – Chase was Amber’s patient, and her duties as a healer came before even her personal feelings. She also insisted that

    Chase wasn’t so bad.

    I could respect she wanted to ido /ithe best for her patients, but I drew the line at actually trying to sympathize with the guy.

    We all made our choices in life, including Chase. Sure he might be in some trouble, though even Amber admitted she didn’t know what that trouble was, but that didn’t make it my concern. He got himself into whatever he was into, so he and he alone should be the one to try to get himself out of it.

    “Well, really I was hoping to see Alice,” Chase said.

    At once, my eyes narrowed. I had trouble enough trusting this man around Amber, but he expected me to trust him around my child?

    “She’s busy,” I said, and I was short about it.

    He nodded, apparently understanding my concerns. Only then did I notice the reusable grocery store bag

    that was hanging from his arm. As he looked at me, he opened it up, then reached inside of it and retrieved that same plush animal he had won for Alice at the restaurant.

    The one she had thrown out the window after she had seen Chase kissing her mother.

    “I wanted to give this back to her,” Chase said, and held out the plush itoy /ifor me ito /itake.

    I hesitated. Thest thing I personally wanted to do was facilitate some kind of reunion between Alice and Chase. She could stay mad at him and I would be happy.

    But… was that really what was best for Alice?

    And who was I to deny a child a toy she had clearly adored?

    Alice had admitted to me since then that she regretted losing the teddy bear, and here it was, back for her to love again. For her, I had to take it and give it back. Even if it did repair the friendship between her and

    Chase.

    With a sigh, I took the bear. b“/bI’ll give it to her.”

    “Thank you, Alpha,” Chase said.

    “Is that it, then?” I asked.

    “If neither of them wille to the door…”

    “They won’t,” I said firmly. “I told you, they are both busy.”

    “Right.” Chase nodded. “Okay.”

    “You should go nowi,/ii” /iI said.

    “I will… I am… Just… maybe tell them I said goodbye?”

    “Don’t make this harder than it has ito /ibe, Chase.”

    “Right.” His gaze dropped down. “Right.” Then, without another word, he turned and walked off the porch.

    When he was back on the sidewalk, I closed the door of the house and locked it. Carrying the plush bear, I

    returned to the kitchen, just as Amber was hanging up the phone.

    Alice spotted the bear at once and gasped. At the noise, Amber looked over. Seeing the bear, she raised her gaze to me in concern.

    “Chase?” she asked.

    “Were you expecting him?” I asked, trying to sound calm.

    b“/bNo,” she said. “Though he must have heard we were leaving and wanted to reach out.”

    “Chase brought that… for me?” Alice asked, her eyes wide. “I thought I lost it…”

    “No. Apparently, he kept it,” I said and had to pass over the bear then. I had no immunity ito /ithose doe

    eyes.

    She took the bear and held it close, wrapping both arms around it.

    Amber and I joined her at the table then.

    “I was mean to him…” Alice said. She could have meant the bear, but I knew she meant Chase. She turned her gaze to her mother. “Mom… could we see Chase again? So I can apologize?”

    Amber nced at me. I tried to keep my expression neutral.

    I didn’t trust Chase, not by a longshot, but if my daughter wanted to apologize for her own peace of mind, I wouldn’t speak against it. Amber knew the situation best, so, even though I felt the dark head of

    jealousy start to turn, I was able to hold it back, trusting her.

    At least, I really wanted to trust her. For now, that had to be enough.

    “Not tonight,” Amber said, reading something on my face. “But why don’t I invite him to the train station tomorrow to see us off? Then you could say goodbye, and he could wave to you and Mr. Bear from the train tform.”

    Alice perked up at once, “Okay.”

    As happy as Alice was, I was equally relieved. Meeting Chase in a public ce like that meant there would be less opportunities for mischief. And if it was to say goodbye…

    Well, I’d be happy ito /iisee /iChase out of our lives once and for all.

    “Okay,” Amber said. “I’ll send him a message, to see if that works for him.”

    Chase’s POV

    As Chase started the long walk back to the hotel, he felt riddled with defeat.

    And also a shred of relief.

    While he had hoped to see Amber and Alice himself, to say goodbye, their refusal to see him meant that he couldn’t carry out Olivia’s nsb. /bAnd he couldn’t be med for that failure either, which meant she wouldn’t have to follow through on her threats to ruin him.

    Grabbing his phone, he opens a message to Olivia, about to inform her what happened, when a different btext /bes through.

    This one from Amber.

    Sorry we missed you. Alice thanks you for the return of Mr. Bear.

    b+15 /bBONUS

    Chase switched over messages, about to reply, when another came in from Amber.

    We are leaving tomorrow from the train station at 1. Maybe you could meet us there at noon to say

    goodbye?

    As happy as Chase was to receive that message, at the same time, he was miserable. This reunion would

    give Olivia onest chance to carry out her ns through him.

    At this point, he was nothing but her puppet.

    And he hated it.