Chapter b73 /b

    Amber’s POV

    I hurried inside without speaking with Julian. Instead, I quickly thanked Roger, returned his document,

    and then hid in my office.

    Despite Julian’s clear disagreement in the matter of Elder Jeffers and my treatments, Julian clearly still had some affection for Olivia. Why else would he go to stand beside her, instead of beside me, while we

    were facing the crowd together?

    And more, why, even after everything Olivia had done, had he still not said anything publically about leaving her?

    They had to be still in love, a connection so strong that even with their disagreements, they stayed

    together.

    Heart heavy, I went behind my desk, and then dropped my forehead right down onto the desktop.

    Noah had been typing on the keyboard while I’d entered, but I could hear him stopping now. Though I

    wasn’t looking, I knew he had to be staring at me with curiosity and trepidation.

    “Uh…” he said. “Something wrong?”

    “There was a protest outside,” I said, my voice muffled by the desk as I gave a quick overview of the

    situation. After, I summed up with, “With that document, I think the matter has finally been put to rest.”

    “That’s a good thing, right?” Noah asked. “Why are you so down?”

    Though Noah had some general idea about my situation with Julian, he didn’t know everything, and while I did consider us friends, I still wasn’t ready to overshare my entire sordid history and the nature of

    our continued marriage.

    Or how much it hurt that Julian seemed to be in love with Olivia.

    I hadn’t given him much reason to turn away from her and look at me, and in truth, I shouldn’t want him

    to do that at all. I was only passing through, I had no intention of staying in this pack. And with our entire history, I didn’t need the drama andplications of redeveloping feelings for Julian.

    But my treacherous heart still whispered his name from time to time.

    And seeing him with Olivia… it still hurt.

    After all, he did cheat on me with her, getting her pregnant. I’d heard she lost the baby, which was a tragedy. I would never want a child to lose their life. But that sliver of sympathy did not equate to forgiveness.

    Especially now that she seemed to have it out for me, in helping to organize this protest today. That was

    only what I knew about. Who could say what she was up to behind the scenes?

    I didn’t want to think about this anymore. I couldn’t. There was nothing I could do about it anyway. Spending time thinking about it was akin to wasting that time.

    I had too many other important things to do.

    What I really needed to do was fully cure Olivia. Then, I could buy that ne Alice needed and get the hell out of this pack once and for all. I wouldn’t even look back.

    I could finally help Alice, and be away from Julian and Olivia once and for all. If they loved each other,

    fine. If they wanted to have children, fine.

    Just let them do it away from me.

    Or me away from them.

    For several weeks, I buried myself fully into my work, focusing almost exclusively on curing Olivia. Any time I wasn’t with another patient, I was in theb running tests or checking forms. If I wasn’t there, I was in the library, researching other simr cases, looking for more leads and new ways to take my

    forms.

    When I went home, I would spend time with Alice, and Anna on the days she came over. We’d order in, or

    I would cook. I didn’t leave the house at all other than for work or to take Alice to and from school.

    A fundamental trust had been broken between me and the pack, and I didn’t feel it necessary to fully

    resolve it.

    They had stood with their signs and called me a killer. That was hard to let go of.

    For now, I didn’t have the mental capacity to worry about it. Outside of Alice, curing Olivia was my only

    concern.

    Then, finally, after so many long days and nights, I finally made a breakthrough. I had Noah triple check the results to be sure, running test after test. We had to check for side effects too.

    As I was nning on leaving the pack as soon as the cure was made, I couldn’t afford to have any piece of it not be foolproof. I wouldn’t be here to fix it, and I’d be damned before I allowed my reputation to be questioned again.

    I was a good Healer. I would show the pack how much they misjudged me right before I left.

    One more reason not to look back.

    “It’s ready,” Noah said. “Should I call Olivia and make the appointment.”

    When I thought about sitting in the exam room with Olivia, even just to administer the cure, it felt like too much. I’d suffocate just being near her.

    “I’m leaving you to administer it,” I said. “I n on being long gone by the time this all falls together.”

    Noah nodded but he seemed troubled with that. “You are really moving on?”

    Thest thing in the entire world that I wanted to happen was to administer the cure and then still be present when Olivia became pregnant.

    Let Olivia and Julian have all the babies in the world that they wanted.

    Just so long as none of that was happening around me.

    Inside, my wolf whimpered at the thought. “He is ours…” she cried.

    I didn’t know how she could feel so strongly about it, when she hadn’t even been around when I’d been

    married to Julian the first time. Though I supposed in way, yes, she had been there, lying dormant inside

    of me.

    Our feelings were intertwined though, fundamentally connected. For her to feel so strongly, meant that I also felt that way, deep down.

    I just wasn’t ready to admit that to myself yet.

    The only thing I had to do now was formally tell the pack leader that I was resigning my position and

    moving away from the city. The ne I needed was in a town up north, so there was no reason for me

    to stay here in the capital.

    Resolved, after settling things with Noah, I went to my desk and wrote a simple yet straightforward reply.

    Then I left my office and headed to the Alpha headquarters building.

    Inside, I moved to Julian’s floor. Before, I would have been stopped at reception, but I had a reputation

    now. I wasn’t some secret wife but a world–renowned Healer.

    The assistant at the desk merely nodded as I walked by.

    Upstairs, I went into Julian’s office, bracing myself for a confrontation.

    He wasn’t there.

    I didn’t know whether to feel relief or disappointment. Before I could talk myself into either, I left my

    resignation letter on the desk and moved to leave.

    Beside the Alpha’s office was an office for the official Luna. While it had sat unused during our marriage,

    I saw it was upied now, with Olivia’s name on the door.

    The door wasn’t totally closed, and as I walked by, I heard just enough conversation to stop in my tracks.

    A man’s voice said, “If you don’t give me what I want, then I’ll make sure this goes public…”