Amber’s POV

    With the promise of meetingter, Julian left. The moment he stepped out the door, Anna returned

    through it, worry in her eyes.

    “What happened? What was he doing here? What did he say?i” /ishe said, words spilling out of her

    practically all at once.

    I filled her in as best as I could, telling her nearly everything that I said. As I did, her frown grewrger

    and her worry more deeply set, creating a deep grove between her brows.

    “I don’t trust him,” Anna said at once. “He tricked you with that perfect project to track you and Alice down here? Is the project even real?”

    “He says it is,” I replied, though my own doubts were rising. What if he really did just create that false

    project to track Alice and me down? No, maybe that was part of it, but he couldn’t mean to deprive the children of the healthcare as projected in the n.

    The n was too well–thought out to be fake. It had a solid basis and a good strategy. It would be too cruel to make something like this and not follow through with it.

    But, even if he intended to go through with this n, that didn’t mean that it wasn’t a twofold measure. Finding Alice and me could have been a big part of this. Perhaps he suspected I would hide from him if he simply came to my doorstep without this subterfuge.

    He was probably right about that too.

    I hadn’t thought he was suspicious about Alice’s lineage, especially after Roman came forward and dered her his daughter. In the moment, I had been upset about that lie. And I still was, even though it had benefited me somewhat at the time. Roman should have talked with me about the im before he made it so publically.

    Something must have happened since then to raise Julian’s doubts.

    “He had a paternity test,” I said. Then, realizing it was still on my desk, I held it out to Anna who epted. it. Reading it, her face darkened.

    She had been my best friend so a long time, so I recognized the quilt in her face when I saw it. “Anna? Do you know something about this?”

    With a sigh, she flopped down on one of the chairs facing my desk. “Don’t be mad…”

    I immediately tensed.

    “I saw Beta taking the paternity request to theb,” she said. “They had some of Alice’s hair. Fortunately

    theb technician is a good friend of mine. At least, I thought she was… I had her flub the results to make it seem like Julian wasn’t the father.”

    “But if that’s true,” I said. “Where did this resulte from?” Morally, I wasn’t thrilled about what Anna had done. I could recognize she meant to protect Alice and me, but it wasn’t her ce to interfere like

    that. Even as my best friend.

    Though if she asked me if I wanted her to get those results changed, I wasn’t sure I would have been able

    to tell her to do it.

    “I don’t know,” Anna said. “They must have run the tests again.”

    I shook my head lightly. “Anna, I know you were just trying to protect me

    “You don’t understand,i” /ishe said. “You aren’t seeing the danger here.”

    i” /i

    “Julian isn’t going to hurt us,” I said. I didn’t trust him really, but I knew he wasn’t a monster.

    “Not physically,” Anna said. “But what if he tries to get custody of Alice?”

    At this, some of the blood drained from my face.

    He might not hurt us, no, but dragging us back to his pack would be within the realm of possibilities for him, especially now that he knew Alice was his own. It didn’t matter that he had Olivia, or that she could even now be pregnant for all I knew.

    That he was here meant that he had his sights fixed on reiming his daughter. I would legally fight him

    to the best of my ability, of course, but did I truly have the resources to go up against an Alpha King?

    My thoughts spiraled, worry dragging them down to the pit of my stomach where they coiled into an

    ufortable weight.

    I didn’t know what to do. Should we run again? But we had set up afortable little life here. I liked the clinic, and Alice was actually making friends at school this time.

    And if I ran, wouldn’t Julian just chase me down again? And maybe he wouldn’t be as nice about it the next time. Also, running away wouldn’t look good in my case if we did have to go to through the court

    system

    My worry continued at home, where I paced back and forth as I waited for the school bus to bring Alice home. When she finally burst through the front door, my heart was in my throat, yet she spoke before I

    could

    “Is it true that Alpha Julian is here in town?” Excitement was bright her eyes and in her voice as the words spilled out quickly.

    I couldn’t lie to her about this. “It’s true.”

    “Did hee to see us?” she asked.

    I blinked. “What makes you think that?”

    “We’ve been learning about the Moon Goddess in school, and how she gifts people with their fated

    mates,” she said. “Do you think she gifts fated dads too? If he came here for us, then maybe… right?”

    My heart ached hearing her obvious hope. I didn’t answer her question outright, as I didn’t truly have an

    answer. At least, not one that wouldn’t give away the secret of her birthright.

    Perhaps it was wrong of me to keep the truth from her, but I never expected Julian to want to stay in our lives at all. Even if he learned the truth, which he had, I wouldn’t have thought that he would want to be

    Alice’s father.

    He’d been so quick to cast us aside before, I was certain he would do so again, and I would have done

    anything to keep Alice from feeling the same pain as I had, when Julian had chosen Olivia over me.

    Instead, I asked Alice, “Do you want to meet him while he’s here?”

    I’d alreadymitted with Julian, but if Alice didn’t want to meet him, I would find a way to get us out of olliit. With her excitement though, it was clear what she really wanted. /li/ol

    Her smile stretched wide. “Yes!”

    Julian’s POV

    Waiting for the meeting was akin to torture. For a few hours, I sat in my hotel room. On myptop, I tried to do some work, but my thoughts were consistently drawn back to how it felt seeing Amber again. And

    how excited I was to see Alice now that I knew she was my daughter.

    Time moved so slowly when I wanted it to move quickly.

    Then, there was a knock on the door.

    Who could that be? Housekeeping? But I’d only checked in today. The only other person who knew I was here was Beta, but he remained behind in the pack, helping to keep things running smoothly while I was

    here instead.

    Curious, I walked to the door. When I opened it, I was surprised to find Amber’s friend Anna standing on the other side.

    She glowered at me, hate and distrust in her eyes.

    “What do you want with Amber and Alice?” she demanded.