Julian’s POV

    b“/bUs? What us?b” /bI demanded.

    At first, I had felt some guilt for not telling Olivia the truth of where I was, or where I’d been, but this was the exact scenario I had been hoping to avoid with my secrecy.

    Olivia felt that she owed a piece of me. In a way, maybe she did. She had once been pregnant with my child and then lost them when I hadn’te home. I couldn’t and wouldn’t forget that. Yet ever since then, she had been lording that tragedy over my head as if she was trying to keep me on a leash.

    Whenever I stepped too far from what she wanted, she would remind me of this, of our lost child, of my shame in being unable to protect my unborn child.

    It was those feelings that culled me once again, keeping me still when I wanted nothing more than to bolt past her and find Amber. If I could only exin…

    But where would I even begin?

    Olivia had always been a point of contention between Amber and me. And why wouldn’t she? I had cheated on Amber, drunkenly sleeping with Olivia and getting her pregnant. I didn’t remember that night, but I’d woken up in the bed next to her naked. And then the result the pregnancy b– /bspoke for itself.

    —

    And with that pregnancy, I had showered Olivia with attention and care, not noticing that Amber, my own wife, had also been with child.

    I didn’t know what Olivia had told Amber to get her to lead Olivia to me, but I could only imagine it was more hurts from the past. Hurts I had been trying so hard to make up for in the present.

    “Why did you lie to me about where you were?” Olivia said.

    Because I didn’t want her to follow me and make trouble for Amber and Alice.

    “My whereabouts are not and have never been any concern of yours, Olivia,” I said firmly. “You need to go back to Thorn pack and stay there.”

    “That’s a fine way ito /italk to me,” she replied.

    She was forgetting her ce again. Because of our past and the loss of our child, I often gave Olivia leeway in her behavior that I wouldn’t give to others. But too often she pushed past the limits of decorum and

    my own self–respect.

    So many times I thought of cutting her out of my life entirely only to hold myself back, thinking of our lost child.

    b“/bYou are not my Luna, Olivia,” I told her. “We are not my lover. You are not my mate. We are only friends.

    And even that is tenuous at times, as you so often seem to forget.”

    b“/bYou are wasting your time here, Julian. Amber has no interest in you anymore. Why don’t youe home with me, someone who wants and appreciates you? We’ll start a new family off right…”

    New family?

    Ah, she was talking of bearing my children again. Why couldn’t she understand that I had no desire for such a thing? Our first time had been a mistake. Even if Amber and I were no longer together, I still had

    no interest in Olivia in that way.

    “You are kidding yourself, Olivia. Go home.”

    “If Amber could hear you talk that way, what would she say? For you to totally disregard me, the mother of your future children.”

    I was tired of this argument, and these games she yed. She was not the mother of my future children, despite what she wanted. Despite even what the elder council wished.

    Yes, Olivia came from a good background, and yes, many people had already epted her as Luna.

    But she wasn’t. And she wouldn’t be. Not without my say so, which I wasn’t feeling inclined to give.

    I didn’t want to be cruel to her, not after the tragedy that we suffered together, but being kind had not gotten through to her. For her sake, as well as my own, I needed to be more direct and unfortunately more

    cruel.

    “We have a shared past, Olivia, but it is not a shared future, especially with this kind of behavior. Go back to the pack, Olivia. Move on, if you have to, but know, I am not yours. And I have no desire to be, despite

    the…”

    My voice trailed, not because of the tears welling in Olivia’s eyes, but because the door to the office opened again, revealing a very angry Amber.

    Olivia turned and, seeing Amber, darted from the room, covering her eyes. Amber stepped aside to let her past, but then immediately filled that doorway again, her re fixed solely on me.

    What did she have to be angry at me for? I was so confused.

    “How could you talk to her like that?” she asked.

    I was bbergasted, my mouth dropping open. “Huh?”

    “More, how could you even suggest traveling with me when you have so many responsibilities at home?”

    she continued.

    “Amber –”

    “Go, Julian,” she said, crossing her arms. “You shouldn’t be here. You should be looking after Olivia.”

    “But what about our project?” I asked.

    “You have bigger things to worry about.”

    “And what about Alice?”

    She nced back at me again, the fire in her eyes enough to sear pain straight onto my soul.

    “Alice would be better off without you.”

    Amber’s POV

    I didn’t mean it. Not really.

    Alice loved Julian already, and Julian seemed like he was ready to step into the role of father well enough.

    But once the words were out of my mouth, I couldn’t take them back.

    They had been a flub. What I’d meant with them is that Alice would be better off without the pack drama. But wasn’t Julian firmly twisted up in that?

    Or was it my own hurt shining through.

    Julian had gotten Olivia pregnant again. I’d known it would happen when I cured her infertility but it still hurt so much that I had a throbbing pain in my chest.

    Olivia was the phantom that kept haunting our lives.

    But maybe that was what she thought of me.

    “You should give me the divorce, Julian,” I said now. “Go back to your pack and to Olivia, and make things right with her.”

    His confusion was palpable, written all over the face he usually kept as nk as a statue. There was hurt there too, though that was much further back, harder to see. Even looking, I wasn’t sure I wasn’t imagining it there on his features.

    “At the very least, please leave the clinic,” I said.

    “Amber…” he started.

    “Please,” I said softer, my heart aching as my gaze dropped away.

    He tensed like he wanted to argue, but in the end he sighed. “Fine. I’ll leave. For now. But this isn’t over. Not this project, and not my being Alice’s father.”

    I stood frozenb, /bnot engaging anymore. As the fire of anger dimmed within me, only a hollow sort of cold remained. The past few days, with Julian reentering our lives, had felt like an emotional whirlwind.

    Olivia showing up had just been thest straw.

    Julian started for the door, yet before he left, he angled toward me and said, “I’m not giving up, Amber.”

    Before I could figure out what he meant, he was gone.