Just like that, my heart broke all over again.
Julian tensed like he wanted to step forward, but this time, I touched his arm, holding him back.
“We are here for you, Alice,” I said. “Whatever you need.”
“Can you make my wolf go away?” she asked.
Gods, for all my accolades, I was a failure as a Healer because I couldn’t cure my own daughter. For too long, I’d
been too complacent in this, trusting in the necklace rather than doggedly searching out a true, permanent
solution to this problem.
No more.
I still intended to help Julian’s mom, but my first priority should have been my daughter. Now, I would task
myself with curing both people.
“I will fix this,” I vowed to Alice. “I swear to you.”
“And I’ll help her,” Julian said.
I looked at him, surprised. He gave me a warm kind of smile that sparked a fire in me. Since Alice hurt Tony, I’d
been trapped in an icicle of my own design, my shock keeping me numb and cold. Now, with that smile, I felt
my body thaw and come to life again.
Julian gave me a sad sort of smile. “I am your assistant, after all.”
The smile didn’t last, disappearing back into worry, but it had been nice to see.
“Yes,” I said. “We’ll do it together.”
When we looked back at Alice, she was still frightened, but this time there was also hope in her eyes.
Julian’s POV
I returned downstairs to see about making us some lunch while Amber stayed with Alice. She was too frightened to be left alone, nor did she want to leave her room.
I wasn’t the world’s best cook, but I was sure I could whip up something edible. Yet, as I was in the kitchen, the refrigerator door opened, the doorbell rang.
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Right now, I had minimal staff working at the estate, so I went to answer the door myself. I didn’t look when I opened it, so I was surprised when I found some of my family standing there.
Particularly, it was Aunt Kathy, Penny, and most surprising of all, Tony. Tony was wearing a different shirt with short sleeves. With a quick glance, I could see that his wounds had totally healed up.
Aunt Kathy smiled. “Hello, Julian. I hope we aren’t intruding.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“We’re worried about Alice,” Penny said. “We wanted to come see how she is.”
From Aunt Kathy and Penny, I could accept that answer and was grateful for it, as it meant that there was at
least some of my family who weren’t against me, Amber, and Alice.
That didn’t explain Tony’s presence though.
Looking past my cousin and aunt, I focused on him. “And you?”
“I’m sorry for acting how I did,” Tony said. “I’ve been reading up on Alice’s condition, and with that education
comes shame. She’s been suffering and I’ve been an ass about it.”
Tony’s POV
Julian didn’t fully believe me. I could tell that just by looking at him, but then I hadn’t really expected him to. I
didn’t need him to believe me. I just needed him to let me in the door.
Then, as per the plan I had worked out with Olivia, I would leave the listening device that was presently in my pocket in the living room or kitchen – somewhere where juicy conversation was sure to happen.
And from that conversation, Olivia and I could splice together Julian’s own words into something
incriminating.
Then, my dear cousin would be shamed and eventually usurped. As he didn’t spend much time in the pack anyway, it wouldn’t be difficult to turn people against him.
Then the pack would need a new Alpha. Someone handsome, charismatic, and ambitious.
Someone exactly like me.
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Chapter 245

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