Chapter 308
Julian’s POV
1
I looked closer and I’ll be damned. There was no denying it. She hadn’t even been trying to hide her presence, or disguise herself at all.
That was definitely Olivia.
To be so brazen like this, to be up on stage not caring who saw her, and to show her obvious backing and support of Tony…
Clearly my power in the pack had indeed waned for my own enforcers, who were supposed to arrest Olivia on sight, weren’t just letting her walk by, but were allowing her to be up on a stage in front of
everyone.
This wasn’t worse than being allowed into the hospital to see my mother, but it was on the same disrespectful level. Just one more insult. One more twist of the knife in my gut.
“How is she allowed to be there?” Amber asked, clearly as upset about this as I was, with the anger showing in her voice. Amber, as a healer, had a seemingly unlimited well of patience, but right now, she was entirely outraged, and I felt blessed because I knew it was on my behalf.
“Tony has stronger influence than I thought,” I said. “He must have convinced the council to cancel my order to arrest p>
“How can he do that?” she asked. “We weren’t even gone that long p>
I had suspected that Olivia might have been involved in this plot, but now that I knew for sure that she was, seeing her with my own eyes as proof, I knew there was no depths to her depravity.
She was a vicious manipulator and schemer. She had probably concocted even before Tony had, and likely she was the only reason that things had gone this far.
“This had to have been planned for a while,” I said and cursed again.
I hated feeling like this, so powerless. I was Alpha, damn it all. My enforcers should listen to me, and the council should respect me. For things to turn out like this meant that I was being blatantly disobeyed and disrespected.
I had half a mind to go to the Alpha Headquarters building to raise hell, but the sensible part of my mind knew that this wouldn’t truly solve anything. While Tony and Olivia remained in the pack, they would continue to try to uproot my influence like removing an old tree.
The camera panned out, showing the large crowd there to see Tony. He clearly had a lot of support. If I tried to remove him, to exile him, I might risk making him even more popular.
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Chapter 309
+25 BONUS
Ug! There had to be some way to solve this, but everything felt so slippery, like I could get a proper grip on what was happening or any ideas on how to fix it.
“Hey,” Amber said, coming closer to me.
My hands had been in fists, clutched tightly in my anger. I hadn’t even noticed until she weaved her fingers through mine and coaxed them to relax. I held onto her hands instead. As I would never hurt her, I made certain that my touch stayed gentle.
Having something else to focus on helped me find calm, so that eventually, after taking a few deep breaths, I was able to look at Amber and think more clearly.
The answers weren’t obvious yet but things at least didn’t seem as bleak. As long as I had Amber by my side, I could see this through. Together, we would find some kind of solution.
“Things look back,” I said. “I know I promised Aunt Kathy that I wouldn’t start a fight within the family, but I can’t really see a way out of this aside from challenging Tony p>
Amber was thoughtful a moment as she looked at me. Then she said, “Let’s take a break from thinking about it. Since we weren’t able to check on your mom, maybe we should call someone inside to find out what’s going on. Like Aunt Kathy p>
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Florence
Florence is a passionate reader who finds joy in long drives on rainy days. She’s also a fan of Italian makeup tutorials, blending beauty and elegance into her everyday life.