Page 54 of Broken Chains

I snorted. “She left us, abandoned Eve, remember? I haven’t heard from her since the day before she ran off, except for that one letter she left with you. Melina has nothing to do with this, or Eve. She gave up those rights, remember?”

“Technically we still have custody of Eve and a right to question her living conditions,” Terry said, with an underlying hint of a threat I did not appreciate.

“Technically I won’t sit here and let you accuse me of whatever it is you’re accusing me of. I don’t care if I upset your church ladies. I am doing the best I can here, trying to give my daughter the best life possible. It’s really up to you if you wish to continue being a part of that. For today I think it would be best if I took Eve home. We can talk again next week,” I said, rising and taking Eve and her bag with me while they sat there in shock.

I drove straight to the Alpha house in Collier. Pride be damned. As far as my wolf was concerned, they had threatened me and my family. I would do whatever it took to secure my rights. First I needed a job.

I knocked on the front door and Cora answered. She seemed surprised to see me, and by all rights she should have been.

“Oliver. What a nice surprise. Come in. Oh, you have little Evie with you, too. To what do I owe this honor?” she asked.

“I was hoping to catch Thomas here,” I said truthfully.

“Sure, he’s in his office. Why don’t you leave Evie with me and go on in to see him,” she said, reaching for the baby before I could even shut the door behind me. I hesitated. My protective instincts were still on high alert.

“She’s fine. Now go on. Second door on the left.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” I said.

I knocked on the door when I came to it and Thomas yelled to come in. Stepping into his office for the first time was a little intimidating. I briefly considered grabbing Eve and bailing on the whole idea. I had to take a deep breath and remember why I was doing this.

“Hey, Oliver,” Thomas said, looking up from his desk. “What’s up?”

“I don’t know where to start,” I said honestly, feeling a little deflated after the confrontation with Evie’s grandparents.

“Sit and start from the beginning.”

This was Thomas the Alpha, but there was a compassion to him that reminded me he was still Thomas, Peyton’s brother.

Instead of diving into a job request, I needed to first talk to someone about what had happened. I took a seat and scooted it close enough to lean forward on his desk.

“There’s a few things I want to talk to you about, actually. Had an issue with Eve’s grandparents this morning. It wasn’t pretty. They found out that I was living with Peyton.”

“They’re human, right?”

“Yeah, so it’s not like I can just tell them she’s my mate. They have no understanding of what that means.”

“So, marry my sister,” he said simply.

“That wouldn’t bother you?”

He looked at me like I was crazy. “Why would it?”

“I don’t know, it’s just not the shifter way. I wasn’t sure how Peyton would take it if I asked.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “Dude, she’s a woman. Just because we’re shifters doesn’t mean the human world doesn’t influence us all the time. My sisters love that Hallmark Channel shit. Plus, Pey would do anything for Eve, and if it means securing her future and less conflicts, of course she’ll do it.”

I didn’t feel quite as convinced. A bond mate was sacred to the wolf pack, and anything less was pointless and a waste of time, though I did believe him when he said Peyton would do it for Eve. She loved my daughter as if she were her own. Of that I had no doubt.

“Look,” Thomas continued. “She wouldn’t be the first, if that makes you feel better. You met Maddie and Liam at Tim’s graduation. They’re married. Big white dress, friends and family celebration, and everything. Oscar’s not Liam’s biological son. He adopted him in the process.”

“Adoption?” I asked, surprised to hear it. It wasn’t something I had ever considered, but now my mind was whirling with possibilities.

“Yeah. Liam wanted to make sure Oscar was always protected and safe. He would have had that anyway, but being the legal son of a Westin gives the kid full birthrights when the time comes. That was only part of it, though. I asked Liam why he went to such lengths and he said because it was important to Oscar and he never wanted him to feel like he loved him less or that he didn’t belong.”

Would Peyton want to adopt Eve? Legally we could make that happen and it would secure her future and keep her safe from the types of threats her grandparents had made just that morning.

“I can see you have plenty to think about on that subject. Now, let’s talk about the real reason you stopped by, because we both know it wasn’t for permission to marry your mate.”

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