Page 153 of Alpha's Regret: My Luna Has A Son

He laughs as I turn back to face him.

“You forget, any rogue that steps out of line receives instant banishment. They are already the dregs of society. Her being your Luna won't change that. You own half the city, but you don't own the council. It will never pass in the courts. Everly would be attempting the impossible. This city doesn't want things to change; she won't succeed. All she will do is start a war she can't win,” John claims.

“She will win, John. I know Everly, she won't give up until she does,” I tell him when Ava comes back down. I turn to look over my shoulder. She has tears in her eyes.

“Everly, is okay, she…” Ava shakes her head before glaring at her father. “This is your fault,” she snaps at him. John growls at her words.

“Get in the car. You don't speak to me like that,” John snaps at her, and she shakes her head at him before stalking off, leaving me with John.

“Tell Everly to call her mother when she wakes up,” John says, and I nod. He turns to walk away, then pauses.

“And tell her I stopped by. And I meant what I said, Valen. War is coming. Make sure you aren't on the wrong side of it,” he says before walking off. I stare after him, wondering what he’s talking about.

ChapterSeventy-Seven

Everly

Returning to the room, I find Valarian tucked in beside his mother, the blanket pulled high under his chin. My father is still seated beside the bed, and he holds a finger to his lips, pointing to the bed.

“What was that about?” my father asks as I drop into the chair beside him.

“John. And I have no idea. Something is going on with him, though. He kept talking about some impending war,” I tell him, and his brows furrow.

“I’ll ask around, see if I can find anything out,” he sighs. “Do you want me to take Valarian?”

I glance at the bed where Valarian is lying and shake my head. “No, I’ll take him home with me later; you head home,” I tell him, despite not wanting to leave Everly. Our son needs me, and I know she would like one of us with him.

“Valen, I–”

“Not now,” I growl. I don't want to talk about him betraying my mother, and certainly not here in front of my son, even if he is asleep. My dad has terrible timing, that’s for sure.

He closes his mouth and nods, getting up. “Call if you need anything or want me to take him, but it will probably be good if he stays with you; he hasn't been sleeping well,” he says, making his way out the door, as I sit back in my chair.

After an hour or so, my eyes start growing heavy, and I find myself nodding off. Yawning, I get to my feet to find Valarian still asleep with his mother. Everly starts stirring, her nose crinkling, and I feel her consciousness slowly coming back as she sniffs our son. I was planning on taking him home, but as I watch her, maybe he’s what she needs to wake up. So instead of taking him away, I move him closer to her before climbing in beside her and pulling Valarian onto my chest.

I place his tiny hand on the side of her face and her breathing evens out again. I kiss his little head, and he rubs his face against my chest when I hear her inhale deeply, making me look over at her to see her hand move. She rubs her eyes, though her hand doesn’t do what she wanted and becomes tangled in the cords attached to her.

Rolling on my side, Valarian sliding between us, I reach over and untangle her hand, making her eyes snap open. She looks really out of it, but her eyes suddenly clear of their dreary state and widen after a few seconds, and she lurches upright, looking around the room. Gripping her shoulders, I push her back down.

“Emily?” she gasps.

“Alive! She’s down the hall; stay still. You just ripped out your cannula,” I whisper, and she blinks, her heart rate slowing as she exhales. I tug the cords away, hitting the button for the nurse when the machine starts going berserk. Then I lean over to shut the device to the IV off too—the nurse will fix it. Grabbing Everly's hand, I run my tongue over the little spot of blood where she ripped the needle and tape off, watching it heal before lying back down.

“Try not to move. You have cords everywhere and a catheter, which I’m sure you don't want to be ripped out,” I tell her. She nods, watching our son before brushing his hair with her fingers.

Valarian stirs under her touch, and she leans forward, sniffing his little head. My heart leaps at seeing her awake, and her eyes flick to me behind him.

“You're forgiven,” she smiles softly, and my brows furrow. At first, I think she’s talking about not getting to her fast enough, until she touches her neck. I let out a breath of relief.

“You forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive. I should have let you do it when I marked you. I heard you ask me to forgive you before you did it; I thought I dreamed it,” she says, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

“How long has it been?” she asks, her foggy mind becoming clearer and clearer by the second.

“A few days.”

“Did you find the facility?” Everly asks. I tilt my head to look at her better. That’s the first time I heard about a facility.

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