Page 115 of Alpha's Redemption

Moving to the chair beside the bed, I rock baby B in my arms while Valarian drags a chair over to the other side of Everly so he can kneel on it next to the her. He places his hands on the side of the bed, peering at baby A sleeping on her legs, sucking on her fingers.

“They’re so small,” Valarian whispers, stroking Baby C's foot while Everly attempts to breastfeed. She’s finding it harder to nurse this time with three babies and no supply. We’ve been supplementing with formula, yet she’s still determined to try to give them as much breast milk as possible.

“Are you being good for Auntie Zoe, Auntie Macey, and Pop?” Everly asks Valarian, sweeping his hair from his face. I need to cut it; it’s getting too long, and he’s been complaining his hair is messy. Zoe had tried to cut it for him last night, but he refused to let her touch it. Valarian looks at me. I swear that boy is too smart for his own good. The look he gives me is far too knowledgeable for a five year old. I wait to see if he mentions Macey being gone.

“Yep! Pop brought Auntie Ava home,” he says before showing the baby the dinosaur plushie. Everly's head whips to the side to look at me.

“Ava’s back?” she stammers the words out, and I nod.

“Carter gave her back. But we’ll talk later when Valarian isn't listening,” I tell her. Her eyes well with tears, and she swallows but nods her head, turning her attention back to Valarian and the girls.

“Can I hold one?” Valarian asks excitedly, reaching for the baby on her legs.

“Wait! Wait, you need to be careful. Come here,” I tell him, and he climbs down off the chair and rushes over as I stand holding baby B in my arms.

“Sit in the chair, and I’ll help you hold her,” I tell him.

Valarian does, holding his arms out. I place her in his arms but keep a firm grip under her bundled butt and head in case he drops his arms. Valarian looks down at her in awe and sniffs her little head.

“She smells like Mom,” he says before kissing her little head. The baby squirms in my hands and opens her eyes, and Valarian gasps.

“She has our eyes, Dad!” he squeals, inspecting them before smiling brightly.

“They all do,” I tell him, leaning closer to kiss his head. Valarian plays with her tiny fingers before he leans down and kisses her nose.

I kneel while holding her—my back hurting from the hard, blue hospital chairs—while Valarian coos and makes babbling noises. When my phone starts to ring in my pocket, the vibration makes me stand, and Valarian pouts when I take his sister away, setting her in the bassinet.

“Go sit with Mom; I’ll be back in a minute,” I tell him while I pull my phone from my pocket.

Everly shuffles over on the bed carefully and he climbs up next to her with my help. Once I see all the kids and my mate are secure, I walk out of the room. It was Marcus calling me when I saw the screen.

Shutting the door behind me, I quickly answer it. “Forget to tell me something?” I snap at him.

“I know. I know. You can kill me later. We need your help,” Marcus says, and I growl at him through the phone.

“Did you find her?”

“We think so. We have an approximate area. But the search area’s too big. We need men out here. And we’re in the forsaken territory. It would be good to have someone who has immunity besides your father out here to go in first,” Marcus tells me.

Fuck, my father and I both have some strange immunity to forsaken bites from the mutation handed down, which I kind of hope is handed down to our children. Few people know about it, and it isn't something that we publicize. Though with how many bites we both had after the forsaken attack, they probably figured it out when we didn’t get sick. Alphas have a little more immunity to the venom in general, but the forsaken bites had no effect on me and my father at all besides a burning sensation.

“Send me the coordinates and I’ll send scouts and warriors out. I'm on my way,” I tell him, hanging up. Everly is already staring at the door when I walk back into the room, and I know she would have been straining to listen, which is why I shut the door. I could feel her curiosity while I was on the phone.

‘What is going on?’she asks through the mind-link while glancing down at Valarian. I know she can feel my worry and anger through the bond; I should be out there with my men.

‘Carter has Macey,’I tell her, and she purses her lips. The look of fury on her face is as angry as I feel.

‘So, why are you still standing there?’ she replies, and I smirk before moving toward the bed. I lean over Valarian and peck her lips.

“Come on, Valarian, I need to drop you off at home,” I tell him, and his lip quivers, not wanting to leave his mother and sisters. I hate to be the one to break his heart.

“He’s fine here. You can help me with your sisters, right?” Everly asks him, and he nods excitedly.

“I want to stay. I can look after Mom,” he smiles.

‘You should tell Tatum,’she mind-links, and I know she’s right. Tatum had managed to use his crutches earlier and walked down to see us. I think he thought he would find Macey here because he looked pretty disappointed when he asked where she was and I had no answer for him. He had stayed for an hour or so and said he wanted to apologize to her and that he didn't mean what he said.

I get it; he feels useless not being able to walk properly and doesn't want to be a burden on her. The nurses scolded him for walking down because he has an infection in his leg that requires extra surgery to clean it out and they forced him back to his room.

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