Page 14 of Alpha's Redemption

As she makes Mom proud.

ChapterEight

Everly

Four Days Later

We held the funerals yesterday.

Today, I just can't cope with work, so I’ve decided to start the mural on either side of the door leading into the old school, now the homeless shelter. I designed the sign and sent it off last night to my manufacturer. When I walk into work to find everything handled and for once, the sky showing no sign of rain, I get a head start on the mural.

I have two days until the council meeting, and two days after that, I have the challenge for my father's pack. I’m a little nervous about exactly what it is I’m getting myself into with his pack, especially if it’s bankrupt like Ava believes. Yet, if I can restore a hotel to its former glory, I have no doubt I can dig the pack out of the hole my father dug.

I forgot how much I enjoy drawing and painting, though the old, rendered brickwork is making it a bitch to stencil out the design with my paintbrush. I’ve done the background white, like a canvas, though standing on a ladder while it’s windy isn't ideal. Hearing a car pull up along the road behind me, I glance over my shoulder to see it’s Valen's. He hops out, walking over to me.

“Everly, the wind is hectic today. Get down before you fall off,” Valen scolds, coming over and holding the ladder. I shake my head but climb down anyway.

“I have a harness,” I tell him, unclipping it as I reach each step on the ladder, but he shakes his head.

“A harness won't do much good if that ladder unhooks from up top. It's only hooked to the gutters. That's not the sturdiest thing, especially those old, crumbling ones. It would have been best if you had told me you were doing such a gigantic mural; I would have had a cherry picker brought over. Don't use the ladder. I’ll get one sent over tomorrow,” Valen scolds, and I shake my head.

He has a point, though, and the site supervisor also gave me a lecture about the same thing, making me wonder if he called Valen.

“The site supervisor called you, didn't he?” I tell Valen. He smirks.

“Of course,” he says, and I roll my eyes.

“I thought you had your meeting today with your father over pack business?”

His eyes darken slightly, and he sighs. “I sent my accountant instead,” he says while bending down to help pick up my supplies. I pack them into a box and put them in the cleaning closet just inside the school doors.

“You can't just avoid your father,” I tell him, following him out to his car.

“Unless it has something to do with Valarian, I don't want to hear it,” Valen growls, opening the driver's door.

“Valen, he is your father, and he’s a wonderful dad,” I tell him.

“He lied to me,” Valen states. I sigh, climbing into the car.

“Your mother wouldn't want you to toss your father away. He fucked up, but he’s trying to make up for it. The petition got pushed through by him. He drops everything he is doing whenever we need his help with Valarian,” I tell him, and he starts the car, nodding his head in reluctant acknowledgement.

We head to school to pick up Valarian. When the bell rings, he comes running out excitedly, jumping up and down to show the painting he had done in class.

“Wow!” Valen says, looking at it. Casey comes over to show us her painting—it’s covered with glitter and swirling scribbles, while Valerian’s is all straight lines of paint that look like he used a ruler to make sure he didn't go out of the perceived lines. I smile down at him, and he grabs his father's hand as we cross the road to the car. Once in the car, we head home, listening to the radio talking about the upcoming council meeting.

“It appears war is brewing between Alpha Nixon and Alpha Valen. Alpha Nixon was spotted today leaving the council chambers in a rage after learning Alpha Valen's mate, Everly Summers—the infamous disgraced daughter of Alpha John from Shadow Pack—has petitioned to have the laws involving the unfair treatment of rogues changed. Alpha Nixon refused to speak to the media today after he was caught in an argument with Alpha John just in front of the building before reversing into Alpha John's car. It appears tensions among the packs are high, and over the next few weeks, we will either see change within the city or war.”

Valen turns the radio off, glancing at me, and I sigh.

Great, the media is going to blow this right up, and if there isn't a war already, they will ensure one starts with the hysteria they’ll cause.

“Would the City really go to war over Mom's petition?” Valarian asks, and Valen glances in the mirror at him.

“Hopefully not, but unfortunately, people don't like change. Greed and entitlement start countless issues,” Valen tells him.

“But rogues have nothing. They aren't even allowed to own housing,” Valarian says.

“And that is why your mother is petitioning to have the laws changed.”

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