Page 36 of Alpha's Redemption

“You just got home? I thought the company driver was meeting you halfway. Why are you up?” Marcus asks.

“They did meet us halfway; Dad and I took turns driving. And to answer your other question; because Everly keeps checking the damn locks.”

“You two still not talking?” he asks.

“I don’t want to upset her, I have nothing nice to say right now,” I admit, feeling like a damn asshole. But I don’t know what else to feel. I’m angry, and the words would sting, so I don't want to throw them out in anger and upset her.

“Try to get some sleep. I’ll be by at 7 a.m. to pick you up,” he says, cutting the link.

The last thing I want to do is go see Nixon, but after what we found out from John, I need to investigate, though I don't see him being cooperative, so I try to sleep.

I catch a couple of hours when I hear the damn lock on the front door twist again. Though I’m trying to ignore her, I listen as she checks the balcony doors, then the kitchen window. She’s driving me up the damn wall, but when I hear her check the kitchen window, I sit up. Valarian would struggle to fit through it, let alone any ninja that managed to scale up the building. She rushes back off to the bedroom and I shake my head, lying back down and closing my damn eyes, only to feel eyes on me a few minutes later. Unease rolls over me and I know she’s awake. What I’m not expecting is to open my eyes as I roll over, only to find her next to me. I nearly shit my pants and jump out of my skin. She jumps in fright when I do and I groan, clutching my hair.

“What?!” I snap, annoyed. I’ve spent all damn day and night in a fucking car and now all night with her waking me up every Goddess damn second! I growl at her and sit up, only to notice her blanket and pillow on the floor next to the couch. The look on her face makes me feel like a prick for snapping at her when I realize it was her staring at me in the dark.

She says nothing, but I don’t miss the way her lip quivers as she stands up to go back to the room. As she reaches to grab her blanket, I grip her wrist and feel the tremble in her hand. With a sigh, I lift the blanket and tug her on the couch with me.

The stupid bond!

She rolls into me and I slide my arm under her head so she can bury her face in my neck. She says nothing and falls asleep almost instantly. Her breathing evens out, her heart rate slows, falling in sync with mine. However, I find myself now unable to sleep, trying to understand her strange actions and the weird look of fright, but also humiliation on her face, like she was caught doing something she shouldn’t. Eventually, her scent calms me as I tuck her closer and finally fall asleep.

The following morning, however, I wonder if I dreamed it because I’m on the couch alone and Valarian and Everly are nowhere to be seen. I reach for my phone to find missed calls from Marcus; it’s 10 a.m.!

I open the mind link and feel for Marcus’ tether. He answers immediately.‘Why didn't you wake me?’I snarl at him.

‘I tried, but Everly said she kept you up last night and to let you sleep.’

‘Fuck! I’m getting ready now.’

‘All good, I canceled with Nixon until tomorrow. He said he had to leave the city anyway.’

I sit up and rub my face.‘What time tomorrow?’I ask and yawn.

‘11 a.m. tomorrow, go back to bed,’Marcus says, but I shake my head before remembering he can’t see me.

‘“No, I need to check the homeless shelter anyway. Make sure you wake me tomorrow. I don’t care if I’m tired or she keeps me up, we need to get this meeting out of the way and see his reaction,’I tell him.

‘Okay, well, John just got to Zoe’s place with Everly, so I should go,’Marcus says.

‘Wait, Everly is with you? Where’s Valarian?’

‘At school. She dropped Valarian here at 5 a.m. this morning and asked us to run him to school so she could get an early start on her mural. Zoe and I dropped him off for her.’

‘So, she didn’t take him to see John and Claire?’I asked him.

‘No, Everly didn’t want to upset you and bring him, though Claire looks pretty upset he isn’t here.’

‘Is Everly ok?’I ask him, slightly worried since she didn’t wake me. I didn’t even hear her leave.

‘Yes, why wouldn’t she be?’

‘Because she kept checking the damn locks all night. She seemed frightened.’

‘Ah, yeah, Zoe does that. Drives me nuts. Anxiety. Zoe takes medication for hers, but isn’t so bad when I’m here. Old habits die hard,”Marcus says with a sigh.

‘What do you mean?’

‘The girls. Zoe said they hated living at the back of the hotel because it was so close to the reserve, paranoid about forsaken breaking in and taking the kids. Apparently they had a few scares there. Everly must have been scared last night. Anyway, I know she said she’s going to the homeless shelter later; her sign is finished, so she's going to watch them set it up at 1 p.m.. Maybe you’ll catch her there.”

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