Page 135 of Alpha's Redemption

ChapterSixty-One

Everly

4 months later

It’s scorching hot today, and Macey, Ava, Zoe, and I have just left from the final dress fitting. This time, it wasn’t my dress that needed altering, but Zoe’s; her growing baby bump is getting bigger every day.

“I just need to grab bread and milk. I don’t feel like stopping after getting Valarian from school,” I tell the girls as we step out of the bridal store.

“I’ll come; I need to grab a few things too,” Macey says, slipping her sunglasses on. Zoe pulls the sunshade over the stroller and we walk the short distance to the shopping center. It’s easier to walk than wrangle all three girls from the stroller to the car and back in again.

Walking into the store, I sigh as the cold air conditioning sweeps over us. We’re wandering through the shopping center when Macey shrieks, making us all nearly jump out of our skin as she takes off toward a store.

“Man, this baby has more clothes than I do at this point,” Zoe whines as Macey bounces on her heels, holding up a blue, Winnie The Pooh onesie.

“No, Macey, please! I’m running out of places to put all his clothes,” Zoe complains, but Macey isn’t hearing it and simply wanders further into the store. Zoe and Ava reluctantly follow her in and I wait out the front, since the store is much too small for me to navigate the stroller around. When Macey comes out, she’s holding two bags full of baby boy clothes.

“You’re impossible,” Zoe tells her, but she thanks her anyway.

“So, have you and Tatum had any luck yet?” Ava asks her, nudging me aside and taking over the pushing of the stroller.

“No. We met one surrogate the other week, but Doc said the chances of finding a she-wolf to donate her eggs is near impossible. So, we thought of adopting,” she sighs, and I nibble my lip. Tatum and Macey want a child, and Macey wants to give Tatum hisownchild, but her options are limited. And besides human donor eggs, she’s had no luck.

“The surrogate?” Zoe asks.

“A little cooky, and Tatum worries she isn’t of sound mind to carry to termandhand the child over at the end,” Macey says. “Some things aren’t meant to be,” she states as we walk into the grocery store to do our shopping.

I’m looking forward to getting home, and poor Zoe’s feet are so swollen from standing all day, I know she wants to get home too.

We’re at the checkout, and I’ve just set my basket down when Zoe nudges me with her elbow toward the self-checkout across from us. Looking up, I see Amber.

I tried to find her after the attack from Nixon, but as soon as she was better, she left the hospital. I have no idea where she’s even living, though we hear rumors that she’s homeless. We constantly check the homeless shelter to see if she shows up, but never find any sign of her.

“Is it weird that I feel terrible for her?” Zoe whispers as she scans her minimal items.

Macey leans against the register and peers over at her.

“No, she lost everything; her family, her pack. We’ve been where she is. That’s probably why,” I tell her. Ava smiles sadly. Amber was our friend growing up, so seeing her down in the dumps bothers me.

This is not the Amber we were accustomed to. The clerk bags our items when I hear her self-checkout register go off, saying her card was declined.

My stomach sinks and I peer over to see what she’s buying, only to find canned food and toilet paper. Is she really struggling that bad?

“Evie,” Zoe whispers, nudging me and nodding toward her. Zoe is too kindhearted. Most in her position wouldn’t care for the girl after all the heartache she sat by and kept tight-lipped about. But we know exactly what it’s like to be in her shoes.

“So who's going over there?” Macey sighs, looking at us expectantly. A smile slips onto my face, and Zoe nods to me.

As I cross over to the self-checkout area, she tries her card again, only for it to decline once again. The girl watching the registers asks her to remove some items.

“Leave it,” I tell the woman, waving her off. Amber jumps as I approach her. She’s wary of me as I pull my card from my wallet.

“No, no. It’s fine,” Amber hurried to say as she tries to stop me from tapping my card on the card reader. Her cheeks flame as I pay for the few things she has.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she whispers.

“Yeah, I did. Everyone needs help, Amber. Maybe not always financially, but no one can say they have never struggled. And those that claim they never have, are liars,” I tell her. I feel someone brush up against me; Amber steps back, and I notice it’s Zoe. She holds her hand out to Amber, one of our business cards in her hand.

“If you’re looking for work, we need kitchen staff and cleaners,” Zoe tells her. Amber takes the card and looks at it.

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