Page 145 of Alpha's Redemption

I raise an eyebrow at him.

“What? I can’t be excited about a new pack coming to the city?” he asks, while turning the key in the ignition.

I shake my head; I just want to get home to shower. If that means that I have to miss out on some answers, so be it.

“Alpha Lee will be at our house in three hours instead of two, he just needs to duck home real quick,” he adds as his eyes focus on the road ahead.

Lake City is on the other side of the mountains. Before the bypass went in it would have been a four-hour round trip. The new road and tunnels cutting through the mountain lessened that time by more than half.

“Sounds good; gives us more time to get everything ready.” I speak right as a yawn escapes me. To minimize the awful sound, I cover my mouth with my hand.

Valen hums as he drums his fingers on the steering wheel. There has to be something he’s hiding from me. There just has to. I can see how much more weird he’s getting with each passing second—feel it through the bond like alarm bells going off. He can barely sit still in his seat.

Once we arrive home, I see that my father and Valen’s have recruited help in setting up because the street is lined with cars. The barbecue is open to whoever wants to attend to meet the new Alpha. Just for that fact alone, I’m not surprised by the number of people here.

They have a chance to meet someone new and get free food. I mean, who wouldn’t take up on an offer like that? I would fall for the free food offer alone if it meant I didn’t have to cook—screw everything else.

Valarian comes rushing out of the house the moment our car pulls into the driveway. I feel as if every time I close my eyes, that boy somehow manages to grow. Literally by the second, I swear. And now, he’s getting so tall that he’s nearly as tall as me.

Not to mention that every day he looks more and more like his father. He’s a carbon copy of him, just a little smaller. Well, he’s smaller for now.

“Where are the girls?” I ask him as his father scoops him up, hanging him over his shoulder.

Valarian laughs and giggles as he dangles half upside down. “Out the back with Pop,” he answers while he’s trying to wrestle out of his father’s grip.

“Is Marcus home?” Valen asks him as he finally sets our son on the ground.

“Yep, just got home,” Valarian tells him. “So Alpha Lee has a son?” he asks excitedly.

“Yep, his name is Sam,” I tell him as I smile at my son and grab the last of the files from the back seat along with my purse and Valen’s discarded suit jacket.

I roll my eyes at the piece of clothing. Our son might have distracted me when we pulled up, but this once again reminds me of how suspicious my mate is acting. Which, in turn, annoys me, since I both want to know and drop the matter at the same time.

Valarian and Valen move toward the door and I huff at them; like father, like son, for fuck’s sake!No, no, guys, don’t you mind me, I’m all good being the damn donkey of this family and carrying everything,I think to myself.

“Thanks for your help!” I call after Valen and he stops in midstep.

His brows furrow, then his eyes widen when he finally sees how much I’m struggling as I try to juggle everything I’m carrying. Valarian laughs as his father quickly rushes back to help.

“What’s gotten into you?” I snapped at him. He isn’t usually this distracted. Once again, he gives me a vague answer of being excited about the new Alpha coming to the City.

As soon as I’ve dropped everything inside the downstairs office, I spend the next two hours helping to set everything up for the barbecue, making some salads, and getting the kids’ table set up. When I’m done, I check on the triplets and go upstairs to shower.

I’m just stripping off my clothes when I hear scratching on the bathroom door before it’s nudged open by Frankie. I pat his little head as he lies down on the bathroom floor mat, though I eye the Frenchie suspiciously as I finish getting undressed. He still isn’t forgiven for his earlier stunt of eating my heels.

“You better not be in here to cause mischief,” I warn him. He cocks his head to the side and his tongue lolls out of his mouth. My wild guess is that the little shit actually thinks he’s winning and will earn himself some extra pats by being cute. I shake my head at him as I toss my heels off next to the door and climb into the shower.

Halfway through my shower, I glance out to find Frankie licking the shower door. His big eyes are watching me as he tries to open the glass and climb in with me. He is a terror.

I snap it shut as he nudges it with his squished nose.

“No, go harass Valarian or the girls!” I tell him as I squeeze some shampoo in my hand and start washing my hair.

Rinsing it out, I open my eyes to find Frankie is eyeing me through the glass, only this time he has mydesignerhigh heels in his mouth.

I point at him. “Don’t you dare.”

He drops it, and I’m just about to go back to showering when he grabs it again and darts for the door.

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