Page 23 of Alpha's Redemption

Valen starts blowing up my phone. He had no idea what I wanted the footage for; I’m sure he thought I would try to blackmail Nixon with it, not hand it to the media. With a groan, I get up. I know I have to face my mate, and I'm sure he’ll have plenty to say about it.

Macey also has to leave, so we both load the kids up in our cars, and I wave as she leaves before driving home myself. I’m still chuckling quietly and Valarian keeps asking why, but I just shake my head. Pulling up in the parking lot, Valarian rushes ahead to the glass doors and is greeted by the doorman. I throw my keys to the valet and retrieve my handbag from the trunk, along with the few groceries I had stopped and grabbed on the way home. Suddenly, I jump as I’m grabbed and yanked away from the door. My bags drop, and I turn to see who it is, only to find myself glaring up at my father.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" he growls at me.

"Well, I was getting groceries from my car," I snarl back, picking up the spilled oranges. My father crouches down and starts helping me re-bag everything. While I chase a runaway apple, he picks up my handbag and gasps. I snatch my bag and the pregnancy test out of his hand.

"You're pregnant?" he asks, looming over me.

"Shush! Keep your voice down!" I hiss at him, glancing around.

"You can't fucking shift! The challenge is the day after tomorrow," my father growls, forgetting what he came here for, though I know it has to do with the news.

"Challenge is still going ahead. I am not backing down," I tell him.

"You can't shift, Everly! Why would you challenge me when you’re pregnant?" he growls.

"I only just found out today, but it changes nothing,"

"Like fuck it doesn't! I am not fighting a pregnant woman!" he snarls.

"Then stand down!" I tell him.

"No! It ismypack. I can't, even if I wanted to," he says, making my brows furrow before I shake my head.

"Then I will see you in two days," I tell him, snatching my bags up. Valarian comes out the doors, looking at us.

"Does Valen know?" he asks as I start to head inside.

"No, and you will keep your mouth shut until after the challenge," I tell him. He scoffs and shakes his head.

"It's my birthright! I'm the rightful heir! Do the right thing, Dad. Hand me my title."

He says nothing, and I start walking off when he chases me, stopping me again.

"Mom?" Valerian calls out, looking at me worriedly. Guards start moving in, but I wave them off.

"Your mother will be with you in a second, Val. Wait inside. It’s cold," my father tells him, and Valarian looks at me. I nod for him to go in, and he does, standing just inside the doors.

"What?" I asked, turning to look back at my father.

"You fucked up."

"So, it's ok for you to paint me in the media as a whore but don't like the favor returned?" I laugh.

"I don't care about the photos of me. I will deal with that. It's Nixon; he will fucking come for you for what you did. You need to leave the city. Get Valarian and Ava and your two girlfriends and get out while you can."

"What? No! I am not leaving the city."

My father grabs my arms. "You need to get out! Nixon is planning something! Something big!" he says, staring me dead in the face. This is the moment I realize that he knows something he’s trying to keep hidden.

"Like what?" I ask. He says nothing and curses.

"This is about your debt?" I ask, and his head snaps back to look at me.

"How– …bloody Ava," he curses, then sighs. "No. I don't know. But I have a funny feeling it’s to do with the rogues and forsaken going missing," he says, glancing around nervously.

"What do you mean?" I ask him.

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