Page 70 of Alpha's Redemption

“I gave her your spare house keys.”

I nod. Ava had said she wanted to stay with us for the night. Dad, too, is staying at our place, not wanting to go home without Mom.

We wait. Neither of us knows what to do, so I leave it to Valen and the Slasher Pack Alpha. They seem to be in their element dealing with all the aftermath, and I don't know the first thing about dealing with the werewolf council or what we do from here.

When they’re finished talking and everyone eventually leaves, Valen comes over with Marcus and rubs his hands up my arms. His touch is warm, making me realize how cold my skin is.

“You should be in the car. It’s too cold out here,” he murmurs.

“Where did our fathers go?”

“Your father is staying with mine. Yours was apparently pretty drunk by the time Dad finished talking to him.”

“I could go for a damn drink myself,” Marcus says, sounding exhausted as he nudges Valen. Zoe shoots him a look, knowing I don't like Valen drinking. He’s been drinking again over the last few weeks and I don't want him to fall back into old habits.

“Come on, I should get you home,” Valen says, pulling me closer to use himself as a shield to protect me from the wind. He moves to the back of Zoe's little car where Valarian has fallen asleep with the girls.

“Am I taking Taylor, or are you?” I ask Zoe.

“Marcus and I will take her,” Zoe answers, and I nod, grabbing Valarian's blanket after Valen grabs him.

I kiss both the girls, who are sleeping soundly, before following Valen to our car. He puts Valarian in the back and I place his blanket over him while clipping him in. We drive home in devastating silence.

I’m glad it’s dark because I know the roads are still painted in blood. A storm is brewing above and I’m hoping most of it is washed away by morning. Yet, we still have plenty of clean-up to do, and plenty of people still missing because it was dark before we found the vast majority of bodies.

Valen parks out in front of the hotel instead of underground. I stare at the front by the hedges where my mother's body was before Valen grips my hand, pulling my gaze away. Those were the most harrowing hours of my life, sitting on the rooftop watching, trying to keep the kids distracted from witnessing the horrifying scene below us, trying not to scare them. When it was all said and done, Valen's desperation to check on us sent him to the roof, which was not ideal, considering there wasn't a speck of skin that wasn't covered in blood.

Luckily, the kids were half asleep, so hopefully, the girls won't remember seeing him, though I know our son saw him. He didn't stop trembling until after Valen stepped out of the shower clean and Valarian realized it wasn't his father's blood, though he’s remained silent ever since.

It had been impossible to convince the kids to keep their eyes closed while we left the roof, but Marcus brought blankets up to toss over their heads so they wouldn't see the forsaken my mother killed in the stairwell while we carried them to the first accessible floor.

When we finally get home, I unlock the door and Valen immediately goes to put Valarian in bed. The sound of crying I can hear up the hall makes me move to the guest bedroom. I nudge the door open to find Ava in bed, huddled under the blankets, her body shaking as she sobs.

Quietly, I move toward the bed before climbing in behind her and wrapping my arms around her, hugging her as close as my belly will allow. I hold her as she cries, the sound breaking me into a million fractured pieces with sharp edges that pierce my soul.

“She's gone,” Ava whispers. I nod my head against her back and sniffle.

“I know,” I whisper, not knowing what else to say. I can't take her pain; it’s mine, too, though I wish I could at least stop her from feeling it.

She cries herself to sleep, and I hold her until then. Slipping out of bed, I move toward my room and push the door open to find Valarian in our bed, Valen wrapped around him. I slip my pajamas on, and Valen lifts his head.

“He came in about twenty minutes ago,” he whispers. I nod my head before quickly slipping into bed on Valarian's other side. Valen drapes his arm across both of us and his hand rubs the side of my belly.

“I was worried you would try fighting,” Valen murmurs, propping his head on his hand to look at me. I shake my head, place my hand over his on my belly, and lean forward, kissing Valarian's head.

“No. I wanted to, but it wasn't worth the risk, and I would have been no help anyway; I was where I needed to be and where Mom wanted me to be—safe with Val,” I tell him.

ChapterThirty

We’ve had an entire week of funeral services. Everything feels wrong, though.

Tatum is in a medically induced coma. They saved his leg, but the infection has spread everywhere and Macey has been sick with worry, barely leaving his bedside. Zoe and I have been alternating taking Taylor.

Ava has busied herself with work and so have I. Anything to take my mind off how quickly everything has spiraled out of control.

All morning, I was holed up in my office—which is finally finished—going over documents from both packs and the accounting from the hotel, leaving me scraping money left and right to pay bills. Then I spent all afternoon helping Ava move her stuff back home from the apartment out behind my hotel, which Macey will now take over.

When I finally get home from work and walk in the door, Valen looks over the back of the couch; the beer in his hand doesn’t escape my eyes as he quickly places it down to turn to look at me.

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