Page 75 of Alpha's Redemption

“Now they won’t like my plushies!” he sobs, placing the bottle down and burying his face in his arms as he leans on the counter. Everly brushes her fingers through his hair and glares at me.

“Now we have to take them back, all because you wrestled in Mom's butt!” Valarian cries. Macey snorts and chokes at his words, while Everly gapes at him and Zoe snickers.

“It’s not funny! I told Dad to wrestle in a boy way and he got it wrong,” Valarian pouts. He snatches the plushies off the counter, putting them back in the bag.

“Valarian, there is no way to wrestle in a boy or girl way,” Everly tells him.

“Yeah! Casey said she came out her mom’s hoo-ha, but I came out your butt. And Dad promised he wouldn’t wrestle your butt!”

“Vagina,” Everly corrects and laughs, and Zoe’s face heats.

“Babies don’t come out of the butt,” I tell him.

“But Casey said–”

“Casey came out of my vagina, Valarian. Not my butt,” Zoe states.

“And Taylor came out of my belly. They cut me open, but she’s still a girl,” Macey tells him, and he seems confused.

“Girls aren't so bad,” Zoe tells him.

“I know, but now I will have to fight all the boys to protect them,” he says, glaring at the plushies in his hands.

“Huh?” Everly says.

“Like I do for Taylor and Casey. The boys pick on them. I had to punch Blake in the nose the other day. He tugged on Casey’s hair and made her cry and called Taylor a rogue whore,” he says.

“So that’s why you got detention at school the other day?” I ask him.

“He called Taylor that?” Macey asks, and Valarian nods his head.

“Did you tell the teacher?” Zoe asks, yet Macey's eyes water, knowing the title bestowed on her is now on her daughter by default. I despise that name. It sickens me, and to know children of my pack are referring to other children by it angers me.

“No. I punched him on his big nose.”

“You shouldn’t have hit him—you should have told me. I’ll speak with Blake’s father. Violence isn’t the answer,” I tell him.

“I don’t want them to call my sisters names,” he says.

“They won’t. Besides, they’ll be tough, like your momma. And they’ll have you to protect them,” Zoe tells him. Valarian nods.

“So, do I still have to apologize to Blake?” Valarian asks. In my eyes, no, but the principal asked for an apology when he returns from his two-day suspension.

“You still need to apologize for hitting him, but I’ll be making sure Blake also has to apologize,” I tell him, looking at Macey. She folds her arms across her chest and nods once, clearly not happy that her daughter is being picked on.

“I’ll handle it,” I tell her, and she nods, yet, the look on her face says she wants to go deliver the boy the spanking his mother never gave him.

The girls stay for coffee and cake that Zoe made me stop at the bakery for on the way home, then I drive them back to the hotel so they can get the girls from school in an hour. Around 3:30, Everly’s phone rings and she reaches for it on the coffee table where Valarian is drawing.

“It’s Auntie Macey,” Valarian says, passing the phone to her. She quickly answers it, and a moment later, I feel the mind link open up.

Marcus's voice frantically echoes in my head.

‘Have you seen Ava and Zoe?’he asks.

‘Not since I dropped Zoe back at the hotel. What’s up?’

‘Ava and Zoe went to pick up a few things from the hardware store and were supposed to pick Casey and Taylor up. The school just called me because they weren’t picked up. I’m on my way there now to get them.’

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