Chapter 27
Everly POV
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Tears of frustration streak down my face as I storm away from him. Zoe and Macey stand there waiting, but I am too upset to speak to anyone. I want to run into my office and shut the door. Both of them follow me inside, Macey clutching a piece of paper in her hand.
“You ok?” Macey asks and I nod. However, I feel anything but ok. That was Valarie’s car. I know it was silly, but it was hers, just like everything of hers I kept down in the storage lockers. I couldn’t bring myself to throw anything away.
“We will get it back,” Zoe offers and I shake my head.
“He had it crushed when I refused to let him mark me.”
“Asshole, I’m sorry Everly,” Macey curses and I sniffle. It wasn‘ t their fault. Macey clears her throat and I glance at her resting on the edge of my desk as I use a tissue to wipe away my childish tears. Buying another was no issue, but I loved that car because it was hers.
“The Inspector…”
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“Crap, I forgot,” I tell them, getting up, and Macey waves me away, holding a piece of paper out to me.
I take it from her and read it. A sound of annoyance leaves me when I see what is written on it.
“This is bullshit. They are to the standard; he checked last time,” Macey nods.
“He said he will be back in a week to check the guard rails are fixed. And the fence around the pool had been replaced.”
“Anything else?” I ask, and Zoe chews her lip nervously.
“He said whatever you have done to piss off the Alpha you need to fix, that he has been asked to find any fault to shut us down unless you give Valen what he wants.”
“You didn’t tell him?”
“Of course not,” I nod in relief.
“I’ll handle this, then I will come and grab the kids from school with you,” I tell Zoe who nods.
“Also, one of the fridges is down, I have sent for an
electrician,” Macey adds as they are leaving. This day couldn’t get any worse.
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However, I spoke too soon. It would turn out that no electrician would come out, not even a handyman. I went through my contact list of rogues with different trades looking for anyone that had any skills with appliances or electricals but found none and Casey’s father was away from the city visiting his mate’s family.
When it is time to pick up the kids, Zoe meets me out the front of the hotel by her car.
“Any luck?”
“No,” I groan.
“We’ll figure it out, we still have one running and we could possibly bring one down from one of the apartments.”
We will have to bring two down, one won’t be big enough, and that means two apartments won’t be available until I order a new one, if I can order a new one, I have a strange feeling we will be struggling to get it delivered.”
The following day.
Apparently, another forsaken was spotted last night, a few people staying at the hotel decided not to risk it and left knowing the hotel was a good entry into the city.
Regardless, it was Saturday, and we were waiting for the food delivery to arrive for the wedding that would be held that
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Like I thought, I couldn’t get a delivery truck with the new fridge in time. We had a week’s wait, and it took six of us to haul two of the fridges down from the apartments outback that ran next to the functions room, thankfully the forsaken sightings had scared off a few guests giving us extra rooms in the hotel itself to make up being down two apartments which were reserved for the wedding guests.
I glance at my watch; the food delivery should have come into the city an hour ago.
“What’s wrong, mommy?” Valarian asks as I pace frantically out in the loading dock for the delivery to arrive.
“Just waiting for a supplies truck sweetie, what are you doing?” I ask, stopping and staring at him. He had his hand propped up on his chin while he stared down at a sheet of paper. He had asked for some photos earlier and I had given him my photo album to pick some out. He had been working on some school project quietly in the delivery shed which is out the back of the kitchen. He was so patient, Casey had trouble sitting still for long, yet Valarian had been out here an hour and had no complaints while we waited for the truck that was severely late.
“Do you have any pictures of my dad?” he asks. I immediately freeze, hair standing up on the back of my neck. I get closer to him to see what he’s looking at.
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“Um no, I don’t think I do,” I tell him, brushing his hair back and glancing at what he was working on.
“This for school?” I ask him and he nods. It’s a family tree.
“Casey has pictures of her dad, why haven’t you got any pictures of mine?” he asks. I chew the inside of my lip.
There were small cut–out pictures, and Valarie was at the top, the space next to her empty. I had always tried to be as honest as I could, he knew Valarie was his father’s mother and his grandmother. Not that he remembered her very well. The space beside her was empty because I couldn’t risk having him mention his grandfather’s name at school.
The next line was a picture of me along with a spare that was blank. Coming off my picture were some lines where he had glued cut–out pictures of Macey and Zoe.
“You put them in our family tree?” I smile.
“Yes, they are my aunties, Casey and Taylor my cousin’s, our little village,” Valarian states.
“That’s right our little village, our family,” I tell him, feeling like I could cry. He stares at the blank spots on the page.
“You really don’t have a photo of him?” I shake my head wishing I could give him one, I could possibly get one off the Internet but the teachers at school would recognize him
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“What about your parents, and my grandpa?” he asks, pointing to the other vacant spots.
Again, he was asking for something I couldn’t give him, and it made me feel guilty. They were too recognizable, and I had my name changed before he was born. My father removed all traces of me, and I used my grandmother’s maiden name, Summer’s. That was the only piece I had left of my family and a life I no longer had.
“I will check,” I tell him, and he smiles brightly.
“What were they like?”
“My parents?”
He nods, “You never talk about them.”
I think of what I can tell him. I knew this day would come and I dreaded these sorts of questions, the information I could give him was limited.
“Well, my mom looked a lot like me, I have her facial features but my dad’s eyes and his dark hair. My dad.” I pause for a second. “When I was little I used to think he was a superhero; he liked to play and would always play with me and my sister after he finished work.””
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“You have a sister too? A real one?” he asks, and I nod sadly.
“She used to be my best friend.”
“What happened to them, can I meet them?” he asks.
“Maybe one day,” I tell him, though whether that day would come is unforeseeable. My phone starts ringing and Valarian turns back to his work. Glancing at the screen, I see it is the delivery truck I was waiting on.
“You’re late,” I answer.
“Yes and it is out of my hands, I have been stopped at the city entrance, I tried to explain and I had to wait for some Alpha to get here, they have been searching the truck and only just gave my phone back,” the man tells me, and I sigh.
“Everything still cold?” I ask.
“Yes the delivery is fine but that Alpha I was telling you about wants to speak with you.”
“Which one?”
“Alpha Valen he said his name was, I’m not too familiar with your kind or their politics, but he asked a bit about you, asked if I was a secret lover, he seems quite intense,” he says nervously before clearing his throat.
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“I will chuck him on,” the delivery driver tells me.
“Everly, it seems you have found yourself in another predicament,” Valen’s voice chuckles from the other end.
“Stop messing around, I need that truck. I have a wedding in five hours.”
“Well, then seems like you will want to negotiate then?”
“I am not letting you mark me. Valen, this is my life, my job, it’s not a time for me to be messing around and playing games,” I snap at him, forgetting Valarian was sitting behind me, I glance over my shoulder and met his questioning gaze before sighing. “What do you want?” I ask, before quickly adding. “Anything but…”
“Let me hold the Alpha meeting at your hotel,” he says, cutting me off.
“Definitely not,” I tell him, a pit in my stomach.
“That’s my offer, what have you got to lose, it brings more business to your hotel and will get you media coverage for it,” Valen says and I roll my eyes, that was the last thing I wanted. However, that was not the issue, it would be risking Valen finding out who my father is, it would also mean confronting my father.
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“So, am I sending the truck back where it came from? I need an answer, you have a lot of seafood in this truck, be a shame for it to go to waste. Plus, this is way less of a commitment than you agreeing to let me mark you.”
I press my lips together. “Fine, what date?” I spit through gritted teeth. Though a part of me is relieved we reached an agreement. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad and this could be a chance for Valarian to meet my sister and mother. Or it could go exactly how I am thinking, and I end up humiliated or my son is denied, or it goes smoothly, yeah right, talk about wishful thinking.
“Any date in three weeks, you can pick the date, but it has to be three weeks max,” Valen tells me.
“And my delivery?” Then another thought came to me suddenly. “Oh, and the restaurant fridge blew up, so if you want the Alpha meeting held at my hotel, I need a new fridge delivered in the next hour, think you can manage that?”
“It will be there in twenty minutes along with a fridge, I am trusting you not to go back on your word and I advise you don’t, I will text you the numbers and you can send me the cost and details along with the date.”
“I am not giving you my number, just send it to the hotel email address, and I email it back through,”
“You don’t have to give it to me love, your delivery driver has it written right here on your invoice, talk soon,” he says before
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hanging up the phone. You idiot, I never should have put my mobile on the company’s info. Damn it. Now I have to think fast about what to do about the entire Alpha meeting issue, on the plus side, my truck is on its way and a fridge, I will count it as a win for now.
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