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Valen wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me against him and away from the car as my father reverses out of his parking spot, then tears out of the place, speeding off down the road. I sigh; what a long night. Valen kisses my cheek before pressing his nose into my neck.
“Are you okay?” he whispers, and I nod, wondering what my mother meant by her words.
“I will be,” I tell him before letting him lead me back to the restaurant.
ChapterSixty-Eight
Everly
Toward the end of the night, everyone had calmed down, and the cleanup began. Despite the exhaustion and aching feet from standing on them all night, after the incident with my father, the night actually turned out well. In addition to introducing me to many people who were actually nice, Valen made an official announcement to the media at the end of the meeting. Now that everything is about to come to an end for the night, I’m eager to crawl into bed. I notice Kalen lingering a little longer when Valen comes over with Valarian asleep in his arms.
“I have people on the way to help with cleaning up; they’ll be here soon. Come home; we need to get him to bed,” Valen says, leaning down to peck my lips when I look up at him and smooth down Valarian’s hair just as Kalen walks over to us.
“Actually, can I speak with you for a minute?” Kalen asks, and my eyes go wide. He isn’t seriously going to tell him now, is he?
“Uh, sure.” Valen motions toward a nearby table, but Kalen shakes his head and reaches for Valarian. Valen watches him, staring oddly at his father, while my heart beats frantically in my chest. Kalen hands Valarian to me, and I grab him. Valen's brows wrinkle, and I can feel his confusion through the bond.
“We can stay here for the night,” I tell Valen, and he nods.
“Fine, I’ll be up in a minute; just let me go lock my car back up,” he tells his father before walking off.
“I didn’t mean right now,” I hiss at Kalen when Valen is far enough away.
“I need to get it over with; it’s time, Everly. Besides, if I don’t do it now, I worry I won’t be able to bring myself to do it,” he sighs.
I chew my lip, slightly worried about what will happen. Looking toward the car park where Valen went to lock his car, I sigh before nodding.
“I'll get Zoe to watch him for me and I will be back in a minute,” I tell him, before quickly escaping back to the apartment. Zoe is setting Casey down to bed when I walk in. Marcus is there, resting on the couch with his head back.
“Fun night,” Marcus chuckles while shaking his head.
“It’s about to get worse too,” I say, and he sits up, but I shake my head instead, quickly taking Valarian to bed and stripping his shoes and jacket off before tucking him in. He’ll pitch a fit in the morning about sleeping in his clothes, but right now, I have bigger issues to deal with, like the explosion I’m expecting when the news of Valarie comes out.
“Zoe, can you watch him for me for a few minutes?” I ask her while walking back out to the living room. She’s in the process of removing her shoes and looks over at me.
“Of course; is everything alright?” she asks and no sooner than she says it, Marcus jerks upright as we hear a thunderous growl that’s clearly an Alpha’s roar of rage. My heart skips a beat as I run for the door. Marcus, though, is faster, beating me down the steps as he takes off.
The door flings against the wall with a bang and I cringe at the sound, hoping it didn’t wake the kids as I race across the gardens to the restaurant.
Horrified staff stare out the window at the parking lot, and Marcus shoves through them and out the doors. I gasp when I see Valen pummeling his father. Kalen is on the ground while Valen rains blow after blow into his face. Blood sprays everywhere, and I push past my stunned workers and through the glass doors just as Marcus grabs him, yanking him away from his face. Only for Valen to slam his hands into Marcus’s chest, launching him backward into the side of a car. His body creates an outline in the metal, and Marcus shakes himself out, looking dazed.
“Valen, stop!” I call out while racing over to him. He snarls and punches his father again. I grab his arm desperately. Kalen isn’t even trying to fight back and has his arms up, letting his son pummel him bloody. Valen roars when I grab his arm and yank it back, making me fall backward. My ass smacks the ground, and I grunt at the impact. The hard ground causes my tailbone to ache.
“VALEN, STOP!” I scream, getting to my feet and grabbing him again. My grip on both his arms, however, is ineffective. Having never seen him so angry before, I’m afraid he’ll kill his father. Despite my minimal weight compared to his muscled frame, I shove at him; I’m pretty sure that I injured myself in the process. I topple on top of him, and he sits up, but I scramble back and move in front of Kalen as Valen launches himself at him.
Anticipating the impact, I close my eyes, but the crash never comes—instead, a ferocious growl screams from him and my eyes open. The gasp that leaves me stutters as I find myself suddenly nose to nose with his wolf form towering over me, his paw in the air with claws extended, looking for a kill. They abruptly retract as he places the paw on my shoulder. I can feel Kalen shaking behind me as Valen snarls, snapping his teeth at his father’s legs. I grab his furry head and pull on his ears to draw his attention away from his father.
“Stop,” I say in a barely audible whisper. Valen’s eyes still sparkle with tears, and he strikes my hands down with a massive paw. Kalen sits up, blood streaming down his face. Valen paces in his wolf form, trying to find a way past me to reach his father. However, I know he won’t attack me to get to him.
ChapterSixty-Nine
Everly
“I'm sorry, son,” Kalen chokes out, groaning. Turning my head, I look at him. Kalen's face is so swollen he’s barely recognizable. He coughs before placing his fingers in his mouth and removing a tooth. Valen's answer is a growl as I rush to help Kalen stand. The sound of cracking bones reaches my ears as I hear Valen shift back behind me. Keeping a grip on Kalen, who is unsteady on his feet, we move toward his car. I fish his keys out of his pocket and unlocked his car for him.
“I'm alright, dear. Go check on my son,” he hisses, falling heavily in his seat. With a nod, I turn to find Valen has walked back to his car.
“Valen?” I call, and he turns to look at me as I walk over to him. The look he gives me makes me stop.
