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“You knew. You knew and said nothing,” he says. I bite the inside of my lip and nod. Hurt shines in his eyes as Valen looks at the hotel.
“She gave you this place, didn't she?” he asks.
My lips quiver as he turns his gaze back to me.
“She recognized your son,” I tell him, and he sucks in a deep breath.
“You should have told me,” he says, and I can feel his heartbreaking, the sadness for a loss he didn't actually lose all those years, the sinking feeling that I betrayed him.
“Valen, wait. Just let me–”
He gets in his car and slams it in reverse, smacking into the brick flower bed in front of the main office before tearing out of the parking lot. The engine of his car roars as he floors it down the street.
“I take it that’s what you meant when you said it would get a lot worse?” Marcus says as I rub my arms against the cool breeze. He stops beside me with a groan while rubbing his lower back, and Kalen pulls out of his own parking space before lowering his window.
“He’ll forgive you. It's me he’s furious at,” Kalen says with a sigh. I nod as I watch him leave, feeling like a piece of me is leaving too.
Three days later
The only time I’ve heard from Valen is via text message. Three days have passed, and he’s still angry at me; I know he spent most of those days drunk. I can feel a growing unease sitting in my stomach through the bond. Standing in front of the school, Valarian and I wait for him to come to get him, yet the feeling through the bond tells me he’s passed out, sleeping. In no way am I letting my son go with him if he’s drunk. I hope it’s just my guilt for not telling him sooner.
“What time is it?” Valarian asks me, looking both ways down the street for his father's car. Retrieving my phone from my pocket, I glance at the time and sigh. He’s almost an hour late.
“He’ll come. He promised on the phone,” Valarian says while nodding his head and walking back to the bench seat in front of the school. I wander over to him and sit next to him.
“Maybe he’s in traffic?” Valarian says, fidgeting with his fingers.
“How about we call him when we get home? Perhaps he’s busy,” I offer.
“But he promised he would be here,” Valarian says while looking at me teary-eyed. He’s been asking for his father since the morning after the Alpha meeting—asking where he was and when he could see his father, and I kept making up excuses.
“Did you have a fight?” he asks, and I turn to look at him. “You did. You upset him and made him leave us, didn't you?” he says, looking angry.
“No, he’s upset about his mother,” I tell him.
“But Grandma died years ago.”
“And people stay sad for a long time,” I try to explain.
“Well, you can take me to him,” Valarian says, hopping up and walking toward the car. I try to call Valen on the short walk back to my truck, but he doesn’t pick up.
“I don't think he’s home. We can try to call him when we get back home.”
“No! He promised me. I want to see him. I want my dad!” Valarian screams at me. Startled at his outburst, I stare at him before pulling myself together and kneeling beside him, wiping the tears that streak down his cheeks.
“Valarian, I don't think you should see him right now. Your father needs time,” I tell him, but he shakes his head.
“What if he needs me? Please, Mom! Please,” Valarian begs, and I drop my head and pinch the bridge of my nose. I sigh before looking back at his big, amber eyes filled with tears.
“Fine, but we just knock, and if he doesn't answer, we go home,” I tell him. He nods, bouncing on his heels in excitement, then races toward my car, climbing in the back and buckling himself in. Jumping into the driver's seat, we head to Valen’s hotel.
The regret I feel upon stepping out of that elevator is instant. No guards stand in the corridor, and the smell of liquor has Valarian pinching his nose. Grabbing his arm, I try to steer him back into the elevator, but he takes off, racing down the hall. I chase after him when he pushes inside the wide-open door.
“Dad! Dad!” Valarian screams excitedly before he falls silent. Rushing through the door, I can see Valarian standing in the hall, where it opens up to the living room. He looks over his shoulder at me before looking back into the mess. Glass crunches under his shoes as he walks off searching for his father.
“Valarian, wait,” I call, trying to catch up to him, only to stop when I walk in and see it for myself. Broken glass lies everywhere, the couches have been upturned, the china is broken, blood is spattered on the walls, and the place looks like it’s been burgled. I follow the sounds coming from Valarian to find him standing in the doorway to the bathroom.
“Dad?” Valarian murmurs, and I grip his shoulder. Valen is passed out on the tiled floor.
