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“I'll make some coffee. Do you want some?” I ask Zoe. She nods her head and I turn to our small kitchenette. Our little suite is now completely functional—floors are re-stained and polished, the room repainted, curtains removed and blinds put in their place and thanks to Macey's brother, the rickety old pipes have been fixed. In the last two months, we've stripped and fixed all the rooms on the top floor. We're far from done, but each passing day shows progress, and the smile on Valarie's face is worth every ache, sprain, and splinter.
“Valarie said we could take the day off today if you don't feel up to it,” Zoe tells me.
“No, I need to work to keep my mind off him,” I tell her. She nods her head. I hate seeing the sadness in her eyes when she looks at me. I know she's worried, but it makes me feel even more weak and vulnerable than I already do.
“You have us; we have our village,” Zoe says, channeling Valerie. Valarie had told Zoe the same thing she'd told me: we're building our village. The more work we get done, the more I believe she was right. We are building something—a place to call home; a purpose. We just have to remember not to give up. But with the girls and Valarie, I know I've found friends for life.
I've created my own family.
Regardless, I miss my sister terribly, but not once has she called, and Mom changed her number. I am the forgotten child, one who no longer exists in their world, no longer has a place in their lives. I cried for a good hour when that realization hit. Valarie found me on the stairs after I tried for the hundredth time to contact my mother or sister; I just wanted to hear their voices, to know I wasn't forgotten.
“Their loss if they can't see how amazing you are,” Valarie says. She sits beside me on the steps, holding my hands.
“You don't need them; they aren't wasting tears on you, so don't waste your tears on them; they don't deserve them,” she tells me.
Hearing a knock on the door, I get up and open it. Macey walks in before reaching down and taking Valarian from Zoe. When she straightens, she looks at me, smiling sadly, and I realize Zoe told her. Yet, I feel no anger at my secret being out—I should have told them already.
“So, will you tell us now? I know Valarie knows, but she won't spill, no matter how many times we ask. We won't judge, I swear,” Macey says, and I know they won't; it's me who isn't comfortable, me judging myself.
But they're right; I can trust them; they deserve to know. It kind of feels like a relief—freeing—and makes the words leaving my lips easier.
The girls have so many questions, all accumulated over the last two months. I kept my secrets close to my heart. Their biggest was what pack I came from. I knew all their secrets, but I was ashamed of mine for some reason. They had noticed my Alpha aura dwindling; by this time it's almost non-existent. Now they have another secret added to the list. I had refused to tell them the father of my child is my mate. I was ashamed. I thought they would think less of me because my mate didn't want me.
“I am the oldest daughter of Alpha John of the Shadow Pack,” I tell them, and they both gasp.
“You're Alpha John's disgraced daughter?” Macey gasps.
“Wait, I thought he only had one daughter. She was due to be the next Alpha?” Zoe says.
“Nope, he's my father, and when he found out I was pregnant, he told me to abort it to cover it up. I said no, obviously, so he shunned me and banished me, stripping me of my title. I was supposed to take over the pack when I turned eighteen.”
“Well damn, I feel like I should bare my neck in submission. I knew you had Alpha genes, but I didn't think you were from the second-biggest pack. I thought you transferred into the rogue population from another city,” Macey admits. I chuckle at her as she bounces on the edge of the bed, burping Valarian.
“Glad I was sitting down for that news,” she mutters, nudging Zoe with her knee.
“Well, remain seated because if you find that scandalous, you are about to have a heart attack at what I tell you next,” I tell them.
“Scandalous? You come from one of the most influential families in the city. How would we not be shocked by that, and what could be more shocking?” Zoe says, shaking her head.
I suck in a deep breath. “Valarian's father is Alpha Valen from Nightshade Pack. He is also my mate,” I tell them. Their jaws nearly hit the floor. Macey's head turns slowly, her mouth wide open as she stares at Valarian before holding him up in the air.
“You mean to say that I am holding the spawn of Satan himself? That this cute little boy comes from the nutsack of the most vicious Alpha in the city and the notorious playboy of the town?” Macey says, holding Valarian like she expects him to turn into his father and rip her to pieces.
“Yep, and that's it. No other secrets—you know the rest.”
“That does explain the eyes. Doesn't his family have some genetic thing with eyes? I think I read that somewhere,” Macey says.
“You're worried about his eyes?” Zoe says, looking at Macey before turning back to me.
“Your mate—and the father of your child—is your father's biggest rival. Damn girl, you really don't do things half-assed; you go all in on messing shit up, don't ya?” Zoe laughs. I chuckle as she looks me up and down.
“Yep, the Moon Goddess definitely fucked me over, that's for sure; bad enough he's my mate, but he also had to be my father's biggest enemy.”
“Count yourself lucky your father banished you. Could you imagine if the Blood Alpha knew you were Alpha John's daughter and had his son? It would start a war, the city would become a bloodbath, and your father probably would have killed you,” Macey says, and I have to agree; maybe things really are working out for the best.
ChapterFifteen
10 months later
