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“True, but they'll be happy to do it, you'll see,” Zoe says, smiling more brightly. I can tell she's excited; we all get excited when it comes to helping the other rogues and children.
Opening the back door, I let Valarian out and peck him on the cheek—he instantly wipes it off.
“What’s wrong with you?” I ask him. He scowls uncharacteristically.
“Who were you talking to on Saturday?” Valarian asks. He's been in a mood all weekend.
“Just the delivery people,” I tell him, knowing exactly what he's referring to. He's been probing me all weekend every chance he got about his father.
“You’re lying. You said he couldn’t mark you; I heard a man’s voice. Zoe said mates mark each other. Why did you say that man couldn’t mark you? Is he your mate, is it my dad?” he asks. I glance at Zoe, who mouthssorryat me.
“No, sweetie, it was a figure of speech,” I lie, but his eyes narrow, seeing straight through me—this kid is too observant. “Is this why you’ve been upset lately?”
“Why isn’t my dad your mate?” he asks with a hint of demand in his voice. Glancing around, I notice the teachers busying themselves, pretending not to overhear. All this over some homework. I sigh, wondering if I can find a way around this.
“Billy said you're a 'rogue whore' and that's why my dad isn’t around.”
“He said that, did he?” I ask with a growl. Billy is a little punk and he and Valarian are always fighting
“Yep, so I punched him in his ugly face. But then I thought about what he said, and now I want to know!” he demands.
“Ok, we can talk about this when you get home,” I tell him, and he glares at me.
“The wind will change, and your face will get stuck like that,” I tell him, and he huffs, folding his arms across his chest. His face doesn’t budge. “Not here, Valarian.”
“Fine, but when I get home, I want to know who my dad is and why I can’t see him,” he says, frowning. “I don’t like them calling you and Auntie Zoe names,” he adds, and I smile grimly.
“Well, Billy’s dad is a rogue because he spat in his Alpha’s face,” Zoe adds behind me. Valarian makes a face of disgust.
“See? He's just a nasty boy,” I tell Valarian.
“You promise you'll tell me?” he asks.
I sigh and look at Zoe and she frowns.
“I will tell you what I can.”
“Pinky promise?”
“Pinky promise,” I say, grabbing his little pinky, and his mood seems to lift slightly before he turns around.
Now, I have to figure out what I can tell him without giving too much away.
He rushes off toward the front gate with Casey, and I see Taylor there waiting for them.
“Hey Auntie Zoe, Auntie Eva,” Taylor calls, waving eagerly with her broken arm in a cast covered in brightly colored drawings and names.
“Hey, sweetie!”
“Can I come over and swim on the weekend?” she calls back.
“Of course. If you like, I'll even ask your mother for a sleepover,” I tell her, knowing I'm off this weekend. It's the first weekend I've had off in a year. The girls insisted, and I was actually looking forward to giving Zoe a break. Macey always jokes we'll never need men because we have each other and are practically married with the way we handle the kids between us.
“Yes!” Taylor fist bumps the air excitedly.
Zoe waves goodbye, and I climb back in the passenger seat with a sigh, missing my truck. However, on the short drive home, I pass Alpha Valen going the other way in his Black Mercedes. The windows are blacked out, but it's the only one of those cars I've seen before; it has to be him.
“Pull over and turn around,” I tell Zoe. She looks for a safe place to turn around and we head back the way he was driving.
