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“Breathe, buddy. It isn't the end of the world; it can be fixed,” Valen states, walking out. He stops in the hall and scratches his head before looking back at me.
“Where do you keep your ironing board and iron?” he asks.
“Uh, the laundry room, where else?”
“Well, mine is in my linen closet,” he says with a shrug.
“See, I told you and Zoe it belongs in there,” Valarian huffs.
“Yes, the dryer puts lint on…”
“…the ironing board,” they both finish at the same time, and I fold my arms and raise an eyebrow. Valen chuckles and shakes his head.
“Definitely my kid,” he chuckles, walking off to find the laundry room.
The kids are eating breakfast and I'm onto my second cup of coffee when Valen glances up at me briefly while he cuts Valarian's pancakes.
“I'll be by at one to pick you up,” he states.
Now what does he want? It's bad enough I've spent my early waking hours with him this morning.
“And why is that? Valarian doesn't finish school until three.”
“I'm taking you to see the doctor,”
“No, I'll go myself. You don't need to come to the doctor with me; I'm fine.”
“I will pick you up at one.”
“Valen!” I spit at him, and he pins me with a glare, his aura slipping out; my grip on my mug tightens.
“I will pick you up at one; it isn't up for discussion.”
Valarian glances between us. The tension in the room is so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Tatum clears his throat, and I'm thankful when he changes the subject.
Valen ends up taking Valarian and Casey to school, much to Casey's amusement. She happily kept asking if being Alpha meant he could kill people and get away with it, and if he could banish her teacher for the crime of looking like a poodle.
I shake my head at that, but Valen politely answers all her questions before making the offer to take her to school. Zoe ends up giving in when she gets a call from Casey's father, who she had been trying to avoid since his parents found out about Casey.
Walking through the hotel, I wave at my secretary with a smile as I pass her before escaping into my office. Turning the lock, I move toward my desk, only to freeze. Alpha Kalen is there, sitting behind my desk, one leg crossed over the other in a reclined position.
“Good morning, Everly. I thought it was a good idea that I stop by for a little chat.”
I purse my lips, folding my arms across my chest.
“Is that so?” I ask.
ChapterForty-One
Valen
Casey and Valarian excitedly pull me down the halls of their run-down school. The floor alone is filthy with scuff marks, and I shiver with disgust, fighting the urge to start scrubbing the floor. The classrooms aren’t much better; the desks are falling apart as the cheap particleboard chips away and some kids are even sitting on milk crates. I look around to ensure this is a school and not some homeless shelter.
Valarian shows me to his desk—definitely the cleanest one in the room. I watch as he removes a white table cloth from his bag and sets up his desktop. His pencils sit neatly in a row as he places each one out carefully. Casey, however, opens her pencil case and upends it on the table. I see him cringe before he glares at her and starts rearranging her pencils in a straight line.
I don’t want to touch a thing in here; this place is a bacterial infection waiting to happen. When the teacher comes in, I have to do a double-take. She indeed has poodle hair, like she chose the style out of a dog magazine; it’s short and curly on top, then cascades to her shoulders in a poof of hair; her round glasses are perched on the end of her nose. She taps her ruler on the desk, trying to grab the students' attention. The ruler snaps and she stares at it before tossing it over her shoulder. It lands perfectly in the bin, making me wonder how many rulers she’s broken.
