Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Everly POV Tears of frustration streaked down my face as I stormed away from him. Zoe and Macey were waiting, but I was too upset to speak to them as I ran to my office. Both of them followed me inside, and Macey was clutching a piece of paper in her hand.

“You ok?” Macey asks, and I nod. However, I was anything but ok. That was Valerie’s car, I know it was silly, but it was hers, just like everything of hers I kept down in the storage lockers. I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away.

“We will get it back, ” Zoe offers, and I shake my head.

“He had it crushed when I refused to let him mark me, “Asshole, I’m sorry, Everly, ” Macey says, and I sniffle ; it wasn’t their fault. Macey clears her throat, and I glance at her resting on the edge of my desk as I used a tissue to wipe away my childish tears, buying another was no issue, but I loved that car because it was hers. “The Inspector-, “

“Crap, I forgot, ” I tell them, getting up, and Macey waves me away, holding a piece of paper out to me.

I take it from her and read it; a sound of annoyance leaves me when I see what is written on it.

“This is bullshit; they are too standard. He checked last time,” Macey nods.

“He said he will be back in a week to check the guard rails are fixed. And the fence around the pool had been replaced.”

“Anything else?” I ask, and Zoe chews her lip nervously.

“He said whatever you have done to piss off the Alpha you need to fix, that he has been asked to find any fault to shut us down unless you give Valen what he wants, “

“You didn’t tell him,”

“Of course not,” I nod in relief.

” I’ll handle this, then I will come and grab the kids from school with you, ” I tell Zoe, who nods.

“Also, one of the fridges is down; I have sent for an electrician, ” Macey adds as they are leaving. This day couldn’t get any worse.

However, I spoke too soon. No electrician would come out, not even a handyman. I went through my contact list of rogues with different trades looking for anyone with any skills with appliances or electricals but found none. Zoe’s daughter’s father was away from the City visiting his mate’s family, so we couldn’t as for his help either.

When it was time to pick up the kids, Zoe met me by her car at the hotel’s front.

“Any luck?”

“No,” I groan.

“We’ll figure it out, we still have one running, and we could bring one down from one of the apartments, “

We will have to bring two down, one won’t be big enough, and that means two apartments won’t be available until I order a new one; if I can request a new one, I have a strange feeling we will be struggling to get it delivered, “

The following day, Another forsaken was spotted last night; a few people staying at the hotel decided not to risk it and left knowing the Hotel was a good entry into the city.

Regardless, it was Saturday, and we were waiting for the food delivery to arrive for the wedding being held this afternoon.

Like I thought, I couldn’t get a delivery truck with the new fridge in time, we had a week’s wait, and it took six of us to haul two of the fridges down from the apartments outback that ran next to the functions room, thankfully the forsaken sightings had scared off a few guests giving us extra spaces in the hotel itself to make up being down two apartments which were reserved for the wedding guests.

I glance at my watch; the food delivery should have come into the City an hour ago.

“What’s wrong, mummy?” Valerian asks as I paced frantically out in the loading dock for the delivery to arrive.

“Just waiting for a supplies truck sweety, what are you doing? ” I ask, stopping and staring at him. He had his hand propped up on his chin while he stared down at a sheet of paper. He had asked for some photos earlier, and I had given him my photo album to pick some out. He had been quietly working on some school project in the delivery shed, which is out the back of the kitchen.

He was so patient, Casey had trouble sitting still for long, yet Valarian had been out here an hour and had no complaints while we waited for the severely late truck.

“Do you have any pictures of my dad?” He asked and froze, going over to see what he was looking at.

“Um, no, I don’t think I do,” I tell him, brushing his hair back and glancing at what he was working on.

“This for school? ” I ask him, and he nods. It was a family tree.

“Casey has pictures of her dad; why haven’t you got any pictures of mine?” He asks. I chew the inside of my lip.

There were small cut-out pictures, and Valarie was at the top, the space next to her empty. I tried to be as honest as I could; he knew Valarie was his father’s mother and grandmother. The area beside her was empty because I couldn’t risk having him mention his grandfather’s name at school.

The following line was a picture of me along with a spare that was blank. Coming off my picture were some lines where he had glued cut-out pictures of Macey and Zoe.

“You put them in our family tree?” I smile.

“Yes, they are my aunties, Casey and Taylor my cousin’s, our little village,” Valerian states.

“That’s right, our little village, our family, ” I tell him. He stares at the blank spots on the page.

“You really don’t have a photo of him?” I shake my head, wishing I could give him one, I could possibly get one off the Internet, but the teachers at school would recognize him instantly.

“What about your parents and my grandpa?” He asks, pointing to the other vacant spots.

Again something I couldn’t give him, and it made me feel guilty; they were too recognizable, and I had my name changed before he was born. My father removed all traces of me, and I used my grandmother’s maiden name, Summer’s; that was the only piece I had left of my family and a life I no longer had.

“I will check,” I tell him, and he smiles brightly. “What were they like?”

“My parents?”

He nods, “You never talk about them, “

I think of what I can tell him; I dreaded thèse sorts of questions, the information I could give him was limited.

“Well, my mum looked a lot like me; I have her facial features but my dad’s eyes and his dark hair. My dad.

I pause for a second. “when I was little; I used to think he was a superhero; he liked to play and would always play with my sister and me after he finished work,”

“You have a sister too? A real one? ” He asks, and I nod sadly.

“She used to be my best friend, “

“What happened to them? Can I meet them? ” He asks.

“Maybe one day, ” I tell him, though whether that day would come is unforeseeable. My phone starts ringing, and Valerian turns back to his work.

Glancing at the screen, I see the delivery truck I was waiting on.

“You’re late,” I answered.

“Yes, and it is out of my hands; I have been stopped at the city entrance, I tried to explain, and I had to wait for some Alpha to get here; they have been searching the truck and only just gave my phone back.” The man tells me, and I sigh.

“Everything still cold?” I ask.

“Yes, the delivery is fine, but that Alpha I was telling you about wants to speak with you, “

“Which one?”

“Alpha Valen, he said his name was, I’m not too familiar with your kind or their politics, but he asked a bit about you, asked if I was a secret lover, he seems quite intense, ” he says nervously before clearing his throat.

“I will chuck him on,”

“Everly, it seems you have found yourself in another predicament,“ Valen chuckles.

“Stop messing around; I need that truck. I have a wedding in five hours, “

“Well, then seems like you will want to negotiate then,“

“I am not letting you mark me,“ I snap at him, forgetting Valarian was sitting behind me; I glance over my shoulder and meet his questioning gaze before sighing.

“What do you want?“ Before quickly adding. “Anything but-“

“Let me hold the Alpha meeting at your Hotel, “ He says, cutting me off.

“Definitely not,“ I tell him.

“That’s my offer; what have you got to lose? It brings more business to your Hotel and will get you media coverage for the Hotel, “ Valen says, and I roll my eyes; that was the last thing I wanted. However, that was not the issue. It would be risking Valen finding out who my father is, which would also mean confronting my father.

“So, am I sending the truck back where it came from? I need an answer; you have a lot of seafood in this truck be a shame for it to go to waste.“ I press my lips together.

“Fine, what date?“ I spit through gritted teeth. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, and this could be a chance for Valarian to meet my sister and mother. Or it could go exactly how I am thinking, and I end up humiliated, or my son is denied, or it goes smoothly, yeah right, talk about wishful thinking.

”Any date in three weeks, you can pick the date, but it has to be three weeks max, ” Valen tells me.

”And my delivery?” Then another thought caine to me suddenly.

”Oh, and the restaurant fridge blew up, so if you want the Alpha meeting held at my hotel, I need a new fridge delivered in the next hour; think you can manage that?”

”It will be there in twenty minutes along with a fridge, I am trusting you not to go back on your word, and I advise you don’t, I will text you the numbers, and you can send me the cost and details along with the date, ”

”I am not giving you my number , just send it to the Hotel email address, and I email it back through, ”

”You don’t have to give it to me, Love. Your delivery driver has it written write here on your invoice, talk soon, ” He says before hanging up the phone. You idiot, I never should have put my mobile on the companies info. Darn it. Now I had to think fast about what to do about the entire Alpha meeting issue; on the plus side, the truck is on its way, and a fridge, I will count it as a win for now.