*** Amber ***
As I watch Preston play tea party with little Summer, I realise for the first time that I want a child with him one day. He is so adorably cute drinking pretend tea from little pink plastic cups and saucers while sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Eva comes back a lot faster than any of us were expecting and she comes and cuddles her daughter close to her. Summer is doing big, massive yawns now, and Eva tells her a story while getting her ready for bed.
I can tell Eva is confused and conflicted right now and is trying to process whatever has happened downstairs. She is quiet and subdued.
I let her know when Aiden links me to tell me he is on his way back up to the apartment, and she visibly brightens at this news.
Aiden worries me by telling me we need to talk. I pass that message on to Preston and he tells me not to worry but I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“Honey, I’m home!” Aiden says to Eva as he walks through the door, extracting a smirk from her.
“Right, I am going to tell you all what happened after Eva left but I do not want it to leave this apartment. I do not want it discussed with anyone apart from us here right now.”
We all nod or murmur our agreement and Aiden takes the seat facing Preston and me. Eva goes willingly to sit beside him.
“Alpha Xavier wants to get to know you, Eva, and I think you want to get to know him too, and that’s ok, baby. He is your father and you’re bound to be curious about him. Amber, he also dropped two big bombs that will affect you. He has reported you to the council for cutting down one of his men.”
It takes me a little while to realise what he is talking about and when I make the connection, I am outraged. “His mutt of a son started it. Sorry, Eva, I know it’s your brother, but he is an asshole.”
Eva is laughing. “Don’t apologise to me, I think he’s a pig. He’s nothing to do with me.” I smile at her. Her response confirms that she is going to fit in here perfectly.
“I have told him I will be reporting Junior too and that you were defending and retrieving your Alpha and in essence he agrees with us, but he had to report you because the wolf who you cut down died and his mate made an official complaint about your unnecessary force.”
A stinging remorse fills me. It had been easy in the moment to think of this man as my enemy, but in the cold light of day he was a werewolf with a mate. Preston squeezes my hand and I lean into him gratefully.
“Red, you were rescuing your Alpha and his mate who was being forcefully held, you did what you had to do,” Preston says, infuriated on my behalf.
“I agree, and so we will fight this,” my brother and Alpha concludes, and I am grateful to them all for supporting me. “Amber, the other bomb shocked the living daylights out of me. It’s about our mother.”
My body fills with anxiety at the thought of our mother. Even after all this time. I revert to the little girl she left behind at the mere idea of her.
“Alpha Xavier tells me our mother was banished and when he gave her sanctuary for the night, our father started a feud with him.”
Banished? “But father said she deserted us, he said nothing about banishment, Aidy. Why was she banished and where is she now?”
I’m starting to lose control, but all these years I thought she left us and didn’t love us and now I find out she didn’t have a choice? Emotions swirl inside me, too many to control: rage, longing, hurt, pain, shame and inadequacy.
“Do you think he’s telling the truth, Aiden?” He looks at me thoughtfully before answering me.
“Honestly, Amber, I do. He has nothing to gain from telling this lie. I think it's time for us to visit our father and demand some answers.”
It’s ironic, really. Just as I finally get one part of my life sorted, another two parts fall apart. At least I have Preston on my side to help me through this. I don’t know what I’d do without him.