"I don't know what to say,” Everleigh said.
He could tell that she had not expected this at all. Her emotions were all over the place.
“Say whatever you feel.”
“I don't know what I feel. I'm going to have to think about this, but you can definitely spend time with Eliza whenever you want. I don't think I'm quite ready for her to leave town with you yet though. I may not be for a while."
"That's fine. We can stay in town."
"What happens if I say no to mating?” Everleigh asked. “Are you moving back to Anchorage?"
"No. I'm staying here. I’ll go back to visit, of course, but I'll give up my spot as Alpha. I want to be around for my daughter. I don't want to only see her on holidays, and there's really no reason for me to stay in Anchorage other than my pack, and they can survive just fine without me once we get a replacement."
Everleigh just sat there.
He sat next to her, waiting. He would wait as long as she needed. He’d wait forever, if that’s what it took. Chapter Twenty-Nine: Everleigh
She was so completely stunned.She didn't even have the words to process it. How in the world had this happened?
How in one day’s time had she gone from thinking that Roman was going to try and take Eliza away from her, to him sitting here handing her paperwork that showed he was ready to move his entire life to Juneau, away from his pack? She really needed some time to think.
“Thank you for telling me. I think I need to process this for a minute.”
“I understand,” he said. “You look tired. Let me help you get to a hotel room.”
She was. She was so very tired. Exhausted didn’t even begin to cover it. "Are you staying?”
“Do you want me to?”
She could tell he wanted to.
“I don't think I can actually leave you at this point. I'll be staying no matter what, but I can keep my distance.”
"You don't have to keep your distance, I just need to get a room right now.” She wasn't sure she was even fit to drive.
“I'll take you. You want to get Eliza?"
She called her daughter over. "Can I talk to Mr. Roman now?" Eliza asked.
"Yes. You can," Everleigh said.
Eliza began to tell him all about counting to one hundred, and the one hundred items that she brought to class to celebrate the one hundredth day of school.
He listened patiently and drove them to a nearby hotel. There weren't many options in this town. It wasn't swanky but it was clean. He paid for the room and checked them in and then walked her inside. Everleigh let him handle all of it, which was very unlike her.
"I want to be next door," he said to Everleigh. "If you need anything."
She nodded. She could feel her emotions warring with each other. In the most distant part of her brain, she could feel a grain of happiness. But she was too overwhelmed to really think about it.
Eliza wrapped her arms around Roman, and he responded by lifting her into the air and flipping her upside down briefly as she squealed.
Everleigh immediately went to lie down. She needed to tell Eliza the truth. She owed it to her daughter. The longer she waited, the longer Eliza lived without knowing what it was like to have a loving father.
Roman said goodnight to them both, very reluctantly.
Everleigh leaped up. Still in panic mode, she made sure the doors and windows were locked and then pulled the couch in front of the door. Eliza could easily move it, but she would be noisy about it and Everleigh would wake up. “Don't leave the room for any reason, okay?"
"Okay, Mommy."