Valencia!

Eleven

“Hey girls how was . . .” is all my dad gets out before he sees my swollen, red eyes. My mom pulls me to her side and shakes her head at my dad, telling him not to say anything right now, and internally I’m grateful.

“Ty why don’t you and I go have a talk out on the balcony.” Mrs. S says and Tylon nods at his mom, his eyes never leaving me as he walks past.

“Why don’t you go lie down for a little while, Valen,” My mom suggested, but I shake my head. “No mom, let's get this over with.” I tell her. She nods, then leads me over to the stool at the kitchen island and helps me up.

Griffin comes to sit beside me, and my dad moves to stand on the other side of the island with mom. “What's going on Anna?” dad asks my mom, she takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly before she begins.

“Well, Valen, would you like to tell them or should I.” She prods gently, and I give her a look, encouraging her to continue. She pats my hand warmly then continues. “Valen is pregnant.” My mom explains, and my dad's face looks confused for a moment.

“Then why is she crying?” He says, looking at mom, then looks over to me and places his hand over mine to comfort me. “Don’t worry about school, your mom and I will be here to support you and Tylon's already here. wolves look forward to having pups.” He comforts me then looks over to the balcony for a second. “Why is Tylon outside and not in here with my daughter?” he asks frustrated and moves towards the balcony, but mom catches his arm.

“Honey wait.” My mom tells him, and he looks back at her confused. “It’s not Tylon’s pup. Valen and Tylon aren’t actually together, everyone just assumes that they are.” My mom says, and he looks at her confused for a moment.

“What do you mean it's not . . .” he stops when he realizes who’s it is. “That mother fucker! Because one pup wasn’t enough right, he had to go knock up my daughter too.” He grits out through his clenched teeth. And my mom rubs his arm soothingly trying to calm him down.

My brother leans back in his chair and sits silently for a moment processing everything that’s happened so far. “What are you going to do, Valen?” Griffin asks, concerned “I don’t know yet.” I whisper, and the room grows quiet until the balcony door opens.

Ty walks over to me and asks if he could talk to me and I nod. He helps me down from the chair and leads me to my room. I sit on the edge of the bed and Ty kneels in front of me, looking up into my eyes. He places his hands on my knees before he starts speaking. “Valen I . . .” is all he gets out before I stop him.

“I don’t expect you to stay here now, this is a huge responsibility, and you're not obligated to me.” I told him with tears beginning to well in my eyes again. I am so tired of crying today.

“Valen, I want to stay with you. I can help you raise this pup.” he says sincerely, and I choke on my emotions “What?” is all I can get out.

“I don’t want to leave you in the middle of a crisis like this, you’re going to need help, so please don’t push me away.” he tells me, and I slip to the floor and cling to him tightly. The force of me hitting him made him fall backwards. He wraps his arms around me.

“Is that a yes then, I can stay?” he asks chuckling and I nod into his chest, tears still falling freely from my eyes.

“Of course, you can stay. Honestly, I thought you might hate me for being so stupid in the first place.” I mumble into his chest, and he strokes my hair comfortingly.

“I could never hate you Valen, you’re my best friend.” He tells me and I hug him tighter. “I’m sorry everything is such a mess.” I tell him sadly, and he tilts my chin up to look at him.

“This is just how life goes sometimes. That’s why we have each other to rely on.” He whispers into my hair.