“That I’ve entered my own personal Twilight Zone.”
“It’s pretty out there.” Alphonso studied his mate. “You’re pretty calm for someone who just found out they might have been kidnapped.”
He wasn’t this calm when he realized men could get pregnant.
“Honestly, I’m learning that anything can happen in Vale Valley. And having you here with me kind of helped.”
“Baby, you have no idea.”
“All right, come on, let’s go downstairs and deal with this.”
He went to walk away, but Alphonso stopped him. “No matter what, I won’t leave your side.”
Sirius went to his toes and quickly kissed him on the lips. “Good.”
* * *
They were walking downto the dining room to meet up with Rosemary and Bedwyr. Sirius was telling the truth when he told Alphonso that he was indifferent to his father coming into his life. Granted Bedwyr didn’t say the words, but he didn’t have to, simply stating that Brigid was his mate was proof enough. Sirius was positive that Brigid and her many secrets were going to get him in trouble one day.
Wait, does that mean I was born in Vale Valley? Is that why it was so easy for me to find it?
Sighing he realized that he wasn’t going to get any answers unless he talked with Bedwyr. When they got to the dining hall, they saw them talking with a guy that had brown spikey hair. He couldn’t hear their conversation, but from the grateful expression on Rosemary’s face after the hug she got, he relaxed some. He didn’t have to wonder why he was suddenly so protective over Rosemary, it was because of the bond between him and Alphonso and knew it would only grow worse as time goes on.
“It was good seeing you again, Mark,” Rosemary said to the guy who Sirius could tell was a witch.
“You too, Auntie Rose.”
“I expect to see you and J.C. at the masquerade party this year.”
“Of course, we wouldn’t miss it. Let me get back to the front desk. We’ve been getting a bit busy lately,” Mark said then turned to look at him and looked at both him and Alphonso giving them a smile that reached his brown eyes.
Sirius was expecting the guy to introduce himself but instead nodded in their direction before walking away, probably reading the situation between them. When they got to the table, Alphonso pulled out a chair and waited for him to sit before he did the same. Sirius took a deep breath then spoke.
“So, you’re my dad.” It wasn’t what he was thinking, but that was what came out. “I don’t expect any apologies for why you ran out on my mom…”
“I never ran out on your mother, a few days after your first birthday your mother took you and left Vale Valley.”
“What? You mean she kidnapped me? Why?”
Bedwyr closed his eyes and gave a sharp nod. “That’s what I’ve been led to believe. I searched for you two, using all of my resources, magical and human. And nothing I did lead me to where you two were. I only knew she was alive because of our bond, and held out hope that one day I would find you both. I’d forgotten how strong your mother was as a witch and finding you both would be because she wanted to be found. But a few years ago I woke up gasping for breath and started crying and I knew then that she was dead.”
“Yeah,” Sirius whispered. “She killed herself not long after I started college. I knew she was battling mental illness and refused to stay on her meds. I thought I had done the right thing by putting her in a home that would care for her, but she escaped them and purposely ran into oncoming traffic. I blamed myself for not being there or trying to stop her somehow.”
Bedwyr reached out and took his hands in his, Sirius didn’t pull away, the man’s touch was comforting. “You can’t blame yourself for something you had no control over. We were happy, but your mother had her own demons that even I could not slay.”
“No but’s,” Bedwyr said shutting him up. “How many witches have you bumped into since you’ve been in Vale Valley?”
Thinking about it, Sirius realized he’d bumped into quite a few more than he was expecting.
“We witches aren’t here only to protect the town from prying eyes, we live here because we need the magic as well. Witches are plagued by mental illness, and once we leave the coven’s protection, we risk ourselves to letting madness take over. Vale Valley was created with a purpose. Granted there was a handful of witches living her before the Vale’s came along, but they weren’t strong enough to sustain the town. And that’s where the Vale’s come in, and gave the town its purpose.”
“Are you saying that I can never leave Vale Valley?”
“Not permanently,” Bedwyr answered. “Think of it as a yearly magical check-up.”
“Wow, this is a lot to take in,” Sirius whispered.
“I know, but there is something you need to understand. I loved your mother, and I love you. Not a day has gone by that I didn’t think about you both.” He cupped Sirius’ right cheek. “When you were taken away from me, you were just a baby, and now you’re an adult and a doctor.”
