He’d brought up his number so many times in an attempt to call and check on both him and Genesis but had chickened out. He’d said some hurtful things to the other man, and at the time, he felt his words were justifiable.
He opened his eyes when he heard his bedroom door open and saw Ava enter. She’d started school a couple of days after they’d moved back to the Vale house, and Alistaire felt terrible for dragging her around so many times when he’d promised her some stability.
After moving back to the Vale house, he’d simply told her he and Fox needed a break. He knew the teenager wanted to ask more questions but hadn’t. Ava walked over and sat beside him on the couch, resting her head on his chest.
“Everything okay?” He wrapped an arm around her, kissing Ava on the top of her head.
“Yeah, I just miss...” she paused for a second. “Are we ever going to go back to see Fox and Genesis?”
“I know he and I aren’t together, but you can always go back and visit them.”
Ava sat up. “What happened to you two? We were all happy. What did he do that made you so angry?”
He lied to me about who he really was.Alistaire wanted to say. “It’s complicated,” he said instead.
“Why does every adult say stuff is complicated when they don’t want to tell me the truth? First, it was my dad. And now it’s you.”
Shit.
There had been so much happening between him and Fox, he still hadn’t told Ava the truth about her father. Synder had given him the evidence he was waiting for—her father was dead. It was just as Alistaire had thought—the men Trever Bates had owed money to took his life as payment. The one good thing Trever had done in Ava’s favor was not telling the men he had a kid, or they would have most likely come after her for the rest of what he’d owed.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” Alistaire said to her. “It’s about your father.”
Ava was quiet for a few minutes. Alistaire could see every emotion in her big, brown eyes. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.” Alistaire pulled her back into his arms and wrapped her in as much love as he could, letting Ava cry on his chest.
Later that night,after Ava had fallen asleep, Alistaire walked into the kitchen and saw Rosemary and Odin sitting at the kitchen table having a late-night snack. He smiled, appreciating how in love they were. Their wedding was in less than a month, and the entire town was preparing for it. Not wanting to interrupt, Alistaire was about to leave the kitchen but stopped when Odin called to him.
“Young Alistaire.” Odin stood and walked over to him. “I know you’re angry with young Tokala, and I’m not telling you not to be. But anything he did was out of love, loneliness, and a broken heart.”
Alistaire gasped when he heard Odin say Tokala.
How would he know that was the name Fox used when talking about himself as a god?
“Us gods need love to survive. And like you, a mate who is strong enough to walk by our side for eternity.”
“Y…you’re a god?”
Odin smiled as a golden hue covered his entire body. Alistaire had to shield his eyes because he couldn’t look at the man.
“All right, that’s enough,” he heard Rosemary say. “I don’t want you to blind my grandson.”
“I apologize,” Odin said as the light disappeared. “I seem to get carried away sometimes. But to answer your question, I am the god of all gods.” He placed a hand on Alistaire’s shoulder. “Don’t let him suffer too long. He was unable to tell you who he was because he was being punished. His memories were erased of his true nature. As soon as he woke up, he told you who he was. Shouldn’t that count for something?” He clicked his teeth. “My granddaughter can be unforgiving sometimes.”
“Why are you trying to make a case for him when he should be the one to tell me all of this?”
“Would you have stuck around to listen? There’s something you need to understand about our world. We can only reveal who we are to our true mates. If we can’t be who we are in front of the people who say they love us, then what’s the sense of it all. You need to ask yourself if you’re willing to forgive Tokala for who he is and not who you want him to be.”
“Says the man who took away his son’s powers,” Rosemary scoffed.
“That was a special circumstance.” He turned to his mate. “Besides, I gave it back to him...sort of.”
Alistaire didn’t want to hear anymore and walked away from the couple. His mind was reeling with information.
My grandmother is getting married to Odin, the god of all gods. After tonight, my life can’t get any weirder.
***
