A Broken Contract (Alpha's Secret Regret) novel Chapter 7

** 4 YEARS LATER **

Sara POV

Orphic valley was supposed to be a small, quiet town. Less hustle and bustle. Little excitement. No drastic change to tire us out. Life here has been more than great. The people were supportive and extremely helpful throughout the pregnancy and birth of my child.

I have a stable job in the local environmental council and my dad was happy with his food business. But it was starting to look like all of these comforts were about to end. Or at least that's how my dad felt.

The last four years have been peaceful and nothing short of a happy one for all three of us. I know he's afraid that the peaceful part was drawing to a close.

"Dad, If they're building a mall, it's good for you. You may not even have to move the food truck," I tried to ease his mind.

"I know," he replied. "I'm not worried."

Lies! My father hated the idea of a skyscraper in this town. He didn't want any city vibe at all.

"You look worried. I mean, yeah, you'll be uncomfortable for a few weeks or months. But once the construction is over, it'll be great for your business. You could even lease a shop INSIDE the mall."

He scoffed. "Yeah, right."

Sighing, he added, "Guess I'm getting old. I hate change." Carrying his cup, he went into the living room. I followed, eager to reassure him that all was going to be okay.

"My boss is really excited for this project. That's how I know it's a good thing. I'm not surprised at all. Orphic is a promising place real estate-wise. I always knew some corporation would soon try to snatch it."

"Yeah," he mumbled, taking a small sip of his tea.

"Even if you did have to move, it won't be so bad, dad," I continued my sermon.

Instead of convincing him, the look in his eyes was stirring worry inside me now.

The three of us could survive on my wage as a public servant. We didn't leave extravagant lives, after all. But my dad was a workaholic. He needed to keep doing his thing.

His brow creased as he took another sip from his hot coffee.

"Fairview," he said.

"What about there?" I asked him.

"I could move my food truck there. The apartment lease expires by the end of the month," he said..

"Yeah, I got the reminder yesterday."

"Let's not renew it. We could move to Fairview. It's only an hour's drive from here," he said casually, but I can sense the seriousness beneath his tone.

"Is the mayor asking you to leave your shop spot already?" I asked.

"No, but he will. Soon." he replied, looking into his cup.

"Dad?"

"We can find another preschool nearby for Alex and I'll just move my truck. That's all," he explained.

"Moving is exhausting. Plus it'll be one hour drive to work for me. Let's just wait till they actually give you a notice, then we'll think of the next step." I started returning to the kitchen and he followed me.

"It'll be forty minutes drive not one hour. And I'll handle everything. You won't be exhausted -"

"Mommy," Alex's voice got our attention. "Gyandpa."

"Hey, baby, you're awake," I turned to look at the clock. It was already 6:35 AM.

"My little wolf!" My dad set his cup on the table and lifted my son into his arms.

"Can I ride in your giant twuck today?" Little Alex's grey eyes twinkled as he asked.

"It's not Saturday, and you have to go to school," my father replied sweetly.

I quickly got to work on making breakfast as he carried the child out of the kitchen.

Our kind are few in this town. Thank the Goddess, no powerful pack has come to try to claim it as their territory. Though I have to admit, the place was crawling with half bloods, most of whom didn't even know they carried the werewolf gene. There are also a few omegas like us, but that's it.

As an unspoken rule, the werewolves didn't pry into each other's lives. All that's required is a smile or greeting of acknowledgement whenever you ran into them.

We've made comfortable friends here. Everyone knows everyone, but only on the surface, especially among our kind.

My son is very happy in this town. Then again, he's three and has never been anywhere else. Fairview sounds like a nice town. My only worry is the fact that it may not offer the same comfort as this place. What if the people there didn't mind their business? What if their werewolves are hostile?

There are woods around where little Alex could play like he loves to. I'm sure that's why my father thought of that place. But what if a powerful pack already runs it? Alex could be in danger because of his alpha gene. I wonder if my dad thought of these unpleasant possibilities.

As I made our breakfast, it occured to me how much I've come to love Orphic and our daily routine. I decided then and there that we weren't leaving.

****

After breakfast twenty minutes later, my dad started to leave for work.

"You have to let me think about it," I said as he was grabbing his coat.

He nodded and kissed Alex forehead.