Adored by the Alpha

Chapter 60

"You... look like you've been doing alright, Paigy."

I nodded. "Yeah. Things have been really good between me and Allen lately, despite... everything. So I've been doing great, mostly. You look terrible, though. Haven't you been eating?" There was no use beating around the bush.

He shrugged. "Haven't been very hungry."

I clicked my tongue. "Papa... don't even start that. The least thing, the absolute least thing you can do after all the shit you pulled at my goddamn birthday, is to take care of your own basic needs. You don't get to make me feel bad for being happy."

His eyes met mine. "That's not... well I..." he furrowed his brows. "I didn't... I didn't realize..."

I huffed. "Didn't realize what? That you're my goddamn dad, and I love you? Care about you?"

He shook his head. "No, not that, or well, maybe that too, but... I didn't want to make you feel bad. About being happy. You're my kid, of course you should never feel guilty for being happy."

Tears burned in my eyes. "Well, then stop acting like the things that make me happy, like Allen, are somehow directly offensive to your existence. Be the goddamn adult you're supposed to be, please."

His brows furrowed. "Paige I-"

I held up my hand to stop him. "Dad, I don't want to hear your excuses. We were wrong about what wolves... what they were like. We were wrong about all of it. I've admitted that I was wrong. If you can't that's... disappointing, to say the least, but then that's how it is. But I don't want to hear all your little explanations as to why you can't admit it. Let's just get inside. Allen baked honey hearts for all of us, and I've really been looking forward to tasting them." I turned around on my heel, speeding up my pace of walking when I heard the snow crunching under my dad's feet behind me as he followed. It was somewhat reassuring that I at least didn't have to drag him into the house."

I kicked off my boots, and saw that my entire family, minus Pops, were all standing, looking lost in the hallway. I took a deep breath, and gestured to the familyroom. "Come on, we can sit in here. Allen baked for us, he'll probably bring it in here when he's showed Pops his room."

My family followed my lead, happily being herded into the living room and sitting down on the couches and chairs, looking around curiously. My cousin Parker was sleeping peacefully in my cousin Vanessa's arms.

I cleared my throat, and took a seat on the couch that me and Allen always sat on. His spot remained empty and waiting for him to join me. "Welcome to Canada. I'm really sorry about dragging you all here on such short notice, but I was super worried, and I didn't want anything to happen."

My mom nodded, a weak smile on her face. "Oh, it's alright, sweetie. It's not your fault. This place is... very nice." She looked about the room, the hundreds of years old photos, and even older walls.

I nodded. "Yeah, this place is great. Lots of peace and quiet."

"My favorite part of the year has always been coming up here. Hello everyone, how nice to see you all again." Allen said from the doorway, walking around the couch and sitting down next to me. I scooted a bit closer to him, and he put his arm around me. My family watched every movement closely- especially my dad, my Nana, and Vanessa.

Allen kissed my head for emphasis, which I was going to scold him for later. "I hope you all had a pleasant trip up here, although it seemed that your clothes couldn't quite keep up with the cold. Do you not have proper winter coats?"

My aunt shuffled a bit with her cardigan. "Oh no, it's quite alright- we'll manage."

Allen shook his head. "No, no way. With all due respect, Mrs. Thyne, you're Paige's family, and therefore mine. And I sure as-" he looked at Parker. "-heck don't let my family walk around, being cold. Once Paige's grandfather has enough energy to go, we'll drive into town."