White Lightning

Chapter 92: Dinowhores

When the depression set its claws into his black heart, there was only ever one place for him to go that could ease the agonizing numbness. With his youngest pup bundled protectively in his arms, the Alpha managed to nudge the main door open with his hip and enter into the daycare, donning an artificial smile. There was little need for falsities, however, as it was soon replaced by the real thing when four pairs of obnoxiously loud feet came trampling in his direction.

Leading the pack, Ellie screeched as she tossed herself onto his back. "CHRISSY!"

"Ellie Belly!" he laughed as she tried to climb him like a monkey. "Don't, you'll make me drop the little guy," he warned her, gesturing towards the infant in his arms.

Sophia, now nearly two-years-old, her hair in huge pigtails, wandered over to her father and smiled sweetly. "I love you, daddy."

"I love you too, baby." He made a kissy-face at his eldest as he squatted down and then offered her an actual peck on the lips. "Where are Miss Layla and Miss Rain?"

"Over here, bee to the atch," Layla wiggled her fingers at him and then held her arms out for the baby. Cradling the Alpha's five-month-old pup carefully, she grinned. "We missed you around here."

Val nodded his head and his blonde mop bounced. "It's not the sames without you, Alpha Chris. But Miss Rain has been readings to us, and she even read us about dinowhores."

Chris' brown eyes widened dramatically as he was now able to lift Christopher up into his arms, pressing kisses along his son's cheek. "Do I even want to know what that's all about?"

Christopher placed a sloppy wet kiss to the tip of his father's nose. "My favoritest dinowhores isus da Tryberrytops."

"Is that so?" the Alpha inquired as he playfully poked a finger into his pup's plump little belly. "What's on your shirt, buddy?"

His pup's cherry cheeks lit further. "Tryberrytops!"

Rain appeared from around the corner and smiled at the sight of her son in his father's arms. "The dinosaur thing is Rick's fault. He's been teaching the pups all about them—Christopher and Val are mesmerized." She paused and then dropped her voice to a softer tone. "How are you?"

"Hanging in there," he confessed as he placed his pup's little feet back onto the floor. "It's been rough."

The pups scattered back to their play time as the adults gathered at the front of the room, Layla leaning against the changing station and gently rocking the sleeping pup in her arms. "We've heard some rumors, but nothing concrete."

Chris shook his head. "I don't want to think about it. Just know that I made a horrible mistake, and I'm certain that everyone knew that ages ago—I was simply the last to realize. Anyhow, the girls have been dealt with accordingly and TJ is on the lam. So," he glanced at the two she-wolves and forced a partial smirk, "if you see him, let me or Ry know right away."

Rain patted his shoulder comfortingly. "It will all work itself out, right? Life has a way of working itself out."

The Alpha took a deep breath and then simply shrugged. "I don't think this can work itself out. Ophelia and I are done, which means that I have a five-month-old pup with no mother, our pack has no Luna, and I now have to figure out what to do with an eighteen-year-old she-wolf who acts like she's twelve."

Though she had started to approach the nursery, Layla spun on her heel and gaped at the wolf. "It's really over?"

"It's really over," he nodded. "Done. Finito. No more. What you heard about, her punishment, it happened. She's living in a guest room and refuses to speak to me. She won't even visit with Oliver."