Chapter 13

-Evelyn's POV

It was supposed to be my day off, but somehow I ended up with a to do list with no end and as the babysitter. Jake said that he needed me to pick up a few things and that Sage would leave a list for me in the kitchen, but I didn't expected his list to be four pages long!

Luckily for me I could cross off some tasks right away. I didn't needed to get new light bulbs or get a new unit for the garbage disposal. Replacing the outdated wiring fixed the flickering lights in the hallway and the garbage disposal was working again after I turned the blades manual and cleared the jam.

I also fixed the two wobbling chairs in the dining room, but only because the pups constant wiggling on them annoyed me. Just when I wanted to leave the pack house to get going with with page two I heard Cleo crying. The strange thing was that I heard Clairy consoling her little sister and not Sage.

A little worried I went up to check on the pups. Clairy was trying to make sure that Cleo didn't got out of her crib and then I realise what is going on. I hear Madeline whining on the phone about also wanting to hang out with some of alpha Drake's pack members.

Madeline was a youngster that sometimes helped Sage with the cleaning and with taking care of the pups. Although she was doing neither of those things at the moment. Cleo was screaming bloody murder and Clairy was getting upset, but Madeline still didn't hung up.

I pick up Cleo and I give Clairy a hug, what did the trick. The pups calm down and I take them to Madeline. She drops her phone when she sees me and she looks frightened. Okay, I was pissed at her. She was supposed to watch the pups, but part of me understood her.

Madeline was fifteen and she wanted to have fun with wolves of her own age. It is no excuse for her not doing her job, but I couldn't lay all the blame on her. The alpha and beta should have made better arrangements for them.

That's why I told Madeline to go and meet up with her friends. I would watch the pups and I don't know who looked more relieved by that. The pups or Madeline.

She left and I got the pups ready, because I still had a lot to do. We picked up the packages for Jake and that lead to my first visit to a laundromat. Jake asked Abby to send us more clothes, because things were calming down in the territories and that meant that we didn't had to wear our uniforms all of the time.

Abby did send us the clothes, but something must have happened during transport. The boxes felt moist and I started gagging when I opened one box.

The clothes smelled awful!

That's how we ended up in a laundromat, where Clairy and the little alpha helped me figure it all out. The clothes were being washed and thank the Goddess for the extra services! I could pick up the clothes in two hours. Clean, dry and folded.

So we continued with the list and I was actually surprised how well everything was going. All three of the pups were on their best behaviour. No bickering, no talking about pack life, no walking away or any temper tantrums.

They were so good that we ended up with some free time and that's why I told them that they could decide what we would do next. Clairy wanted to go to the indoor playground that she saw in the mall, but the little alpha asked if we could go get Clairy some new clothes through mind link.

Most of her clothes didn't fit properly anymore since her last growth spurt and she didn't wanted to bother her father or Sage with it. So we did another thing that I usually never did, shopping for clothes.

Clairy was reluctant at first, but she was all smiles when she tried on a bright red dress. I let her pick out some outfits and I also got some new clothes for Cleo and the little alpha. On our way to the cash register we walked passed the men's department and I decided to take a little detour.

The sun was setting when we are finally on our way home, but we still had to make one more stop. I forgot to take the casserole out of the freezer and that meant that dinner would be very late or that I had to think of something else.

Something else it is.

-Alpha Hayden's POV

''Where are they?'' Brock yells. ''They have been gone for hours and nobody has seen them!''

''Stop yelling at me!'' I snap. ''I know everything that you do, remember? Sage left at noon to visit her friend and Madeline would watch the pups until you came back.''

''We found Madeline drunk off her ass, alpha!'' Brock snaps back at me. ''Apparently she has been partying with her friends for hours and non of them knows with who she left the pups with.''

Graham and alpha Jake walk into the living room. They both look grim and I'm ready to start panicking.

''Still no sign of them?'' I ask.

''No, alpha,'' Graham answers. ''We searched everywhere for them, but so far no luck.''

''Evelyn is back,'' Emmet says as he joins us. ''Perhaps she is able to catch a scent or something else that will tell them where the pups are.''

The front door opens and we are all stunned when Clairy runs into the living room.

''Daddy, we are back!'' she says smiling as she jumps into her father's arms.

Brock looks mystified, but he quickly hides it. Trevor walks into the living room and he is holding a bag of groceries. Evelyn follows holding a sleeping Cleo in her arms and another big bag of groceries.

''Emmet, can you help with putting the groceries away? I will get the rest of the bags, but I first have to put Cleo down.''

''That can wait,'' alpha Jake says stern. ''Evelyn, have the pups been with you all day?''

''For most of it,'' Evelyn answers. ''Why?''

''Why?'' Brock repeats. ''WHY? WE HAVE...''

''Don't raise your voice at me!'' Evelyn growls. ''You will wake up your own daughter!''

''Don't raise my voice?'' Brock stammers. ''Don't raise... We have been looking for them for hours because we had no idea that they were with you!''

''That's not my fault!'' Evelyn snaps. ''I wrote on that stupid board of yours that they were with me and you knew that I was running errands for my brother. That reminds me. Jake, next time you can finish your four pages of things to do yourself!''

''I only asked you to pick up those packages, Evelyn,'' alpha Jake answers with a frown.

''No you didn't. You said that Sage would leave me a list in the kitchen and that list was four pages long! It took me all day to get everything done and this was supposed to my day off!''

''Well, that explains it,'' Graham says.

''Explains what?'' Brock and I ask at the same time.

''Where the list for this week went,'' Graham answers. ''She took it thinking it was the list that Sage made for alpha Jake.''

''Great, that would mean that I spend my day off doing the chores of everyone else,'' Evelyn grumbles as she hands Emmet the bag of groceries. ''I'm putting her down and I expect you two upstairs in five minutes. Bath, brush teeth and bed, got it?''

''Yes, Evy,'' Clairy answers and Trevor nods.

Evelyn makes her way up and I exchange a look with Brock. Of course we were relieved that the pups are back safely, but Evelyn broke the rules again. She knows that pups are not allowed to leave the territory.

''We will talk to her after they are asleep, okay?''

''Yes, alpha.''

''Well, how was running errands with Evelyn?'' I ask.

''Awesome!'' Trevor answers and I freeze.

It has been months since I last heard my nephew talk!

''We did laundry and watched that carousel thing at the dry cleaners, uncle Hayden! Shopping for clothes was a bit boring, but then we went to a huge supermarket!''

''So you were with her the whole time?'' Brock asks subtle.

''Yes, dad,'' Clairy yawns. ''Evelyn made us promise that we behaved and stayed close to her, so we did. She said we would be in so much trouble if we didn't and that she would find a way to make us all fit in Cleo's stroller.''

''That sounds like her,'' Emmet grins as he takes the grocery bag from my nephew. ''Now, I have a very important question to ask the two of you. In which bag did Evelyn hid the ice cream in?''

''We didn't get any,'' Trevor mumbles.

Trevor was a terrible liar and he looks very relieved when he hears Evelyn say that the five minutes are up. The pups say goodnight and chase each other up the stairs. We can hear them talk about all the things that they did today and they sound so happy!

''Unbelievable, you two are mad at me for taking the pups with me?'' Evelyn scoffs. ''The two of you left the pups in the care of a youngster who couldn't be less interested in them, but I'm the one who is in trouble? I watch them all the time, so you two should know that I would never let anything happen to them.''

Evelyn shakes her head angrily and she takes a few deep breaths.

''You know what, screw this and the two of you!''

For a moment it looks like Evelyn is going to storm off, but she simply goes back upstairs and puts the pups to bed. Brock and I are both lost for words, so we decided to help unloading the car. Although that only makes us feel worse, especially when we see the bags with clothes for the pups.