Tyler POV
Moonrise Entertainment
"Your mate is pregnant."
I looked up from my laptop to raise a brow at my father. My assistant had been instructed to ensure I worked undisturbed, but John Wright was redirected by no one.
As the Alpha of Moonrise Pack, my father had more power than any other Alpha in the country. We had the largest population as well as the most resources at our disposal. I doubted anyone had ever told my father 'no' since he'd passed his eighteenth birthday.
"Yes," I agreed, "Rachel is pregnant."
"You didn't think it was worth mentioning to me? You have an heir growing in that bitch's belly and she's out having her picture taken with another Alpha? House Lewis could lay claim to the child if she becomes legally wed to that Nathan."
Werewolf laws regarding children were different than human laws. Rachel and I had never married in a human court which meant she couldn't appeal to the human
Rachel POVRachel & Bella's ApartmentEvery form I filled out seemed to come in three copies. My hands were cramping from writing all day. Bella and Jack were both writing, too."I cannot thank you enough for helping me with these forms. I feel like my hands are going to fall off."I lay my pen down and shook my hands out, flexing my fingers to try to relieve the cramps.Our entire kitchen table was covered in paperwork. I had lost track of what forms went where and the stacks were all a mess I didn't want to tackle.Jack gave me a sympathetic smile as he said, "I understand. I do this all day, but at least I usually get to do it online. You know it's only the BWA who still requires physical forms? Humans do everything electronically these days. They're ahead of us on that one."Jack worked at a law firm where he dealt with the Bureau of Werewolf Affairs regularly. He was working to become a lawyer i
Rachel POVSedan Backseat"Drive!""Help!" I started to scream, hoping someone would come to my aid even as the car drove away from my apartment at a high rate of speed.I reached for the door handle, trying to get out before the car got too far away from my home. I would be okay if I rolled on my way out, right? People escaped from moving vehicles all the time. It would have to be better to get bruised going out of the car than risk whatever they were going to do to me, wouldn't it?The man grabbed my arms and pulled me back against his chest. I tried to fight my way free of his hold. He was strong. Alpha strong."No! No," I tried to shout, struggling against him, "Let me go! Help!""Shut up! Rachel! Shut up," he ordered, shaking me before he wrapped his arms around my body and held me still.I recognized Tyler's voice before I recognized his hold."Tyler?"What in the name of the Moon G
Rachel POVSedan Backseat"I want to know if I want to see my son or daughter, I can see them. Any time or day. I want to know holidays won't pass by without being able to see the child. I want to be there for every birthday. Every school function. Every Friday night football game."I laughed a bit at the idea of any child of mine being interested in football."Tyler, you've never expressed any interest in being a father. You've loudly told me you don't want to be a father. Why the change of heart?"Silence stretched between us as long as the endless road we traveled on. I finished my ice water and reached for the cup Tyler held. He surrendered it willingly. I found myself relaxing into the seat, enjoying the ride as Adam drove us smooth and steady, clearly experienced at driving the big sedan.Tyler was looking out of the window when he murmured a reply to me. I wouldn't have been able to hear his reply if I w
Rachel POVRachel & Bella's Apartment"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"I didn't have a chance to catch my breath as I was pulled into the apartment by Nathan Lewis. He held my upper arms in his grasp with a tightness I couldn't begin to fight against. I couldn't understand his terror. We were newly reacquainted and I had broken his heart when I'd ended our relationship three years earlier. Why was he so affected over a brief abduction?"No, no, no! It was Tyler. He'd never hurt me," I tried to explain until Nathan shook me to silence me.Hard.He shook me so hard my teeth rattled and my brain banged around in my skull making my head ache."You have no idea what he's capable of, Rachel! He's spent years flaunting his affairs with other women while you, his fated mate, sits alone at home. What kind of wolf can do that? He rejected you in anger. He doesn't even want your child!"Nothing Nathan was saying could
Tyler POVMoonrise EntertainmentSources close to the Alpha Council reported Nathan Lewis was pressing hard for a sanction against me as well as for a mating arrangement for himself with Rachel Flores.I could understand why he wanted Rachel. She was a desirable woman. If the rumors were to be believed, she was from an Alpha House rather than the omega house she had believed to be her home house. Her career was taking off too which would make her a wealthy bride.Her pregnancy would have made her less desirable to a human man. I'd been exposed to enough human fiction to understand their thoughts about raising someone else's child.We weren't human though---and a wolfen child with Alpha blood was valuable no matter who fathered him or her.Nathan Lewis was talking of a blood ceremony for their mating as well which would tie the child to his house before birth. His blood would course through my child's veins; I w
Rachel POVBella & Rachel's ApartmentBruises ringed my upper arms. I touched them gently with my fingertips as I stared at my naked body in the bathroom mirror. Everything felt surreal as I tried to take in the changes in my body.Despite growing up with a terrible father, I was never beaten. The bruises under my eyes used to be common when I was a teen as Patrick's antics often kept me awake nights, worried someone would come to our home to collect on debts he owed. I wasn't used to seeing literal bruises on my body though.My arms didn't hurt so much as there was a deep soreness sunken into my muscles alongside Nathan's fingerprints.I dropped my hands from my arms to give my breasts a speculative look. They were definitely fuller and my nipples were pebbled, flushed, too sensitive. I hadn't been so aware of my breasts since the first time I was taken aside by a teacher at school who noticed it was past time fo
Rachel POVBella & Rachel's ApartmentPaper surrounded us in piles stacked so high it was as if Jack and I were barricaded behind a paperwork partition. Only I didn't feel safe behind the wall. All I felt was suffocated."We need to go over what we do know."I looked at Jack, laying down the sheets I held, "Okay. I can go for a regrouping session. I need to get my head back on straight because honestly? I feel as if everything I've ever been told in my entire life has been a lie."Nathan wanted me to petition to join Full Moon Pack which was the home pack of House Lewis. He offered me the protection of his Alpha House to fight against the Alpha House claim House Wright of Moonrise Pack had on my child.Neither house seemed to have any physical ties to me; all the houses I had thought were my birthright also seemed to have no real connection to me which made me an orphan in a way I'd never been before.
Rachel POVBella & Rachel's Apartment"You're going to demand an inquiry into your mother's death, okay? You have to insist on it. Jack says if you insist on an investigation? They have to listen to you because your mother is the keyholder for the Alpha House."Bella has replaced Jack at the table with me where the papers which make up my life have been collected.Jack finally gave up to go back to his own place to get some sleep and hopefully a shower since he'd been sequestered with me for most of the week trying to come up with a "plan of attack" before I go in front of the Alpha Council."I got that part. Inquiry. No problem. Why do they have to take me seriously though? Patrick and this Richard guy are both more connected than I am. On paper? I'm the daughter of an omega house marriage."Bella shook her head, "No. According to the documents we have here? Your official birth record lists your father as