Tyler POV
Wright House
Rachel responded to my texts with a reassuring speed. I had never sent so many texts in my life. I was surprised the cellular company had yet to reach out to ensure my phone hadn't been stolen.
"Are you on your way?"
I knew she was finished for the day. Rachel had messaged me as soon as her morning cleared up following her recording session.
Dylan kept telling me they weren't pressuring her any more than another new launch artist. I didn't deal with the music side of the entertainment industry often. I trusted Dylan though. If he said they weren't pushing her, they weren't pushing her.
I just hated the idea of Rachel being forced to work for hours at a stretch when she was pregnant.
"10 minutes out!"
Children had never been a priority for me. I swore I wouldn't have any when I was taken from my birth mother to come live at Wright Manor with my fath
Rachel POVWright House"Men don't really want a woman of mystery?""Mysteries are overrated."Tyler seemed to almost be teasing me except there wasn't anything funny about our conversation.We had started our life together with pain and suffering because I had chosen to lie rather than approach my mate with the truth. I hadn't trusted Tyler Wright and I had not had a single reason for my doubt. All my fears had been the result of years of instincts honed from life with a compulsive gambler, liar, and con artist.Patrick Flores taught me not to trust anyone---not even my own father."I wish I had told you the truth.""I wish you had, too," Tyler murmured, leaning down to nuzzle my neck once more, "I would have saved Ethan. I would have personally delivered the ransom if I needed to and I wouldn't have regretted a single dollar. It was never about the money."Tyler was distracting me with hi
Rachel POVBella & Rachel's Apartment"Do you know your blood type, Ethan?"I was filling out forms for my OB/GYN as part of the pre-admission process for my delivery day. If things went well, I would have my baby following the birth plan I was working on with my medical team.I had yet to go public with my pregnancy, but I knew I wouldn't be able to hide it for much longer.Ethan handed me a stack of forms he'd found for me at Patrick's place. I was hoping I would have a copy of my birth certificate ready to go. All my important paperwork had been kept with Patrick. I'd never needed it in the past since I had never gotten a job or legally married my mate.Not that my mate would have legally married me, I thought with a flash of bitterness."I'm type O," Ethan said, "It's the same as Patrick. He donated blood when we had the school shooting. I remember it was a big deal because O is like the universa
Rachel POVBlue Diamond"I feel strange being here as a guest."Nathan ordered sparkling water for both of us; I was grateful he hadn't tried to order wine because I wasn't ready to talk about my secret pregnancy.If it had been Tyler, I was sure he'd have ordered a bottle of his favorite wine for himself and ignored ordering for me entirely. He'd just say water would have to be good enough. He wasn't one to think of the needs of others.Except for his father, I thought bitterly, pouring my water into the provided glass.Tyler was very worried about his father's opinion. He'd kept me a secret for three years because his father told him to---and so his father could keep making secret deals to secure him a more desirable wife."Don't worry so much. Everyone seems thrilled to see you again. Besides. You look stunning tonight. I've missed seeing you smile."Trust Nathan to make me blush as if I were i
Rachel POVCamelot Records"You're driving him crazy, you know that, right?"I looked up, startled at the voice coming through the speakers into the recording booth. I was still working hard to finish all the tracks on the LP I had signed a contract to produce when I came under Camelot Records umbrella as an artist.Dylan Roberts was alone in the control room; I wondered how long I had been lost in my music without a sound engineer present. I felt a flash of annoyance at his interference.I needed to get my work done to honor my contract with his company. His status as Tyler's lifelong best friend should not interfere with our working relationship. I didn't want anyone thinking my contract with Camelot had come from having a connection to Tyler.I'd worked my ass off to provide them with quality tracks. They were getting some of the best compositions I'd written in my life. I was insulted by the very idea peopl
Rachel POVRachel's Bedroom"Hello? Tyler?"I couldn't help the breathlessness I was experiencing as the phone line was answered. It felt as if there hadn't even been enough time for it to ring and suddenly there was the sound of someone else on the line.Breathing.How could I identify Tyler from the way he breathed alone?"Who else would be answering my phone at this hour?"I smiled at his grumpy response. He sounded tired. I wondered how bad things were for him if Dylan had felt pressured to come to me in person to appeal for my help."I don't know. Magda has answered before.""Magda is never here later than six. She's got to be home for her grandkids."I gave a fond thought to the older woman who was Tyler's personal housekeeper. Magda had always been a comforting presence in the house. She'd been there before me and it felt fitting she was there after I'd gone.I realized
Rachel POVRachel's Bedroom"Jenny is going to be the costar."I wasn't sure what I had expected Tyler to say, but that definitely wasn't it.Silence stretched between us on the line. I wasn't in any hurry to fill it as I had no idea what to say in response to the bombshell Tyler had gotten his mistress a part in my movie! What was he thinking?"Are you angry? I know you don't like Jenny very much."Was I angry?I tried to examine my emotions from an outside perspective. There was definitely some anger in me towards the woman who had driven me to demand a rejection from my mate.Jenny had made me believe she was having Tyler's baby only for me to find out it was a lie. The irony of us both having used a pregnancy scam to win Tyler wasn't lost on me. I hated she reminded me of my weakest moment, too.I hated a lot about Jenny Wayland the Model."I don't know if
Tyler POVMoonrise 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 POV"The baby is coming!" I criedHow was my baby coming?I'd had pain in my back, but I was used to that by now. I spent all day in the bed. My stomach was so swollen I couldn't see my feet and the extra weight put pressure on my spine.I had not had the first cramp! Where were my contractions? Where was the agonizing pain women all talked about?"Relax," a nurse said as she bustled into the room behind my mother who'd bolted for the hall as soon as I'd first called out.The nurse looked gloriously professional and capable. I wanted her help more than I wanted my next breath of air. I sighed audibly in relief."It's not really my water breaking? Was it just some kind of---accident?" I asked, blushing as I looked at the tablet where the Alpha Council was still hanging on the line on their side.All the male Councilmen looked terribly uncomfortable while the two females both looked amused. I was mortified this had happene
Rachel POVDays turned into weeks in Our Blessed Goddess Medical Center.Mama had taken over a week to detox from the drugs flooding her system. She'd managed to regain her ability to speak after only a few days. She was, however, still taking physical therapy to assist her with strengthening her muscles and bones again after all those years of living a dormant life in the asylum.My body was still fighting against itself. Some part of me -some animal part deep inside- wanted to reclaim the ability to shift, to fight, to run.I knew Rayne wanted to stretch her legs, but I didn't think my wolf was the one calling all the shots. I believed most of the restlessness in my body was from a part of me even more primal than Rayne herself."Have you seen Ethan today?" I asked my mother.Mama looked up from where she had been studying her hands. I knew it would take her a few moments to respond. She'd gotten her voice back, but speech was still not ea
Rachel POV"How is my brother?" I asked again, feeling like a crazed parrot as I clutched my mother to me yet every muscle in my body had gone tense in her arms.Ethan was going to have to be okay, too. I couldn't gain my mother only to lose my brother. Ethan was too young, too vital, and he had too much life left to live.Mama sat at my side on the edge of the bed tangling her fingers with mine while being careful not to pull on my IV lines or interfere with her own. We were a pair of invalids it seemed.I couldn't quite comprehend the situation we were in. Everything felt too surreal. Nothing was going the way I had ever imagined it in my head though I had certainly dreamed of my mother being returned to me more than once."Ethan is still unresponsive," Tyler answered, taking a seat beside me and reaching for my other hand, "He's not getting worse, but he isn't improving at all either. Your mother has agreed to donate blood. The hospital is tryin
Rachel POV"Your mother is doing well considering," Art said."Considering what?" I asked.My body was hot yet numb at the same time. I had a baby monitoring band wrapped around my waist to monitor my daughter, a pulse oximeter to monitor my oxygen and pulse, a blood pressure cuff for exactly that, and two IVs to make sure the hospital had access to my bloodstream as fast as possible "just in case."Saying I felt out of sorts was putting it mildly."Considering the quack caring for her had kept her overmedicated for the last two decades," Art said, shrugging a shoulder, "I think they did all they could to keep her barely conscious to avoid her fighting for her freedom. According to Justice, she can't even speak."I frowned, the muscles in my face moving as sluggishly as the rest of me, "According to Justice? You haven't seen her?"Art shook his head, "No. I distracted the facility attendants while Justice got your mother from her room
Elena POVTime passed based on the light coming in from the only window in my room. I knew the rays of dawn, the brightness of noon, the fires of dusk, and the silver of moonlight at night.Everything else was a guessing game.I've never been allowed a clock or a calendar. I tried to count days by marking them on the wall beside my bed, but they just painted over my marks on one of the days they took me for their tests.'Tests' were supposed to determine how safe I would be in normal society, but they consisted of a series of random questions I couldn't follow with all the drugs in my system.Every time they asked me something I knew there was a right answer and a wrong answer. I just couldn't make my mind identify which was which so I played the part of a mute after a while.If I didn't speak at all, they didn't give me more drugs. I was given a little more autonomy. I was left with books to read and, for a time, paper to write on.I
Art POVEvery breath felt harder and harder to draw in. I couldn't get my head on straight. For some unknown reason, I was more involved with this case of this missing female than any other case I had ever investigated in my career as an Alpha Inspector.I'd rescued children -babies even- and plenty of women before. What made this woman special? What made Rachel's baby so important to me?I couldn't think of anything hurting her child or her without the Alpha instinct rising up in me. I could feel my wolf, Merlyn, bristling all over and I couldn't afford a moment's lapse with the vampire demon sharing my body with my wolf.Merlyn had to keep the vampire in check. We would go on a rampage, drink dry anything with a pulse. I'd lost control once before and it'd been worse than any nightmare I had ever had.Coming back to myself with my belly full of the blood of others, I remembered wanting to erase every memory I had to take away the taste.No
Tyler POVRachel had finally drifted off into a fitful sleep. They'd had to pump her full of icy IV fluids to drop her temperature enough to allow her any peace. Every drop of sweat from her forehead felt as if it were being wrung from the marrow of my bones.I literally ached with the need to protect her, care for her, heal her.But there was nothing I could do."You'll drive yourself insane if you keep pacing out here worrying over what you can't change. We need to get to Elena," Windsor said.I could hear the finality in his tone; I knew he wanted to push me to do something for him. I just didn't know what more I could do for the Alpha Council. What help could I be in tracking this 'Peter' down?I'd never crossed paths with the man to the best of my knowledge."How can I help?" I asked, knowing Art Windsor well enough to realize he would tell me what he needed if I only asked.Art placed his hands into his pockets, walking o
Rachel POV"Why aren't we going to get my mother, now?" I asked, wiping the sweat from my brow with a towel growing steadily warmer with every touch to my skin.Art had brought Richard Campbell's computer along with the files from behind the picture frame. We had an exact location on the asylum my mother was being held at, but we had no access to her. I was still trying to understand why.I prompted, "What is the plan, Art? We can't just let them keep my mother in that hellhole."I knew the place Mom was in had to be terrible. They couldn't be a reputable institution and keep a woman with no illness hostage for two decades. I didn't even want to visit the place much less imagine how my mother could have survived there for twenty years."Are you okay?" Art asked, his expression concerned as he studied me hard enough to make me wipe myself with my cold towel again, "You don't look okay.""I feel hot," I said, "I don't know? It seems to be gett
Rachel POV"What do you mean you don't want to meet them?" I asked, feeling ridiculous even repeating the words aloud, "Lindy, we're talking about your family. Your real, blood family."Lindy shook her head 'no' over and over. Her wet hair slapped against her cheeks and I noticed she was crying now, too. Her gaze was slightly vacant, as if she couldn't understand what she was saying or what was being said to her or both."You---"Art cut me off, saying, "Lindy, do you need something to drink? Some water? We don't have to talk about those people right now. Can I get you anything?""Water," Lindy mumbled.Adam offered, "I'll go get it. Plenty of ice. I've been---well, I haven't been where she's at right now, but I understand enough."The big Beta left the room while the rest of us simply stared at Lindy as if we expected her to do a trick of some kind.I couldn't say I had ever seen anyone look so lost before. Lindy looked the wa