Chapter 30
T hey all knew something was wrong while we were shopping, but I brushed it off as being tired. The very brief conversation with Charlotte turned over and over in my head. This was my opportunity to get to know her, to learn about her children, but she was very clearly misinformed about who I was.
I needed to tell my pack, but I was pretty sure they would caution me against talking to Charlotte at all. I would tell them, just…maybe after I got more info out of her.
“Let’s get some lunch,” Jesse suggested. “See if that perks you up.”
I ate half of a chicken rice bowl, Luke polishing off the rest for me. I did feel better after eating, but I was no less distracted. I needed to know what Charlotte thought was going on without ruining my chances of learning anything.
Jesse ran me a bath and I slipped into it, blessedly alone for my soak, my thoughts churning. Once I figured out what was going on, I would talk to my pack.
Holding my breath, I tapped out a message to the last person I wanted to talk to.
Ava:
What the hell did you tell your wife?
Andrew:
Hello to you too
Ava:
Don’t play games right now
Why is she talking about an adoption agency?
Andrew:
Because you’re going to give up the baby through the agency and let us have it
Fury boiled through me.
Ava:
Absolutely not
The phone rang and I hit decline.
Ava:
What is the matter with you?
The phone rang again and I petulantly stabbed the answer button. “Andrew, what the fuck?”
“You’re being very unlike yourself.”
I scoffed. “And how should I be when you’re being like this?”
“Ava, I know you. You want everyone to be happy, and this will do that. You’re only making life more difficult for everyone around you by being so stubborn.”
“I’m not giving you my baby,” I hissed.
“We were going to share it anyway,” he pointed out. “I’m offering you a way out. A fresh start.”
I growled. “I don’t want a fresh start.”
“Don’t you? You’re not worried at all about how your so-called pack will treat this child when one of theirs is born?”
“They’re good people,” I insisted.
Andrew sighed. “Darling, you’re young, not stupid, though you’re making me question that assessment.”
“I’m hanging up if you’re going to be an ass.”
“You answered for a reason. I know you’re not unaffected by all of this. What would be wrong with letting me raise my own child with my wife who desperately wants another and can’t have her own?”
“Because the baby is mine .”
“Tell me the truth,” he said, his voice hard. “Would you actually be having a child right now if you knew the situation earlier? Was it really your first choice to be a mother at twenty-two?”
“Don’t you dare turn this around like that. It doesn’t matter if I would have or wouldn’t have. You stole that choice from me. You don’t get to pull this bullshit after the fact. It wouldn’t even matter if I did want to give up the baby to you. Jesse and Bryce would have to sign away their parental rights.”
“Ask them,” Andrew insisted. “Ask your precious new alphas if the child you’re carrying is really the one they want to start their family with.”
Hot tears poured down my cheeks. “Why are you doing this? Four and a half years wasn’t long enough to fuck with me?”
“You’ve been mine since we met. We both know that. If you’re going to be stubborn and not come back where you belong, you can at least give me what I deserve.”
“You don’t deserve anything.”
I could practically hear his shrug.
“Why does your wife think she’s going through an adoption agency? Why not just tell her who I am?”
“Because that lie is easiest for everyone. If you want to shatter her, be my guest. She’s already embarrassed enough being an omega with fertility issues, but go ahead and rub it in her face. Ruin her life if you think it’s so simple to do.”
I ended the call before I started screaming at him and buried my face in one of the towels to let out a shriek of pain and fury. I wasn’t the one who had ruined Charlotte’s life, but it sure as hell looked like I was going to have to be the one to tell her if Andrew was going to be a manipulative coward.
What I hated the most was that I was afraid to ask the questions he prompted. Even though I was ninety-nine percent certain of the answer, fear that I would be wrong closed up my throat.
A knock on the door had me scooping up a bathwater to scrub my face, hoping it would disguise my crying.
“Yeah?”
“Is everything okay, sweetness? There’s a lot of turmoil coming through the bond.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but then Luke called through the door, “Nathan’s here.”
What on earth?
Why was my brother here?
“Can you entertain him until I’m done? You guys can catch up.”
“Uh, yeah, he doesn’t seem too happy to see me right now. He said he wants to talk to you.”
I sighed. “Help me out,” I called back.
I toweled off quickly and pulled on undergarments and a simple shift dress before letting them lead me downstairs.
Nathan was standing in our foyer, his face pinched. “Grab your purse,” he said when he saw me on the stairs. “Let’s go for a drive.”
I had no idea what was going on, but I did as he said, glancing at my equally confused alphas, slipping on some sandals, and following Nathan out to his rental car. “What are you doing here?”
He only answered once we were both buckled in and he was backing out of the driveway. “Making sure you’re safe where none of them can overhear you.”
“Wait, what?”
“What happened with Andrew?”
I swallowed hard. “He’s married with kids.”
“Christ. Didn’t think to che—fuck, sorry, brain went a shitty direction. Did you know?”
“You really think I would’ve been with him if I had known?”
Nathan shrugged. “Depends on if you were packing up or not.”
“He only mentioned that option once I found out.”
I could smell the disappointment in Nathan’s scent, the woodsy blueberry turning dark and smoky. “Mom has been blowing up my phone over all of this.”
“I’m sorry,” I apologized automatically.
“Fuck, Ava, I’m not mad about her doing that, I’m mad that you didn’t. You haven’t told me a single fucking thing.”
“I’m sorry,” I repeated.
“Why didn’t you?”
“You know, believe it or not, this situation has nothing to do with you. I was kind of preoccupied and you were out of the country.”
“Why did you even have a baby shower if you were giving the kid up?”
Ice rolled down my spine. “I’m not .”
“That’s not what Mom thinks.”
“I don’t give a fuck what Mom thinks anymore.”
Nathan’s eyes widened and he turned to me when we paused a stop sign. “Since when? You’ve been living up her asshole ever since you learned how to suck up.”
“If you’re going to be a jackass, I’m getting out.”
He growled, but took a few deep breaths, visibly trying to calm himself. “You’re my sister. If you’re in trouble, you’re supposed to come to me. Instead, I hear everything from Mom, and then find you shacked up with my best friend?”
“And what if I was in trouble?” I snapped. “Look how long it took you to show up.”
“I was busy!”
“So was I!”
“Okay.” He huffed. “We both fucked up, but I’m here now.”
“I see that. To do what?”
“To take you home, obviously.”
“I was home.”
“I can’t let you stay there. Mom said they’re dangerous. I don’t want to think that about Luke, but he defended the one who put Andrew in the hospital.”
“Oh, for god’s sake,” I hissed. “None of them are dangerous to me and Andrew was not put in the hospital. Micah protected me from Andrew after I had to lock myself in a fucking bathroom so he couldn’t drag me out of Mom’s.”
Nathan was quiet for a long time, hitting the highway and filling me with nervous butterflies that he really was still intending to take me straight back to San Jose.
“Please take me back.”
“Not yet.”
“So you’re taking me hostage now, too? I knew you were desperate for Mom’s approval, but I didn’t think you would stoop to this.”
“Can you shut up for two seconds please?” He took another calming breath. “Sorry, that was mean. I’ve gotten a lot of conflicting information and I’m trying to sort through it all.”
“You could just listen to me. Mom has an agenda.”
“And you don’t? You don’t think I saw how hard you were crushing on Luke back in the day? If all of this is some way to finally get him for yourself?—”
“Fuck you. He’s my scent match. We’re part of the same pack. And don’t you dare demean my feelings. I know the difference between a childish crush and what it takes to make an actual relationship work. I’m so fucking tired of everyone thinking I don’t.”
“That’s because you settle for scraps.”
“I do not.” I bristled, pissed that he was right even though I didn’t want to admit it.
“Keep telling yourself that and you’ll never stop being an idiot about what you deserve in life.” He turned off the highway and pulled into a drive-thru along a stretch of gas stations. “You still like chocolate strawberry shakes and chicken strips with ketchup, right?”
“Uh, yeah, I do.”
He put in the order, plus a burger and drink for himself, paid, and parked us in the shade. “This whole situation is fucking weird.”
“Tell me about it.” I dunked a chicken strip into the ketchup and scarfed down half of it in one bite.
“Okay,” Nathan said after he was halfway through his burger. “First and most important question: Are you safe where you are?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re not forming a pack with Andrew or giving him the baby?”
“No to both. I’m keeping the baby and raising it with my pack. Mom is firmly Team Andrew so I wouldn’t trust much that she says about my life.”
Nathan sighed. “All right then. Finish up your chicken strips so I can take you back home and grill the shit out of Luke about his intentions with you.”