Chapter 33
M y brother was absolutely out of his mind.
“Okay, let me get this straight. You think I should lie to Andrew and Charlotte, pretend I changed my mind about giving them the baby, and lure Charlotte here to tell her the truth?”
“I mean, yeah.”
Jesse laid a comforting hand on my knee. “It might actually be the best way to get Charlotte out of her situation. Assuming she wants to leave, that is.”
“She might not want to?”
“She’s been with him for a long time. It’s possible she’ll want to stay even knowing the truth.”
“How do I even start this?”
Nathan clapped his hands together. “Phase One is convincing this bastard he was right so he won’t be suspicious when you ask his wife to come visit so you can meet her. Tell him the doctors say it’s not safe for you to fly.”
“For the record, I hate everything about all of this.” I pulled out my phone, desperate for a solution, and hating what had been offered. Nathan wasn’t wrong that it could work, but a lot of it hinged on me not cracking.
Ava:
You were right
The pack doesn’t really want the baby
My stomach turned as I typed out the words. It didn’t matter how far from the truth I knew them to be; I had to live and breathe it if Andrew was going to believe me. I almost threw up when the phone rang. Luckily, the rush of panic and my hustling into the bathroom so I didn’t have all their eyes staring at me made me sound out of breath and panicky when I answered.
“Andrew, I don’t know what to do.”
It wasn’t a lie.
“You should’ve listened to me from the start.” He sighed. “I can’t say I’m surprised I was right.”
“I thought they would want it because they wanted me. It’s not fair! I don’t?—”
“Calm down. You already have a solution. No need to make a fuss.”
Asshole. I would fuss my fist right into his face if he were here. We were talking about my pack rejecting my child and he acted like it was no big deal.
“What do I do?”
“I’ll send you all of the necessary paperwork. You and your idiot alphas will sign away your rights, and the baby will come home with me.”
“What about Charlotte?”
“What about her?”
“I want to meet her.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Please. Andrew, I need to meet the woman who’s going to raise our baby.”
Andrew sighed again. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“ Please ,” I pleaded. “I can’t hand my baby over to a stranger.”
“I forgot how needy you are.”
Fury boiled in my chest at his words.
“She’ll meet you when we fly in when you go into labor.”
“That’s not enough and you know it. Don’t be cruel, Andrew. I’ve had my life torn apart too many times. I just need a bit of kindness. Couldn’t she come for a visit? She was asking me about ultrasounds and I don’t have anything recent. We could go to an appointment and she could see the baby. I won’t…I won’t tell her about us. I don’t want to risk that she might love the baby less knowing how it came to be.”
He was silent for a long moment before he delivered another dramatic sigh. “Fine. One visit. We’ll come in a couple of weeks.”
“No,” I gasped out. “We both know I’m a terrible liar. If I see you and she’s there, I could ruin everything. There’s too many feelings, Andrew. I couldn’t handle it.”
“Even better. I have work to do anyway. Arrange something with her.”
I was so relieved I started crying. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Andrew, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how I fucked everything up so badly.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything else from you. Why do you think I’ve taken such a guiding hand since you became mine? Heaven knows you can’t be trusted to make appropriate decisions for yourself. Expect the paperwork in your email tonight.”
It was painful to know how little he thought of me. I’d given years to him, and in his eyes I was nothing more than a child who’d disappointed him.
“I won’t sign it until I meet her. I need to look her in the eye when she tells me she really wants the baby.”
Andrew scoffed. “All of you omegas are too fucking sentimental. Try not to be too angry with your alphas. It’s only natural they wouldn’t want a child that’s not theirs.”
I swallowed down my nausea. They did want the baby. Andrew was the heartless one who would’ve turned a child away if the situation had been reversed. “I know that now.”
“If you change your mind when the baby is born, you can still join our pack.”
“Does Charlotte actually want that?”
“Charlotte doesn’t know what she wants until I tell her. She’ll fall in line if it gets her the baby.”
I hated him so fucking much and I was absolutely sick for Charlotte. I bit my tongue for a moment before forcing the next words out of my mouth. “Thank you for looking out for me. I know I didn’t deserve it after how I behaved.”
“You really didn’t. You were an ungrateful bitch, but I’m a forgiving man.”
Gag .
“I should go. I don’t want them to know that I talked to you.”
“You’re doing the right thing, Ava. For you and for the baby.”
I knocked on the door myself and hastily whispered a goodbye before hanging up, pressing my phone to my chest and willing myself to not start sobbing.
I opened the door and went straight into the arms of my nearest alpha, who happened to be Bryce. Cranberries and rum flooded my system and I inhaled deeply to calm myself. “That was horrible.”
“Did it work?” Nathan asked.
“He agreed to her visiting so we could meet.”
“That’s good.” Jesse kissed the top of my head. “You’re so brave for doing that, and I’m so proud of you. I know it doesn’t feel good to lie, but if it all goes well, both of you will be free from him.”
That was the only thing keeping me together. Being free from Andrew, maybe freeing Charlotte from him too, was motive enough. I had a pack to get me away from him and his multitude of lies. Charlotte didn’t have that luxury. If this was the way to make it happen, I would suffer through dealing with Andrew.
We settled in as a pack and figured out the best time to have Charlotte come visit. The agreed-upon offer was about two weeks before the due date so it wouldn’t be unusual if Charlotte decided to stay longer. Nathan wouldn’t be able to stay that long, so we could transition the guest room he would be using into a space for Charlotte.
I let Jesse handle all the texting, sitting at his side with my pack surrounding me.
Charlotte:
I’m so excited. Thank you so, so much.
Would you mind if I brought my two children? I would love for them to meet the baby, but if you would rather that not happen until the baby gets back to New York, that’s totally fine.
I looked to my pack for what they thought the correct response might be.
“If she has the kids here,” said Micah, “she’s going to be less likely to rush back to New York.”
Selfishly, I was curious about Andrew’s children. They were my baby’s half siblings and if things went well, maybe they would get to see each other once in a while growing up. Andrew might not have any part in raising my child, but I wasn’t going to be the one to deny my baby an opportunity to know their siblings.
Jesse wrote back for me.
Ava:
I don’t mind you bringing the kids
Charlotte:
You’re sure you don’t need to meet my husband? I’m sure he could squeeze in an overnight.
Ava:
As long as you and your kids are happy with him, I’m happy
Charlotte’s typing dots appeared and disappeared a few times. All of us stared at them, waiting for her response. What was taking her so long?
Charlotte:
The kids will be so excited.
Jesse and I shared a look.
“Did she just sidestep saying she’s happy with Andrew?” I asked.
“Sure as hell looks like it,” replied Micah. “Maybe it’ll be easier to get her out of there than we think.”
“I hope so.”
I hated the deception involved, but Charlotte’s delayed and obviously rewritten response gave me an extra push that we were doing the right thing. She knew Andrew better than I did, and maybe my trust in her judgment gave her pause. Maybe she realized she wasn’t as happy with him as she should’ve been to be taking another baby into their family.
Ava:
Send me all your flight details when you have them
We have space you and the kids can use so you don’t have to stay in a hotel
Charlotte:
That sounds lovely. I’ll let you know as soon as I book everything.
I let out a relieved breath. Charlotte was coming here. Soon it would all be over. We couldn’t avoid her getting hurt, not after all of Andrew’s lies, but hopefully mine wouldn’t be the one that broke her.