Beta (10 page)

"Hi, Brittany's
mom, right?" I asked.

She nodded, "I
am. How are you?"

"I'm well," I
said with a polite smile, "Look, I don't know if their teacher told
you what happened yesterday but your daughter told my son that I'm
not his real mother and that I couldn't love him because of
it."

She simply nodded
her head which was odd but I continued on regardless.

"I would
appreciate it if you spoke to her about it and let her know that my
son was very upset by what she said."

"But you're not
his mother," she said boldly.

It took me a
second to process what she had just said. Most people feared and
respected Titus enough to never comment on our situation and those
that did comment were not being malicious, they were curious. This
woman though, clearly she held a grudge against me.

"Maybe I didn't
give birth to him but I raised him and legally, he is my son and
that is not your concern. I am trying to be civil about
this."

"Elizabeth,
adopting your mate's child doesn't make that child yours. Though I
commend you for stepping up to the plate, it's time you take the
backseat and give me my family back."

My jaw just about
hit the ground. So this was Claire. This was how she knew what
Christian looked like. She had been stalking the school looking for
him. I was damn near speechless. How was I supposed to handle this?
I couldn't attack her, as much as I wanted to, I
couldn't.

"Titus is my mate
and Christian is my son. You would do well to remember that. If I
ever see you here again, rest assured this will be a very different
conversation."

"Titus and I have
a child together. Do you honestly think he wouldn't put that above
everything else? I'm sure you know exactly where he stands in
regards to our son. He would do anything for Christian, including
getting back together with his mother."

Those words hit
too close for comfort. Titus had told me he would do anything for
Christian and that Christian would always come first, even over me.
I was fine with that as long as it was in Christian's best interest
but Claire was not in his best interest.

"You abandoned
him the second you gave birth," I replied coldly, "You don't
deserve either of them and you will never have them in your life.
You had your chance and you blew it so leave us alone."

The door flew
open and children came running out of the classroom. Christian ran
up and wrapped himself around my legs. I hugged him as usual, not
wanting to alarm him.

"Hi, Christian,"
Claire said sweetly.

I couldn't
contain the growl that chipped away at my carefully composed mask.
Claire ignored me and smiled at Christian. He waved sheepishly at
her before turning back to me. Thank God he clearly didn't have any
interest in her.

"Come on, we're
going to see Dad," I said to Christian.

"I'll see you
around," Claire said with a wave as she pulled her daughter
along.

I knew this
wasn't my last encounter with her but hopefully she would come to
her senses and leave us alone. If she cared about Christian at all
she would back off and just enjoy Brittany. I understood why she
would want Titus back. He was an amazing man and the perfect father
and there was no way I would let her interfere with my
family.

********

I partially
smiled at Titus's secretary as she waved at me and Christian. I
would have stopped to talk to her but Titus needed to know what
Claire's plan was and that she had been to Christian's
school.

Titus looked up
in time to see Christian running at him and picked him up with a
smile.

"How was
school?"

"Awesome!
Tomorrow we get to draw dinosaurs!"

"Cool," Titus
said with a laugh, "I thought you were taking him to
Sarah's."

"I was going to
until I met Claire."

He frowned,
"How?"

"Christian, why
don't you see if Amy can grab you a snack," I said.

He climbed down
Titus and and ran out the office doors. I took a seat with Titus on
the couch under the huge window overlooking the forest.

"She put her
daughter in the same class as Christian. The little girl that told
Christian I wasn't his mother? That's her daughter."

He shook his
head, "I don't even know what to say about this. Short of pulling
him out of school, I don't know how to handle this."

For Titus to
admit he didn't have a plan of action, the situation had to be
worse than I initially thought. He always, and I mean always, had a
plan.

"Ban her," I
urged.

"I can't," he
said, frustrated.

"Why the fuck
not, Titus," I demanded.

"Do you even
really understand what that would mean? No wolf could ever come
into contact with her. Everyone in her family would be shunned and
besides, I can only ban her if she commits treason."

"She said you
will want to be with her because it would be best for Christian. I
need to know right now if that is at all a possibility. Don't worry
about my feelings. Just tell me if there is any part of you that
still wants to be with her even if only for Christian's
sake."

I couldn't stop
myself from letting a few tears roll down my cheek. Titus wasn't
just my mate; he was my best friend, my husband, he was everything
to me. I could safely say I loved him unconditionally but I needed
to know he was in this for the long haul.

"Elizabeth," he
said as he gently cupped my cheek to wipe my tears away.

He pulled me in
for a loving, passionate kiss that ended far too quickly for my
likings.

"I will always
love you, Lizzy. You know that and don't ever doubt it again. You
are the only woman for me and you are the only mother Christian has
ever had and will ever have. Claire will never take either of us
from you. I promise."

I nodded, trying
to get my emotions under control but it was proving more difficult
every day.

"There's
something else I wanted to talk to you about," he said as he played
with my fingers.

"What's that?" I
asked. My voice was thick with controlled emotion.

"The full moon is
coming up," he said.

"Yeah.
And?"

"And I think we
should have a baby."

For the second
time today, I was left speechless. I hadn't put much thought into
having a baby yet but I guess I was in a good spot so why not? Why
should I put it off any longer? I may age slowly but that didn't
mean I was getting any younger and neither was Titus.

"Um, I guess we
could."

He laughed,
"Don't sound so enthusiastic."

"It's just that
you haven't wanted to so this is kind of a surprise."

"I've wanted to
since I met you but I was being patient."

"Oh," was all I
could say.

"But what about
everything going on right now?"

He shrugged,
"We're only giving her more power by letting her dictate our lives.
If she wants to go through the human system then so can we. If she
threatened to take your family away, we will get a restraining
order against her."

"I seriously
doubt a piece of paper will stop her," I said
skeptically.

"Probably not but
it will be another thing we can take to court to support our case
against her. If she violates the order, we can have her thrown in
jail for a couple days and her case will weaken
drastically."

I ran my fingers
through my hair as I thought about being pregnant in the next few
weeks. Actually, the thought of it didn't stress me out the way it
used to. It was comforting to know he wanted to take our
relationship even further.

"Ok. I think we
should have a baby," I agreed.

"Yeah?" He asked,
his entire face lit up at my agreeable response which made me smile
as well.

I nodded and he
kissed me once more.

"You know,
practice makes perfect," he suggested coyly.

I laughed and
pushed his chest away lightly, "I have to go back to
work."

"I'll keep
Christian for the afternoon," he suggested.

"You're not going
anywhere?"

"No. I don't have
much to do today."

"Okay. If
something comes up, just bring him by my office."

"Alright."

He pulled me as
close as possible without actually sitting on him but didn't kiss
me. He simply wrapped his arms around me, engulfing me in a hug
that I needed more than even I knew.

"I love you so
much, Elizabeth. Please don't ever doubt that," he
whispered.

I nodded to the
best of my ability, feeling my throat constrict with how deeply he
meant that.

"I love you too,
Titus."

He gently pressed
his lips to my forehead as I heard Christian walking in the
office.

"Gross,"
Christian said.

I couldn't help
but laugh at his comment, knowing someday he would have to find his
true mate and how he would act with her. I hoped Titus and I were
setting a good example for him. I thought we were doing okay since
we never fought except for the previous night. We respected each
other deeply and weren't afraid to show affection.

"You're going to
stay with Dad this afternoon, okay?" I asked Christian.

He always loved
staying with Titus at work because it rarely happened. If there was
ever alone time, it was with me and Christian. Titus was on site
too often and that was dangerous for Christian to be around so they
didn't have much alone time.

"Really?!"

"Yep. It's you
and me today, buddy," Titus said as he sat back on the
couch.

"Can we go see
your building," Christian asked excitedly.

"Maybe but you
can't walk around out there."

"Why not? I'm big
enough."

"Mom would kill
me if she knew I let you walk around there."

"It's not safe,
Christian," I said.

"But, Mom," he
whined.

"Mom's right,"
Titus backed me up, "Accidents happen out there.

"Fine," Christian
mumbled.

"I'm going back
to work," I said.

Christian hugged
me and kissed my cheek before running behind Titus's desk and
climbing on his black leather chair.

"I'll see you
tonight, Lizzy."

I kissed him one
last time and made my way out of the office, passing Amy with a
polite wave and smile since she was on the phone.

I drove back to
my office, thankful that I would have the afternoon to study for
Macy.

The full moon was
closing in and I needed to work fast but now that I knew I was to
be pregnant, I started second guessing myself. What if I couldn't
get pregnant? I mean, I had never thought about it but it was
possible. How disappointed would Titus be if I couldn't have a
baby? Would that be enough to make him leave me? Especially with
Claire in the picture that was clearly able to have his children,
to say I was paranoid is an understatement.

I had to find
out. I had to run the tests on myself because I couldn't trust
someone else to do it. I made my way to the lab in the back of my
practice. I broke open a new syringe and tied off my arm. I had
never taken my own blood but it couldn't be much more difficult
than taken someone else's. I slid the needle into my arm, only
feeling the prick of steel for a moment.

I put my blood in
a tube, sealed it, and put it through for processing. I wouldn't
have the results for a couple days, unfortunately. I hated that I
didn't have the most state-of-the-art lab equipment to process this
quicker. We were dealing with hundreds of werewolves since we were
the only two pack doctors. We either needed a separate lab or more
doctors. Maybe it was something I could talk to Titus
about.

"Elizabeth!" A
receptionist named Darla yelled from the front of the
office.

I quickly pulled
my sleeve down and rushed out of the lab to the front of the
building in time to see Zac and another pack member carrying a
young woman in the building.

"What happened,"
I asked Zac as I felt for a pulse.

"We found her on
patrol on the eastern boarder. She's not pack but I don't see any
rogue marks either," Zac said.

I couldn't help
but notice how he looked at her with deep concern but that was the
least of my interests.

I found a faint
pulse but it was definitely there. She was dirty and badly beaten
but I think she would make it. Hopefully, for Zac's sake, she would
heal fine.

"Bring her to one
of the exam rooms," I said as I took the gloves Darla handed to
me.

Zac picked up the
petite girl and carried her back to the first exam room. He set her
on the bed and moved the thick, fire red curls from her face. He
must have felt my eyes on him because he turned to me with a
sheepish smile an stepped aside.