Beta (18 page)

Titus
couldn't have been more tense. A deep growl rippled through his
chest at the image she put in our minds. I couldn't deny, the
thought was terrifying.

Titus
wrapped his arm around me possessively and forced me out of the
building. Once outside, we went straight to the car but didn't get
inside just yet. I could tell he was worked up and afraid though he
would never admit it.

I stood
in front of him, molding my body to his as I cupped his face with
both of my small hands.

"Nothing
will happen to me. If he comes, we will deal with it."

"We are
moving into the pack house until we can confirm he is dead," Titus
said with finality.

"Titus-"

"Don't
argue. It's not safe for you or Christian in our house right now.
Besides, I'll be spending a lot of time there anyway so we might as
well live there for now."

I sighed
but knew I wasn't winning this fight, "Okay."

It wasn't
that I didn't want to live in the pack house; I just didn't want to
leave home. I was pregnant and I wanted to be in the comfort of my
own home. This was going to be an interesting time.

Zac
walked up to us with his hands in his pockets. He was contemplative
but angry at the same time.

"We won't
let anything happen to you, Liz," he assured.

I half
smiled, "Thanks, Zac."

"We're
moving into the pack house today," Titus grumbled.

Zac
nodded, "I figured. I had the west wing prepared."

"Thanks."

"No
problem. Hey, Liz, do you think I could run something by
you?"

"Of
course. What's going on?"

He ran a
hand through his onyx hair as he looked anywhere except
me.

"It's
about Rachel," he trailed.

"Is she
doing alright?"

"Yeah,
she's fine," he assured, "It's just...she's illiterate and I want
to help her but I don't think I'm doing it right."

I half
smiled, "Zac, do you have a crush on her?" I teased.

"No," he
instantly denied, "I mean, she's pretty and she's nice and funny,"
he said as if he was considering her best qualities.

Even
though he denied it, I knew he liked her. I also knew it would be
hard for him to admit that he liked her. I would imagine he would
feel like he was betraying Eva by being happy with someone
else.

"Okay,
maybe I like her but it wouldn't work out."

"Why
not?"

"She has
a mate out there and I can't take her from that."

"She
knows her mate?" I asked.

"Yeah but
she won't talk about it. I don't know what his deal is."

I
shrugged, "Maybe I could talk to her and find out a little
more."

He looked
interested, "You would do that?"

"Of
course. I'll see what I can dig up."

******

Okay so
this chapter is super short but it gives some insight to Rachel's
mind. I'll have a longer chapter up in a couple days.

I slumped
on the love seat in our bedroom as Titus pulled out a few suitcases
from the hall closet. I sighed in frustration; I wanted to live my
normal life without the drama of Andre possibly being alive. I
hated that I caused this. I mean, I knew it wasn't directly my
fault but I hadn't been totally honest with Titus. If I had been,
he would have taken steps to ensure Andre would never be an
issue.

"Hey,
Titus?" I asked as he walked in the room.

"Yeah?"

"Were you
mad at me for killing Andre?"

He looked
over his shoulder at me, confused by my question, "No. Why would I
be?"

I
shrugged, "You seemed upset."

"I was
upset because I almost lost you. It was my fault that he even took
you in the first place," he said tightly.

"I should
have told you about him," I said quietly.

I truly
regretted not telling Titus about my past and putting all of us in
danger. It was careless of me but I didn't want him to know the
truth. My parents had always told me if my mate knew the truth, he
would leave me. Now I knew that wasn't the case. Now I knew the
bond is deeper than I could have imagined. There wasn't a single
reason in the world that Titus would leave me. I could probably
even cheat on him and he would eventually forgive me. Not that I
would ever do that but we were that close. He wasn't just my mate;
he was my husband and my best friend.

He sat
next to me and put his hand on my thigh, squeezing just lightly,
"You should have but that's okay. We will deal with him now if he
isn't dead."

"If I'm
being honest, I will be a little happy if I didn't kill
him."

"Why?"

"It's all
I can think about lately. I know he deserved it but I've never
killed anything and I completely lost it. What if that happens
again?"

"It
won't," he assured me, "You had every right and reason in the world
to kill him and no one would ever question you on it."

"I was
just...I was so angry," I whispered.

He kissed
my temple, "It will be okay, Liz. I will take care of
it."

I shook
my head lightly, "This is my fault, Titus. I need to deal with
it."

"He is
not your fault. This is your parents' fault," he tried.

"I put
Christian in danger."

"I
promise, I will take care of this. He will be dead and you will
never have to worry about him again," he promised.

I rested
my chin on his well-defined shoulder and exhaled roughly. I felt
the anticipation deep in my veins but I refused to show Titus how
much the situation affected me. I didn't want him to think I wasn't
capable of handling stressful situations because I was capable. I
could handle Andre just as I had every day growing up. Even though
I had only interacted with him a few times, I knew what he wanted
from me--even as a child I knew.

Titus
leaned over and kissed me gently.

"Come on.
We should get going."

I nodded
and followed him into the closet to start packing.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Three
days. Three damn days at the pack house and there was still no word
on Andre which meant he was more than likely alive. The Order
wouldn't have just let him die. They would protect him at all cost
so it was stupid of me to think I had actually killed him. He was
thousands of years older than me and with age came
knowledge.

I sat
next to Christian on the couch as he napped with his head on my
lap. I absently stroked his blonde hair as I thought about how
naive I had been.

Rachel
took a seat on the armchair next to me and half smiled at
Christian.

"He's so
cute," she commented in a whisper.

I smiled
lightly, unable to force a true smile at the moment.

"He is. I
don't know what I would do without him."

"I've
been wanting to talk to you," she started. I could hear the nervous
tone in her voice which I thought was interesting.

"About
what?"

"Well,
Zac has asked me to stay here but I was hoping to get your take on
it. I mean, we came from the same place and it seems like you
adjusted just fine."

"Yeah but
Titus is my mate. He made me feel comfortable. Wouldn't your mate
be upset if you left?" I asked. I figured that was the perfect
moment to ask about her mate and I couldn't pass it up.

She
looked down and fidgeted with her fingers. I knew something was
wrong with the way she was acting.

"He,
um...I don't want to go back to him," she whispered.

"You
don't want your mate?" I questioned as if she was
insane.

She shook
her head sadly, "I can't live like that anymore."

I noticed
tears streaming down her ivory cheeks and I felt so bad for her.
She was only nineteen and she didn't want to be with the one man
that was supposed to love and protect her.

"You can
tell me what happened," I said softly, "I won't tell
anyone."

She wiped
her cheeks but more tears fell, "He is evil."

"Evil?"

She
nodded, "He found me when I was twelve. He's a vampire in the coven
so my parents gave me to him then and there. He let Master have me
whenever he wanted."

I felt
like there was more to the story but I didn't want to push her too
far.

"He took
my virginity on my thirteenth birthday and that's when he started
punishing me for disobedience."

The
scars. I knew she had to have a horrible past to have scars like
that. To think that they came from her own mate disgusted me more
than anything. A mate is there to love, not to control.

"He...he
made me do things...with other girls because he liked it," she
silently cried.

Jesus. I
felt my heart breaking for her. Granted, I was pregnant and
emotional but her story was gut wrenching. Sex was not supposed to
be used in that manner. It was supposed to be a connection shared
between two people and instead, this vampire made her fear it and
he used it as a means to control her.

"Being
with Zac is the first time I've ever felt like someone cared about
me. I know I'm not good enough for him but I don't know how to tell
him that."

"Rachel,"
I said softly, "You are good enough for him. I think this is
something you should tell him."

She shook
her head quickly, "He would be disgusted by me. I'M disgusted by
me."

"None of
it was your fault. I may not know what it's like to be you but I
know it is always better to tell someone you care about. Zac cares
about you in a way that I have never seen him care about anyone. I
honestly think you are each other's second chances at being happy.
I know you're not mates but that doesn't mean you can't love
him."

"Do you
really think he will be okay with everything that has happened to
me?"

"Of
course. He is caring and considerate. He will listen and understand
if you just explain."

She
nodded and partially smiled though it was far from happy, "Thank
you, Elizabeth. I needed to talk to someone about this."

"You can
talk to me anytime," I assured her.

*********

I
couldn't imagine the shame and pain Rachel experienced when she
told me about her mate. How could anyone, especially her mate, do
that? Her mate was supposed to be her rock. He was not supposed to
pass her around. I was shocked he wouldn't have been uncontrollably
jealous with another person touching her sexually. Heads would roll
before anyone except Titus touched me. He would make damn sure of
that. Then again, in my experience with that coven, they were so
brainwashed that they would do anything and everything for Andre.
It was disgusting.

I knew
Rachel wasn't looking for pity from me and she wouldn't want it but
I did feel bad for her. She seemed so innocent despite what she had
been through. A man never showed her she could trust men which was
sad because I knew she wanted to be with Zac. Their road to any
sort of a relationship would be beyond difficult. He had lost his
mate and hers was still alive and probably not willing to let her
go. I knew exactly what was going to happen. She would get into the
swing of things with Zac and finally be happy for awhile then her
mate would show up and work on her emotional connection to him to
get her away from Zac. Honestly, I couldn't be sure that she
wouldn't go back to that. To deny her mate, regardless of his
actions, would be devastating. I wasn't sure if she was strong
enough to do it. I just prayed he never came for her. Zac and
Rachel deserved to be happy after everything they had done for
others. Zac may have been a stern Alpha but he was compassionate
and Rachel was just so naive and innocent. She traveled all this
way for her sister. I still wasn't sure what happened to her to
cause the wounds I treated but I was sure that would be an
interesting story to hear.