Chapter 142

Tyler POV

Every breath was tinged with the hot burn of hatred; I literally breathed in anger and blew out fury with every movement of my lungs. I wanted to tear someone apart except the ones I wanted to be the focus on my rage were out of my reach for the moment.

Patrick Flores had raised Rachel yet he was never a father to her. I would have said it was because his mate had come to him with a child already in tow except Ethan was his own child and he'd been no better father to him.

"I want Patrick Flores and Richard Campbell," I told Adam as soon as he answers my call, "I'm calling in the Alpha Inspector to get them both. No excuses. Understand?"

Adam answered, "I understand, Alpha."

"Good. Wait for my call," I said before hanging up then called Art Windsor.

"What are you thinking, Wright? You think we can just take down the head Alpha of a major pack without an heir lined up?" Windsor responded when the call connected.

"I don't care about his heir or his Alpha House or his pack. He took my pregnant mate. Risked my child. You know he's taken her mother hostage, yes? Use that to arrest him," I snapped.

Elena Campbell-Flores was alive somewhere in the world though we knew nothing about her exact whereabouts. She was the key to Moonglow Pack as their Alpha House heir yet Richard Campbell had passed her off as dead for over twenty years.

"Campbell has to have gotten Lindy from somewhere, too. Isn't kidnapping or whatever he did to get her a crime? Can't you get him for her existence alone?" I reason out loud, trying to come up with some way to get these men under my control sooner rather than later.

Windsor sighed into the phone and said, "I've proven Lindy isn't a Campbell, but I have zero proof of her origins. It isn't as if there's a werewolf registry for our missing young."

"There should be," I retort, feeling the fire spiking in my veins again, "Our children are every bit as precious as a human's or even better since we have to work harder to get them, don't we? There's no guarantee of young for us. They can breed like rabbits with each other."

Bitterness blasted through me. I wanted to hurt someone. I wanted someone specific to hurt because of the pain they'd inflicted on my mate, on my growing young, on me.

Mostly I hated they'd gotten to me or mine in any way.

I should have had better security to protect Rachel. I should have been prepared.

My father wouldn't have lost my mother so easily and I hated knowing I'd failed in a way he never had. The truth of my failure was another source of fuel for my inner fire; I didn't need any help staying furious.

"Try to focus on your House, Wright. Humans aren't your business. Or at least they aren't your most pressing business right now. I'm getting Flores. You and I will have to wait on Richard Campbell. The Council won't support removing him from power without---more, understand?" Windsor droned on in my ear.

I breathed in and out, trying not to choke on my rage. I managed to get myself together enough to respond, "I understand."

Disconnecting the call, I pulled my phone directory up to dial my father. I hated with every cell in my body as I let the line connect.

I'd never called this man for help in my life and doing it now made me furious on a whole new level.

"Yes, boy?" my father answered by way of a greeting.

"I need Richard Campbell taken down. Now. I'm not waiting on the Alpha Council to rationalize taking him out of power when he could come for Rachel again at any time. Can you make that happen?" I asked.

I paced my living room, trying not to see the fading evidence of the abduction. Magda had done her best to clean my home, but there were things missing which had been broken yet to be replaced and Rachel wasn't on the sofa where she'd been living since her confinement to the house.

Knowing she was still in the bedroom eating, I was able to relax myself with a deep breath. It did nothing to take away my rage, but it did make my head clear a bit.

"Father, I need to know if you can avenge someone taking your only grandchild. We retrieved her, but she could have died. Do you understand how close we've come to losing the future of our pack?" I pushed.

My father was silent a moment before sighing, "I can issue a formal demand for his abdication. They're going to have to respond to me. I'm still the Alpha of Moonrise Pack. We hold more power than Moonglow on the Council. If you follow my directions, we always will, too, son."

The call cut off before I could ask for specifics.

I wanted to know how my father would take this corrupt bastard out of power. I wanted to hear how he would bring him low, make him crawl, make him beg for mercy before he was executed for his crimes against our pack.

A primal part of me roared to life as I realized the Alpha Council could require a challenge. I would tear the older Alpha apart. There'd be no one to help him, no one to stop me, and nothing he could do except fight for his life even as I took it from him.

Going back to the bedroom, I sank down onto the bed beside Rachel, wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her flush against my side. Her scent was heady as I breathed in her scent where it was strongest coming from the top of her head.

"How are my girls doing?" I asked, trying to focus on how Rachel felt in my arms instead of how I wanted to use my hands to tear apart both her fathers.

"We're fine. Thirsty," Rachel chuckled, "But fine. I'm calling Magda for some ice water. Would you like anything?"

I shook my head against hers. I didn't want to let her go. I didn't want to leave her side. I wanted to order my men to drag her fake father, Patrick Flores, to me on his face while my father escorted her blood father to me in style.

Our bedroom was meant to be a soothing place. Rachel had done little to change my home in the time she'd been with me in it. The decor was all white and black, silver and chrome. I had to admit it wasn't the warmest environment.

Trying to find a way to alleviate my rage, I asked Rachel, "What would you like to do for the baby's room? I think we should start in here. It's---not very much like you."

"Oh, it's not? You're just now noticing," Rachel chuckled against my chest, wrapping one arm over me to hold me as if I'd try to leave her, "I want to add some color. We could start small. Accent pillows? A painting?"

"No, I want you to change it. I don't want you to wait. Change it for yourself. For our girl. What do you want to do for her?" I asked, craving the vision of a home, a real home, for a change.

Rachel went on to describe how she wanted to use sunrise and sunset colors -red, orange, and gold- to brighten our bedroom so we could always remember to appreciate each passing day. She talked about how she wanted to use blue and white to put our baby girl close to the sky.

I relaxed while she spoke to me of beautiful things changing the landscape of our house into a home. I closed my eyes to see it better and realized I believed in a Heaven as long as I had Rachel with me: she was my peace on Earth, my goodwill toward men, and my salvation all at once.

I would never take her for granted again.

Turning my face to hers, I kissed her blindly, shushing her with a thrust of my tongue rather than words. Our mouths danced with each other, our tongues twisting and turning first in her mouth and then in mine.

My body strained everywhere to get closer to her. If I weren't worried about hurting her, I would have rolled over to pin her beneath me and sought my Heaven on Earth right there in her body on our bed.

"I cannot wait until this baby is born," Rachel panted.

Her cheeks were flushed with lust and maybe a hint of a blush because she was still so innocent in some ways. I wanted to agree with her even as I realized the idea of my daughter being out in the open scared me, too.

Anyone could take her. Abduct her the way they'd taken my Rachel.

"Stop thinking so hard," Rachel murmured, "Kiss me again and trust this is all going to work out."

Windsor would get Flores and my father would get Campbell.

I trusted in vengeance.