Chapter 48

Tyler POV

Giovanni's Pizzeria

Every bite tasted better than the last.

Garlic and tomatoes and parmigiano-reggiano. Crispy basil added a unique taste only available at Giovanni's and I almost growled as Adam picked the basil leaves off the pizza.

We were the only two people in the building other than the Marino family who owned and operated the pizzeria.

"Don't growl at me. I told you to ask for extra basil. You know I like the basil the best."

"I'm trying to eat my feelings here. You think you deserve the all the basil when I'm the one who just had to stand before the Alpha Council and listen while another Alpha tried to claim my mate?"

Adam snorted, deliberately crunching a piece of basil between his sharp white teeth so I could see.

I wanted to snap at him. I needed desperately to be angry.

Anger was something I could understand. There was fire in anger. I could use the fire to fuel myself better than pizza and I needed something to move me, motivate me, make me want to get up after I had been kicked into the dirt too many times.

"Are you looking for a reason to get pissed off?"

Adam was too perceptive by far. I wanted to stab him with my fork except we had sent the silverware away immediately after ordering our drinks.

No one ate pizza with silverware unless they were too pretentious to be born.

"I'm looking for a reason."

I didn't know what else to say. The truth was I wanted Rachel back yet had no more idea how to regain her love -if I'd ever had it- now than I'd had the day she demanded a rejection from me. I was only comforted by the fact she hadn't accepted Nathan Lewis and his "generous offer" right in front of me at the petition.

Adam sighed, drinking the last of his soda, "I don't know what to tell you. I still think we should go to her place. You could bring pizza. She's pregnant, right? Pregnant chicks love pizza."

Adam knew as much about pregnant women as I did.

Rolling my eyes, I said, "That's an idiotic idea. She would probably call Lewis to come rescue her from me. Claim I was stalking her."

"You should be stalking her! You want her back, don't you? How are you going to get her back if you're scheming with your father to take her child and moping over pizza with me?"

I was feeling pathetic and hearing my actions laid out before me only made me feel worse.

Adam was an excellent Beta and an even better friend. I had never been good with words. I thought I was getting somewhere with Rachel only to have to face a tribunal at the Alpha Council where she told me she wanted to take my child to another pack.

"What do you know about House Campbell?"

House Adsit which Adam came from was a beta house underneath Moonrise Pack. They had served our Alpha line for long enough no one could remember when they didn't. I knew his grandfather's grandfather had served mine as a beta.

In spite of their place as beta warriors, they were well-connected with other packs. It was not uncommon for them to get brides from other packs with high ranks or excellent connections or both.

"I know they're rich and they're powerful. Mean, too. I've heard Old Alpha Campbell nearly slaughtered the whole Alpha Council when they tried to claim his line of succession was ended after he only bred one female child to carry the line. He made a deal he would bleed in her husband to become a Campbell. Her mate is still Alpha now."

"Rachel's mother was the last of Campbell's direct line?"

If her lawyer friend were to be believed, Rachel came from much higher beginnings than any of us had ever known. What was the possibility of there being only one werewolf female called Elena Campbell? Who was to say she had even used her true name? If she was a woman on the run, chances were likely she would have used a fake name to start her new life.

Patrick Flores certainly could have gotten her false identification papers.

"That's what I understand," Adam agreed, picking at his pizza, "I want to know how she hid from her people long enough to have two more children if she was supposed to be dead? We'll say they believed her death story. How does she manage to avoid running into anyone who knew her for all those years?"

I knew more about Rachel's family than I let on. Her father had been extremely controlling of her mother and she had been his fated mate.

"I don't think she would have mated Patrick if he weren't her fated mate."

Adam nodded, "Fine. She mated him because she couldn't resist the call. You're still not addressing how she was hidden for years. How did Patrick Flores hide her?"

I realized it as soon as he said it.

"He didn't."

We exchanged a look as the knowledge sank in---no one had wanted to come looking for Elena Campbell because they either knew where she was or they didn't care to know.

"Okay, let's say Richard Campbell wanted his wife out of the picture. I heard he gained nothing from her death. He was already Alpha. Why get rid of her?"

Elena Campbell was supposed to have been beautiful -given how many people commented on Rachel's likening to her, I believed the rumors were true- and came from a strong, wealthy Alpha House. She should have been a prize to any man. It was possible Richard didn't want her any longer, but he could have taken a mistress with her still in the picture.

Women didn't have a voice in werewolf politics. Her father had done all he could to keep her power in place in spite of her female sex, but he couldn't make her Alpha of their pack. Richard Campbell would have been able to rule unquestioned and unchecked by her.

I shook my head because I didn't have an answer to Adam's question. My father was the schemer in our line. John Wright might have been able to come up with a reason to fake his mate's death when he was already Alpha, but I didn't know of any reason which made sense.

"Money?" Adam offered.

Money was a good motivator for men of all kinds. Wolves were just as keen to steal from one another as humans were and greed was not particular to any species. Could House Campbell have turned on itself for something so base as money?

"It's possible, but I think an inquiry would have already been made if he inherited money from the death. House Campbell has a seat on the Alpha Council."

Adam finished his pizza and wiped his hands. He gestured to the owner. I knew he was going to be reckless before he spoke. I wasn't surprised when he ordered two pizzas to go with extra basil on top.

"Do you intend to eat all that tonight?"

I knew Adam was going to push the issue. He was one of my only true friends and my only Beta. People thought of him as a follower, but Adam led me in many ways. He had a particular kind of devotion which made him an excellent Beta and an even better friend.

"I intend to help you get your woman back. Someone needs to because you're hopeless on your own."

I left a generous stack of cash on the table as I made my way out to the car. I wanted a moment alone while Adam waited on the to-go order.

The car was locked when I reached the parking lot, but I wanted to stand in the dark awhile anyway. I enjoyed the chill air moving over my skin. If my wolf had been awake, Wynd would have prevented me from feeling the temperature drop. I could barely remember how it felt to be cold as I'd shifted early and my wolf had warmed me ever since.

Adam came out with two boxes before I could adjust to the air.

I refused to be grateful he had arrived before I could truly start shivering.

An Alpha did not get reduced to trembling because of the weather.

The car unlocked from the remote key fob on Adam's approach and he nodded at me as if I were an idiot for standing there waiting.

"Get in. We're going to go visit your woman!"