Chapter 74

Tyler POV

Wright House

I hadn't looked at the phone before answering the caller and, as such, Nathan Lewis's voice came as a surprise to me. I recoiled in my chair slightly as he snapped at me about some hypothetical men sent by my father to follow Rachel.

I could believe my father would send men to follow Rachel. She was carrying my heir. Her value had gone up considerably due to her pregnancy alone. My father wouldn't let the fact she was my fated mate slide by either.

John Wright was a master manipulator in both his business and his personal endeavors. I might be his son, but I wasn't special to him. He would use his skills on me the same as he would go at a business rival.

"Charlotte didn't know their names? Two of them?"

I tried to recall who my father called on regularly to do what he called 'odd jobs.'

I didn't approve of criminal enterprises of any kind so John rarely brought those types of associates into my direct sphere of influence. He kept them to the shadows where I thought they belonged. I knew I had likely seen them though I wasn't sure of their names myself. I could recall their faces in a hazy, passing sort of way.

"I don't think they're anything to worry over. He's just trying to protect his assets."

"Rachel is not an asset," Lewis snapped from his side of the line.

His show of aggression was enough to have me gritting my teeth. Heat spread through my system and I felt a spike of anger race along my spine to tap into the quiet portion of my mind normally occupied by my wolf.

It seemed Wynd was getting ready to wake up.

Nathan Lewis would do well to watch himself with my wolf. I knew I wouldn't be able to attack him over the phone, but the beast in me only felt aggression for the sake of aggression and responded in kind. Wynd had never been one to settle for words when action would do.

"Careful, Lewis. I don't need you to tell me what my mate is or isn't."

"She isn't your mate anymore, now is she?"

His voice had taken on a mocking tone which made me want to tear into his throat with my teeth -blunt and human or not- though I knew he was only putting forward the truth as he knew it.

Rachel had chosen to leave me for very valid reasons at the time. I knew I was far from earning her back. I would have to work very hard to find a way to get her back. I would have to be willing to be vulnerable, uncomfortable, and giving in ways I never had been before; Rachel had made it clear she wouldn't return to me without some compromises being made.

"What do you want, Lewis? Do you really think Rachel is going to choose you over me? She had the chance years ago. I'm her fated mate."

"I know that!"

A part of me hated I was petty enough to feel the thrill of victory hearing his voice break as he shouted his admission at me.

I didn't need to beat Nathan Lewis again. I'd already done it once when it had mattered the most. He had been prepared to give his life and love to Rachel forever when she'd met me---then, as far as he knew, she had chosen me immediately on the spot.

Rachel had given herself to me without a thought from all reports which had been made public. My father had carefully controlled the manner of our meeting. The whole story was only known by a handful of people. I didn't think even Charlotte knew the entire truth of the matter though she did know of Rachel's pregnancy lie and the blackmail money I'd paid out.

Lewis didn't seem to know anything about her trickery. I had my father to thank for his ignorance and I knew it. If Rachel told him the truth, would he think she chose me of her own free will or would he wonder the way I did---if Rachel hadn't been drugged at our first meeting, would she have given me her body?

I was her fated mate. The Moon Goddess intended we should be together according to the beliefs of our people. I had never felt any particular connection to the Goddess in my life. Was it possible Rachel would have chosen Nathan Lewis over me if her senses hadn't been scrambled by whatever poison those thugs had pumped into her?

I'd never asked because I didn't want to hear the answer if it was 'no.'

Rejection wasn't something I dealt with well as a man or an Alpha.

"Do you think you can keep yourself together on this trip, Lewis? I know you're---under a great deal of strain where Rachel is concerned."

Being conciliatory with a rival Alpha was not in my genetic makeup. My fangs weren't coming in, but I could taste the copper tang of blood from where I'd bitten through my bottom lip with my blunt, human teeth. I was very grateful Wynd was only stirring not fully awake.

"I'll be fine. I don't know how. I just know I will be. It's just a matter of time, right? I have to take care of her for a few days or maybe a week. Long enough for her to get the answers she's looking for and then I bring her back. To you. Right?"

We both knew he was dying inside trying to act as if he could just give over the love of his life to me. I would spare him his pride by letting it pass. My wolf's sleeping gave me the ability to offer him a little more kindness than I usually possessed.

"Right. You take care of her for me and we'll find a way to ensure your friendship is rewarded."

"Kept. I want my friendship to be kept."

I knew Lewis meant he wanted a guarantee I would let him remain in Rachel's life. I couldn't give him any such guarantee. The Alpha in me wanted to bare his teeth and warn away any others who would encroach on our female. I would do what I could to tolerate him for Rachel's sake.

"I'll do what I can. For Rachel's sake."

I hung up before Lewis could say anything else which might trigger me.

I called my father at his home number. I was surprised when Claire answered.

"Wright Manor. Claire speaking."

"Claire. I was trying to reach my father."

I only managed to avoid stumbling over the words through sheer force of will. The icy bitch my father was married to had never shown me any kindness; I'd be damned if I would ever show her any weakness of any kind.

"Naturally. Why else would you call my home? John, it's your bastard on the phone. Please don't take too long. Your dessert will get cold and you know how you hate cold pie."

I tried and failed to imagine my father eating a pie Claire had served him.

I knew she hadn't baked it herself. I didn't think the woman had ever cooked a thing in her life. If she could boil water without help, I'd be surprised.

I'd certainly be a lot more surprised than hearing her call me a bastard while I was right there on the phone listening. She'd have to do a lot better than that to get a rise out of me. I wasn't delusional, after all, and it was true I was a bastard in the eyes of the law.

"You have two men following Rachel. Who are they?"

"Wilson and Watson. They're handy. I want to make sure she brings my grandchild back safely. Why?"

"It isn't your place to have people watch her. She isn't going to make off with the child without a word."

I heard him chuckle before asking, "How do you know? She's not the most predictable thing of late."

"I know. She just wants to know where her mother came from and meet her mother's family. I can understand that. You should, too. You value family so highly, after all."

Father made a noise of assent before saying, "They stay with her until the edge of Moonglow Pack territory. I won't have them encroach on another pack's lands. They won't go near her or touch her in any way. They're just watching."

I knew he was offering me the best deal I would get out of him. I couldn't make him call off his dogs. I wasn't yet in the Alpha seat of House Wright. I had no ability to overturn an order he'd made as Alpha.

"Fine. I want a copy of any information they've passed you, too."

"They're not exactly spies, Tyler. These men aren't cut out for detailed surveillance work."

"Tomorrow, Father. On my desk. Don't make me come looking for answers. You won't like the way I search for them."

"Fine," he spat at me before disconnecting the call.

I hoped Wynd was truly waking. I knew the time was coming when I would need his help if I were going to continue to protect myself and Rachel from all sides.