Beta (11 page)

I examined every
cut, every bruise, and cleaned every wound. I couldn't find
anything that would have constituted hospitalization which was a
relief but she had clearly been through a horrible beating. I saw
what I assumed to be whipping marks on her back and thighs but they
were old scars. To scar a werewolf was difficult. We healed so
quickly that scars had to be nearly life threatening. My heart went
out to the poor girl but I wasn't nearly as affected as Zac was. I
could practically feel the anger coming from him in waves at the
discovery of every scar. He knew as well as I did it meant she was
probably the runt, the weakest member of the pack. She was smaller
than I was which was odd for a werewolf female but not unheard of.
If she was the runt and her pack was primitive, they would have
used her as a slave. Thankfully, my old pack and the one I belonged
to now were civilized but I couldn't say the same for some
backwater, middle of nowhere pack.

"So is she going
to live?" He asked.

I nodded
absently, "She has been through a lot, Zac. What are you going to
do with her?"

He shrugged but
never took his eyes off of her, "Find out why she was on our
territory."

"Then
what?"

"I don't know.
There's something different about her," he commented.

"You managed to
get that from an unconscious girl?" I teased.

He tossed me a
pointed look but laughed, "You know what I mean. She said her name
is Rachel right before she passed out."

"Interesting," I
said.

Something about
her looked familiar and the name rang a bell but I could just be
imagining it. All we could do now was wait.

*******

I sat in my
office, listening to Rachel's steady breathing from the exam room.
I wasn't sure why Zac insisted on staying in there with her while I
continued to read but I wasn't in any position to question him.
After all, I was only a pack doctor and the Beta's wife and he was
the Alpha of one of the most elite packs in the world, next to the
royals of course. Zac wasn't really close to anyone except Titus. I
mean, he was friendly with me and I was probably one of the only
people he allowed to tease him but that didn't mean I could
question him. There was just a line of respect I never planned on
crossing with him. He was Alpha and I deeply respected him for
that.

"Liz," Zac
called.

I welcomed the
interruption so I made my way down the hall to the sterile exam
room. Rachel was awake but barely. She looked like she was in
immense pain and I didn't doubt it.

I checked her
vitals while she watched me carefully but said nothing. She only
flinched from time to time if I brushed against a cut.

"Where are you
from, Rachel?" I asked quietly.

Her amber eyes
examined me as if deciding whether or not to trust me and Zac. I
couldn't blame her, especially knowing what kind of life she must
have come from.

"I'm not from a
pack," she said in her little, light, voice.

"You don't have
rogue markings," I pointed out.

She shook her
head a little as she sat up, "I'm not a rogue. I've never belonged
to a pack. I was raised somewhere else."

"Where's that?" I
asked gently.

"I can't," she
started but cut herself off as she looked down at her
hands.

"Where did you
get these?" I asked as I pointed to her thin thigh.

She shook her
head in response.

I sighed and
looked to Zac for some help but he clearly wanted to stay out of it
for now.

"How old are
you?"

"Nineteen."

"Do you know
where you are?"

She nodded,
"Thunder Pack."

I nodded, "My
name is Elizabeth. I'm the pack doctor and the Beta's mate. Zac," I
motioned behind her, "is the Alpha. He found you on our eastern
boarder and brought you here. Can you tell me what you're doing
here?"

"My former
sister-in-law took my little sister and I tracked her
here."

"Did she do this
to you?"

She shook her
head, "No. I just want my sister," she whispered.

"Do you know what
could have happened if he found you in wolf form?" I
asked.

I couldn't keep
the irritation out of my voice because this girl had no idea what
she had walked into. Zac was fair but if she went on the defensive,
he would have killed her on sight.

Her amber eyes
watered and tears rolled down her alabaster cheeks. I instantly
felt bad for taking that tone with her but how couldn't she have
known?

"Please, I just
want my sister back. I'm supposed to be raising her and this
happened," her voice shook with emotion.

"What is your
sister's name?" I asked.

"Brittany," she
mumbled.

My stomach
dropped, "And your sister-in-law?"

"Her name is
Claire," she whispered.

My eyes shot to
Zac. He looked surprised but angry at once. I knew there was
something weird going on! I should have guessed she would be crazy
enough to kidnap a girl just to weasel her way back into Titus's
life.

"How old is your
sister?"

"She'll be six
next week. Do you know where she is?"

"We know Claire,"
I said bitterly, "My husband will find her."

I sighed in
frustration, "I need you to fill out some paperwork."

Her pale cheeks
flamed with color at the mention of filling out
paperwork.

"I, um, I
can't."

"You can't?" I
asked confused.

"No. I don't know
how," she whispered.

"Can you read?" I
asked softly.

She shook her
head, "I wasn't allowed."

I started but
stopped myself, "Where were you raised?" I asked again.

She shook her
head, "I can't talk about it."

"Order of the
Mystics?" I asked though I already knew the answer.

Her head shot up
as she searched my face. No one, except for members, knew the name
or meeting locations. Only the families involved knew of the group.
I had never even spoken the name to Titus and he didn't press me
for information. I was lucky; I was intellectually gifted but most
people weren't. The only reason I stood a chance at leaving the
Order was because I stole books from my niece. I was smart enough
to know that when my parents sent me to my brother's I was never
going back to the Order.

"My parents were
members," I told her in hopes she would open up.

"How are you
here?" She asked.

"My parents died
and I stayed with my brother in the pack he was born into. Five
years ago, I met my husband and joined this pack."

"They killed my
parents," she said. Even though there was no anger in her voice, I
could tell it still hurt.

I nodded, "Mine
too."

This was the
first person I could really relate to with my hatred for the Order.
Sure, Adrian hated them but he still had his parents, regardless of
whether or not they accepted him, they were alive for him to one
day mend that broken bridge. I would never be able to try to help
my parents but at the same time, if they hadn't died, I might never
have left. It really was a double edge sword.

"You should get
some rest," I suggested.

"I'll take her to
my house," Zac finally spoke up.

I raised an
eyebrow in skepticism but didn't say anything in
opposition.

"Okay. I'll check
up tonight," I said.

Zac nodded and
was already scooping her into his arms. Her blush gave away exactly
how innocent she was. I could relate; when I met Titus I was a
virgin and very innocent to the ways of men. Hell, I was still
fairly innocent since Titus was the only man I had ever been with
and I just recently started exploring more sexual behavior with
him. Feminine innocence was something the Order demanded. We were
to stay pure until the Master said otherwise. Usually, the Master
took the virginity of the young girls as a type of coming of age
ritual. Thankfully, I was spared long enough for my parents to send
me away but I couldn't say the same for the majority of the other
girls my age. It was a twisted community and I had no idea how
anyone would willing join it but my parents had been sucked in
wholeheartedly, same as Adrian's parents.

I quickly grabbed
my bag from my office and called Titus on my way to my car. I
didn't want to admit that I was actually terrified of Claire and
what she was capable of. If she was willing to kidnap a child,
enroll them in school, and pretend to be someone else just so I
would admit to being Titus's wife, there's not much she wouldn't be
willing to do.

"Hey, Lizzy," he
answered.

"Hey. Christian
is with you, right?"

"Yeah he's right
here. Why?"

"Brittany isn't
Claire's daughter. She kidnapped her and enrolled her in
Christian's class to get close."

"Are you
sure?"

"I'm positive.
Zac found a girl on patrol and brought her to me because she was
hurt bad. When she woke up she told us she was here trying to get
her sister back and it all came out."

"This is getting
out of hand," he muttered more to himself.

"Couldn't agree
more. I don't want him in school while she is on a rampage. There's
no telling what she will do."

"Okay. I'll call
the school and let them know what is going on."

"Do you know
where to find her?" I asked.

"I think so. I'll
try to find her again and see if I can get the kid
back."

I hated that he
wanted to go find her on his own. As much as he assured me he only
love me, I couldn't help but be jealous. It was in my nature to be
territorial and Claire was just bringing every repressed emotion to
the surface.

"Okay."

"Where are
you?"

"Leaving work.
I'll get Christian so you can go find her."

"Okay. I'll see
you in a minute. Bye," he said.

"Bye."

I slipped my
phone into the outer pocket of my bag and started back towards
Titus's office. It wasn't far from my own which I liked for
situations like this where I could just run and grab
Christian.

I thought about
this entire situation but something didn't feel entirely right. How
ironic was it that Brittany and Rachel belonged to the Order? It
was odd that Claire's mate must have as well. I felt like I was
missing a connection somewhere but I wasn't going to harp on it
because my main focus was to keep Christian away from her. If she
was willing to kidnap someone else's kid, she would have no moral
qualms in taking mine. Then again, I had a strong feeling it wasn't
really Christian she was after. Her ultimate goal was to have Titus
back but that was never going to happen naturally. No one in their
right mind would ever reject their mate because it was so rare to
actually find them in the first place. Marriages usually ended if
one party found their mate. I would imagine that would be a rough
situation but it wasn't unheard of. How could she honestly expect
Titus to leave me for her? I would rather die than ever see them
together because the pain of him rejecting me after all this time
would be unbearable anyway. I would be better off dead if he ever
decided to leave me and take Christian back to her but she didn't
really want Christian back; she wanted the security that came with
being the wife of the Beta. It was a status symbol that I couldn't
care less about but to her, it was everything. She wanted Titus for
his power and his money, not for him and Christian. I couldn't
believe this was the woman he had a child with. Just the thought of
it made me angry. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got
and I needed to stop. I couldn't change the past and the fact that
he had a son with another woman, a crazy one at that but I could
choose how I wanted to spend my future with him. I wanted, needed,
to let it go and not second him or myself because if this situation
hasn't broken us yet, I seriously doubted anything would. He was my
mate, that was all there was to it.

I parked and made
my way up to Titus's office once again. Amy waved at me, on the
phone as usual so I politely waved back. She was a nice girl and
she had worked for Titus for years, since before I met him, and she
was quite loyal. I never felt threatened by her even though from
time to time I did catch her admiring him. It was only natural for
her to do so though. Titus was an extremely attractive man and I
think he knew it. He wasn't overly cocky about it but he certainly
knew how physically attracted I was to him and used it to his
advantage more often than not.

Christian sat
behind Titus's desk and waved at me as I walked in the room but I
didn't see Titus anywhere. I could here him on the phone
though.

"Where's Dad?" I
asked.

He pointed to the
balcony just outside his office where I could see him absently
walking back an forth on the phone. He looked frustrated but still
remained calm in typical Titus fashion.