Beta (9 page)

"Na. He's just
excited," he said offhandedly, "Look, there's something you should
know... I saw Claire."

Titus instantly
stiffened at the mention of this Claire person. I was on guard
because he seemed affected by the name of this woman. Who was she
and why did he have such a reaction to her name.

"Where?"

"At the
restaurant. She came up and said hi to Matt and Dylan then she said
hi to Christian. He didn't recognize her or anything and Becca just
told him that she used to belong to the pack."

"Why did you even
let her get that close," Titus demanded clearly angry with his
younger brother.

"I didn't know.
She came out of left field and was at the table before anyone even
knew she was in the restaurant. What did you want me to do? Scare
the hell out of Christian by demanding she leave?"

Titus rubbed his
face in frustration, "Fine. Find her and get rid of
her."

"What's going
on?" I asked in confusion.

Titus sighed but
Derek answered for him, "She's Christian's mother."

"No she is not,"
Titus defended, "What is she doing here?"

Titus had never
told me her name and I never cared to know or ask. She wasn't
supposed to be a part of our lives. Titus had assured me she would
never come back but that was out the window now.

"I don't know.
She said she was going to be in town for awhile."

"No she's not."
Titus said with finality, "Bring her to my office
tomorrow."

My attention shot
to Titus. I did not want her alone with him in his office. Call me
crazy, but she had a reason for coming here. Whether it was for
Christian or Titus, I didn't care. She wouldn't get near either of
them while I was alive.

"I'll try to find
her. What time?"

"As soon as you
track her down, bring her to me."

I sat in silence
as Derek left. Titus stood and absently walked around the living
room. He was clearly angry but worried. I wasn't sure what would
happen with Claire but I was sure I didn't want her alone with my
husband or son.

"I never thought
she would come back," he said.

"Well, she did,"
I replied bitterly, "Obviously she has been here because she knows
what Christian looks like."

Titus didn't
respond. He only looked at the floor in concentration.

"You're really
going to meet with her?" I asked. I really tried to keep my
jealousy under control because I had no reason to be jealous. I
knew he loved me but the thought of another woman having residual
feelings for Titus had my blood boiling.

"Yes.
Why?"

I
shrugged.

"You have got to
be kidding. Are you seriously jealous?"

I didn't really
respond. I didn't have to; he knew the answer to that question
without me having to verbalize.

"This is
ridiculous. You have no damn reason to be jealous,
Elizabeth."

Something about
the way he was instantly defensive made me mad. I almost never got
mad especially not with Titus but this was different. Why couldn't
he just ban her from the territory? Why would he want to meet with
her privately?

"Why wouldn't you
just ban her?" I asked evenly.

"And turn her
rogue? That's cruel."

"If she is going
to be an issue and try to be a part of Christian's life, she
deserves it."

"I am going to
talk to her tomorrow. Maybe she hasn't realized you are in his
life."

I scoffed, "Don't
be so naive, Titus. If she knows what he looks like, that probably
means she has seen me with him. She knows and she doesn't
care."

"She's not like
that," he said, brushing me off.

"Oh, really? And
you're still an expert on her personality?" I asked.

"Stop it," he
said in that authoritative tone that had the wolf in me cowering
but my human side was furious.

I shot up and
started storming upstairs before I turned back to him.

"Don't ever use
that tone on me again," I warned.

"Don't accuse me
of having feelings for her," he shot back.

"I didn't accuse
you of anything! You are defending her!"

"I'm not
defending her! I'm trying to make you think straight but god forbid
you do that when it's necessary!"

That certainly
caught me off guard. We never fought so this was all new to me and
I hated it. I didn't want to be mad at him and I knew I was being
irrational but I wasn't backing down at this point.

"All I ever do is
think straight just like I am now! You would be furious if I met
privately with my ex fiancé!"

"That's
different," he said.

"No it's not. Put
yourself in my position for once, Titus! You were going to marry
her and you had a son with her. What do you think it looks like
when you want to meet up with her?"

"It looks like
I'm being a Beta and a father. You're being ridiculous,
Elizabeth."

"Momma?"
Christian asked from the top of the stairs.

My eyes shot to
his confused expression. He had never heard us fight because we
never did so this was probably scaring him. I instantly felt bad
but not in regards to Titus.

"Come on,
Christian. I'll tuck you in," I said as I met him at the
landing.

I left the fight
but I knew it wasn't over. Nothing was resolved and I hated to go
to bed mad especially after the night we just had but I wasn't
going to apologize. I had no reason to.

*******

I laid in bed
unable to sleep because Titus wasn't in bed with me. I never slept
well without him but now that he was mad at me, it was even worse.
Guilt gnawed at me until at least four in the morning. I shouldn't
have flipped out on him; I knew I was being stupid and immature
about this. I knew this day would come and I had tried to prepare
myself but nothing could prepare me for how territorial I would be.
There was no reason for me to act in such a jealous manor. I should
support him through this frustrating time and I was turning my
back; I was being selfish and childish and that wasn't
me.

I threw the
comforter off and slipped into my floor length robe. I didn't hear
Titus leave so he was either asleep or watching TV.

As I came down
the stairs, I saw Titus sitting up on the couch with his head
tilted back, clearly asleep. I crossed the hardwood as quietly as
possible and kneeled in front of him, placing my hands on his
knees. He instantly woke up and rubbed his face before his
attention settled on me with a light frown.

"What," he asked
through his sleep coated voice.

"I'm sorry," I
whispered.

He simply
examined me for a moment so I purposely made my eyes just a little
bigger so they would water just slightly. He sighed in
frustration.

"Dammit, Lizzy.
Stop that," he said. I knew I had won him over in that
moment.

"Can you forgive
me?"

He shook his head
absently and leaned forward to kiss the top of my head.

"Yes," he
grumbled.

"Come to bed," I
prompted as I stood and pulled his hand.

He needed little
incentive to sleep in a bed. He was clearly uncomfortable on the
couch or at least I hoped he was uncomfortable. I didn't want him
to feel comfortable on the couch when I was upstairs, unable to
sleep.

"I'm sorry I
commanded you," he said as he wrapped his arm around my
shoulders.

I rested my hand
on his chest as we entered our room and kissed his neck
quickly.

"I
know."

We laid in bed,
his arm wrapped around my waist. I finally felt sleep creep up on
me, thankfully. I couldn't function for an entire day without some
sleep. Titus was already out cold so I snuggled closer and let
sleep take over.

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

I sat in my
office, anxiously awaiting a call from Titus to tell me how
everything went but I hadn't heard from him all day. I had a few
minutes before I had to get Christian so I cracked open one of the
many textbooks I promised Macy I would read. I didn't necessarily
find genetics interesting but I told her I would help her and I had
every intention of keeping that promise. Macy didn't deserve to
lose her husband over this but on the other hand, could I really
blame him for not wanting to be with her if she couldn't have
children? Werewolves were big on big families and women that
couldn't produce children were viewed as worthless. Macy was too
good of a person to have that happen to her.

"Doctor Collins,"
my receptionist's voice fell over the speaker phone, "Your husband
is on line two."

I pressed the
responding button, "Thank you, Allison."

I picked up the
phone and clicked on the line. I wouldn't admit how my heart raced
in anticipation but I really wanted to know what
happened.

"Hey," I
said.

"Hey, Lizzy.
How's work?"

"Just reading a
few textbooks other than that, I'm about to pick up Christian. What
are you doing?"

"Uh, not much.
Claire just left."

"And?"

"I told her I'm
married and that you adopted Christian so she has no business
here," he said calmly. Too calmly for my likings.

"How did she take
that?"

He hesitated,
"Not well. I guess her mate died and that's why she came back. She
wants Christian back."

I felt my stomach
drop at her demand. Fear and rage coursed through me equally. I
couldn't decide if I was more angry or if I feared there could be a
technicality that would allow her to take Christian from me. I
mean, when I adopted him, everything was air tight; I made sure of
that but what if there was something we missed? Everything was
handled by lawyers, very high paid lawyers, and now I was doubting
everything.

"So what did you
tell her?"

"I told her it
didn't matter that she wants him back. She claimed she is going to
take us to court."

"Council
court?"

"No, she meant
human court."

She really was
playing dirty. She knew the only way she would stand a chance would
be in a human court but even then, we would win custody of
Christian any day. She abandoned him the day he was born and didn't
deserve to be in his life. I hated that she would even demand such
a thing. I couldn't believe she would have the gall to even suggest
that she deserved to be known by my son!

"So what are we
going to do?"

"Drop Christian
off with Sarah and meet me at my office. Don will be here in an
hour to meet with us and just triple check our
paperwork."

"Okay. I'll see
you in a bit."

"Bye,
love."

"Bye."

I rested my cheek
on my palm, trying to stay in control of myself. When I was
younger, I had been in total control of myself but ever since I met
Titus, I found myself losing the firm grip on my emotions. It was
so gradual, I hadn't even realized it was happening until now. I
felt out of control and that was not okay with me.

I grabbed my
belongings and made my way out of my office, saying goodbye to the
receptionists as I exited the building. I knew this would be a
difficult time for me and Titus but I was more concerned with how
Christian would handle this. Would it be better to shield him from
Claire or to tell him what was happening? He was emotionally mature
for his age but I just didn't know if this was something he could
handle. If his reaction to finding out I wasn't his birth mother
was any sort of indication, I think we might have to spare him the
details and just let him know the basics. He deserved to know what
was happening but I didn't want him to think of Claire as anything.
I also didn't want him to feel like she abandoned him because I
knew he would carry that for the rest of his life. God, she really
fucked things up by coming here. How selfish did she have to be to
demand time with Christian! She needed to understand that Christian
doesn't know who she is and she should cut ties. It would be the
best thing for Christian so he wasn't confused. He had been through
enough and I didn't want to subject him to a legal battle with his
birth mother.

I drove the
couple of blocks to Christian's school, just hoping nothing more
had happened. I had half a mind to talk to that little girl's
parents myself so Titus didn't come down too harshly on
them.

Again, waiting
outside the class was the mom I had met yesterday. I thought now
was as good a time as any to confront her about what her daughter
said. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it but I was going to
make it very clear I didn't appreciate her talking about my family
situation with her five year old daughter. I took a breath just to
make sure I was in full control before approaching the
woman.