Chapter 38

Rachel POV

Rachel & Bella's Apartment

Every form I filled out seemed to come in three copies. My hands were cramping from writing all day. Bella and Jack were both writing, too.

"I cannot thank you enough for helping me with these forms. I feel like my hands are going to fall off."

I lay my pen down and shook my hands out, flexing my fingers to try to relieve the cramps.

Our entire kitchen table was covered in paperwork. I had lost track of what forms went where and the stacks were all a mess I didn't want to tackle.

Jack gave me a sympathetic smile as he said, "I understand. I do this all day, but at least I usually get to do it online. You know it's only the BWA who still requires physical forms? Humans do everything electronically these days. They're ahead of us on that one."

Jack worked at a law firm where he dealt with the Bureau of Werewolf Affairs regularly. He was working to become a lawyer in his own right. I appreciated his free legal advice as I couldn't currently afford anyone professional to step in to help me with my bloodline applications for myself and my child.

I had never been declared a member of any pack so I needed to establish myself as a pack member as well as offer my coming child as a pack member.

By birthright, I could claim a position in my father's pack -Harvest Moon- or my mother's pack---except I didn't know what pack my mother belonged to and I had recently learned my father?

Was not my father.

I had done a home DNA test to prove Patrick Flores was not my biological father.

My brother Ethan had acquired some DNA from Patrick at his home. He still shared an apartment with the man who had raised me as his own. We'd tested Ethan out of curiosity alone, but all his test proved was he could definitely claim his rights as Patrick's heir.

Neither of us were sure whether I was the lucky one or Ethan was since what was better: knowing one was the son of a criminal or not knowing your father at all?

Bella stood up from her chair to stretch. She looked as tired as I felt and I felt a moment of shame for keeping my friend busy helping me on a constant basis.

"I am going to see if I can't get us a pizza. Food should help perk us up," Bella offered.

My problems had been keeping all of us busy lately.

The paparazzi kept following me everywhere, flashing photographs from any window we left open and waking us at night if we didn't pull the drapes. Every day was another series of forms to fill out to try to find out my paternity, my child's future in the wolfen world, or my future in the music world. When I wasn't filling out forms or being stalked by the press, I was trying to practice my music or compose.

I was tired constantly from my pregnancy so all the strain only made me more exhausted.

Rubbing at my temples, I asked, "Do we know anything new now? I feel as if all we're doing is moving forms around every day without learning anything. At this stage? My baby will be graduating before I get us into a pack."

Jack stood to pull together some forms which had come to us either via email, fax, or mail. He read through them quickly, sorting them into the same pile before sitting back down.

"Well," Jack said, "We know your mother? Comes from an Alpha House. I was able to get your blood tests back to prove you're carrying the Alpha gene. I also found a copy of your mother's application for Ethan's birth record. She listed her name as Campbell which I found is an Alpha House from Moonglow Pack."

I took the papers Jack handed me though the words on them seemed to run together into nothing more than squiggly lines as I ran my tired eyes over them.

I trusted him to tell me the truth. I was so grateful to have my friends I gave an exhausted sigh, laying the papers down in front of myself.

"I've never heard of Moonglow Pack," I confessed, "Can you tell me any more about them? Are you sure Mom came from there? How could we get confirmation of that?"

"They're wealthy and powerful. Moonrise Pack is the only one who outranks them on the Alpha Council. That's good for you," Jack explained, "If your house claim is at least as high as Tyler's, then you stand a good chance of being able to induct your child into the pack of your choice."

Cold chills raced through my body at the reminder my former mate could take my child.

Tyler Wright's status as an Alpha from a powerful Alpha House meant his claim to our child was greater than mine. I hadn't insisted on a legal marriage out of shame regarding how we'd begun our mating; I had no conflicting legal claim to the baby I could argue.

I got up from my chair to stretch my back out, my hands pressing into the tight muscles of my lower spine as I tried to shake off the fear I felt every time I thought of losing my child.

"So they're a good pack to belong to, but what about proving my---kinship? How do I prove I belong to them?"

"We have the paperwork here to show your bloodwork proved you are your mother's child. We have these papers which prove your mother was born Elena Campbell. I have these papers which declare Elena Campbell was the daughter of House Campbell of Moonglow Pack. There's no record of another Elena Campbell. There isn't another House Campbell under Moonglow Pack or any of its child packs. It's all coming together. I just need some more time to keep running down the records."

The more Jack talked, the more tired I became. I began to pace around the dining room as I tried to make sense of everything.

"So my mother came from a powerful Alpha House, but she left to marry Patrick? When she was pregnant with me? She was married to Patrick before I was born, wasn't she?"

Jack nodded, "Yes. She definitely filed for a marriage license in a human court to Patrick Flores before your birth. Now, I'm having a hard time finding a record of her application for marriage rights through the Alpha Council. That's strange. I've filed an application for copies of the paperwork though so we should get it soon."

"What does that mean, Jack? I'm sorry. I'm just so tired. It all sounds like gibberish to me."

"No! It's okay! I understand. I'm saying I can prove Patrick married Elena. I have the paperwork from their human marriage license. I can prove her family name was listed as Campbell and I can say it appears to be a legitimate claim based on the information she submitted at that time."

"Okay, so she's Elena Campbell and she married Patrick Flores---while she was pregnant with me?" I asked, trying to follow along.

Jack nodded, "Yes. Exactly. She married Patrick seven weeks before you were born. There's no indication they were involved for a long time prior to the marriage either. Patrick Flores declared himself single with no housemate only a month before then when Harvest Moon Pack did their census."

I nodded as I followed the paperwork in my head.

Patrick had been living alone on Harvest Moon Pack territory a month before he married my mother. They were only married two months when I was born. My mother would have had to have been at least six months pregnant when she met Patrick because I was born a healthy size and weight, not premature.

"I got Elena Campbell's information from Moonglow Pack by requesting a copy of their census from the same year. The strange part? Their Elena Campbell is listed as having died that year in a car accident. So that's---well, it's possibly not a good sign."

Frowning, I asked, "What do you mean? Why wouldn't it be good? She could have been declared dead and just faked it."

"Or," Jack countered, "She knew Elena Campbell at the time of her death and assumed her identity after the accident."

"So my mother might not be Elena Campbell at all? I might not know who my mother is? Is that what you're telling me?"

Jack nodded and was on the verge of speaking when a loud pounding came from the front door.

I sighed. Who was it? I hoped it wasn't a paparazzo tired of waiting on us to open the drapes so he could get a shot of me at home.

I made my way to the front door, opening it with half a mind to tell the person off until I realized it was probably just the pizza Bella had gone to order.

I was about to reach for my purse when my arm was grabbed and I was dragged out of the door, thrown over a broad shoulder, and unceremoniously thrown into the backseat of a car with my abductor following me a moment later.

"Drive!"