by T. S. Ryder
"When I find who did this, I'll kill them," she snarled, her protective instincts rising. "I'll kill them."
"And you might want to make sure you're dressed up before you leave the house," Betty said, inching away from her. "There's a couple of suspicious-looking people outside. They might be paparazzi. Don't want your sweats all over the internet."
Amanda groaned and hid her face in her hands. "Why? What's the big deal about all of this? Jace is the Alpha of a pack that nobody really knows about. We're just a small group, and we don't have anything special. Why all the media attention?"
"Oh, hon." Betty put an arm around her. "Jace is a bit of a celebrity, don't you know? His super-quick education, all of his successful lawsuits, the fact that he's a billionaire giving up the glamorous city life to return here and become the new Alpha due to his father’s retirement… It all makes for sensational news, and a secret lovechild makes it all the more thrilling."
"They took pictures of my son and plastered them all over the internet! How is that thrilling?"
"Hey, I'm just saying how it is. But Jace is a lawyer, I'm sure that he'll have sued these guys three ways to Sunday by the time he's done with them."
Amanda groaned, flopping back on her bed. What was she supposed to do now? She could call Jace and tell him about this, but chances were he already knew. Besides, her first thought shouldn't be about what they were going to do to stop the tabloids. Logan was her priority. The first thing she needed to do was to get him out of here, so he wouldn’t be subjected to this more than he had to be. Then stop those tabloids.
"I need you to take Logan to my parents' place," she said, jumping to her feet. "I'm the bigger story, right? The woman who had the Alpha's son and never told him. They wouldn't follow Logan out there. Especially if we have him shift so you can carry him out in a basket or something. Then they can't see him. I'll call the schools, and he can go to the packlands school for a few days at least."
"Don't you think you should talk to Jace?"
"Yes. But first I want Logan out of the line of fire. He's a child. He doesn't deserve all this crap thrown at him. So will you do that for me, please?"
Betty nodded. "Of course."
"Thank you." Amanda hugged her friend, though she was internally still snarling.
Whoever did this will pay, she vowed. Nobody puts my son in danger and gets away with it.
***
It was a long morning. Amanda was able to get Logan away without incident. To lessen the chances of the paparazzi taking pictures of him, Amanda had shifted, and gone for a run in her Wolf's form. The loiterers had suspiciously followed after her, just as she had thought they would.
She kept her tail firmly tucked between her legs as she ran. It was common to see Wolves in their Wolf's form to go running through town, wearing nothing with their tails high, proudly showing it all off, but Amanda didn't want to have her own bits plastered all over the internet. Maybe she would invest in some dog-shaped clothes to wear for her Wolf until this blew over.
When she returned home after her run, Amanda packed herself a bag and headed into town, driving in circles until she was certain she had shaken off the paparazzi. Then she checked into a hotel. It was only then that she checked her cell phone. A dozen missed calls from Jace.
She called him back, dreading what he might think after all those missed calls.
"Amanda." His voice was deep and angry. "Where the hell have you been?"
"Trying to get rid of the paparazzi that were chasing me." Amanda felt herself tensing. She didn't want to fight, but it was going to be difficult not to when she was already so wound up. "I sent Logan to stay with my parents. My roommate took him. I didn't want him in this media circus."
"Good." Jace let out a relieved sigh, but his voice hardened again very quickly. "What were you thinking, telling them about Logan?"
"Me?" Amanda fought to keep the growl from her voice. "I didn't tell them anything. I woke up this morning to find my son's face all over the internet. I would never put him at risk like that!"
"So you think I did—"
"I never said that. And I don't think you did. I know you and Clarissa wouldn't do that to Logan."
The sound of Jace swallowing was audible.
"I want to get to the bottom of this, but you're the lawyer with the law enforcement connections and knowledge about laws and whatever. I want the people who are responsible for the distribution of my son's picture found and punished, Jace. I would never do this, Jace. Never."
"You lied to me about having a son, why should I—"
Amanda hung up. She was not going to listen to his accusations. Everything was fine until he came back to town. It's his fault for not warning me that he was being stalked by the media.
It was unfair, but she felt a little better.
Her phone rang again. Biting back a sigh, she checked the caller ID. It was Betty. A rush of relief. Amanda answered it. "Did you get Logan to my parents?"
"Yes. Nobody followed us. You have nothing to worry about, hon. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine. Checked into a hotel." Amanda ran a hand through her hair and repressed a snarl. "Jace called me and accused me of telling the tabloids about Logan."
There was a beat. "So he already knew?"
Amanda remembered that her housemate hadn't been home when she and Logan got back to the amusement park, and they hadn't had a chance to talk about what had happened there. Sighing, the Wolf gave her the quick version about what had happened at the park.
"Oh, hon. I'm hugging you right now."
"I'm not that fragile, but thank you." Amanda sighed.
"I bet that there was some sort of reporter stalking Jace at the park yesterday, and he overheard you telling him about Logan."
It was what made the most sense. Amanda ground her teeth but put aside her anger. "I need to call my parents and tell them everything. I didn't have a good chance this morning."
"If you need anybody to talk to, I'm here," Betty said. "Remember that, hon. This is a terrible situation, but it will blow over. Just don't walk around nude. That's something that the tabloids would absolutely love. You probably shouldn't get drunk, either. Oh, or—"
"I plan to hide out here until Jace has this under control," Amanda interrupted. She hated attention and these tabloids were her worst nightmare. "Which reminds me, I have to call work and tell them I can't come in… This is going to cost me so much money."
Another long pause and Betty cleared her throat. "Yeah, but on the bright side, now you can get child support, right? I mean, there's no reason that a guy as rich as Jace can't pay you a decent sum."
"You did not just say that."
"Hey, I'm just trying to lighten the mood."
If anything, it had made Amanda's already dark mood even darker. She ground her teeth and shook her head, reminding herself that Betty's brain didn't always work the way it ought to. "I have to go, Betty. I'll keep in touch."
"Bye, hun."
"Bye."
***
Amanda quickly phoned her parents, giving them a more detailed explanation about what was happening, and thanked them again for watching Logan. The paparazzi would have a hard time getting out onto the farm unnoticed. They had good neighbors. The school was very protective of its students. Logan would be safe from the cameras there.
Explaining to her boss why she wouldn't come to work was a little more difficult, as was getting Logan into the packlands school two weeks earlier than his normal shift. By the time she was finished with her calls, it was three in the afternoon, and Amanda realized there was a flaw in her plan. She didn't have any food with her, and her stomach was growling.
She sighed, curling up on the bed to try to make her stomach cramps a little better. This was a disaster. Well, maybe she'd just have to order in pizza or room service.
Jace kept circling her mind, no matter how much she tried to banish him from her thoughts. Given the situation, they really should work together. But
what was she supposed to do? Keep insisting that she had nothing to do with the media finding out about Logan? Maybe it would be better just to keep a low profile and let him deal with all the legal stuff himself.
There was a knock on the hotel door. Amanda sat up, stiff. Had the paparazzi found her? Another knock and she crept over to the door, peering out the peephole to see who it was.
Jace stood on the other side of the door. Amanda froze. How had he found her? Why was he here? Should she let him in, or pretend she wasn't there?
"Amanda, I can smell you in there," he said. "Please let me in. We have a lot to talk about."
It was true. Amanda sighed and unlocked the door.
Chapter Six
"This brings back memories." Jace gave her a small smile as he settled himself down on the edge of the bed.
It did. The night of Logan's conception came rushing back to Amanda, leaving her breathless. Jace's scent was so thick in the small room that she had a hard time trying not to drool. Seeing him on the bed made her want to crawl onto her hands and knees and offer herself to him. It was strange–maybe even a little wrong–how quickly she responded to his presence. She took a deep breath to bring herself back under control, perched on the chair near the desk.
"Remember that trip to the ocean? We went with Megan and Pietro, and their brothers and sisters. And we decided that we were all going to stay in the same room?"
Oh. He wasn't referring to Logan's conception at all. Amanda tried to suppress her disappointment as she nodded. "I remember. I ended up sleeping in the bathtub."
Jace chuckled, but his face grew serious again. "Mandy, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have accused you of telling the tabloids about Logan. I should have known that you would never do that."
Amanda shrugged. She had never been able to stay mad at him, and now was no exception. "It's been six years. You don't really know me anymore."
"Yeah. I guess that's true, but I still shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion." He hesitated a moment. "I want to be in Logan's life. As his father."
She should have been thrilled to hear that. After all these years, Logan was finally going to have his dad in his life to do all the dad things that sons wanted. But hearing Jace say those words caused a swell of anxiety rise in her. He was a lawyer. He was insanely wealthy. If he wanted to just take Logan away from her, it wasn't like she could do a lot to stop him. And he certainly owed her nothing.
"I'm sure that Logan would like having his dad around," she managed to choke out, rubbing her hands over her trembling knees.
Jace's anxious expression softened and he shook his head. "I don't want to take him away from you, Mandy."
"I didn't say you did."
"I can see it written all over your face that it's what you thought. You don't have to be afraid. Joint custody. I'm sure we can work something out for the both of us. I'm going to be really busy out on the packlands, but maybe weekends…?"
Amanda licked her lips. Between her work and Logan's school, weekends were the only days that she could spend the whole day with her son. She didn't want to give that up. But she didn’t want to cut Jace from spending time with his son, either. She sighed. "If you are going to work on the packlands, maybe he could live with you when he goes to school out there. He splits his time between schools. I wanted him to be comfortable in both cultures."
"I'm going to be living in town. Driving him to and from school would work… but I want more time with him than that. But, uh, that actually brings me to another point. I'm going to build the two of you a house."
"What?"
"I know you're renting a place right now, but a growing pup like Logan needs a backyard, where he can shift and play. So I’m going to build you a house on the outskirts of town, where you'll both have plenty of room. No arguments."
"But taxes—"
"We'll work out child support payments to cover the extra expenses of a house. I know that you've never really cared for things, but I want to do this for Logan. For you." Jace leaned forward so he clasped her hands in his. "And I'm getting you a new car. I saw that beater you have—"
"It's not a beater. It was the car my grandmother gave me. I'm not getting rid of it." Her eyes narrowed and she yanked her hands from his. He wasn't going to waltz in like this. She wanted to be independent, which was why she wasn't living on her parents' farm. She wasn't just going to let Jace do everything for her.
"Your grandmother's car?" Jace shook his head. "Okay. I know how close you two were. Can I at least get it seriously overhauled and repaired?"
"I suppose…" She could keep it longer that way.
Jace smiled. "Good. I promise that's the last of the major changes I'll make other than a custody agreement for Logan. I can see how well you take care of him; I would never demand full custody."
Amanda smiled back, relaxing. It had been silly to think that Jace would try to take Logan away from her. He wasn't that kind of man. "Did you find who took those photos of us at the park?"
"Not yet. But I will, and soon."
"And did you…" Amanda hesitated.
Jace waited, a familiar, patient smile on his face.
"Did you already know about Logan?"
The smile faded. "I knew that you had a son. When I first heard about you being pregnant, I wondered if it was mine, but you were dating somebody else. I thought that if it was my baby, you would have told me, for sure."
"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have—"
Jace shook his head. "I'd rather not talk about that right now, Amanda. Not until this tabloid mess is over."
"Okay." There was something else they needed to talk about, though… "Clarissa is really nice."
"Clarissa?"
"Yeah. I really like her. I'm glad that we could spend the day together."
She made herself continue to smile. What she was saying was the truth, even if it wasn't the full truth–that even if Clarissa was the nicest woman in the world, it only slightly helped to ease the sting that he had found himself another woman. It hurt that she wasn't his mate. But that wasn't something she was going to tell him. No need to look like the pathetic ex-girlfriend who couldn't get over him.
Jace let out a deep breath. "She likes you, too. She said that she thought you were really nice… and that you must have had a good reason for not telling me about Logan."
"I—"
"I know that you will need to explain that to me," Jace interrupted. "But right now I'd rather deal with the issues at hand. We can talk about that another time. But I'm glad you like Clarissa. It's important to me that you two get along."
Because Clarissa was going to be Amanda's son's stepmother. Amanda tried to ignore the sharp zing of pain in her heart thinking about that. "I'm glad that I like her, too. She'll make an excellent Alpha female for the pack. And I think she's going to be a great stepmom for Logan."
"She will be." Jace nodded, his smile softening. "She's told me that she wants kids, and it'll be great for Logan to have a little sister don't you think? He'd make a great big brother."
Amanda nodded. "He would. He loves babies, and has been hounding me to have another baby since he was three."
Jace threw back his head and laughed.
God, I've missed your laugh.
"Speaking of Clarissa, though, I had better get going." He stood. "She's making calls to find out who took those pictures of us at the amusement park, and I need to get the ball rolling on the lawsuit once we find out who it is."
"Of course." Amanda stuck her hands into her pockets. "I need to find a restaurant or something around here to get something to eat, anyway. Who knew hiding from the paparazzi would be such hungry work?"
Jace's smile faded. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this mess. Ever since the Banner case, the media have been all over me. Clarissa knew what she was getting herself into, but you—"
"It's not your fault. Can I walk you to your car?" That should be safe, as the paparazzi didn’t know she was staying here.
"Sure." The smile came back. "It's just down on the street."
They didn't speak as they headed down. Amanda couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in his head, if he was thinking about using the law to protect Logan from the vicious sharks of tabloid media, or if he was concerned about what sort of custody agreement the two of them would end up making. It helped that they were both going to live in the same town, and both of their parents were nearby. They could all spend time together on holidays. The regular day-to-day agreement, though, would be trickier.
Maybe I should suggest that he builds a house where we can all live together, with a separate suite for me and Logan. That way he can see him regularly, and it wouldn't be as stressful for Logan.
Maybe she would suggest that later. They were on the street by this time. Jace smiled at her as he fished his keys from his pocket. "It was good seeing you."
"And you."
Jace kissed her cheek, making her heart jump, and hugged her. She closed her eyes, letting his embrace linger a little too long before she stepped back. "I'll see you later."
"Take care of yourself."
Amanda nodded in agreement. She wrapped her arms around herself and stared wistfully after him as he drove away.
Chapter Seven
Apparently, she hadn't lost the paparazzi as she had thought. They captured pictures of Jace kissing and hugging her, and these were plastered all over the internet the next day. Now the headlines on the tabloids declared that she was trying to steal him back, or Jace was cheating on Clarissa, or that it all was an attention-seeking sham because clearly, he knew about Logan the whole time.
Amanda wanted to scream when she saw the 'news'. With all that was happening in the world, why did they have to dedicate so much attention to harassing her?
She kept the blinds closed, and didn't even order room service for breakfast. Who knew, there could be some crazed photographer waiting to pretend to be a hotel employee and burst into her room snapping pictures of their supposed 'love nest' or something. So when there was a knock on her door, she tensed.
