10
Bastian turned from the counter and spotted Rachel sitting at a table by the window. He was glad to see she hadn’t slipped away while he got the coffees. He made his way toward her, smiling to himself when he remembered that the first time he had met Rachel, she was sitting in the window of a diner. He reached the table and put the coffees down and sat down opposite Rachel. She thanked him for the coffee and wrapped her hands around the mug, although she didn’t pick it up.
“So,” Bastian said after a moment. “Two years ago, you went to Brady’s house and asked him to have me contact you. I’m assuming that was so you could tell me you were pregnant. I called you not an hour later and you didn’t take my call and I later learned you’d skipped town. What changed in that hour, Rachel?”
“I decided it wasn’t fair to force you into being a parent. Keeping the baby was my decision and I decided not to involve you in it,” Rachel said.
Bastian supposed in a way that was progress. Rachel was at least no longer trying to deny that she had had his baby. Her reason didn’t ring true to him at all, though.
“Right,” Bastian smiled. “So, instead of taking my call and just making something up, you decided to leave town within the hour and not even bother letting your landlord know your forwarding address. That makes sense.”
Rachel shrugged and Bastian sighed.
“This will go better if you’re honest with me, Rachel. Let’s try starting from the beginning and building up to the big stuff. Why didn’t you tell me you were a bear when we first met?”
“Because at that time, I didn’t know you were a bear and it’s obviously not something I go around telling random people. Why didn’t you tell me about the bear thing?” Rachel asked.
“Same reason,” Bastian smiled. “So, you’re a bear living in District 212 and yet I don’t know you. What happened with your old pack? Did you have some sort of falling out with them?”
“I’ve never been part of a pack and I don’t want to ever be in a pack. I didn’t want to be a bear in the first place and I want no part in any of that,” Rachel snapped.
Bastian raised an eyebrow, shocked at the venom in Rachel’s tone.
“What do you mean?” he asked. “What happened to make you feel that way?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Rachel said, glancing out of the window.
She looked uncomfortable, and Bastian decided not to push it. Her reasons for not wanting to be a part of a pack were her own business. He turned the conversation back to the baby.
“What’s her name?” he asked. “My baby.”
“Stephanie,” Rachel said.
“That’s a lovely name,” Bastian smiled. “I really would like to meet her.”
“No way,” Rachel said, shaking her head.
“Why not? She’s my daughter, Rachel,” Bastian said, hurt by her refusal to even consider the possibility of him meeting Stephanie.
“I’ve told you. I want no part of your pack or anything to do with the bear stuff,” Rachel said.
“Rachel, I don’t know what happened to make you so afraid of bears, but you are one. Not being part of a pack doesn’t change that. And Stephanie is a bear too. When she turns eighteen, her bear side will wake up and she has a right to be allowed to explore that side of herself,” Bastian said.
“No,” Rachel said. “She is never going to be allowed to explore that side of herself. I won’t let my daughter become a monster.”
“A monster? Rachel, what are you talking about? She’s not going to become a monster,” Bastian said, shocked again at Rachel’s outburst. She looked out of the window again, refusing to look at him. “But let’s worry about that when the time comes. For now, please give me one good reason why I can’t see my daughter.”
“You want to know the truth?” Rachel said.
She finally turned back from the window and looked at him. He nodded his head.
“Because I don’t want my daughter anywhere near you after what you did to me. And to countless others,” Rachel said.
“What? Having a one-night stand with you and then not calling you? You told me it was what you wanted, Rachel,” Bastian said.
Rachel sighed and shook her head.
“I’m not talking about that. You know what I’m talking about.”
“I’m sorry. I really don’t,” Bastian said.
Rachel studied his face for a moment and then she shook her head again.
“Wow. You really don’t know, do you? Did you just trust Lewis to pick good ones without even getting a look at them? Yeah, that’s right, Bastian. I’m a bear because you paid some creep to make me one so I could become a breeding machine for your pack. I guess you didn’t know I knew that, huh?”
11
Rachel bit down on her bottom lip after her outburst. She was afraid she had said too much. Now that Bastian knew that she knew about his orders, what would he be willing to do to make sure she never spoke to anyone else about this? Maybe she could convince him she would keep it quiet. She had never spoken of it before and he had to know that much.
She hardly dared to look at Bastian, afraid of the expression of anger she would see on his face. She told herself she had already done the worst thing by blurting out the truth, so she might as well
