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I let her fall apart in my arms while my pack mates watched, pained expressions on their faces.

Our lives were about to change.

Taking a sip of her tea, Bethany steeled herself before looking between us, her back straightening. After she had cried for twenty minutes, Jensen had insisted on getting her another drink so we could continue our conversation.

I hated how her eyes were puffy and red-rimmed from crying. The omega shouldn’t be crying; we should be doing everything we could to make her happy.

“I want you to tell me about Joey’s mother. Until now, I haven’t really thought it’s my place to ask, but she was the mother of your first child, and I need to know what happened. I’ve heard the rumors from mothers at Joey’s school that you took Joey from her. I don’t exactly believe them, but I need to be sure. Is she alive? Dead?”

Cullen sighed, looking at me. We all knew this conversation was going to have to happen at some point, but we hadn’t thought it would be right after Bethany discovered she was pregnant.

“We’ve got nothing to hide,” Cullen said.

We knew about the rumors, and they weren’t exactly pleasant, but we saw them as an unexpected side effect of the decisions we had made. Our priority had been, and always would be, protecting Joey. Though we could handle a few rumors, I imagined, for Bethany, they were distressing. She must be wondering if we would potentially take away her—our—child.

Jensen nodded. “It’s more embarrassing than anything else,” he admitted, shaking his head. His hands were clenched, resting on his knees. We were all fidgeting.

“Embarrassing?” Bethany asked, her brows furrowing.

“Bella wanted more than we could give her,” I explained.

“How so?” Bethany asked, clutching the cup of tea tightly.

“We met her when we were young, and Joey wasn’t exactly planned, but we were ecstatic when we found out. We had been with Bella for over a year, and we all assumed we would be bonding at some point in the near future. Only, there were cracks in the relationship, and we failed to see them until it was too late.”

Cullen cleared his throat. “She wanted the finest of everything, a full-time staff so she never had to lift a finger, designer everything, and we were happy to provide that…but it was never enough.”

“She left?” Bethany asked, cocking her head to the side, her voice scratchy from tears. “Or did she die?”

“Neither,” I admitted. “By the time Joey was three, Bella was using her as a bargaining chip. She refused to bond with us and threatened to leave with Joey whenever we wouldn’t cave to her demands. We only went along for so long because we were terrified she was going to take our daughter away from us.”

Bethany’s eyes widened as my pack mates grimaced. It was reprehensible, threatening to leave. Threatening to take our child because we didn’t buy her three designer bags one week was downright abhorrent.

“One day, we pissed her off. It was over something stupid—she wanted to go on a vacation with us all, the fifth that year, and she wanted to leave Joey with a nanny. Bella was many things, but she wasn’t maternal in any way. She preferred to leave our daughter in the care of nannies, and we often accepted that because we could tell she didn’t like having a child. We told her that it just wasn’t doable with work the way it was, and Joey had some doctor’s appointments.”

Jensen huffed. “Let’s just say, the bitch didn’t take it well.”

“It’s a long story, but Bella tried to get rid of Joey. She attempted to put her up for adoption at a shady adoption agency without our consent so she could have us to herself.”

Bethany’s mouth opened, but she was clearly lost for words. Her gaze ran around the room as she tried to make sense of what I was saying. She had a conscience, so I knew hearing what Bella had done would be shocking.

“She tried to give her daughter away? Joey?” she asked in disbelief.

I nodded. “Luckily, we found out before she managed to complete her plan, and we put everything in place to protect Joey.”

“And that’s when Bella left?”

I smiled. It wasn’t a friendly smile; it was a sinister one. “No, I realized when she sank to that level, something more serious needed to be done. I made it clear to Bella that she needed to leave and never come back. I cut off her access to all our money—she had been putting off bonding with us, so she had no legal protection in that regard.”

“We also made it clear that, if she didn’t leave immediately and without causing problems, we would spread what she had done around all her social circles and make sure that she was publicly shamed.” Cullen chuckled darkly. “Bella only cared about her social life, nothing else.”

“She left in the dead of the night, and we ensured she could never return. All we wanted was our daughter,” I said. “Rest assured, Bethany, we have no intention of taking a child away from their mother. You’ve been a fantastic influence on Joey, and I have no doubt that you’ll be a good mother.”

A rueful laugh escaped her chest. “You sound more confident in my parenting abilities than I am.”

Jensen moved so he was sitting next to her, taking the hand that wasn’t wrapped around her cup of tea in his. “Hey, you arenothing like Joey’s mother. You are caring and kind and have basic human decency. We’ve all seen you around Joey and all the kids you teach; you’re a natural.”

“Does Bella still have any legal say over Joey?” she asked, looking between us.