Page 111 of Chosen Beta

“Fuck,” he curses, blowing out a heavy breath. “You don’t think he’s going to agree that she’s ours? Or you think he’ll refuse to consider the idea of moving out here? Which is it? Wait. It doesn’t matter because both of those options suck.”

“I’m not saying either,” I deny. “I’m saying I think Owen’s going to need some time to process everything, so you’re going to have to cool down a bit while he figures some shit out.”

“Goddamn it,” he mutters, picking up his fork.

“You know how much he hates this place. He’ll come around to the idea. It just probably …”

“Won’t be today, or tomorrow, or whatever,” Pete finishes for me, starting to eat his food with a defeated expression on his face.

He understands why Owen’s going to need time, but right now that’s not sitting well with his immediate need to be as honest about his feelings as possible.

I shrug as I make a second batch of toast to go with Shadow’s eggs.

If Pete stopped to think about it for more than a hot minute, he would have realized as well as I did that Owen was never going to be easy to talk around.

As far as Owen’s concerned, our home is in Platinum Valley.

Fate brought us to Lana out here in Cressidan City for a reason, and he’s not going to like what that means.

The second after his toast pops up, Shadow steps into the room, yawning loudly.

I glance over to see he’s up, but not dressed and showered.

All he’s wearing is a pair of my sleep shorts, and it looks like the smoothing products he uses on his bleached blond hair have rubbed out on my sheets because it’s a frizzy, tangled mess.

“Hey, do I smell breakfast?” he asks, scratching his flat stomach.

“It’s not ready yet,” Pete tells him, without turning around. “Go shower and put on some clothes.”

Shadow raises an eyebrow behind our blunt Beta’s back. “You’re seriously telling me to put clotheson?”

I shake my head as I start making more eggs.

Pete sighs. “Lana’s waiting for us.”

“She is?” Shadow asks.

Clearly, he’s still half-asleep.

“She’s at work now, with Owen,” he goes on. “We need to go watch over her while Owen assesses the building.”

Shadow pulls a face. “Do you really need me for that?”

Sitting around in an office all day isn’t what he’s used to, that’s for sure.

I glance at Pete, but I don’t have to say anything.

He turns around to look at Shadow. “You can walk around with Owen, assessing the building, if you prefer.”

It’s not a much better option, but it’s obvious Shadow likes the fact that he’s being given a choice. I’m guessing he’ll stay with Pete considering how moody Owen’s still likely to be, but either option keeps him out of trouble which is fine by me.

“Okay, great,” Shadow says. “I’ll shower while breakfast is cooking.”

He slinks back into the bedroom.

“I don’t think he wants to be stuck in that office all day again,” Pete admits.

“I think it would be better if he stayed with you today.”

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