Page 64 of Chosen Beta

I’m so transfixed that I barely notice when Pete gets up from the couch opposite.

When he puts a couple of takeout bags down on the coffee table in front of me, I almost jump out of my skin.

“Food’s here,” he tells me as I take my ear pods out.

“I have eyes,” I murmur as I try to catch my breath and calm my racing heart.

I pause the video to go back to it later, and I put the ear pods in their case, and into my pocket while Pete brings the food out of the bags.

Lana moves over to where we are, and Pete stands back, smiling when she slips into the seat across from me. Of course he wants to sit down next to her. I’ll allow it, but only since my perfume is super strong right now after a morning spent in bed with Ezra. I shouldn’t try to get her feeling the full effect of my scent until she knows we’re going to be mated.

“I was thinking,” Pete starts, as he picks out Lana’s meal and puts it down in front of her.

She looks up at him. “About what?”

“Those basement rooms. And the schedule for your security guards.”

“Basement rooms?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at him as I grab a straw for my shake.

“It’s probably nothing,” he says. “But I’d feel better if I could check them out whenever that office isn’t being manned.”

She frowns. “I’m not sure how easy that’ll be. It’s the heart of the security department. There’s always someone down there.”

Pete doesn’t look surprised. He clears his throat as he takes the last of the food out of the bags.

“The security office shouldn’t be all the way down in the basement. It should be next door, or down this hallway, close enough that you can access it whenever you’d like. You’re the head of this academy. The people here are under your care. You’re the one who has the final say on everything that happens here, and you should be telling your security staff their office needs to be moved up here.”

Uh oh. Here comes trouble.

Pete might think everyone in this building should bow down to Lana, but he’s very clearly not including himself in that category.

She doesn’t look very happy as she puts her sandwich down and looks back at him.

“Look, I know you guys have a security company, and you know your shit or whatever, but I have work to do that doesn’t involve uprooting a major department. A lot of work. This isn’t the time for big changes. I’ll add it to my list, but I’m not moving the security office anytime soon.”

Pete doesn’t look too pleased with that answer, but he stays quiet.

He sits down next to her, and she raises an eyebrow at him.

“Okay,” he murmurs. “But I’d like to take that key and check the basement rooms out at some point when you need to speak to that guy again.”

“Uh, Melvin? Why do you want to wait until I need to speak to him again?”

“He’s going to ask you to call him up here,” I tell her, before Pete can get the chance.

She sighs. “Seriously? You ran security checks on my existing guards, didn’t you?”

“They’re still processing.”

“Melvin’s not up to something.”

“Given the circumstances, I’d rather make sure of that myself.”

“I’m glad you’re letting me eat all the frickles,” I admit, as I reach for that box.

I don’t always stress eat, but when I do, it’s usually because two or more of my mates are arguing. The tension between them isn’t sexy. Maybe I should have sat next to Lana after all.

Anything would be better than feeling like one of them is about to yell something mean and storm out of the room. I know neither of them is about to do that exact thing. It just really feels like it.

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