Page 9 of The Beta's Heart

“Not really,” Callie admitted.

“And our wolves aren’t acting crazy like they’re supposed to when they sense their mates,” Keeley added.

Before anyone could reply to that, a horrible pang went through the pack bond, and every wolf in the cafeteria went eerily silent.

Suddenly leaping to her feet, Keeley started screaming and Callie turned into a statue next to me, cluing me in right away to what had happened, and my heart pounded as panic gripped me.

When she dropped my new pack of pads off, Mom told me that Jay had taken Beta Everett and a squad of warriors to help an ally deal with an emergency. Jayden Carson might not be my brother by blood, but he was in every other way, same as Ash Mitchell and Mason Price, and fear for him filled me.

Deal with the here and now, Per,my wolf murmured.Help your friends first and worry later.

Because Dove was right, I rushed to Keeley’s side and put my hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her.

“Keeley? Breathe, Keeley!”

As Sophia moved to comfort Callie, Yolanda bolted out of the cafeteria, and I shook my head. Even though she could have just linked him, she panicked and ran to fetch Coach Jared Hall, Beckham and Bowie’s older brother. He had a lot of moon power and was physicallystrong and dominant enough to make unranked shifters step down when something fired off or an emergency like this cropped up, which was why, when he gave up playing for the NFL because he missed the pack and his brothers too much, my alpha brothers talked him into taking a job at Greenville High School. He kept an eye on us younger shifters, and it had worked out very well so far.

Before Yola could return with him, though, our friend Bram Merriweather appeared, his face set with determination as he pushed out the serenity and comfort that only an omega could.

“We need to get them out of here,” he murmured calmly, picking up Keeley with ease. “Peri, Sophie, get Callie to follow us to the parking lot.”

As I coaxed Callie into following Bram, Sophie grabbed the twins’ school bags, and we hurried out to the parking lot, where we met Yolanda and Coach Hall.

Between all of us, we managed to get the twins into their pink VW Beetle, Gretchen. Bram looked worried, his gaze flickering between the twins and us, and I knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth.

His mom was an absolute bitch, but he wouldn’t let me say anything to my big brothers or anyone else. Being an omega didn’t help the situation. While they brought peace and comfort to a pack, omega wolves were utterly submissive, and Smoke was no different. Even ifBramwanted to stand up to his mom,Smokewould bare his neck and yield to whatever that horrible woman said.

“Ty asked me to drive them home, and I want to help more, but I can’t miss school,” Bram worried. “My mom will kill me! She’s already furious with me because my grade in science dropped from an A+ to an A!”

“I’ll drive,” I offered, even though I knew it was a long shot, point proven when everyone quickly shut me down.

“No way, Peri. You’re a terrible driver,” Sophia said as she tossed the twins’ bags in the trunk.

“I’lldrive,” Coach Hall intervened before anybody else could volunteer. “Peri, you come along and stay with them. Nathan and Evie won’t mind if you miss school.”

Relieved, I nodded. I reallywasa terrible driver, and I didn’t want to crash Gretchen or risk injuring my friends.

“Okay. Thank you, Coach.”

He sent the rest of my friends back inside, then tried to wedge his huge body behind the steering wheel with no success. He ended up sliding the seat all the way back against the rear seat, forcing Keeley tosit on Callie’s lap, and hestillhad his head at a ninety-degree angle and his knees in his armpits.

“We could have just taken your truck, coach,” I sassed as I buckled into the shotgun seat.

“Bowie and Becks have a study hall after lunch.” He cranked the engine to life. “They’ll drive it over to pick me up soon enough.”

Once we got on our way, I glanced over my shoulder at Callie and Keeley as they sobbed in each other’s arms. They were the last of their family now and, without Beta Ev to support them, they were going to have a long, difficult journey. Hopefully, they’d find their mates soon. That would help them the most.

We’ll help them, too,Dove murmured, my wolf radiating sympathy.

Of course we will,I agreed,my heart aching for them.As much as we can.

4. Commiseration and Crisis

Tyler

Three days after Beta Everett Breckenridge’s death, I found myself at his funeral, feeling out of place. Beta Ev and I hadn’t been friends. I admired how he took care of his younger sisters, though, and I respected the beta position he held, so I stood among the mourners and paid my respects.

The werewolf king, Julian Hemming, attended the funeral and offered his condolences to Callie and Keeley. His presence made everything feel even more somber and significant. He had that weight about him that came from a combination of royal, moon, and alpha power, not to mention the aura of dominance and alpha charisma that he and his primitive wolf, Onyx, had all by themselves.

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