Page 118 of The Beta's Heart

Everything seemed to be going great for them until school restarted in August. The queen bees, of course, didn’t understand about mates, only that Emmeline was nowmarriedto Heidia’s ex, and that made the fur fly. They shut her out, which was no big loss in my opinion, but she was hurt. Unfortunately, she went even more savage when she was hurt, and their ongoing verbal war was a legend that Greenville High School would have for years to come. The teachers even had to change her schedule because they couldn’t teach if she was in a room with any of the other girls.

Finally, just before Halloween, it all went down right in the middle of the cafeteria during our lunch period.

“Bitch, please,” we all heard Heidia shout. “My phone battery lasts longer than some of your relationships! He’ll dump your rude, ugly ass soon enough and come crawling back to me!”

Standing up to go nose to nose with her, Emmeline challenged, “Keep talking,” which, where we come from, means you better shut the fuck up before you find out.

“Oh, does the truth hurt? Knowing you’re just a temporary fill-in for me?”

“You dumb bitch, I’m not fixing to bust your ass overRio. No, I’m fixing to bust your ass because you insulted me!”

“Again, truth hurt much?” Heidia made a fake pout. “It’s only a matter of time before Rio gets sick of looking atthatevery morning and comes back to perfection.”

“I’ma say this one more time, Heidia. I don’t fucking care who he was with before me any more than he cares who I was with before him. The fact is, we’re together now, and that’s how it’s going to stay. Stop bringing up the past and move on with your life.”

“Oh, wait a sec!” Heidia turned and lifted her lunch tray off the table, and we all saw what was coming, but none of us could move. “I have some of my spaghetti left. You want those leftovers, too?”

And she threw the tray right in Emmeline’s face.

“Well, you done did it now, motherfucker.” Emmeline calmly swiped noodles from her cheeks and shook her head to dislodge some of the sauce from her hair.

“Did what? Pushed you a little too far? Oh, is Emme going to cry now? Poor little—”

Emmeline’s fist flashed out faster than any of us were expecting, breaking Heidia’s nose with asnap!that was deafening in the silent cafeteria.

Ash and Wyatt—my first option when trouble arose—ate a different lunch than us, so I looked at my friends, biting my bottom lip as I wondered ifweshould help a sister out since it was three to one, even though none of us were any kind of fighters. In fact, Yola was already running out of the cafeteria to either hide in the bathroom or go fetch Coach Hall, and Sophia looked like she wanted to crawl under the table and cry. Callie and Keeley were just agreeing to go over with me when Beta Tristan Harrington stepped in.

Hooking an arm around Emmeline’s waist, he lifted her up and carried her off, catching two elbows to the side of his head and one to his gut before he got her to understand it was him and not Korine or Olivia sneak-attacking her. Even knowing it was Gamma Rio’s best friend, she still attempted to crush Beta Tris’ nuts with a mule kick as he carried her out of the cafeteria.

That whole incident pretty much summed up who Emmeline Graves was, and now parents used Gamma Rio as the perfect example of why waiting for your mate saved a lot of hurt all around.

Having a pup so young and before you were even mated a full year might have been normal back in the day, but not anymore. Times had changed, and more shifters wanted to go college or pursue a career or even just spend time together as a couple before babies came along. Emmeline had always talked about becoming a licensed nail technicianafter high school, and that wasn’t unachievable with a baby, but it would be a harder row to hoe.

I couldn’t let her special moment fall flat, though, so I whistled and shouted, “Congratulations!” and nudged Ty to do the same when he only stood next to me in stunned silence.

Beta Crew, Gamma Landry, Angelo, and a young man standing next to Beta Em followed suit, and the rest joined with a desultory applause that I hoped didn’t hurt Emmeline’s feelings, but she just flipped them all off with a sneer.

“Oh, go play football, you sorry bastards,” she grunted, shoving at Gamma Rio’s shoulder, “while we women do the meat.”

“Sounds like you’ve done enough meat!” Beta Tris called out with a loud laugh, earning a whack from his mate.

That broke the last of the tension, and the boys did, indeed, grab a football and head to the neighboring field. As for us ladies, we gathered around Emmeline to squeal and fuss and talk about babies.

#

Tyler

We’d just wrapped up our gammas vs. betas football game and came back to find the women still gathered around Emmeline, their voices a mix of excitement and curiosity about the pup, but at least they’d filled the grill with hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken.

The blue-haired fairy, Delilah, left early, wanting to set up the bakery for the morning, and I knew I wasn’t the only one who’d wished she was Reuben’s mate. He was better than he had been after his time at Tall Pines, but nowhere near his old self, and a mate would have helped him more than anything the witches or Dr. York could do.

After we finished eating, Peri wanted to meet Konstantin Russo, the half-dragon who’d been rescued along with Grace Turnbull. He was currently living with Emerson and Angelo, and Em had confided that, after he and Angelo married in a couple of weeks, they were going to adopt both Kon and Reau.

I hadn’tofficiallymet Kon yet, either—only seen him flying overhead at fighter practice that day—so I took my girl’s hand and led her over to where Em and Angelo were throwing away their trash.

“Hey, do you think you could introduce us to Kon? Peri’s been dying to meet him, although I think she’s more interested in his dragon than the dude himself,” I said, grinning down at Peri.

“Ha ha. You’re just interested in seeing what he can do at fighter practice or on the football field,” she scoffed. “Don’t deny that’s one of the reasons you were so excited to see him in action tonight.You’re going to invite him to go along with you tomorrow for football try-outs at the high school.”

---