Page 6 of The Beta's Heart

Every Sunday afternoon, Bram and I joined the five gammas for a session ofDungeons & Dragonsat Greenville’s game shop downtown. While Bram almost always roleplayed a complicated magic-user, I stuck with running meat-shield barbarians. They were so much simpler, and I wasn’t there tothink, only to have fun and hang out with my friends.

Bram, on the other hand, created a binder for each of his characters that included a literal novella that he’d written on their backstory. Not only that, all the stories entwined in an entire microcosm in his head.

Needless to say, I was not surprised when the little dude announced he was going to major in literature, then get his masters in library science.

I wonder if Peri likes to play games?I whispered to myself as my eyes darted over to the girls’ lunch table again.

She was with her usual gaggle of girl friends, all of whom were pretty both inside and out, and it would be an honor to be fated to any of them. Sitting beside her was Becks and Bowie’s crush, a pudgy Latina girl who wouldn’t say boo to a goose, which often made me wonder why the Hall twins were so attracted to Yolanda. Where they were loud and rowdy, she was studious and observant. Where they were the life of a party, she was too timid to even attend them. Where they planned to lead Combat Club, she was going to GSU to become a kindergarten teacher.

I reckon opposites really do attract,I thought to myself.At least on the twins’ side.

Next to Yolanda was Sophia Bishop, Gamma Adam’s little sister. She sometimes joined our D&D sessions, so I’d learned that sheloved dinosaurs and chess and was very intelligent, but her almost crippling degree of shyness made it hard to get to know her.

Across from them sat Callie and Keeley Breckenridge, Beta Everett’s younger twin sisters. Both of those girls were as cheerful and stylish as Yola and Sophie were quiet and nerdy, and I sometimes thought Peri was the bridge that connected the two sets of girls since she was a mix of all those personalities.

Ask girls eat lunch wif us,Riv nudged me.Becks and Bowie like Yolly and we like Peri and Brammy fends with all. See? Win, win, win!

I can’t do that, buddy, and you know why.

Me do,he agreed sadly and flopped down with a flump, then fell back to sleep. He didn’t like school much; lectures irritated him, and he didn’t like being still for so long.

Sure, I could have invited any girl I liked to eat lunch with us or join us for D&D or even out to the movies, but that would only make me fall more in love with her. Then I’d turn eighteen, she’d find her mate, and I’d get my heart broken.

In addition to that, the school’s three queen bees—Korine Holloway, Heidia Jensen, and Olivia Edison—seemed to think they had exclusive rights to any boy that caught their eye. If another girl, human or shifter, showed any interest in the guys who the bees had deemed as ‘theirs,’ things got ugly quick. Like the rest of the male shifters forced to attend this human school, the Hall twins and I tried to make it as easy as possible for our she-wolf packmates and keep them out of the cross-hairs, but there was only so much we could do.

As if my thoughts had summoned them, Korine, Heidia, and Olivia sauntered over to our table, their presence a dark cloud casting a shadow over us and souring the mood.

Heidia needs to put her nose down,Bowie grumbled in the link.Otherwise, she’s going to drown in the next rainstorm.

They all think the sun came up this morning just to hear them crow,Becks agreed, which forced me to hide my snort in a cough, and Bram had to bite back a grin.

Well, I’m not in the mood for them today,Bram frowned as he fussed with his napkin.Not after what they did to Callie on Friday.

What did they do?the twins and I asked at the same time.

They literally ripped her shirt off because it was like Heidia’s. They said she didn’t have the privilege to copy them. Finch lost it and wanted to take control and yank all three of them bald-headed, so Peri, Keeley, and I had to wrestle Callie into the girls’ locker room and call Beta Ev to come pick her up.

Is that why there’s a rumor going around about Callie leaving school crying?I asked.

Yeah, so if they get too obnoxious, they’ll find out I’m not so peaceful and patient today!

Hearing what happened, I wasn’t feeling too peaceful or patient myself.

Not that Ievergave the queen bees any attention or encouragement.

“Hey, Tyler,” Korine purred, batting her eyelashes in a way that I reckoned was supposed to be flirty, but it only made me cringe. “How’s your day going?”

“Fine,” I replied curtly, hoping they’d leave us alone, but of course they didn’t.

“Hey, twins,” Heidia said, leaning a little too close to Beckham and Bowie. “We were thinking of throwing a party this weekend. You interested?”

“No, thanks. Got plans,” Beckham said, his tone cold, and Bowie kept his eyes on his fingers as he tore apart his empty chocolate milk box.

As the girls continued to pester us, I felt myself growing upset, and that wasn’t good because River would pick up on it and respond if I didn’t clamp my feelings down tighter. It was hard, though. Almost impossible, really, especially since none of us had ever given any of these girls the slightest bit of encouragement and yet they continued to hound us.

While some of our packmates enjoyed fooling around before they were “stuck” with their mate for the rest of their lives, my boys and I wanted to remain faithful to our girls, even if we didn’t know them yet. The Moon Goddess had crafted someone who was our perfect complement; why would we mess around with a temporary relationship that we knew had no future? And why would we betray our mates before we met them?

Not everyone saw it the same way, of course, which was fine for them, I reckoned, so long as it made them happy and they were being safe.

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