Page 65 of Star-crossed Betas

“So, I spoke to Archie today, and he kind of dropped a bit of a bombshell.”

“He told you what happened?”

“Not exactly. He told me his dad is Alpha Fraser, and that’s who he’s running from.”

“Fuck,” Cee says, echoing my own thoughts exactly.

“I know I should have discussed it with you first, but I told him he could stay here and join our pack,” I tell him, hoping I didn’t fuck up.

“That’s okay. You know I’d never send him back to that. I’m glad he felt he could talk to you.”

“Speaking of… he kind of told me because I spilt the beans on us…” I really don’t want to make waves, but I think it’s best to be honest with him now so he doesn’t find out later.

“What beans? We have beans?” he asks; his tone is playful, and it eases the knot in my stomach a little.

“I told him how we actually met like five years ago and that we used to be together,” I explain, and he makes a ‘hmm’ sound. “Sorry if I overstepped. I just thought if I opened up, maybe he would feel he could too.” Ugh, I feel bad for not checking with him first.

“That’s okay. It’s not like if the truth comes out now, it will really change much. Plus, I think it probably makes sense to tell anyone who joins our pack.” I sigh in relief he’s not mad over it. “We can’t do this forever, you know,” he adds, and I panic, my heart rate spiking all of a sudden.

“Can’t do what?”

“Tip-toe around each other. Always scared the smallest argument will fracture everythin’.”

He’s right. Things have been good between us, but I’m always scared that if we have a disagreement over something, he’ll run for the hills.

“I know it’s my own fault, but I’m not goin’ anywhere, okay? We’ll inevitably have arguments sometimes, but I promise I don’t have a foot out the door anymore.” I’m grateful to him for saying it because I needed to hear it more than I knew.

My biggest fear is us finally getting back on track and building a life together, only for it to crumble like a house of cards at the first sign of trouble.

“Thank you for saying that.” He squeezes my hand, and I let out a deep breath. “I’m not going anywhere either.” I turn his hand over in mine and trace the silvery scar across his palm with my fingertip. It’s been there since Nina performed the ceremony to bind us to the land. I look at my own unblemished hand andcan’t help but wonder why the ritual left him with a mark but not me. Either way, it’s a nice reminder of what we’re building here together, and it appears we have our first new pack member.

“Are you ready to go?” Cee asks.

“Do I look ready to go?” I've just stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my waist.

“Could you at least pick up the pace a bit? I want to stop in on Archie before we go.” Archie moved into a small flat nearby last week. We've given him a few days to get settled, but something about him brings out a protective streak a mile wide in Cee, and it's like he can't settle unless he knows we're both okay.

“How about you go downstairs, fill some bottles of water, and pack a few snacks? Then, by the time you're done, I'll be ready to go,” I suggest.

“I've already done that.”

“Okay… How about you go downstairs anyway because you're being annoying.” He huffs, but at least he leaves.

Connor knocks softly three times on Archie's front door—he still startles easily.

“Oh, hey, you guys, I was just heading over to bring these.” Archie is holding some Tupperware filled with brownies, and my mouth waters.

“Wow, they look good. The school holidays are almost over, so we're makin' the most of Fee's free time and headin' off to hike Pen-y-ghent. Fancy it?” Cee asks him as we follow him into his living room.

“That's okay. You two only just got your space back; you don't need a third wheel,” Archie says. He smiles softly, and it's clear he'd like to come, but he's always worried about imposing.

“We've spent the last four days solidly together. At this point, you'd be doing us a favour by running interference,” I try to reassure him, but he looks anxious.

“We're not in the middle of an argument or anythin', I'm just annoyin' Fee to death,” Cee adds, managing to actually reassure him. I nod in agreement, he is very much annoying me to death today.

Archie seems to think about it for a second and then says, “Okay, nice. Gimme a minute, and I'll be ready.”

Five minutes later, the three of us are piled into the Jeep and on our way. It's a beautiful sunny day, so all the windows are down, and Cee is playing DJ in the front passenger seat.

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