Page 27 of Beta and the Beast
"Hazel," I whine, and it comes out more pathetic than it should. "I'm not interested in him." I turn to Lucas, pointing my finger at him. "He's infatuated because he found a new toy. He'll get over it when he finds an omega to give his attention to."
Lucas's brows draw tight together, and he opens his mouth to argue with me. I hold up my hand, silencing him, which earns me a flash of golden eyes.
"I came here for help with my business. If that's not happening, I think I should leave."
Remus stays out for a moment longer, his jaw working back and forth as he tightens how his arms are crossed over his chest. I don't know why he's so butthurt over what I said. Henry's an alpha. One who might treat me like he wants me, like he wants to pursue something with me, but he still needs an omega, and I'll never be that.
Lucas retakes control of the body, but doesn't look happy. "Come on. I got everything pulled up in the office."
Hazel follows us, chewing on her lip like she has something to say to me, too. A part of me wants to tell her to spit it out already, but another part knows it'll be something about Henry. That kind of talk can wait until we're not in his apartment with his brother in earshot. She must come to the same conclusion because she's asking where the bathroom is as soon as Lucas shows us into his office.
"Our father owned an entertainment company of sorts," Lucas tells me as he slides a laptop across his desk to face the side I'm sitting on. He moves around the desk, plopping into the seat beside me and unlocking the laptop. "His ventures were more of an adult nature than your coffee shop, but I think I can still be useful."
His words are a little concerning because I don't know which adult-type businesses he's talking about and how ethical they were. Sure, he said he and Henry sold off the businesswhen their father passed, but there's a difference between safe environments for alphas and omegas to work through some of the trickier parts of their dynamics and the cesspools that sometimes pop up where the omegas are treated as subhuman and the alphas are given free rein to do whatever they want to whoever they want.
"The companies took good care of their omegas," Lucas says as he types away on the laptop, pulling up a few pages and some spreadsheets. "I wouldn't be telling you to use the same security we did if I didn't think they did a good job."
"Why didn't you and Henry keep the family business?" I ask, unable to stop myself and curious to know more about Henry. Just because I want to know about him doesn't mean anything will happen between us.
"Henry was finally calming down after running wild in college, and I was more interested in fighting than dealing with the business. We told the board we wanted to sell our shares, and they found better people to run things than two idiot twenty-three-year-olds." He shrugs, his lips curling at the sides. "Left us loaded, though."
"What did Henry do that was so wild?" I hate myself as soon as the question is out because that's not something someone asks if they don't care about someone. "Not that I care."
Smooth, real smooth.
Lucas doesn't even look at me as he types something else before pushing the laptop further on the desk. Then he's shifting his whole body to face me.
"Henry and Romulus enjoyed partying, and my father saw no issue with it because money solved all of his issues. I didn't like Henry acting like an idiot all the time, so I kicked his ass a few times and then signed him up for some role models thing with an alpha club, kind of like the one your brother runs. Turns out it was the best dick move I've ever pulled." Lucas shakes his headat the end. "He wasn't a bad alpha even when he was partying. Romulus doesn't fight. He's lazy in that way. But he liked being the center of attention and made bad decisions with people who only wanted to use him."
I sit back in my chair and mull over the words. It's hard to imagine the sweater-clad, crooked-glasses-wearing alpha as anything other than a little bit of a dork. An adorable dork, but still.
"Huh, I never would've guessed."
"Most people wouldn't, but who of us is still the same person they were in college?" Lucas asks, pulling the laptop back over to us. "You ready to go over this, or do you want to ask more questions about my brother, who you're obviously not interested in?"
I let my head fall back and groan. "Let's do the business stuff."
Lucas is kind enough not to laugh at me. "I'll show you his room later, don't worry."
12
Henry
The meeting with the social worker goes well. My application to become a foster parent has made it through the first round of approval. The next part will consist of interviews, character statements, and a background check. Since I'm only looking to house alphas, the scrutiny on why I'm willing to foster as a single man has dropped significantly. Not that I approve of that, but it does help my situation.
I need to talk to Lucas about our living situation. As much as I love living with my brother, if he's in the house, he'll need to fill out all of the same paperwork I do, even if he won't be around very often. He wouldn't have an issue with it, but I don't want to give him more on his plate. He already helps out at the center during the day and does his workouts and fights in the evenings.
My ideal situation would be for Sarah and our landlord to let me build a wall connecting our two apartments and turn it into a larger single apartment. Considering I don't know if Sarah's ready to admit she wants me, I haven't pursued that idea other than knowing it would be perfect.
My apartment has two small bedrooms, a kitchen, a living space, and a single bathroom. Sarah's apartment is a single bedroom with a single bathroom. Combine them all, and we have a three-bed, two-bath apartment. We could give the alphas staying with us some more freedom and responsibility if they were to stay on the two-bedroom side of the apartment.
It would be odd, but then again, I'm trying to prove to a beta that I want her to be my mate and convince her to house young displaced alphas with us. The whole situation is odd. Sarah would be willing to do it, though. She has a good heart, and I'd never house any of the young alphas I thought would be dangerous to her. No, I'd never put her in danger. I'm also not about to make her okay with all of this if it's not what she wants.
First, I need to get her to admit that wanting to be with me might not be the worst thing in the world. Second, I need to convince her that I want her as my mate. Something I'm not sure she'll fully grasp since she's a beta, and they don't mate the same way alphas and omegas do. She's seen how important mating is. Her parents and brothers are all mated, so she must know it's serious. Third, I'll see how she feels about fostering. Not that she needs to foster anyone. I can afford a separate house or apartment away from her. I'd just prefer it if she were with me all the time.
The elevator door dings open, dragging me from thinking about the future I hope to have. I'm already suspicious of why Lucas texted me to come over after I met with the social worker. He's usually up at the gym every evening. Okay, he's up at the gym almost all day, every day, unless he's helping out at theYoung Alpha Center. Either way, he's not usually home now, but he made a whole thing about needing to see me.
I catch her scent as soon as I step out of the elevator. It's faint, but I've been chasing it for weeks now, and I could pick it up even with the barest, briefest whiff. Sarah is here or was here. Why was she here when I wasn't?
