Page 43 of Beta and the Beast
18
Henry
"Do we really need to do this?" Sarah asks, standing in front of Jace as if she's willing to take on her brother if he gives her the wrong answer. Sam is the only one out here right now. Scott's inside with the omegas.
"This is how we've always introduced new beasts to family dinner," Sam says, shrugging as though that's enough.
"He is a child."
Sam snorts, and I have to stop myself from doing the same. I mean, technically, yes, Jace and Vilkas aren't adults yet, but it's funny for her to be saying it about him.
"He's twice your size, Sarah," Sam says, mirroring my thoughts exactly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did the world change, and suddenly age is determined by size?" she asks, looking at her brother like he's a dumbass, and even I feel a residual amount of her ire.
It's been a little under a week since Vilkas has been staying at her apartment on the couch. She told him to take her bed, but Romulus was not happy about that arrangement, and Jace and his beast weren't either. He told her he'd take the couch or find somewhere else to stay, and she relented.
It's been nice having him stay with her. He cares about her and wants to protect her as much as I do. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up packing up later in life. Some alphas prefer that lifestyle, one that isn't as popular anymore as it used to be. But some still have the calling for it, and based on how much they cling to any kind of family unit, it's safe to say Jace and Vilkas will try to find a pack when they're older.
Since he's been staying with Sarah, Romulus and I haven't been able to court her like we'd like to. Any moments we get alone are typically interrupted since the apartment isn't very big. When she's at work, I'm at the center; when she's not at work, I'm either still at the center or bringing Jace over to her place. It has Romulus on edge. He staked a claim on her but hasn't been able to fulfill it.
I need to bend her over and sink my teeth and cock deep into her. Mold her around us and mark her as mine.
I clear my throat to get those thoughts to dissipate. Sarah's still giving Sam a staredown, challenging him to argue with her again about Jace being a kid.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Scott's number while the two stare at one another. Jace is one part terrified because it's the first time he's been invited over to family dinner, something Sarah told him he had to go to because she didn't want him sitting alone in the apartment while we were both overhere having fun. He's also excited. Again, he's definitely got a pack mentality.
"Is something wrong?" Scott asks.
"No, I just need to know if you or Fenrir have ever tried to fight a child?" I ask, raising my voice so Sam and Sarah can hear me. Their attention snaps away from the staring contest they're in to glare at me in synchrony.
"No, and I told Sam he didn't have to do this whole thing." Scott pulls the phone away from his mouth, but I can hear him yell in the background. "Janie, go get your mate, he's being weird!"
Not even five seconds later, Janie comes out of the house to where we're all standing in the driveway. I hang up the phone and return to standing next to Sarah, my hand on her lower back, making as much of a claim on her as possible.
She's gotten used to us touching her more often. A hand on the back of her neck, a brush of our fingers over hers, an arm draped over her shoulders. The longer we're together and around one another, the more natural it all feels. Not to mention how, more often than not, I find myself kissing her when we say goodbye or good night or when I wake up early as ass in the morning so I can eat breakfast with her before the world is even awake.
Being around her, touching her, kissing her, is the most natural thing in the world for us, or at least that's how it feels and how easy it is. How easily we've slotted ourselves into one another's lives. If she still has doubts about whether Romulus and I want her, she hasn't said anything, but I know she's planning something with Sam, something he refuses to talk to me about, even though my brother and cousin are in on it, too.
"Sam, we talked about this." Janie comes out with her hands on her hips, tilting her head to look at her mate.
"I'm sorry. I don't want there to be a fight at dinner," Sam says, throwing his hands up.
"There was a fight last week because of this one and Remus." Sarah points at me.
I try not to look too guilty because I'm supposed to be a good role model for Jace, and he doesn't need to know I jumped over the table to try to fight my brother because Romulus and I had a tiny sliver of dread that our beta might think he was a more suitable mate than us.
He still is.
She wants us, though.
She wants me, but I guess you can pretend she wants you, too.
"Fen isn't going to start a fight with a kid, and Vilkas isn't going to start a fight with a beast older than him," Sarah says, looking at Jace standing at her other side. He dips his head in a short nod, always willing to do what she says.
"Now that that's settled, let's go have dinner."
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