Page 20 of Beta and the Beast
I hope he does wince. I've told my brother how the bakery is killing my business, and he keeps telling me it'll sort itself out. As if it's not my livelihood being threatened. At least Henry looks affected by the news. Maybe I'll start texting him every afternoon to inform him of my dying business like I do to Sam.
"Guys, you have to talk to her." Henry chuckles as he nudges both alphas' shoulders.
They snap their heads up at the same time, their lips pulling back in what I'm sure are meant to be smiles, but come across more as grimaces. I tilt my head back, motioning for them to follow me inside, and Henry mouths 'thank you' before urging them forward.
My cheeks heat at his attention, but I guide us to a table in the middle of the coffee shop. I normally like to sit in the booths, but they can be uncomfortable for alphas since they like to be able to act on a moment's notice. Sitting with Scott and Sam at dinner in a restaurant can be exhausting when they both want to sit on the end, facing everything else. No, tables are much more manageable and make the choices easy to swallow.
The boys look around the shop as they follow me, their noses working to pick up any scents they can. If anything, they'll smell Henry or themselves. I let them look around without interrupting them. When Scott and Sam come in here, they always act like little kids sneaking somewhere they're not meant to be. I'm sure it feels the same to these boys who know this is a beta-only coffee shop.
"We came to introduce ourselves," Henry says, stepping away from the boys and offering to pull out my chair for me.
I sit down, hoping it makes the alphas feel less stressed about this whole thing. They're obviously upset by being rejected by the other businesses in the strip. Not that I blame the other businesses since they're pretty vocal about being beta only, but they also didn't have to be so harsh as to make these boys almost cry.
"Yeah, I'm Aiden." The blond one, and older of the two, offers me his hand when he sets a plate of what I'm pretty sure are chocolate chip cookies on the table. I shake his hand, his cheeks burning bright pink as I do.
"I'm Jace," the other boy says, pushing in front of Aiden and offering me his hand.
Aiden's nostrils flare, his lips pulling back in a snarl as his growl starts in his chest. I'm not surprised since setting an alpha off doesn't take much. Jace pulls his hand back from me just before his eyes flicker gold, and he launches himself at the other boy.
"Of course," Henry mutters as he steps around me to the quarreling teenagers on the ground.
Romulus emerges as he grabs the back of Jace's neck, tugging him off Aiden. When both boys are off the ground, their eyes are cast downward, and their bodies are stiff as boards. Romulus shakes his head, and when he speaks, Henry's back in control.
"What was that?" he asks, hands on his hips as he looks at both boys.
I'm still seated. Everything happened fast, and honestly, I have two alpha brothers, so I know it doesn't take much to have them quarreling, especially not a beast. Henry could've warned me about the beast, since they're much less predictable than regular alphas.
Aiden mutters something under his breath that I can't quite make out.
"Speak up," Henry tells him. "You both wanted to act tough in front of the beta. Where's that same attitude in owning up to what you just did?"
"He didn't wait his turn," Aiden says louder, his cheeks burning even brighter when he brushes his light hair back and lifts his eyes to meet Henry's stare. "I was talking to her still."
"I wanted to introduce myself." Jace shoots him a glare as his eyes flicker rapidly between his beast and him. He clenches his fists at his sides, straining to stay in control.
I push away from the table, moving behind the counter to grab some milk to go with my cookies and a few glasses of waterfor the boys. Whatever Henry's talking with them about, I'm not needed for. They're still learning how to act around other designations, and if these are some of the boys who got kicked out of their houses, I might be one of the only non-alphas they've interacted with in a long time.
When I return to the table, the boys are already sitting. Their faces aren't as dejected as they were when they came, but it's clear they've been reprimanded for their behavior.
"I'm sorry for fighting in your coffee shop," Aiden says, taking one of the glasses of water and taking a long drink so he doesn't have to say anymore.
I give him a soft smile and turn my attention to Jace, who's very purposefully looking not at me. His hands are clenched in his lap, and his shoulders shake. Henry inhales loudly behind him, and I lift my hand, asking him to give me a second before he goes all alpha tough love on Jace.
"If your beast promises to behave, he can come out." I keep my voice low, the words soft in case he freaks out. I don't know his relationship with his beast, but I'd say it's not good based on how hard he's fighting for control. Jace looks like he wants to argue with me, so I cut him off. "My brother has a beast, and we all know Henry has one. They know how to behave themselves. I'm sure yours can behave, too. What's his name?"
Jace's lips pull back in a snarl as he looks at me, which earns him a much more demanding growl from the alpha standing behind him. Jace tilts his head to the side, offering his submission to Henry without a fight.
"He doesn't have a name, and he doesn't know how to behave," Jace says before swallowing hard.
"Well, first of all, everyone deserves a name," I tell him. "Second, if he doesn't behave, I'm confident Henry and Romulus can take care of it."
I ignore the way Henry shifts how he's standing, chest puffing out a little bit. It's clear that at least Romulus is preening at the praise, even if the praise is that he could take on a teenager.
Jace looks like he wants to object again, but then just lets out a resigned sigh as he closes his eyes. His body jerks when his beast gets control of it, and then he's up out of his chair and pacing around the coffee shop like a wild animal. Poor guy probably doesn't get out very often.
"You owe someone an apology," Henry says, his voice leaving no room for argument as he directs the unnamed beast to apologize.
"I owe no one anything," he says, shaking his head, his red curls making him look more boyish than a feral animal. He doesn't say it maliciously. No, if anything, he sounds like Fenrir, and it takes everything in me not to giggle at it. Beasts always think they're the greatest gift ever bestowed on anyone.
