Page 55 of Beta and the Beast
I tell myself I'll close my eyes just for a minute. It's still early in the day. This will be a short nap. I don't expect to be so out of it that I don't wake when Henry cleans me or carries me over to my apartment, covered in a blanket. I don't even wake when he tucks us into my much smaller bed.
But I wake in the evening to the sound of people in my apartment, the smell of Henry clinging to every surface in my room, and an incredible ache in my body that tells me I'm already starting to get used to being with my mate.
23
Henry
Romulus is pissed. Not because we finally got to be with our sweet little beta. No, he's on cloud nine about that part. What has his hackles all up and raised is that the ventilation system is on in Sarah's apartment, whisking away any trace of our scent as soon as it leaves our body. And there's the fact that Jace is back again this evening, and Hazel's accompanying him this time.
At least Hazel had the decency to text us that Jace showed up at the coffee shop this evening after he was done at the Young Alpha Center. She offered to close the coffee shop since I might've forgotten I told Gabe I'd do it. Hazel didn't hesitate, said she'd be over soon, and then sent me a follow-up message shortly after she got here to close the store to tell me a kid was hanging out in the bakery. She kept him busy down there untilRomulus and I were done with our mate before coming upstairs, and even then, she came up alone first to make sure she wasn't sending a kid up here to get traumatized.
"I never would've guessed you'd be any good at cooking, alpha," Hazel says, drawing my attention away from the cursing and death threats Romulus is spewing inside our mind at the fact that the ventilator is softly humming. He wants to be back in Sarah's bedroom, where he covered the vents, so he can hold her while she sleeps.
Only until she wakes, and then I want her bent over again.
"I used to hang out with the cooks a lot when we were growing up," I tell Hazel, and then leave the standard pause in conversation so she and Jace can get over the fact that I said cooks as in plural and that they cooked for me growing up. Hazel doesn't look surprised, and Jace just rolls his eyes.
"Kept me out of my dad's way, and I learned how to make a few things in the process," I tell them as I check the bread toasting in the oven. Tonight's food is nothing special. It's a simple pasta dish with store-bought dried noodles and whatever vegetables I could find in Sarah's fridge in tomato sauce.
"Is your brother any good at cooking?" Hazel asks, trying and failing to keep the question innocent.
It's not that I don't think Hazel is good enough for my brother. She's Sarah's best friend, and I've only heard good things about her, but there are also the things I might've, maybe, heard from Gabe that make me unsure if even Hazel knows that she's barking up the wrong tree. Thankfully, Lucas has never chased betas and isn't about to start. Where Romulus is all fun and no fight, Remus is the exact opposite. He wants to fight so much I wouldn't be surprised if he likes that over fucking. Not that I want to know anything about my brother's sex life, because I don't.
"I say this in the nicest way possible." I pause my sauce stirring to point the wooden spoon at Hazel. "My brother is not for you. Not for any beta, really. It's going to take a special omega to take him, or rather, Remus."
"Ugh." Hazel throws her head back dramatically and groans. "Why is it that I used to be the best–" she closes her mouth and narrows her eyes on Jace, who's giving her his full attention. "Cover your ears. This is adult talk."
Jace huffs and settles back into his chair, his arms crossed over his chest. He looks like a young man, but he's still a good few months away from being an adult, and he can't pretend like he's one now.
"I need parmesan," I tell him, grabbing my keys off the counter and tossing them to him. "Go grab some from next door."
Jace chews on the inside of his cheek like he's thinking about arguing with me. Vilkas doesn't make an appearance, so he's just being an annoying seventeen-year-old, which is par for the course. I was an annoying shit growing up and always getting into trouble. Jace isn't anywhere close to the level of annoying I was. He just wants to listen to the pretty beta talk about alpha chasing, something I'm not about to let him hear.
Hazel watches him leave, waits for the front door to click shut, and then leans closer to me, keeping her voice at a whisper like the kid's listening at the door. Smart on her part. I would've had my ear pressed against the door when I was his age. If Hazel and Sarah were talking about this stuff now, I'd have my ear pressed to the door to eavesdrop.
"I was great at catching alphas, then I ask your cousin for his number, and next thing I know, I'm like fucking alpha repellent." Hazel shakes her head, sucking on her lower lip. It takes me by surprise how she looks worried about this.
"And nothing else changed?" I ask, watching her reaction, because I only know what Gabe told me, and who knows howtruthful all of that was. He's dramatic sometimes, and a pretty beta turning him down would be something he'd be dramatic about.
"Not that I'm aware of," Hazel says, closing her eyes like she's trying to rewind time and figure out if she's missing something. "Most of my days look the same. I might have a job that makes me seem wild, but I'm pretty boring when I'm not working."
Romulus appreciates the information as though he'd tell Sarah she wasn't allowed to hang out with her best friend anymore unless he knew she wasn't partying all the time. Is he old-fashioned? Yes, but I can temper him and keep him in line. Even if Hazel wants to go out and drag Sarah along to all the clubs in the city, we won't interfere.
We will watch, though. From a safe distance. And not let our beta out of sight. And kill anyone who looks at her.
Sure, Romulus.
"And you're sure nothing happened?" I ask, trying to suss out whether my cousin made up a story to save himself from looking like he was rejected, or if what he said is true. Hazel doesn't look like an alpha's claimed her, especially not one with a beast, and if he had, she would know it. At least, I think she would, right? "No alphas have gotten territorial over you or anything?"
Hazel snorts at that. "Name me one alpha that doesn't get territorial over a female he thinks is his."
"But you're not any of theirs."
"True." She shrugs. "But it doesn't stop some of them from wanting more than I do, especially if they come to the club a lot. It's why I make it a habit not to chase any of the alphas that come to the club. It's no good chasing where you work because things just get complicated. No, I keep my love life and work strictly separated."
"And your regulars know they're just business?" I ask.
There isn't any judgment in my voice, and I don't have any judgment for what Hazel does. It's no different than the clinic that Scott, Sarah's brother, runs for helping omegas through their heats. Well, it's a little different since plenty of alpha clubs aren't well-maintained or safe for their employees. But from the digging Lucas did into it, because he's protective of anyone who might even be close to being family, Hazel works at a good place. They have strong security rules, and the women are all fairly compensated.
