Page 57 of Beta and the Beast
I claimed her.
Second of all, she doesn't want Lucas and Remus.
Of course, she doesn't. She wants us, but you're still jealous, aren't you?
Okay, now that it's clear he's just trying to bother me, I can pay more attention to the conversation around me. I've only missed a bit, but they're done talking about it by the time I'm listening. They made a plan to meet up this weekend to paint, which I completely missed, and now the conversation is moving on to other things.
"I was thinking about asking Lucas to train me," Jace says, more so blurting it out like he had to talk himself into it and knew that if he didn't say it out right that second, then it was never going to come out.
"Train you for what?" Hazel asks while I start passing out plates of food.
Sarah moves around the kitchen, grabbing utensils and salt and pepper before setting them all out on the counter we use as her dining room table. There are only three stools, so I'll stand.
"I want to fight," Jace says, sounding more confident.
I'm not surprised by him wanting to fight. Many beasts need some sort of outlet for their anger or their lust. Romulus and I have been lucky that he's never been too controlled by either emotion, but that's not the case for a lot of beasts. Remus is ruled by his anger and his need to control and fight. It's what makes him so good at what he does, but it also means Lucas relies heavily on his job to keep Remus satisfied and not cause issues.
"Are you sure you want to fight?" Sarah asks as she takes the stool next to Jace. "There are so many jobs out there for alphas. Unless Vilkas is just an angry beast, fighting isn't all there is."
"It's just," Jace takes a deep breath, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'd like to start practicing now so when I'm old enough, I can compete. Maybe I like it, maybe I don't, but a job is a job, and fighting might be something Vilkas is good at."
I don't mention how his need to be part of a pack might interfere. If Vilkas is already showing signs of wanting to be part of a group and all that entails, he's not built for fighting. But I'm not about to stomp all over Jace's plans.
"If Lucas is helping with the renovations, you can talk to him about it then." I watch how everyone reacts to that statement, mainly because I still don't know what I missed when arguing with Romulus earlier. No one has any reaction at all, which means that there's a good chance Lucas will be there thisweekend to help Sarah with the painting they planned without me, and I haven't been invited at all.
Jealous.
"I'm just saying there's other work you can do," Sarah says, her lips flattening out.
It's easy enough for her to say since she's a beta and isn't controlled by some base desire. Some beasts need outlets, and from the look on her face, she's thinking about the only other beast she knows and what his job is.
I hold back my laugh, but it comes out like a snort. Her elbow jabs into me, telling me to shut it, but that only makes me want to laugh more. There's no way she'll bring up Scott and Fenrir's job, even if they had to go to medical school to get it. Not that most alphas who work in heat clinics as the physical stimulation have to, but Scott's a whole doctor to go along with the other half of what his job was before he mated Lilah.
"Yeah, even if you don't want to go to school, because same," Hazel says with a wink at me as I bristle a bit at the idea of Jace not even thinking about school. "There are all kinds of jobs. Gabe, Henry's cousin, has a construction company. I'm sure he could get you on there."
Jace chews on his lower lip as he listens to what everyone has to say, but I can see the determination in his eyes. There's a good chance he does end up training with Lucas, and a good chance he hates it, too. But he'll never know until he tries, and I'm not about to tell him he's not allowed to try for something that might help him in life. A beast needs a purpose. If fighting is what they want right now, I have a good way of making that happen.
"Alright, I'll talk with Lucas about training you, but it'll be on his schedule. You tell me or him if you don't want to do it anymore, but only if it's because you don't want to, not because you get beat or you don't think you're any good," I say, making sure Jace gives me a nod before changing the subject.
"Now, what are the plans for this weekend and the shop?" I ask, letting Romulus take over to add his question. "And why don't we know about it?"
24
Sarah
"Ican't believe you got my brothers off their ass this early in the morning," Lucas laughs when a very sleepy, very irritated looking Henry comes into the coffee shop. His cute little bun is a mess, and his glasses are crooked. Not even the pastel pink sweater can save him from looking certifiably grumpy.
"No one in their right mind wakes up this early," Henry grumbles as he walks over to me and places a kiss on the top of my head.
It's my first day not wearing a bandage over my bite mark. I was worried about what it would look like, but the bruising has mostly healed. Henry's at a point where he can look at it, and I don't see him getting upset with himself about it. Romulus is over it at this point, but he keeps wanting to lick it when we'rehaving sex, and I have to pull his hair to get him to stop. Not that either of us minds. Part of me thinks he does it on purpose now, so I'll reach behind me and tug their hair out of its little bun.
Lucas came in early this morning with a few of the boys from the Young Alpha Center, and Jace came down with me earlier. They've all given the bite in my neck curious glances since they all know me as Sam's beta sister, but now that Henry is down here, purring and wrapping his arm around me, they've figured out who my alpha is.
"I made you a coffee," I tell Henry, patting his arm in solidarity. "Go drink it so you stop looking like you hate being here."
"I don't hate being here." He narrows his eyes on me, making sure I'm teasing him before he heads to grab the coffee waiting for him on the countertop. His eyes close, and a soft sigh escapes his lips when he takes his first sip. He's too cute, which he knows if the slight tilt of his lips is any indication.
"Alright." I clap my hands together, forcing myself not to ogle my alpha even though I've already gotten used to being able to do just that most of the day in the handful of days we've been mated to one another. "I have a giant bucket of paint that I hope is enough to paint this whole place the same color."
