Page 56 of Beta and the Beast
"I mean, as much as they want to know it," Hazel says, her brows scrunching together. "You don't think one of them is getting all weird alpha stalker on me, do you? I had that happen like six months ago, but I thought that guy was gone."
"Look." I turn to tell her about what Gabe told me was the reason he never ended up going out with her, but Sarah's bedroom door opens, and Romulus is more worried about whether all of our scent in her room is going to be sucked up by the ventilation system.
I make a mental note to talk to Lucas about looking into Gabe's claim about an alpha warning him away from Hazel. No good in telling her if it was just my cousin trying to save face.
"Close the door, beta."
"Bossy," Hazel chides under her breath before turning to face Sarah, who's wide-eyed at other people in her apartment.
I thought about not letting Hazel and Jace inside and just having them wait in my apartment, but Romulus liked that idea even less since there's no filtration system turned on in my apartment. It smells perfect over there, so we're not letting anyone inside–except Jace getting cheese–until we've had our fill and know our mate's scent clings to everything.
"Give Henry back control," Sarah tells Romulus as her door shuts. Romulus would do anything she said, even if he didn't plan on giving me back control as soon as he was sure our scentwould linger in her room. It does make us look good when he listens to our little beta, though. Makes him seem domesticated.
Do as she says now, so she'll do as I say when we're alone. Seems like a fair trade.
"I didn't know anyone was coming over," Sarah says, rubbing at the bandage around her neck. I changed it after we bathed her and only got slightly upset with Romulus because of the dark bruising around it. It's healing fine and should scar up nicely.
"I was keeping Jace company after I closed up the coffee shop. He was going to wait out on the curb until he thought it was an appropriate time to come upstairs." Hazel presses her lips together to keep herself from laughing. It's just as well because Sarah's apartment door opens, and Jace comes in with a bag of pre-shredded cheddar and a block of parmesan.
"I didn't know which one you wanted, so I grabbed both," he says, tossing the cheese onto the counter and sitting next to Hazel. His eyes skate over Sarah, narrowing on her neck before he's back to glaring at me. And somehow, through all this, an alpha with a beast has decided to care for my beta.
Jace wanted to go inside and check on Sarah the day I bit her after he saw the haunted look on my face and realized I'd hurt her. Thankfully, Sam was better able to convince Vilkas and Jace that Sarah needed the omegas more than she needed him, but he was sure she'd be grateful to know how much he cared.
"If you were grown, that wouldn't fly," I say, grabbing the parmesan off the counter and grating it.
Romulus doesn't even care how much of a claim Jace is staking on our beta. He's not doing it in a romantic sense, but in a pack sense. Not that we pack up much anymore, but some alphas still feel the call. Being kicked out of his home, where he had a family to protect and watch over, probably hurt him even more based on how much pack instinct he has.
"Don't need to be grown to kick–" Vilkas starts to threaten Romulus and me, probably because of the dark bruising poking out from underneath Sarah's bandages.
I appreciate that he cares for her, but he can't just go around threatening other alphas, especially not ones that are stronger than him. That's how he ends up hurt or worse.
Romulus lets out a low growl, but lets me stay in control. Jace shuts his mouth, being smart about keeping whatever comment he was about to make in his head. It's not that I don't want him to care about Sarah if he's already decided he wants to watch out for her, protect her. I won't say no to that, especially when there's a good chance he ends up living with me as soon as I hear back from the agency now that my paperwork is all sorted. It's better that he gets along with my mate than if he didn't. Knowing his beast cares for her is a plus. I just can't allow him to be disrespectful, which can get him in trouble with alphas stronger than him or beasts more volatile than Romulus.
"So, what are your plans for tonight?" Sarah asks no one in particular to change the subject.
"Eating dinner because Henry was kind enough to invite me, and then I think I'm going home to do laundry. I've been putting off folding everything for about three months now, but I think tonight might be the night.
"Sounds like a good time." Sarah laughs, turning her focus to Jace.
The tips of his ears are red, and his attention darts down to his lap. "I don't have any plans. I wasn't sure…"
"You're staying here tonight," Sarah says before he can get any more worried about where he'll sleep. "Same as before Henry and I mated."
"I don't want to keep you from your mate," Jace says quickly, his eyes going wide, his cheeks burning almost as bright as Sarah's when he says it.
Romulus is purring up a storm at the admission that Sarah is ours. He'll probably do that whenever anyone mentions it for the foreseeable future.
"I have a request sent in to house you in my apartment permanently, but until then, it's better if you stay here just until it goes through," I tell him, starting to plate the food.
"And you're not keeping him from anyone," Sarah tells him with a soft smile when he finally looks up. "It'll be an early night for me tonight since I need to be downstairs for the renovations."
"Oh, yeah, Lucas was asking us if we wouldn't mind helping this weekend," Jace says, earning him a curious glance from me as I pause my shredding of the cheese.
Why does Lucas know about my mate's plans for her coffee shop before me? Sure, he's helping her with the numbers and got her in contact with some people who can do security for it if she's opening it up to all dynamics, but still, I feel left out.
Jealous.Romulus mocks in our mind.You are jealous, as you should be. Lucas and Remus are much stronger than we are. I was lucky enough to claim her before she realized that.
Okay, first of all, we claimed her.
