Page 60 of Beta and the Beast
No one is more surprised by her asking to meet Vilkas than Jace. His whole body goes still for a moment, like he isn't quite sure how to respond, but then his eyes flash gold.
"Oh wow," Katy says, her brows pinching together as Vilkas waits for her to decide how she feels about him. He's trying not to scare her, trying not to make her think that he's bad. "And you're just inside there with Jace?"
Vilkas nods, the movements sharp jerks, but they don't scare his sister. No, her mother might be scared because of what a beast did to her, and Greg might not want the competition in the house, but Jace's sister doesn't care that he's considered dangerous.
A sound from down the hall has Jace taking back control of their body. He reaches up to Katy's shoulder and urges her toleave. "When you're older, we'll hang out more. Tell Izzy I'm working on getting a new phone, but I still have her number."
"Okay, fine, but only because Mom will be so mad if she sees me in here," Katy says, her eyes darting down the hall before she scampers down the other direction and into what I'm assuming is her room.
I swallow hard, trying to figure out the best way to ask my next question. "Has Greg ever hurt any of you?"
Jace's attention snaps over to me. "No, never. He yells at my mom sometimes, but he's never touched her or any of us out of anger. He's a lot better than my dad was."
I give him a short nod, stuffing the last little bits of his clothing into a third garbage bag. He comes up beside me, crouching beside me and wrapping his arms around me again.
"Thank you for checking, though."
"Of course," I tell him, wrapping my arms around him and squeezing him once. "And we'll get you a phone on the way back home. You should've told us you didn't have one."
"No, it's not–"
I hold up a hand, silencing him as I stand and attempt to throw the bag over my shoulder. I only manage to hoist it to my waist before it falls back down, almost dragging me down with it.
"We're getting you a phone," I tell him. "I don't think legally I can help you meet up with your sisters, but I can at least get you a phone and let you guys figure it out."
Jace swallows hard again, his purr rumbling up, sounding so different than Henry's, even though they're basically the same. He's embarrassed by his reaction and covers it by grabbing two of the garbage bags and hoisting them up like it's nothing.
"Can we get pizza on the way back, too?" he asks, the scared boy he was when we came in, receding enough for him to at least find his voice.
"Yeah, I'll message Henry before we leave and see if he'll grab it from that place down the street."
"Sweet," Jace smiles, purposefully doesn't look toward the kitchen, walks through the living room to get to the front door, and stands a little taller as he does it.
I might hate what he's going through. I might wish I could fix it all and give him back the home he's having to leave. That's not in his cards, though. So, I do whatever I can to help him while it's hard and support him when he needs it. One day, he'll have his sisters to reach out to once they're old enough. Until then, Henry and I will do the best we can for him.
It takes us two more trips to the car from his room to get all the trash bags, but Jace is in much higher spirits as we pull away than when we first pulled up.
I'm not surprised to see an angry alpha pulling into the driveway as soon as I start the car. His growl vibrates across the yard, and a part of me wants to tell him to shove his bad mood up his ass, but I'm supposed to be a good example now that a kid is staying in my mate's apartment. So, I chew on my lip, mentally flip Greg off, and pull away way too fast because he's stomping over to the car.
Jace lets out a hoot of laughter as the tires squeal, and I can't help but throw my head back and let one out, too. It isn't until we're pulling out of the neighborhood that we stop laughing, and then Jace sobers from his joy.
"Thank you," he tells me. He doesn't need to say more than that.
"Thank you," I respond, and he nods, knowing I don't need to say more either.
25
Henry
Today is about Sarah, about the Young Alpha Center, and about the bakery and coffee shop opening their doors for the first time as one place. What today is not about is you getting your fucking dick wet.
Cry about it harder.
Romulus, if you make us late for her grand opening–
"Fuck just like that, alpha!" Sarah cries out, ending whatever argument Romulus and I are having because even if we're late, it's worth it when she sounds like this. I mentally note how long Romulus has been in the shower with our beta. If he doesn't come soon, she'll have to rush with her hair and makeup, and I don't want her to feel rushed.
If you'd shut up, I'd come faster.
