Page 37 of A Baby for the Beast
"Janie, baby, let's eat inside," Sam says, eyes staying focused on the front door like he wants to go out there and figure out what Lucas and Henry are talking about, too.
"Ew, but everyone smells tonight," a blonde beta says, but the words lack any kind of heat. Instead, when I look at her, she's biting on her lower lip and looking at the front door too.
She catches me looking, giving me a small smile. "I'm Sarah, Henry's mate."
Sarah tilts her head as though she needs to show off the bite, bitten high up near the hinge of her jaw. I suppose she's used to the mating being questioned since she's a beta. It's rarer for alphas to choose them or for them to choose alphas. Even less likely since Henry has a beast, but I guess there's someone out there for everyone, even a beta strong enough to handle a beast.
"Are you excited for the wedding next weekend?" I offer a change in subject since everyone seems so tense about the two alphas still out on the front porch, talking to one another.
We can see Henry and Lucas through the glass, but they're keeping their voices down so we can't hear them. Lucas looks upset and Henry isn't fairing much better. But if I keep trying to decipher what they're talking about, I'm going to get myself worked up.
I head over to the dining room table, which is half-filled with food, as the two people I haven't been introduced to yet and Jace bring everything from the outside table inside.
"Yeah, it's crazy it's so close," Sarah says, finally letting her eyes leave the front door. She joins me at the table, grabbing a beer that's already there and taking a swig from it. "We're having the reception at your bar. Lucas set it all up."
"He what?" I ask, my brows rising because I didn't know Lucas did that. I guess we've had other things that've taken precedence over his sister-in-law's wedding reception. I'd have found out the day of, since he asked me if I'd go as his plus one.
"He did that before you let him bite you," Jace adds, laughing when my cheeks heat. "Pretty sure he wanted any excuse to be near you."
"He didn't really need one. He was following me for over a month," I say.
"Told you," the alpha I haven't been introduced to yet says, laughing and slapping Sam on the shoulder.
He looks at me, his teeth seeming almost too white, his face the same alpha handsome that draws in omegas. Like everyone in the house, except for Jace, he's mated, though, at least according to the bite in his neck and the omega who is sliding up next to him and putting her hand in his back pocket.
"All of these idiots thought you didn't know he was stalking you."
"I'm Lilah," his mate says, holding out her hand to me and smiling, "And this arrogant ass is Scott, but you'll be talking to Fenrir most of the night, it's his turn for pot roast."
"If I'm an arrogant ass, I don't want to know what you call Fen," Scott laughs, kissing his mate before heading back outside for more.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" I ask, feeling out of place around all of these people, this family, who, well, they aren't making me feel unwelcome. Still, I'm the new person here, the stranger who's been brought in by someone who technically isn't even related to them except through a couple of matebonds.
"Could you grab some glasses?" Janie says, putting me to work, and wow, if that doesn't make this all a little bit easier.
If she'd told me no and to sit down because I was the guest, I'd feel even more out of place, but getting glasses out of the cabinet and setting them on the table? Well, that makes me feel useful.
It takes me a little bit to find the right cabinet, but when I do, I make quick work of setting the table, working around the others as they fill it with food and bring in plates from outside. Sarah grabs a can of odor neutralizer and sets it near her spot at the table.
"I'm sorry if I stink," I tell her, offering an awkward smile. Some betas don't appreciate the overabundance of alpha and omega pheromones that we put off. "The pregnancy is messing with my sense of smell, and I don't know when I'm putting off a lot."
Sarah gives me a quizzical look, and I dart a glance down at the canister before her cheeks turn rosy. "Oh, no, that's for Henry. He likes to annoy me sometimes."
"You spray your mate?" I ask, a little horrified. I think I would die of mortification if Lucas ever sprayed me down.
"Oh yeah, like all the time," Sarah says, her smile only growing as my horror does. She leans in close like we're sharing a secret. "He's into it, don't worry."
I take her word for it, but still eye the can of odor neutralizer like it's affronted me in some way, then I move my drink a couple of seats away just in case. The front door opens, the tension in the room returning as Lucas and Henry enter.
"Everything good?" Sam asks.
"We're good," Henry says,
He walks over to Sarah and whispers something in her ear. He uses the distraction to grab the can of odor neutralizer from the table and toss it behind him, where Lucas catches it and sets iton the couch. Lucas shoots me a wink, and some of the tension eases.
"Let's have dinner," Lucas says. "Afterwards, I think it might be a good night for girls' night."
And just like that, I know something's going to happen tonight, and Lucas wants to make sure I'm surrounded by the closest thing he has to family. I smile at him, following his lead.
