Page 55 of The Beta: Part Two
Reid doesn't need to be treated roughly. He needs someone to take choice out of his hands sometimes. He needs someone he can trust himself with to decide what he can do with his body and when he can do it. He needs someone to decide when he can give pleasure, and when he can take it. I was that someone before, and I didn't know until I was on the call with Jasper earlier that I was still that someone.
Reid is mine.
Before, when I was their beta, it was less intense. But now? Now I can feel how deeply Reid has given himself to me through our bond. Being Reid's omega is going to be a completely different experience than being an omega to any of the others.
When we are outside of my room, or his, he will be my alpha. I will be his omega. But when we are alone, I will be his Omega like I was his Beta before. He taught me the difference between being a beta and beinghisBeta. Now that I've had my oh-so-glorious omega awakening, every bit of being his Beta will transfer to being his Omega.
I promised Reid three years ago that I would give him what he needed for as long as I could. I intend to keep that promise.
My stomach makes a loud declaration that a few slices of cheese and apple aren't enough to sustain the ridiculous amount of sex I've had today.
“Alex said he was going to order pizza,” Reid mumbles into the pillow.
“I'm not waiting for pizza. You rest. I'll be back in a bit.” I stroke his back as I drag my ass up out of the bed. If I keep going at the rate I'm going I'll need to have another pantry installed in my bedroom just to keep up with my energy expenditure. That's actually not a bad idea. I'll never need all the closet space for clothes. Snacks would be a much better thing to fill that space with.
Corso is in the kitchen when I get down there. I'm wearing Reid's shirt and the mark he left on my neck is very prominent. His eyes travel up my body from my feet, when he gets to Reid's mark he gives me one of his sweet, gorgeous smiles. “When will it be Alex's turn?”
“That depends entirely on whether or not he's already ordered the pizza.”
Corso laughs and hands me a glass of water. “I'll make you something to tide you over. Sit.”
I don't sit. I make a bowl of cereal and sit on the counter to eat it.
“Do you think you'll let us take care of you?”
“You have taken care of me just fine,” I tell him before shoving the spoon into my mouth. I was hoping to avoid this conversation for a while longer. I don't think I will ever be comfortable letting them take care of me outside of sex. I don't know how to be helpless or needy like that.
That isn't exactly fair to Jasper, though. He isn't helpless, he's just spoiled; as he should be. But we had two different upbringings. Even if I had awakened as an omega when I was younger, I don’t think I’d be the kind of omega Jasper is. None of my siblings are spoiled. Well, that's not entirely true. Two of my sisters have let their alphas spoil them pretty intensely. As they should be. Sigh. I don't know if I will ever be able to apply my opinions and outlook on how omegas should be treated to myself.
“Please try to let us indulge you just a little, Talia. I know it's difficult for you, but I hope you'll let us, just a bit. Maybe on birthdays.”
I smile, “you can spoil me on your birthday, Corso.”
He smirks, “see, bella? You're already rotten. You'll have seven of us spoiling you on our birthdays. And we all know you wouldn't deny Jasper anything, including the opportunity to give you the world.”
“That's not what I meant.Youcan spoil me onyourbirthday. Nobody else. It's a rule.”
“Good luck with that, toots,” Alex saunters in with a stack of pizzas. “I'm going to spoil you on everybody's birthday. And fuck you if you try to stop me.”
I suppose that's the end of that. And Corso's right. I'll absolutely let Jasper spoil me if it will make him happy.
Meals at the manor are both similar and completely different from dinners at the farmhouse. I still prepare everything and put it out on the table, and I threaten Reid to try to clean up afterwards, but I have a place at the table. My place is beside Corso and across from Alex and Reid. Just like before.
“Why didn't you sit with Devon and the rest at their table?” Alex asks with his mouth full.
I shrug. “Didn't want to. When I first got there I was a beta. And they didn't really want me there. It was more comfortable for everyone if I sat at the island, or went to my room.”
This doesn't make anybody happy. I can actually feel both Corso's and Reid's anger swirl through our bond. “It was fine. I wasn't any more comfortable with it than they were. After a while I stopped going to my room and just sat at the island. I liked it that way. When they brought me home from the hospital,” Reid's low, quiet growl rumbles through the room, “I didn't come out of Jasper's room for days. I didn't know what to do or how to be. Then, when I finally could stand to be around the others, it just felt better to do what I did before.”
I take an extremely dainty and ladylike bite of my extra delicious, extra cheesy pizza and talk around it, you know, like a lady. “Nathan hated that pretty bad. He didn't say anything, but I could tell he was very uncomfortable with me sitting separate from them. He and Jasper started taking their meals standing around the island so I wouldn't be eating alone. It was ridiculous. We were all in the same room together. It shouldn't have been a big deal.”
Reid puts his slice down on his plate and gives me a hard look. “You should never have been separate, even as a beta. I'm going to be angry with them for the way they treated you for a long time, Talia. Not knowing you were an omega is no excuse. They shouldn't have treated you like that to begin with, even with a beta designation, even if they didn’t ask for you to be there. We will be a unit, one single pack, together. I will love them like brothers. You can be angry with your brother and still love him. What they did was wrong.”
I can't argue with him, as much as I'd like to. Nathan is a good man, so is Trent. They all are. They just had different priorities to begin with. And If one of my siblings were ever kept separate from the pack they were affiliated with, marked and claimed or not, I would have plenty to say about it. “I just don't like being the cause of a problem. There have been more than enough going around because of me.”
Corso places his hands on the table, much like Kaleb does when he's about to say something important. “Not a single fucking thing that has happened in your entire adult life has been your fault, Talia. Not one. You have done your best, and given every bit of yourself to every situation you've been faced with. Don't ever let me hear you speak poorly of yourself again. Is that clear?”
I can't argue with Corso, either. Especially when he's as serious as he is. “I'll do my best, but I don't want hard feelings between my alphas because of me. I'm already having a difficult enough time handling all the omega bullshit. I can feel how angry you and Reid are through the bond and my heart is beating out of my chest with anxiety because I need you both to feel better. And Alex will most likely be inside my head by morning.”
