Page 74 of The Beta: Part Two
It's what we do in this pack. We aren't greedy with our love. Corso does love me, not in the way he loves Talia, obviously. But he does love me, and I love him.
“Not this time. Try to keep her in bed until I get breakfast finished. We'll have to work hard to take care of her the way she deserves. I hope spoiling isn't completely out of the question.”
“You can spoil Jasper, he likes it,” Talia mumbles sleepily, and reaches out for Corso. “Come cuddle us, handsome.”
Who could resist an invite like that?
Not me, and certainly not Corso. He toes off his shoes and shucks his shirt into the floor, then he slowly climbs onto the bed to spoon Talia.
“Where's Alex?” she yawns.
“Asleep, I just checked in on him.”
She doesn't say anything, but I feel a complete pout roll down the bond. Corso feels it too, because he asks if she'd like for him to retrieve her missing alpha.
She says no, but she doesn't fully settle between Corso and I. Then Jasper starts to stir. I start reaching to the nightstand to grab my phone, but Alex stumbles in and flops onto the bed on my other side.
I don't generally cuddle Alex or Corso. There's always the regular hug or shoulder squeeze or a chuff of recognition. But those aren't cuddling. The problem we're having right now is that Talia and Jasper want us all to cuddle them. So, Alex does the most unalpha-like thing he's ever done and tucks his head onto my other shoulder so he can comfortably drape his arm over Jasper's back to touch Talia's hip. Then he gets even more comfortable by hitching his leg over my other one, effectively pinning me to the bed.
This might be torture for anyone else, but for me it's a little bit of paradise. I don't know what position we'll all wake up in, and I don't care. This is the way I want to sleep for the rest of my life, and I'm very glad that Talia bought her and Jasper new, gigantic beds.
Chapter twenty-four
Kaleb
Devon isn’t dead. I refuse to allow the thought to take root. He’s badly hurt, but he’s Devon. He’s going to be fine. It’s up to me, as the unofficial second-in-command, to find a way out of this disaster. The rogues who took us were smart, though. We’re all in separate cells. Including fucking Seth Pratchett with his one fucking eye. He’s in the cell next to mine, his eye darting back and forth between me, Trent, and Nathan.
There are four small, barred cells in this bunker; two on each side of this side of the room with a path just wide enough that Trent and I can’t reach each other or anyone walking down the middle of the aisle. My cell shares a section of bars with Seth’s. Seth is standing as far away from me as possible within the boundaries of his cell. I’d think it was hilarious if I was a little more concerned about intimidating him than I am getting the fuck out of here.
Devon gave Jasper a command to stay in that freezer. He had a blanket in there with him, but if he wasn’t able to get out… It’s been hours. And hours inside a walk-in freezer… No. I’m not letting that thought take root, either. I can still feel Jasper. Flickering and weak, but he’s there.
“I need you to listen to me,” Seth whispers, glancing at the door to the bunker.
“I’m not listening to shit. Don’t speak to me. The second I get out of here you’re done. After what you did to Talia, you’re fucked,” I growl. He should know better than to try to weasel out of the consequences he’s got coming.
“No. You don’t understand. Kaleb. I need you to listen to me. I’ve been here for weeks. Where’s Jasper and Talia? Did they take them, too?”
“Don’t say their names. You don’t get to talk about my omegas.”
He looks at the floor and grits his teeth, but doesn’t give up. He walks to the wall of bars separating me from him and grabs them in his fists. “Kaleb, I know what I did was shitty. It never should have happened. If I ever get the opportunity to make it up to her I will do everything I can for the rest of my life. Did they take her and Jasper? Please tell me they didn’t. Especially if she’s awakened.” He sounds genuinely worried, maybe borderline frantic. He looks it, too.
“No. Talia is with Corso. Jasper and Devon were in the house the last time I saw them.” He doesn’t need to know any more than that.
“Don’t tell him shit,” Trent hisses from his cell. He has paced so much in his cell that I won’t be surprised if he’s worn a path in the floor.
“Listen to me!” Seth is barely whispering now, “they’ve got dozens of omegas. All different ages. They’ve only got one other male, that’s why they want Jasper so bad. They’re trying to get as many males as they can, I’m not sure why. I haven’t seen any female alphas here, but they want Jasper bad. They’ve got alphas on the council in their pocket, and they’re blackmailing my father. He’s bad enough on his own, but since they’ve had me down here he’s desperate. They’re shipping the omegas out to rogue packs all over. They’re hurting them. I hear them crying for help for days and then it just stops. Derek and Jay fucked me over. They’ve been in with the rogues from the start. They targeted me because of my dad’s position on the council. They figured if they used me to get him by the balls, he’d do whatever they wanted. And he has. They sent him my fucking fingers,” he holds up a hand with stubs where his ring and pinky fingers should be wrapped in what looks like a piece of t-shirt. He should be grateful it wasn’t a thumb. He should also stop being so fucking loud. I’m sure none of the rogues in this compound will appreciate him spilling his guts about all this.
“Why would we believe anything you say?” Nathan laughs. It’s a cruel laugh, and I don’t like hearing it come from Nathan’s mouth. Nathan is a lot of things, but cruel isn’t one of them.
“He’s not lying. I’d smell it.” Seth is telling the truth. I can tell he’s not doing very well, either. He’s past stress and desperation. If he’s still with us when we get out of here, Seth is going to need a lot of rehabilitation; both physically and psychologically. If I had to listen to omegas being tortured, or whatever has been happening to them, for days on end without being able to help them I’d probably need a bit of therapy; and that isn’t including having an eye scooped out or a finger or two being chopped off. This might just be all the punishment he needs for the shit he put Talia through.
“So fucking what. You saw those pictures. Break his neck. You can reach it,” Nathan sneers. I don’t like the direction Nathan’s stress is driving him. I can’t let my pack fall apart, not now when we have to find a way out.
“If I break his neck there will be retaliation since the rogues want to use him. Besides, if anybody gets to kill him, it should be Talia.”
“You’re right,” Seth sighs wretchedly, “and if I ever get out of here I’ll stretch my neck out at her feet. But we have to get out of here. We can’t let them keep taking omegas.”
“We,” Trent whispers, “there is no we. There’s us, and then you. And you’re fucked.”
