Page 10 of The Beta: Part Three
“I’m glad for that, too. I looked in on everyone else, they’re all fine. I’m going to bed now. Thank you for listening to me.” He salutes me and goes back to his book.
Jasper and Talia are sitting on my bed when I get back to my room. When I checked on them a bit ago they were in their own rooms.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I couldn’t decide where I wanted to sleep, with Talia or with you. So, we’re invading your bed so I can sleep with both of you.” Jasper sounds very pleased with his decision. Talia is sitting on my bed picking at the threads of my quilt.
“Talia.”
“Devon.”
“You don’t have to sleep in my bed just because Jasper wants you to. Just because you’ve slept with us a few times before doesn’t mean you have to every time.” I don’t know if that’s the problem, but it’s the only thing I can think of.
“No, I like sleeping with Jasper and you. I enjoy the scent, it's like a freshly trimmed orchard on a sunny day with both of you. There will only be sleeping though,” she raises her brows at Jasper. I’ve apparently missed part of a conversation.
“I know, I know. Sleeping. When will you agree that Devon is well enough?”
“When he is.”
“I’m fine. Really. But I am tired, so I agree with Talia. Only sleeping tonight.” I wait for the pouting to commence, but it doesn’t. Jasper is just happy to be cuddled between Talia and me. It takes him five whole minutes to fall asleep. I’m not so lucky, and neither is Talia.
“I’m worried about you,” she whispers so softly I barely hear her.
“I’m worried about you, too,” I reply.
“I’m fine,” she whispers.
“So am I,” I whisper back.
“If you say so,” she whispers again, but I don’t want to have a whisper-argument with her, so I don’t say anything else. She and I will have this conversation in the morning.
I’m worried that she isn’t handling all the catastrophic and seismic changes in her life as well as she’s putting on. I want to have a really substantial conversation with her about what I can do to make her understand how much I want and intend to make up for all the bad I’ve caused.
Talia isn’t trying to have that conversation the next morning. Talia seems to not want to have the conversation at all.
“I don’t need you to make up for anything, Devon. You were only doing what you thought was best for your omega and for your pack. You stayed with him when I went into the woods, which is what I wanted you to do as well. When those assholes dumped me on the porch, you and Kaleb took me to the hospital, then you came back home to Jasper, which is exactly what I would have told you to do. When you took me to a hospital, you didn’t alert the entire world about it…which is exactly what I would have wanted. You couldn’t have done anything for me at the hospital, anyway. I don’t need you to make up for any of that shit. I made my choices, and I’d make them all over again.”
“But I was awful to you, Talia. Awful. It isn’t right.”
“How about you let me decide what I need an apology for.” She isn’t asking.
“What ifIneed to apologize? For myself?”
She sighs and lays back on my bed that she just made. I tried to do it, I even attempted to tug the blankets out of her hands. But she jerked them away and spread them out before I could do anything else. “To what end? I don’t need the apology. I don’t want you to apologize for being yourself. For being a good alpha for your pack at the time. There were too many things none of us knew. I was supposed to be a beta.”
“It was wrong to treat you the way I did, even as a beta.”
“I don’t need an apology, Devon. I’m not going to be traumatized or whatever just because you think I should be. I’m fine.”
Chapter four
Talia
They all suddenly expect me to be a nervous wreck, or something similar. Devon and Corso especially. Corso has been watching me closely since my first day back with him. I don’t know how to make him understand that I’m alright. I don’t need to have a breakdown. I’ve processed all the shit I’ve had to handle over the past few months as much as I care to. I have never put effort into dwelling on the bad shit that happens to me, especially if I chose it, and I don’t intend to start now.
And Devon. I don’t know what to do about Devon. I don’t know what he expects. Sure, he could have been less of a dick, but I never expected anything else from him. And to be perfectly honest, I might have been an asshole if I was in his position, too. I essentially came into his pack and swept his omega off his feet. I disrupted everything. It doesn’t give him an excuse, but I do understand his reaction to me. People do a lot of things when they feel threatened.
“Why are you mad at the sink?” Alex asks as he comes into the kitchen to dig around in the fridge.
