Page 57 of The Beta: Part Three
“Devon. Don't,” I hiss, but he continues.
“Listen, I know you've had horrible shit thrown at you. But fuck you and your father. Do you know what he was saying to her at that auction? He was accusing her of going after her dad and her brother. And he goddamned knew what he was saying. He wanted to hurt her anyway he could.”
“I'm sorry,” Seth says softly.
“You can't apologize for your father's shit, Pratchett.”
“No offense, Johnson, but I wasn't apologizing to you. I was apologizing to Talia. And I hope she never forgives me. I don't deserve it.”
“Seth,” I start, but he holds up his hand to stop me.
“I'm going to apologize to you every time I see you, Talia. Whether you want to hear it or not. I can't make up for it, all I can do is say I'm sorry. It's never going to be good enough.”
“That's not why we called, Seth. We, I, wanted to check on you. You need to know that you're not alone. You were with us at the compound, and that's worth something. I just wanted you to know that you're not alone.” I don't know what else I can say to him.
“I'll be alright. Do me a favor though, okay? Stay home. Stay wherever the fuck you are. Jasper, too. Don't go anywhere without your pack. Listen, Devon, Kaleb, don't let them out of your sight.”
“We don't plan on it. Eat more than you're eating. And get some fucking sleep. We'll check in on you again soon. We're going to get Talia and Jasper inside now,” Kaleb says, and ends the call with Seth staring a hole in me.
“That was fucking bizarre,” Alex scrubs his jaw. “He looks awful. And why would he have a guard instead of a nurse. And why did he freak out over Talia? Something stinks.”
Nathan opens the door for all of us to file inside, but I don't miss him visually checking the places where we have cameras. “Now I have even more questions.”
Later that night Devon comes into my room and sits down on my bed.
“Devon.”
“Talia.” He pulls my foot into his lap and starts rubbing it. It feels absolutely glorious.
“Did you come in here just to rub my foot, which I appreciate very much by the way; or is there something else?”
He lifts my foot up and kisses the inside of my ankle. I'm very slowly getting accustomed to Devon's affection. He is every bit as affectionate with me as he ever was and is with Jasper. It was awkward for me at first, but now I love it. “Why did you have such a strong reaction when Seth mentioned scent therapy? We all felt how repulsed you were. You don't have to tell me if it's too hard to talk about.”
“Oh, it's not too hard for me to talk about. It's just awful. And they need to stop doing it. I can't imagine something like that actually helping someone. When I was in the hospital a nurse came in with a box of foul smelling clothes. She said they were scent samples of alphas who could potentially help me through my impending heat. It made me so sick. I thought I was going to puke all over the bed. I couldn't breathe through my nose for hours and I ended up needing to get new bedding and everything. I still don't understand how people can go around stinking like that. The staff wasn't thrilled with me. I was very uncooperative.”
Devon kisses the top of my foot, “I'm sorry, Talia.” I try to pull my foot back but he holds fast. “You shouldn't have been there.” He kisses the sole. “You should have been home with us.” He starts kissing my toes. I think I might kick him in the face if he doesn't stop. My emotional ass can't handle this.
“It's fine, Devon. It's over and done. I'm good.”
He kisses another toe. “We should have gone after you. I was too stupid to realize what was happening until you were too far away for us to catch up. I'm so sorry, Talia.” He kisses my big toe. “I hate myself for letting any of that happen to you. You will never go through that again. None of it.”
“You're going to make me cry.”
“Don't cry, pretty girl. You've done enough of that, too. Just let me take care of you. I have so much time and bad shit to make up for. Let me love you, Talia. I can love you so well, I promise.”
He really is going to make me cry. Devon is as serious about his promises as I am. “I know you can, Devon. We're alright. You want to sleep with me tonight?”
“Just you and me?”
I nod. It's strange to think about, especially with all the sex and togetherness that happens in this pack, but Devon and I have never slept together without someone else with us. “Go shut the door.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
I didn't think Devon could be or look bashful, but there he is at the foot of my bed being bashful. He kisses the top of my foot again and goes to close the door and turn off the light. He strips down to his boxers and I hold up the blankets for him to get in the bed with me. Devon is warm and smells like springtime, and he's a damn good cuddler. Jasper and Alex are octopuses, octopi? What a weird fucking word. Either way, they cling to you with every arm and leg they have. Corso and Kaleb are good sturdy snugglers. They both like being little spoons. Trent is a cover hog, and Nathan is a starfish. Devon is the perfect combination of all of that and he doesn't even snore.
The next morning I am jolted from sleep by what feels like an invasion. It takes me an embarrassing amount of time to realize that it's the baby moving inside me. Up until that realization I thought I had some sort of horrific stomach plague. I definitely should get everybody in here, but if I yell or move, the baby might stop moving. Shit.
