Page 6 of The Beta: Part Three
Nathan wipes away the blood from Alex's cheekbone with the tail of his shirt and shrugs, “he's fine. He just caught the worse end of it. It hasn't even gotten bad yet. She ran through me and Trent like we weren't there. You okay, cupcake? You need me to come look you over.”
“I always need you,” I say, and reach for him.
He doesn't so much check me over, he looks at and touches every part of my body he can get to without taking me from Corso in a way that's mostly just touching. He tells everyone that I feel fine to him, then he kisses my cheek and leaves.
I feel my body start to heat up, and I know it's beginning again. “It's starting again,” I whisper into Corso's chest.
“I know, bella. We've got you.”
Chapter two
Kaleb
Jasper is worn nearly as thin now as he was during Talia's first heat. In a moment of clarity, Corso and Talia convinced him to leave the nest for a few hours of sleep and eat some real food. He slipped out when Nathan and Reid came in to trade places with me and Alex. So far, Nathan's theory that we can take her heat in waves is holding up. Corso, Alex and I took her on during the first, and most brutal, waves. I say take her on because holy fucking shit it was a battle to keep her properly fucked and knotted. Between the bouts with Alex, her trying to crawl inside Corso to keep him from getting farther than a foot away from her, and her apparent requirement that I stay balls-deep in either her or Jasper at all fucking times … I need food and sleep. And fluids. I need to drink several gallons of water. Fuck.
“You look like shit.” Trent was washing dishes, but now he's leaned against the counter, smirking at me like a smart ass.
“I look better than you did after her last heat.”
“No, you don't.” He's laughing at me now. “Have you taken a look at yourself since coming out of the nest?”
“No. I feel fine, regardless of how I look. I just need some water. And about six burgers.” He and Reid kept us functionally fed, but I feel like I haven't really eaten anything for days. I suppose I haven't. “Maybe eight.”
“I'll make you three grilled cheese sandwiches and put you to bed for about six hours, then you're on your own.”
I only get three of those hours before Alex wakes me up.
“Just checking on you. You feeling okay?”
I groan into the pillow. “I feel fine. What about you? How's the eye? I still say that was more like fighting than fucking.”
He laughs. “It was definitely fucking. The eye is fine. And you wouldn't be so critical of my methods if you could see your own. You did your fair share of manhandling. Go back to sleep. Like I said, I just wanted to check on you.” Then he leaves.
That's one of the things I've been pleasantly surprised about with our new pack. I very much enjoy being checked on. You'd think it would be obnoxious or grating, but it's the opposite. Corso, Alex and Reid are older than Devon and I by a few years, and we're older than Trent and Nathan by a few. Devon and I are so used to being the oldest and carrying the worries and weight that come with being the oldest. We found Trent and Nathan when we were still in training and finishing up school, and from that moment forward Devon assumed a leadership role, with me in second. It isn't that Trent and Nathan are less than we are, it just feels natural the way it worked out. I was worried about how the hierarchy might change after we joined our pack with Corso's, I thought that Corso and Devon might clash for the lead position. They haven't, though; and I don't think they will. Neither of them seem to need to lead every moment. It's almost like they, and we, already recognize each other's strengths and lean on each other appropriately. It's only been a few weeks and it already feels so right.
Corso spends a third of his time doing distillery-related things. It mostly runs itself, but there is the paperwork and other decision making to be done. I honestly don't know what he does, only that a few days a week he spends the morning at the distillery with Reid. I don't know what Alex does, other than walk around being as obnoxious as Trent.
Actually, that's not true. Alex writes. I've seen him go at his laptop for hours. Talia walked in on Nathan and me speculating about whether he was writing code of some kind or some gory horror novel. Neither would surprise me. She knows. She definitely knows. But all she'd say is ‘it isn't code’.
What I know is that he brings in more than his fair share of income, not that we keep up with who contributes what. All our income goes into the same account. That's the first thing we did. There is a separate account for the distillery, but that's to actually run the thing; it isn't connected to our pack's account. I don't know the exact number, but Devon assured me that money isn't something we'll ever need to worry about. Between Corso's distillery, Nathan's tech stuff, our COT salary, and Alex's … whatever, our pack is financially stable.
Then there's Devon's eventual seat at the council. Eventually his father will step down, and Devon will have to step up. That's part of why he changed so abruptly after we claimed Jasper. We were a solid pack before we claimed him, but once we had an omega, we leveled up. We became responsible for more than ourselves. Our bond with Jasper pushed us fully into maturity, and Devon had to start building himself into an alpha who would be worthy of a seat at the council. So he stopped playing. He stopped letting himself relax. He stopped a lot of things. And he started working. Every waking minute of the day, Devon works toward the goal of being good enough for the council seat, for his father, but especially for us. I know that's what it is more than anything else. His need to be good enough for us.
Jasper is still asleep in Devon's bed when I make my way back to the kitchen for more food and a cup of blessed, glorious coffee. Devon and Trent are already in the kitchen, and arguing, when I get there.
“I'm going in there.”
“No, you're not. You said you wouldn't.”
“Kaleb's up now. He'll help you if you need help. I'm miserable. And she's been calling for me.”
“She's calling for all of us,” Devon sighs. “I gave my word that I'd stay out of the nest. I promised I'd be here for Jasper. One of us will always have to remain outside for him. She would be livid if she came out of her heat and we were all in the nest with her and Jasper was on his own. Fucking livid. You said you'd stay out to take care of me, since I'm still so wounded.” The sarcasm is heavy in his last few words.
“You're fucking fine. You know you are,” Trent huffs.
“But she doesn't. And I gave my word.”
“Stop arguing,” I cut in, “you sound like my parents. What do you mean, she's calling for all of us?” I would have heard Talia calling my name. Surely I wasn't so exhausted that I didn't hear her calling me.
