Page 7 of The Beta: Part Three
“You'll see. I don't know how you and Jasper have slept through it. It's taking everything I've got to stay out of that room.” Devon is sulking nearly as much as Trent.
I pour my coffee and begin savoring it. “She knows you're still out of commission. Even in her state, she knows.”
“She just wants us with her. But I know better than to go in there. My dick's been hard for three days just being in the same house. If I go into that room I know I'll go into rut, and then that's it.”
“Well,” Trent throws his arms out, “so what? The property is crawling with Elizabet's people. Your father even sent an extra detail based on some information he received from one of the rogues they've got detained. We could just go in there and give her what she wants.”
“I gave my word.”
And that is actually, truly, that. Once Devon gives his word, it takes a world-ending catastrophic event to make him break it. And even then it's unlikely that he will.
Trent is a good man and makes a platter of grilled cheese sandwiches for the three of us, grumbling all the while about his poor balls falling off without relief. I'm working on my second sandwich when Talia's voice rings out through the manor. First she calls for Jasper, then takes turns calling for the rest of us. Every time she calls my name I get a little harder. Trent and I exchange a look. I can feel his need to go to her through our bond. Devon doesn't have a bond with Talia yet, but Trent and I do. It physically hurts me to not go to her when she's calling out in such need.
“How long has she been calling for us?” I hope she hasn't been crying out like that for hours.
“Off and on for a couple hours. I went to the door and snuck a look. She was between Corso and Nathan, but she was asking Reid to go get us. She said she just wanted us to sleep with her. She said she made her nest big enough for all of us and everything. I felt like shit walking away when she needed me.” Trent rubs his chest. “I'm dreading taking another tray up there. I don't know if I can walk away again.”
“I’ll take it up.” I’ve already been in there and I didn’t give my word about staying out.
When I open the door to pull out the tray of dirty dishes and empty water bottles so I can sneak in the new tray I expect to hear the sound of an omega being taken care of. What I hear is an omega cursing and growling about what horse shit being an omega is, how much better she’d feel if one of us would make her pregnant, and how rude it is that Jasper left her with a bunch of alphas who won’t do what she’s asking them to do. All while she’s thoroughly knotted by Corso, who is completely lost to rut so he isn’t hearing much of it. Nathan has somehow managed to stay coherent and he’s listening to her with comically wide eyes and pinched eyebrows. Reid is covering his mouth to hide his smile, and doing a shit job of it because I can still see the dimples in his cheeks.
“Kaleb!”
Shit.
“Stay with me, Kaleb.” She sounds so pitiful that I’m tempted to do it. But I’m not here to stay with her, I’m here to make sure there’s food and water within easy reach of the nest.
“I’ll be back in just a little while, cupcake. Nathan’s with you. Would you like for me to leave my shirt for you?” Her face drops, but she nods and puts out her hand. When I give her my shirt, she snatches my wrist and looks up at me with these huge, watery blue eyes, “maybe you could stay for just a minute. Just till I fall asleep. It won’t take long, I promise.”
Shit.
“Stay,” Corso growls, his rut and Talia’s need deepening his voice.
So I stay. Talia didn’t exaggerate, it only takes her a few minutes to fall asleep on Corso’s chest, still holding my hand. I grab the dirty tray on my way out the door and almost drop it when I run right into Trent in the hallway. Devon is at the foot of the stairs. I nod at him and Trent to follow me and put the tray on the little table beside the front door. I wait until the door is safely shut before I scrape my fingers through my hair and start pacing the porch.
“Did either of you hear what the fuck she was saying?”
Trent's lips twitch. “Which part?”
“You know exactly which part. Did you hear, Devon? I know you were at the foot of the stairs, but she wasn't exactly quiet.”
“I heard.” That's all he has to say.
“We just got these things put in,” I point at the implant in my hip, “and now she's in there cussing about getting pregnant. Is that what we're doing? Just going to let her start having babies? To avoid going into heat so often?”
“There are worse reasons.” Trent's mouth is doing a little more than twitch at a smile. My head might explode.
“That's not the point. She doesn't even have a bond with Devon yet. And this is only her second heat.”
Trent looks at Devon and shrugs, “he'll mark her before her next heat. Besides, she hates going into heat. She doesn't like losing herself to it. Nathan's got a sister who's the same way. Becca, right? The one with all those boys?”
“Yes, Becca. I've overheard her say that having kids is a lot easier than going into heat every eight weeks.”
“See?” Trent says, “and Talia will be going every four weeks, most likely. That's going to be exhausting for her.
Dammit. It is rough on her. It's been three days, and she's probably got two or three more left. She's finally over the most intense waves that come at the start of heat but she's still got at least a couple more days to go. I can feel how overtaken she is by her heat, and how little she enjoys being overtaken. I just don't know that having babies this soon after becoming an omega and being claimed by a pack is going to be any better. I imagined it would be closer to a year from now before we'd be discussing the possibility of babies. “It's too soon. It's too much. She's only been with us for a few months, and she's only been an omega for a few weeks. It wouldn't be right.”
“I don't disagree with you, Kaleb,” Devon says, “but I don't disagree with Trent, either. She does not enjoy going into heat, she worries so much about what could happen while she's lost to it. I can tell that even without a bond.”
