Page 77 of The Beta: Part Three
“I'm going to check on everyone. Are you alright, Devon?” My plan is to make a round to check in on every member of my pack then drag Corso into my bed so I can make him read to me.
“I'm alright. I won't be up much longer. Everyone is scattered, though. Corso and Reid were going through the security recordings last I checked, Alex is outside somewhere doing whatever he's doing and Trent's with him. Kaleb is in his bed. I'd like for him to stay there as long as he can stand it. Before you see him, please know that he looks far worse than he actually is, but he's also a lot worse off than he wants to admit. And,” he pushes away from the table and holds a hand out to me, “if you don't mind, I'd like to have you in my arms for a minute. This morning and today scared the hell out of me.”
I smile and go over to stand between his legs. He wraps his arms around my waist and rests his head against my chest. His breath is warm and he smells like everything I like best about spring. I don't know how long I stand there letting Devon hold me, but when he pulls back from me, he feels so much lighter and I feel a whole lot stronger.
Chapter thirty-two
Kaleb
Talia is in my room. Her spicy scent is every bit as warm and comforting as the sound I've been listening to for the past little while. Talia's soft purring hum didn't wake me up, but the wonderful way it made me feel did. When I took myself to bed I felt really horrid, like my face might actually either explode off of my skull, or possibly ooze off of my chin, and I could barely breath with the pain in my hands and ribs. It might be a combination of things that are attributing to how much better I feel right now, but I'm giving Talia all the credit. Waking up to see her sitting by my bed reading in the dim lamplight is damn near perfection.
“You look so terrible.” Talia's voice is so quiet, our bond full of worry.
“You look beautiful.”
“How bad are you hurting? I'm going to go get you some pain meds and ice.”
She starts to close her book, but I put my hand on her knee to stop her. “Stay. I'm okay right now. Read to me.”
“Corso's better at it.”
“I'd rather hear you.”
She looks down at the book then back at me. “You won't like it.”
“I will.”
She takes a quick little breath that catches in her chest. “You were dying, Kaleb. I felt it.”
“I'm still right here.”
Talia isn't much of a crier, it usually takes things like being abandoned by the pack she was supposed to be part of or a hand-made cradle, but she's about to cry for me.
“Read to me, Talia.”
She takes a much deeper breath and shakes her head a little, then she reads. It takes several pages before I realize why she said I wouldn't like it. It's one of the romances she and Jasper enjoy so much. I don't care. She could read me the back of a cereal box right now and I would think it was amazing. This story is apparently about an alpha who doesn't want to be an alpha so he can be with the girl he loves. Before I let sleep take me again I ask her if she's read this one before.
“This is one of my favorites.”
Of course it is. “Does he get the girl in the end?”
She licks her lips and looks off to the side before she answers. “He does.”
“Good.”
~
Three days later I'm the happiest person in the universe because I can chew food. Soft food, but still food that is solid enough to require mastication. Talia made one of my favorite comfort meals, chicken and gravy over mashed potatoes, and I've eaten entirely too much. I think I may have actually given Trent's stomach some competition.
Talia and Jasper are at the sink finishing up the dishes while Reid wipes down the counters. It's supposed to be movie night, but we haven't decided what to watch that wasn't sappy or boring since action and horror is out. Talia very vocally thinks it's ridiculous.
“Washing the dishes is more stressful than any of the movies we watch. I can't go out for walks, I can't convince any of you to fucking rail me the way I want you to, Trent even took the spicy spices out of the cabinet; but nobody's volunteering to save me from my mother's multiple calls every day, and that shit isactuallystressful.”
Reid sighs and looks up at the ceiling. “I will take your mother's calls if they're really all that stressful. She's just excited. My mother and Alex's have also been calling regularly.”
“No,” she grumbles. “I'll take the calls, they don't really bother me. I'm just anxious and itchy and frustrated on a few different fronts.”
“We could play a board game?” Jasper suggests. It's tempting, I haven't played a board game in years.
