Page 11 of The Beta: Part One

Chapter 6

Kaleb

When Talia stuck her fork in Mitchell’s leg my first thought was to jump across the table and get Jasper out of the middle of it, but he was totally covered and blocked by her body, so I didn’t. My next thought while Mitchell was yelling out his pain, because being stabbed with anything anywhere fucking hurts, was that she was jealous that another beta was encroaching upon us, the alpha’s she’s trying to steal for herself, and she was warning him off in a very physical way. But I was wrong.

Jasper’s anxiety and anger was climbing higher and higher the longer Mitchell talked and looked at us, trying to get our attention on him. He’s been chasing us for years, since before we claimed Jasper, and Jasper is extremely uncomfortable around him. The scent of Jasper’s unease was making me itch, I was about to embarrass Mitchell and tell him to stay the fuck away from our table, but Talia saved me the trouble. And she made it very clear that Jasper is her priority. Good. He’s our priority, too.

He’s absolutely beaming, letting her feed him the rest of her dinner. She’s becoming incredibly skilled at detecting when he needs reassurance and the best ways to make him feel better. One of his favorite things, not that he’d admit it, is to be fed and I can feel how much he’s loving the attention she’s giving him after she got rid of a threat. Our bond is practically singing.

The way every single alpha in the room is watching the two of them doesn’t hurt, either. They are lovely together, so dainty and perfect with their dark hair and pink cheeks and soft smiles; and it makes me feel just a bit like I’m chaperoning a date. That thought goes straight to my balls and I immediately push it away, I’ll process that later. I don’t want to think about how much I might enjoy watching my omega being spoiled by the female beta we didn’t want.

He’s blushing and laughing softly at something she whispered to him, but she’s looking down at her plate with a little frown. I know that frown, she wants to keep feeding him but she’s out of food. It doesn’t matter that his own plate is still mostly full, the trick to this sort of thing is to feed him food that isn’t his. It makes his omega blood sing in his veins when we feed him from our plates. I take her empty plate and slide Trent’s half full one over, I declined the main course but Trent, the bottomless pit, never does. Now they’re both smiling at me and I’ll probably have to start thinking about how much I like that sooner than I thought.

Eventually Devon strolls back over with his father. Devon’s face is tight and pained, and his father’s is flushed with open amusement. “Your beta stuck a fork in Richard’s son,” he says with a twinkle in his eye.

I open my mouth to tell him that she didn’t get the memo that stabbing people at these events is frowned upon, when she speaks up, “He offended my omega.” He smirks and raises his eyebrow, “Your omega?”

She meets his eyes like she meets ours, like she doesn’t give a shit that he’s her superior, “Yes. He’s my omega until he says otherwise. I won’t allow anyone to hurt or upset him, and that piece of shit was doing both.” She looks bored and smug, like she’s doing him a favor by explaining anything to him at all.

He turns to me, “Make sure you brief your new beta on acceptable behavior before the next event.”

I don’t have time to respond because she makes another super fun declaration. “I’m not their beta. I’m his beta,” she motions to Jasper, “I’ll behave any way I see fit to keep him safe and happy.”

She takes a sip from her glass without breaking eye contact. I fully expect him to give her his infamous alpha growl and force her to drop to her knees in submission, but I almost fall out of my seat when he chuckles. “You do know that you are a beta surrounded by five alphas, one of which is on the council?”

“I’m aware, Alpha Johnson,” she says, plunking her glass back onto the table and reaching over to tug on Jasper’s ear, causing him to laugh again. She doesn’t seem to be the least bit concerned by the amount of disrespect she’s dishing out.

He shifts his attention to his son, a mischievous light sparkling in his eyes, “I can see she’s been properly placed. She’ll fit in nicely with your pack of heathens.”

Devon’s face tightens even more.

“Talia, dear, your mother would like a word,” Alpha Johnson says in her direction. And, god help her, she doesn’t acknowledge his subtle dismissal.

She links her fingers with Jasper’s and asks him, certainly not any of us, and not Devon’s father who out-ranks everyone at the table, if he minds if she steps away for a moment.

I’m nowhere remotely close to being annoyed, I am positively tickled. I don’t know how nobody hasn't tried to kill her yet, and I can’t fathom why Alpha Johnson is allowing her to be so dismissive of his rank; but I do know that she has made it perfectly clear that no one but Jasper holds any genuine authority over her. And I can feel the happiness and laughter rolling off of him.

“Hurry back,” he tells her, “I still want to dance, and you said you would.” She grins at him, and I don’t want to think about how much I like that, either.

“Anything for you, princess,” she says, then trots off into the crowd to find her mother.

“Enjoying yourself, son?” Alpha Johnson asks Devon.

“Not at all,” is the forced reply.

Alpha Johnson rubs his jaw thoughtfully, “It’s going well at home?”

Devon looks at Jasper for a long moment before answering, “Well enough.”

His father looks like the cat that got the canary. “Can I expect an announcement about her acceptance soon, then? I’ll need to change her registration.”

“She’s not accepted.” Devon’s voice is dry and my gaze snaps to Jasper who’s scent suddenly spikes in anxiety. A tendril of displeasure winds through the bond, but he doesn’t say anything.

Talia hasn’t been accepted and we have no intention of accepting her. She can hang around as long as Jasper enjoys her and she doesn’t make our life hard, but that’s it, no matter how many people she stabs or how pretty she looks next to him.

His father takes another considering moment and says, “I see. Well, keep me informed. Is she always so...agreeable?”

I can’t help it, I snort and they all look at me. “She’s perfectly agreeable. I hope that fork incident keeps the rest of them away for the rest of the night.”

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