Page 20 of The Beta: Part One

“What?” I ask, and Kaleb rolls his eyes at me.

“The next thing to discuss is your attacking Jasper,” Devon says and takes a bite of his own eggs.

“Excuse me,” Talia says, both her tone and expression have turned flat.

She looks like she’s going to continue speaking but Devon holds up a silencing hand, “Since the issue was between the two of us, I will address it. I am glad you were here last night, and I’m even more glad that you were able to handle things as well as you did. If you hadn’t then Jasper wouldn’t still be with us this morning, so I am grateful and in your debt.”

She interrupts, “You’re not in my debt. That’s why I’m here.”

“Be that as it may,” Devon continues, “You weren’t wrong for being angry with him.”

“I wasn’t angry. I was terrified.”

“Yes, well, regardless of any of that, you must never approach him the way you did last night. Do you have any idea how upset he would have been if I had hurt or even killed you for touching him? He would have felt like it was his fault and would have been devastated.”

She doesn’t say anything.

I would have said plenty. It may have been mostly stupid for her to march up to an enraged alpha in full-protection mode, but she only did it to see for herself that Jasper was alright.

“The only thing that kept me from tearing into you was the fact that he was only okay because you were here. Do not do that again, don’t touch him and don’t talk to him if something like that ever happens again. I won’t have him feeling shitty because you did something careless and got yourself killed.”

She doesn’t say anything to that, either; and I can see Devon’s hackles beginning to rise.

I’m not sure what response he’s waiting for her to give, but I can guarantee it isn’t the one she tosses at him, “If Jasper tells me to not interact with him when one of you is throwing an alpha tantrum then I won't. If Jasper tells me that it helps him feel better if I come check on him at any point, that is exactly what I’m going to do, tantrum or not.”

I’d laugh if I didn’t know how volatile Devon’s temper really is. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone other than the members of this pack give him that amount of shit and walk away from it, and she’s dead serious. She’s done more than enough to prove that the only person here she cares about or heels to is our omega and I believe every word she just said.

Devon speaks through a growl, “Are you issuing a challenge? Will you really dismiss a clear order that an alpha has given you concerning his omega?”

Talia doesn’t even flinch, “There is no challenge. I will never harm Jasper. I will never allow harm to come to Jasper. And I will follow any order Jasper gives me concerning him. I have been placed here to help Jasper in any way he needs, and if he gives the order that I am to defer to any of his alphas then I will be more than happy to do that, but he hasn’t. I am doing everything I can to help here, and I more than proved that last night. I am sorry that you are angry, but I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“You can’t speak to an alpha like that,” Kaleb says without looking up from his phone, his tone mild, “We will hear it as a challenge. We also don’t take well to being accused of tantrums.”

“It wasn’t an accusation.”

I can’t help it then, I snort and nearly choke on my food.

“Oh Talia, your attitude is phenomenal. But it won’t do you any favors here,” then I add to Devon, “Listen, I know what you’re saying, but she was an asset last night. And you heard Jasper singing her praises, even after she yelled at him.”

He cuts his eyes to me, “I don’t give a shit, Trent. She can’t touch him like that at any point, but especially when I’m trying to calm down after he was almost taken.”

“You weren’t going to attack me,” she says.

“I was going to break your fucking neck. Then I was going to rip you apart. I would have done it and the only thing that would have made me feel bad is how guilty Jasper would have felt. You are not pack. You don’t matter. You can be here as long as Jasper enjoys your company, but don’t get comfortable. With your history I’m honestly surprised you’re still here. The second he’s tired of you you’re gone, understand that.”

I’m about to attempt to diffuse the situation again, because Devon is fuming, but Talia looks him straight in the eyes and firmly says, “Understood.” Then she leaves the room.

“Was that necessary?” Kaleb asks blandly.

Devon just huffs at him.

I don’t think it was necessary, I think Devon wanted to assert dominance again like he did last night, but I don’t say it because that’s how you take an already tense situation and turn it into a bar fight. Instead, I redirect the conversation, “What did the council say?”

Kaleb answers, “Alpha Cage says that most of those betas were being monitored for possible involvement with the rogues, the ones in the mountains. Alpha Johnson is livid that our pack and Jasper were targeted again. He thinks the timing is relevant to Jasper’s incoming heat, but I think it’s more than that. My brother asked if Mitchell was among them, which I thought was an odd thing to ask until I remembered how embarrassed he was after that little fork incident.”

That is definitely something to consider, Mitchell tried for two weeks to have Talia sanctioned for that, but it was ruled that she was within her rights to protect her omega, regardless of the fact that she hasn’t been accepted into our pack.

But is he ballsy enough to actually come after Jasper? Would he be willing to risk an attempted abduction just to...what? Remove Jasper? Hurt Talia? He seems entirely too weak to actually do anything like that.

---