Page 19 of The Beta: Part One

I did, but I haven’t had a chance to talk to the others about how much we’re going to tell her. Considering how selflessly she laid herself on the line for Jasper, and us in the process, and also that she submitted to Devon, albeit begrudgingly, I think she’s entitled to know as much as we do. But that’s a pack decision. Still…

“One or two maybe. We haven’t had time to talk about it.”

She accepts that with a nod. I release that foot and prop up the other one to start pulling glass, there isn’t as much in this foot and I’m glad. I know they’ll heal fairly quickly, but it’s still painful and inconvenient.

“Where did you train?” I ask her. I really do want to know, for her to be that efficient at her size is impressive; and I feel a little bit disappointed that I didn’t get to see her in action.

“A little bit of everywhere. My father made sure I was well trained since I’m so small. He knew I’d need the extra umph.”

“I’m sure,” I say, if she was my daughter I’d get her all the training she could stand. And then some.

I pull another piece of glass, and I can tell she wants to twitch her foot. “Talia, are you alright?” I’m not sure exactly why I’m asking, I just feel like someone needs to. After the fight, and killing those men, handling an upset Jasper, and what amounts to a forced submission she’s got to be a little shaken up. But all she says is that she’s fine, and I don’t really believe her.

When there’s no more glass I tell her to clean it well and to try not to walk around until morning, her feet should be plenty healed by then.

“Now the eye,” I say, trying to make it sound less like an order.

She sits up and I tilt her face toward the light. It looks rough, but I don’t think she’ll need a stitch.

“Okay, I think you’ll be good in the next couple days. Don’t worry about getting up early in the morning. We’re probably going to take the day off tomorrow and get some things sorted. Just rest tonight.” She salutes me and crawls over to her bed and starts stripping off clothes before I ever reach the stairwell.

The scene that greets me when I get to Devon’s bedroom is my favorite. My pack is piled up on his gigantic bed in what Jasper calls a cuddle puddle, and Jasper is in the center. Jasper’s heat is coming on soon and there will be an increasing number of cuddle puddles until it finally hits next week.

“Is Talia okay?” he asks, sounding very worried and a little exhausted.

“She says she’s fine,” I say and go to wriggle into the pile.

Everyone shifts around until I get settled, and Jasper says, “She’s not, though. I know she’s not. And she’s alone up there after all that.”

He’s too sweet for his own good, and even if he wasn’t just naturally so very good his omega DNA would still move him to take care of everyone he cares about; which apparently includes Talia. He does care about her, and it’s becoming more and more obvious to the rest of us. I hope her intentions here are worthy of his growing trust and attachment.

The next morning, I wake to the decadent aroma of bacon and fresh bread. Nobody bothered setting an alarm, we all needed the extra rest. Only myself, Jasper, and Nathan are left in the bed. I ease out of the tangle of limbs and pull on my jeans from yesterday.

When I enter the kitchen Talia is at the stove, stirring and flipping what looks like everything, both Devon and Kaleb are drinking coffee at the table and tapping away on their phones. Thankfully we won’t need to replace the front window because the crew last night was thorough and somehow extremely prepared; but the council still needs to be notified of how many men died in the invasion and attempted abduction, and if we knew who any of them were. A full investigation will swing into motion starting today.

Talia looks a bit better than she did when I left her in her room but she’s wearing socks so I can’t tell how bad her feet still might be.

“How is Jasper?” she asks, without looking up from the sizzling pans.

Bacon, sausage, a scramble with peppers, onions, and cheese, gravy, and there’s a pan of bread resting on the counter. This is a far cry from the healthy stuff she normally puts out for the four of us in the mornings, maybe she decided we all needed a treat after the chaos of last night. There’s no apparent awkwardness or hard feelings between her and Devon, so that’s something.

“Still sleeping,” I say, and steal a piece of bacon from the pile she’s already cooked.

“We need to discuss that crew from last night,” Devon says, “Trent said you didn’t trust anyone else. We let it go last night because the circumstances weren’t the best, but that really is something we handle, not you, Talia. I’ll need their identification information so I can put them on file.”

“Was their work insufficient?” she asks, putting the food into large serving dishes.

Devon considers for a few moments, “No, the work was good. I just don’t care to have unknowns here. How long have you worked with that crew?”

She answers as she brings breakfast to the table, “Three years. I trained with all of them from the time I was thirteen, though. You’re right, I should have waited for you to handle it however you normally would. In the future I won’t call anyone until one of you gives the order.”

“Just give me their information. I liked their work. Not having to get a secondary crew in here to replace the window is convenient. Are they paid through the council?”

She shakes her head and pours herself a cup of coffee, “They work for my mother’s company. I pay dues to have them on standby. I wasn’t trying to step on your toes, it’s just a knee jerk reaction to call them. I really don’t trust anyone else to cover everything as thoroughly and discreetly as they do.”

I don’t have a problem with anything Talia or the crew did last night, so I have nothing to add as I start loading my plate. Hopefully we won’t need a clean up here very often, but the team she brought in was better than the one we usually use and I hope Devon realizes that.

I take an obscenely large bite of eggs and I must make a pleased sound because they all turn to look at me with varying expressions ranging from irritation to amusement.

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