Page 42 of The Beta: Part One

I trade another look with Devon.

We knew Jasper liked Talia, but this is intense. He’s reacting the way an alpha might react to another alpha touching his omega. He’s acting the exact same way Devon did when we came home from that party and he had to scrub every single unacceptable scent off of Jasper and then cover him in his own scent. Then he had me and the others mark Jasper with our scents. Jasper can’t mark Talia like that, he can’t scent her and he can’t put a mark on her that will show that she belongs to him, but it is more than obvious that he would if he could.

“Jasper,” she tries again, still not trying to pull away from him, “I can’t fuck you. You have alphas to take care of you. But if you can’t tolerate me having sex with anyone then I won’t while I’m here.”

She’s trying to diffuse the situation the best way she knows how, but it was the wrong thing to say.

“You didn’t fuck anybody last night,” he says and she shakes her head as much as she can with his hand still in her hair, “But you need to be fucked. I’ll fuck you if you need it. Nobody else.”

“Jasper, you can’t fuck me.”

He growls and pulls her hair tight again, “Why not?”

She cuts her eyes toward me and Devon and that makes him realize the problem.

He grits his teeth, “I’ll fuck you if you need it and nobody will say a goddamned thing about it.”

She purses her lips, but doesn’t argue with him. This is something that he’s going to have to come to an agreement with us about. “I won’t fuck anybody but you while I’m here. I promise.”

“You’re not leaving,” Jasper seethes.

I’m watching all this and trying to decide if I’m more curious, amused, or turned on. Probably all three in equal portions.

Devon, however, looks a bit deflated. We’ve already agreed that she can’t be pack, so her staying is going to be an issue. And Jasper fucking her is probably going to be another problem based on Devon’s expression. It would probably be better to wait to discuss that until after whatever this is that he’s going through is over, though. He finishes brushing out her hair and grabs one of Nathan’s hair ties from the night stand and weaves Talia’s hair into a braid down her back. I can practically see the tension leaving him as he realizes the only scents on her now are his and what’s coming off of Nathan’s hair tie. He also realizes that his jeans are soaking wet and clinging to him. He shoves them off and flops them wetly into the bathroom and pulls on a pair of basketball shorts, then he stands in front of her.

“Are you alright?” he asks, but his voice is still full of harsh, demanding tones.

She nods and links her fingers with his.

“I’m sorry if I scared you,” he tells her.

She kisses his knuckles, then his palm, “You didn’t scare me, but we are going to have to talk about this, princess. When you’re ready.”

He sighs and sits down next to her, and I see again how beautiful and perfect they look next to each other; even with her dressed in his baggy shirt and him in shorts and covered in the marks we put on him.

“Why do you call him that?” Devon asks. It sounds lame and petulant even though I know that’s not what he’s going for.

Jasper isn’t having it, he’s still dealing with the tail end of his upset, “She can call me whatever the fuck she wants, Devon.”

Devon huffs, “You can’t forbid her to get laid, Jasper. It isn’t fair to her.”

Devon and Jasper are about to have a fight.

They’ve only ever come close to having a legitimate fight once, and that was over something far less serious than Jasper bringing a female into his bed. “I said if she wanted to fuck, I would fuck her. That’s not forbidding her from doing anything.”

Talia is looking back and forth between them, there’s no anger riding her, just patience. “It’s fine. Really. There isn’t anyone here worth fucking besides Jasper, anyway.”

Devon’s jaw ticks, “That isn’t exactly the problem, Talia.”

“Then what exactly is the problem, Devon?” Jasper hisses.

I don’t know what has gotten into him, but I’m almost certain I love it. He isn’t a pushover, not at all, but he’s usually significantly less aggressive about things that are important to him. He’s full of compromise and choices, but the Jasper sitting on the bed glaring holes into Devon right now isn’t likely to offer either of those.

“You want to fuck her?” Devon asks.

Jasper looks at him like he’s said something utterly stupid, “Why wouldn’t I want to? Just look at her. Don’t you? I know Trent does, maybe even Nathan. Kaleb? Wouldn’t you like to fuck Talia?”

I pinch the bridge of my nose and look at Talia. She is actually being docile, sitting there completely at ease while an omega fights his alpha for the right to fuck her. “Whether or not any of us want to fuck her is a moot point if she’s not interested in being fucked.” It's the only thing I can think of to say that might lower the tension and make both of these idiots understand that Talia gets to choose who she sleeps with.

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