Page 59 of The Beta: Part One

He laughs and drops his hand, “We can't have that, now can we, my mate would be most displeased.”

I seriously doubt that.

“Talia,” Trent says, pulling my elbow, “This bullshit dare is complete. You can go back to your own chair.”

He pulls it out for me and he bends to my ear when he helps scoot it back in place, “Jasper is not handling this well. We need to wrap things up. We have plenty to work with.”

I agree, this has gone on long enough.

Alpha Flores graciously bows out of this round, and Alpha Harris chooses a truth for his next turn. “This is another truth for Talia, I'm afraid. Keep in mind, dear, that I am only asking this because I want a few of the assholes at this table to hear it said aloud, and because I enjoy giving my money away to orphans and widows.”

I give him the sweetest smile I can manage.

Even if he asks me something I don't want to answer, he's doing it to prove a point and I can appreciate that.

“Is it true, Talia, that you were raised to only give your respect and submission to alphas who are strong enough and worthy of that privilege?”

I don't know what point he's trying to make, and I don't know which assholes need to hear me say it, but it's the truth so I can easily admit it. “That is very true, Alpha Harris,” I say brightly, and he shoots me another wink.

“This round will end our game, gentlemen. It has been truly interesting,” Kaleb says, “Thank you all for your generous donations. Alpha Crane, the last turn is yours if you want it.”

Everyone turns their eyes to him and I can see his wheels turning.

I hope he doesn't try anything stupid this time. I am emotionally exhausted and I can feel Jasper's unease beating at me.

“I will ask a final truth of Talia,” he pauses for dramatic effect, “How many of Jasper's alphas have you fucked out from under him?”

Naturally, he's trying to make a dig at me in an attempt to hurt Jasper and undermine any trust I've gained from his pack.

“I haven't fucked a single one of Jasper's alphas.”

He gives me an incredulous look, “You expect us to believe that?”

No, I really don't, but I'm a little past caring, “I don't give a fuck what you believe. You asked for a truth and I gave you one.”

Nathan and Trent are suddenly behind my chair, and Devon has joined Kaleb behind Jasper.

Alpha Johnson steps up onto the platform to speak to everyone seated, “As Kaleb said, your donations are greatly appreciated. This has been a very interesting and stressful game. Let's agree to never do it again. Thank you all very much, you can settle up with me by the end of next week. Good evening.”

I catch my mother's quick wave as Jasper and I are ushered out of the building and into the waiting car. He's clutching my hand so tightly that I might carry bruises. When we finally get out onto the freeway the atmosphere inside the car is so thick with tension that I can hardly breath, one look at Jasper tells me he's feeling the same way. “Kaleb, can we open a window, just a little, please?” I ask quietly.

He glances at me in the rear view mirror and nods, so I crack the window and give Jasper a small smile.

He isn't smiling, though, and he still has a death grip on my hand. Nobody says anything for a while, then Devon asks in the most lethal tone I have heard from him, “Did Seth rape you?”

Jasper's grip somehow tightens even more. I give the only answer there is, “Yes.”

Then we sit through a few more miles of silence.

Eventually Nathan asks, “Did you report it?”

I sigh.

“I did, but his father and his friends are on the council. The only thing I could do is try to protect the omegas from the registry, so I met with them and gave a report. They did a rape kit, but Seth refused to provide his own DNA sample to compare it to so it's sitting on a shelf somewhere gathering dust. He told his father a bunch of bullshit to make it seem like I was trying to damage his reputation and his father spread that around as much as he could.” It isn't fair, but it's what women have had to deal with for as long as there have been men willing to hurt them.

I pull Jasper's hand into my lap and start tracing little designs on the back of it, “It was a long time ago. He only brought it up to try to hurt me, but he doesn't have the power to do that.”

Jasper is staring at our entwined hands. He stares at them for a long while before he says anything else, and it's almost a whisper, “Why didn't you tell me?”

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