Page 15 of A Baby for the Beast (Beastverse #3)

Lucas

H ayley's still asleep in my bed when I wake in the morning. When we fell asleep last night, it was while we were both still dressed, her crying against my chest as Remus and I fought about how our purr still sounds like absolute shit.

Rip them all apart. Make them pay for making her cry.

Not so into her tears now, are you?

Shut the fuck up!

I shouldn't be surprised by the vitriol in Remus's words since he's the one who's been struggling so hard with feeling useless when it comes to protecting Hayley before harm happens to her.

It's not like he can just ban any alphas from entering the bar she works at, and we don't know which ones we need to give a beat down to until they've already done something to upset Hayley.

No, he had to sit there and watch her get hurt over and over.

He wanted blood, and I had to pull him back from killing the alphas every time we followed them until we were relatively alone when he'd put some of our skills to use.

They weren't fair fights in the least, but it wasn't fair of them to bombard Hayley at work when she had to just stand there and endure their bullshit.

I grab our cup of coffee and our laptop and head back to the bedroom.

Hayley's where we left her when we got up about an hour ago.

We ran for a half hour and showered, and even being away from her for that long had Remus snarling and growling like he'd been kept from her for months, as if we hadn't been dealing with being away from her this whole time.

He's fraying. There's one thing he wants now, one object of his desire, and we haven't had her. He's going to fall into a rut soon, and if he's not careful, he's going to scare our omega before she decides to stay with us.

She's staying.

Going to force her?

She wants to stay. Just, fuck you. With those eloquent words, Remus takes control of our body and settles us back in bed next to Hayley.

He wants to forgo the things we need to get done this morning so he can hold our omega and admire how beautiful she is, but he's not completely lost just yet and knows we have things to schedule if we're going to figure out this whole thing with Kyle.

Remus opens the laptop and types out our password, sipping our coffee while we wait for it to open all the way.

He adjusts our glasses. Usually, we wear contacts, but when the plan is to stay in bed for as long as possible, there's not really any point.

When Hayley shifts in her sleep, he scoots closer, purring in satisfaction when she nuzzles her face against our thigh, coming to us for comfort even in her subconscious.

Our phone buzzes in our pocket, and Remus huffs because he knows damn well he doesn't want to talk to whoever's calling us. He doesn't want to talk to anyone except Hayley. So, as much as he wants to be the one in control, he relents and lets me answer the phone.

"What's up, Phil?" I ask, already knowing what he wants. I lift my glasses and pinch the bridge of my nose.

He texted me multiple times last night about what was happening.

He was about fifteen minutes behind Jace, who had sent me screenshots of the posts Kyle had made about Hayley.

The things he said about her were vile, and while there were plenty of people who were calling out his bad behavior in the comments, there were a lot who thought she was getting what she deserved for betraying him.

"How are you doing, kid?" he asks.

It's such a stupid question. The reason for my being is having her name dragged through the mud by a scumbag who wanted nothing to do with her until I showed an interest in her.

We did this to Hayley, and that's what has Remus so mad at me and himself.

He showed our hand to Kyle by going into his locker room, by staking a claim on Hayley right in front of him.

If he hadn't done that, who knows where we'd be right now?

Probably with Hayley, going about life like normal while I watched her from afar until I could convince her that I'm the man she should spend the rest of her life with.

We are. Not just you. Us. Me and you.

Yes, us, obviously.

"We'll be fine," I say, clearing my throat so there's no hint of emotion. "Do you have any idea how we can get this dealt with so it stops interfering with my omega's life?"

Phil's quiet for a second, and I wonder if I should specify that Hayley isn't exactly ours yet, but she will be soon. I don't, though. Remus and I like calling her ours too much for me to correct it.

"I don't know," Phil finally says. "Kyle's doing a lot to get himself in trouble, but as far as making all of this go quiet now? I don't think it's possible, and you know how the drama channels are. They're eating this up, especially with the fight coming up soon."

"He did this to her," I seethe, having to make sure I keep my voice quiet so I don't wake up Hayley. "She was living her life, and he pulled her into this."

"And he's saying you pulled her into it," Phil says, and there goes my ability to keep myself quiet to let Hayley sleep. My growl is sudden and loud, startling her out of sleep, and I growl even louder into the phone.

"We'll talk later. Ask around for a good PR firm. I want this fixed."

I don't wait for Phil to answer me, he'll do what I ask, and he won't question what they demand for payment. I have enough money to do whatever I please, and right now, I want my omega not to have to be harassed at work by idiots.

"Is everything okay?" Hayley asks, looking up at me with tears already threatening to form in her eyes.

I set my laptop to the side, and lower myself next to her until we're face to face. I wish so badly to have her in more ways than just this, but now isn't the time. We're going to ensure she's safe, and then we can worry about getting in her pants and a bite in her neck.

"It will be," I tell her, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "I have resources, and my name is good. It's going to be rough for a little while, but we'll get through this."

Hayley rolls her lips together, and as much as she looks like she wants to cry some more, she sucks in a shaky breath and nods. "I trust you."

"Good omega," I purr, stroking my thumb across her cheek.

My knuckles are a little beat up after last night's activities, but I cleaned them up and bandaged them.

I soak in the look of serenity that passes over Hayley's face at my praise.

I can't wait until I can spend the whole day praising her, but we have things to do today.

"You look cute in your glasses," she says, playfulness coming back into her demeanor.

"We prefer the contacts so you won't see them often," I tell her, debating whether or not that's true depending on how cute she thinks we are. Before I can ask such a desperate question, I shift the focus. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, but I could use a shower first," Hayley says, stretching out and moaning in a delightful way.

My purr fills the air, and she giggles. We know it still sounds bad, but we've been practicing. It doesn't sound any better than when we first started using it, but in a year or two, maybe it'll pass for a mediocre purr.

I can't believe you let us fail in this way.

There's no way you're blaming me for this.

Remus doesn't respond, but it's clear he does, in fact, think it's all my fault that our purr is bad.

Maybe he thinks since he was all for fighting, I should've been the one preparing to bed omegas, even though he never gave us a chance.

No, he just scared away the ones who approached us.

Well, until Hayley, but she didn't so much approach us as we chased her down.

"Let me show you to the bathroom," I say, rolling out of bed and moving to her side to help her out.

I show her the closet first, watching for her reaction as I show her everything I bought for her.

It took everything in me not to buy her a whole wardrobe when I first scented her, but I didn't know her size.

Now, I have the closet filled with clothing that'll fit her now.

After she has the baby, I'll buy her more.

The need to provide for her has been strong since I first scented her, which meant the apartment has been slowly collecting things I thought she might like. I'm watching her reaction now because it'll give me a decent idea about whether or not to show her everything else just yet.

She takes one step inside, looks at my clothes on one side, looks at the other side filled with stuff for her, and she starts sobbing. Remus is out, thinking I've upset her, purring and tugging her close as he picks her up and out of the closet even as she swats at his chest.

"Put me down, I wanted to look," she says through big, fat tears.

Remus grumbles about her being confusing before setting her back down, this time staying behind her so he can admire her backside while she looks at all the clothes we bought her.

Not all of them.

Now is not the time, Remus.

" There are lacy things in the dresser, " Remus says, his smile turning wicked as Hayley's blush deepens. " If you wanted my opinion on what to wear. "

"Are lacy things appropriate for the things we need to do today?" Hayley asks, teasing Remus and making his inexperience show because he doesn't know how to banter with her right now.

Just be yourself. She likes us.

Right, we chose a smart omega. One who knows a strong alpha when she sees him.

Sure, whatever helps you talk to her and not just leer.

" If it were up to me, you'd be naked all day, " Remus says, and I mentally choke on my spit.

That wasn't what I meant when I told him to be himself, but now that he's gotten a taste of what being horny is, it's like that's all he ever is now. Is this what Henry's had to deal with from Romulus? No wonder the two of them act like such idiots sometimes.