Page 24 of A Baby for the Beast (Beastverse #3)

Lucas

" Y ou realize this is fucking stupid, yeah?" Henry asks me, his voice trying to hold some semblance of humor since he's worried about me and trying not to make it super obvious.

Too bad he's been in my life since I was six minutes old, and he's shit at hiding his feelings. How Sarah didn't know he was head over heels for her the first time they spoke is something I don't understand.

"He threatened her," I say, keeping my voice low because we're still in Sam and Janie's house.

Everyone is saying their goodbyes, even though all the women are staying here tonight.

Sam will probably go stay up at the Young Alpha Center, if he doesn't try to join Henry, who I'm pretty sure is going to follow me, even though I've told him not to.

"I get that, but handling it yourself seems like a great way to end up somewhere where you can't take care of her for a long time."

"That's only if I get caught." I shrug, trying to stay as nonchalant as Remus is about this whole thing. He'll be the one doing all of the heavy lifting. I'm just finally agreeing that murder might be the best option when it comes to dealing with this specific problem.

Henry grabs my shoulder, getting way too close as he hisses. "Stop acting like this is normal or rational or like you've actually thought through any of it."

"Get out of my face," I say, keeping my voice even.

I really don't want to let Remus out to remind Henry that we're stronger than him. It's a dick move, but it's a dick move we'll make if he doesn't stop trying to get us to let this go.

"Who's part of the murder party?" Jace asks, startling both Henry and me because we didn't notice him coming over.

It's not even like he was being sneaky, he's chewing loudly on some gum and typing away on his phone.

He doesn't even look at us until our silence stretches, then he looks up at us through his red curls.

"Hello? Is it like a family affair or just a twin thing? "

"It's a none of your business thing," Henry says, shooting me a glare that tells me he's not going to forgive me for bringing Jace into this. The kid lived with Henry for almost a year before he aged out of foster care, and now he stays in Sarah's old apartment above their coffee shop.

"Leave this to the adults," I tell Jace, who rolls his eyes.

"I'm an adult, have been for over a year." He stops talking, his lips pressing tight together as he types out something else on his phone. "So, murder party?" He looks back up at us, a smirk on his lips. "Can I come?"

"No," Henry and I both growl at the same time. Of course, the rumbling causes everyone else in the house to look over at us, and Jace just throws his head back and laughs.

"I'll wait for you guys in the car," Jace says, ignoring the warning growls being sent his way as he waves over his shoulder and leaves. I pinch the bridge of my nose, knowing full well that when the kid gets it in his head to do something, he can be stubborn.

Sam's expression is thunderous as he walks over to where Henry and I are still huddled near the door. When he gets close, he whispers, his anger palpable in the words. "Tell me right now you're not taking Jace on whatever idiotic plan you're cooking up."

"No one is going but me," I snap at the two men. "And I'm leaving now. I've wasted enough time. Just keep my omega safe until I come back, and if anyone asks, I was here all night."

I shoot a wink at Sam, who looks like he might be willing to stoop to murder with how arrogant I'm being about all of this. The truth is, it's a front. I know what needs to be done, but doing it is a whole other thing.

I'll do it. Easy peasy. I'll probably even enjoy it since it's Kyle. You just hide in our mind.

No, I want to be there for it.

Fine, but no backing out.

"If it comes between my omega's safety and lying for you, it's not even a contest," Sam tells me, making sure I know he's only willing to lie to me up to a certain point.

"I wouldn't expect anything more," I tell him.

He shakes his head, scowling, but he cups my shoulder, squeezing it before tugging me into a hug. "This is stupid."

"I know," I respond, clapping his back before disengaging. "But I'm doing it."

I scan over the small crowd in the living room, my eyes meeting Hayley's.

Lilah's talking to her about something, and she's nodding along, but my girl's attention is fully on me.

Her lips curl slightly before she mouths 'be safe.

' I press a hand to my heart and nod. I'm not going to be kept from my omega, but I'm not going to let someone threaten her and get away with it.

No one stops me as I leave Sam and Janie's house, though I can feel Henry wanting to do something.

I'm surprised they let me leave without a fuss.

There was a good chance Henry and I actually fought, but he doesn't even follow me back outside.

None of them do, which I should probably worry about a little bit more.

It's hard to do that when there are more pressing matters.

I'm so caught up in my own thoughts of making sure I do this the best possible way that I completely forget about Jace saying he was coming with until I'm backing out of the driveway, and his stupid face is grinning at me in the rearview mirror.

I slam on the brakes, forcing a laugh out of him when he sees how pissed I am. "Get out."

"Fuck no," Jace throws his head back and laughs harder. "You need a wingman, a murder wingman."

"That's not a thing," I growl. "Get out before Sam and Henry realize you're here and have my balls for roping you into this."

"I'm the one who convinced them to let me come," Jace says, his smile still tugging at his lips, but he's back to looking at his phone.

I put the car in park and throw my door open. Jace lets out a little sound of surprise, and when I jerk his door open, ready to physically wrangle him out of the car, he pushes his back against the far door and starts kicking at me.

"I'm coming with!"

"You're going back inside," I say, grabbing his ankle and using my strength to pull him as he thrashes about. Remus comes out, growling and snapping his teeth, demanding submission.

" Doesn't work on me, old man, " Vilkas growls back, Jace's beast burning bright in his eyes as Remus huffs and lowers himself so he can stare down the younger beast. Remus snaps his teeth, demanding submission, and Vilkas just stares, baring his teeth right back. " I've been a good actor, huh? "

" How long? " Remus asks, his irritation gone, now he's more amused than anything.

" How long have I been pretending you scare me? " Vilkas asks, his rough, growly voice showing some of Jace's annoying laughter in it as he asks.

" Yes, how long? " Remus asks, letting his leg go. We're done trying to force him out of the car for the time being. The only way we can now is to physically remove him since we can't make him.

" The whole time, probably, " Vilkas shrugs. " Seemed smart to look scared. "

" Who knows? " Remus asks, curious about why he's keeping this a secret.

If the rest of the family knows they've done a good job, they're not letting me know.

The few times Remus has come out, Jace has always been good about ducking his head.

Actually, looking back on family dinners, he does any time any of the beasts come out, even Romulus, who is as into fighting as his appearance makes him out to be.

" You, " Vilkas shrugs. " I don't need to be the strongest in the family. None of us actually fight. "

I think back to a couple of months ago when Fenrir and Romulus did actually fight in Sam's backyard because Romulus made a remark about Sarah's ass when she bent over. That was more like some brotherly fighting, and no one ended up actually injured, but there's definitely fighting that happens.

This is so far down on things that are important right now.

Remus must agree with me because he gives me back control of our body, and it's a weird feeling Vilkas out when he's not trying to keep himself nonthreatening. The air is heavy with his dominance, and it has my brows pulling high on my forehead.

"If only you were good at actually fighting."

" Ass, " Vilkas growls, the dominance thickening, making me have to work to keep my instincts from wanting to submit.

I've never felt it before, and it's strange to feel it now. I don't like it. Remus doesn't mind it because he and Vilkas seemed to be on level with one another, but I'm definitely weaker than Jace's beast. Jace's blue eyes take over the golden ones, and he sits up in the backseat.

"You ready to go now?"

I sigh because I really don't have a choice now. "Fine, but you stay in the car."

"Getaway driver, nice," Jace says, smirking before pulling his phone out and swiping through some messages.

I grumble, unhappy with this turn of events, but it's not like I'm going to be able to get him out of the car.

If Sam or Henry tries to give me shit for this, I'll just have Vilkas come out and show them that he's actually powerful. They won't just take me at my word for it, I already know that much for sure.

We drive in silence, making our way to Kyle's apartment building.

He made a post earlier that he was going out tonight to drink away all the problems this "stupid bitch omega" was giving him.

The comments were a mixture of support and calling him out on being a piece of shit.

I'm just hoping he makes good on his word of going out.

We'll follow him around a bit until he's drunk and then jump him.

Probably for the best if it looks like a mugging or something gone wrong.

Back on the murder mission.

Do not give it a cutesy nickname.

Murder mission isn't cutesy. It's manly. Our manly murder mission.

Alliteration doesn't make something sound cool.

Says you.

"Hey, so how pissed are you at the guy who released that video of Hayley at the gym?" Jace asks, ending the stupid argument Remus and I are having.