Page 29 of A Second Chance for the Beta

“Aryanna…” I pause. “I mean, Beta Aryanna helped me.” She is the alpha’s second beta and works together with Dante. They are besties, all three of them, it seems, the most unlikely trio in history.

“No need to be so formal.” Aryanna grins while sipping at her coffee. “I told you, you don’t need to call me by my title.”

Aryanna is cool, almost as cool as Ella. She has the craziest hairstyles and constantly changes her hair color. Her mate is a she-wolf, which is fucking amazing. I thought werewolves were all about breeding and getting heirs and alike, but here are two women sharing a mate bond. Two lesbian queens. They slay!

“I like your hair,” Ella says with a smile as she sits down with her food.

“I like yours too,” I retort, because it’s true. She has a pixie cut and pulls it off like a queen.

“What do you think, D?” Ella asks Dante.

Dante and Alpha Liam exchange a gaze of surprise. “The new hair—” Dante says.

“It looks good,” the alpha says.

The luna laughs. “You two didn’t notice, did you?”

Ella grins. “I swear I could dye my hair neon-green and get a buzz cut, and Dante wouldn’t notice.”

“That’s because you are always beautiful,” Dante says, and he and Ella instantly have that mushy heart-in-their-eyes expression. He kisses her hand, and I admit, it’s kind of cute. Dante turns to look at me. “And Charlotte is always beautiful too.”

Okay, that was nice! “So, what if I would get green hair?” I say, just to test him.

“Hair color doesn’t shock me,” he says. “I’m used to Ari. When she was in middle school, she shaved parts of her head, then colored the remainder of her hair pink and sprayed it with glitter every day.”

“Right.” Alpha Liam chuckles. “I completely forgot that.”

“My mother almost had a heart attack, but I looked slamming,” Aryanna says with a grin.

Her mate, Jazz, chuckles. “I’m sure you did. But I want photos, or it didn’t happen.”

Ari grins. “We had a family get-together around that time, so there is a photo. It’s hilarious because my mom is still pissed, and you see it, while my uncle, who is as crazy as I am, couldn’t care less.”

“So, Charlie”—Luna Annalise turns to me—“Ella said you still need some things for school.”

“Does the pack organize these?” I ask.

“The pack provides all the necessities for school,” she explains. “Everything extra the parents have to organize.”

“I thought we could go shopping for the extra stuff,” Ella offers. “You might need more clothes and other things.”

I’ve never liked shopping, but then I never had the chance to do it with a relative. So, this could be fun. “Would be awesome.” I can see her turning to Dante, probably to ask him to come along. “Can we make this a girls-only thing?” I blurt out.

Ella blinks. I’m not sure if she noticed my reaction. Her eyes gloss over momentarily, but she just nods with a smile. “Yes, let’s go together.”

“Just the both of us?” I push.

She nods. “Sure! I thought maybe you’d want Annie or Aryanna to join so it wouldn’t be too boring.”

I’m not sure how to tell her that I don’t need the luna or Aryanna with us.

The luna intervenes herself which surprises me. “I would have to decline anyway,” she says. “Something came up and I need to attend.”

“Me too,” Aryanna says.

“Really?” the alpha asks. “Is there a meeting scheduled? I hope I didn’t forget.”

Luna Annalise looks a bit annoyed for a split second, then she just smiles. “Luna duties, love.”