Page 33 of A Second Chance for the Beta

“Unfortunately, that means she shouldn’t leave the pack grounds unsupervised, aside from going to school,” Dante adds, worried.

“She won’t like to hear that, but yes, for a while she needs to lie low. We need to up the security around school,” I say. Last year there was a kidnapping incident in school. Ever since then, the surrounding packs have upped the security in general. That’s a common interest. School is a safe place now, but there are always some blind spots.

“Maybe we could have her homeschooled?” Dante adds, his nervousness growing. “We can’t put her in danger.”

I shake my head. “Believe me, I want nothing more than to keep her here with us, but it won’t work. She is very similar to me, and if we don’t let her go to school and give her the chance to be away from us for a couple of hours a day, she will feel imprisoned. And if she feels imprisoned, she will do stupid things. I get the danger, I really do, and I’m terrified, but I think preventing her from going to school will only make it worse.”

“I will talk to my twin brothers,” Liam adds. “I’m with Ella on this. She needs normality, or she will lash out in one way or another. Dario and Felix will keep an eye on her. I think they are old enough to take over some tasks to prove themselves. They are eager to do something for their pack anyway.”

“Good,” I say, taking Dante’s hand. He looks torn but eventually nods. “Let’s go to the others, or they will get suspicious.”

When we step back into the living room, Charlie is chatting with Dave. She seems to have taken a liking to him like everyone does. “So, the goddess also pairs same-sex couples,” she concludes. “Aryanna and Jazz are mates too. First, I thought it might be a reproductive thing with mates, but it seems to go so much deeper.”

“It is,” Annie reassures her before explaining how the mate bond works.

Meanwhile, Raphael is flustered and grumbly as usual. He is really sweet, though. I guess Charlie is right, and he is a cinnamon roll. I’m still lingering on my thoughts when I notice a huge dog snuggled against Charlie.

“Oh, for goddess’ sake, Dave,” I groan. “You brought Sugar!?” I frown at him. “You are seriously letting my niece pet that demon pup?”

“Sugar is very kind,” Dave argues. “Well, most of the time he is! And Stella cast a spell on him, remember? He is not going to eat anyone from the pack.”

Charlie looks up in interest. “Demon dog?” she asks, intrigued.

Yeah, she is totally like me. The mention of danger seems to be more appealing to her than anything else.

“He might or might not have swallowed a bunch of werewolves a while ago,” Dave explains to her. “But they were attacking Raffy and me, right, Raffy?”

Raphael grumbles a bit. “Yes,” he says.

Charlie wipes her hands clean. “He is cool, but he is a slobbering mess.”

“Yeah, awesome how he is drooling all over my carpet,” I deadpan.

“I have insurance, don’t worry,” Dave says. “Just let it get cleaned.”

“You have insurance against dog slobber?”

Dave shrugs and nods, making us all laugh.

*CHARLIE*

The day was fairly pleasant. Being out with Ella was fucking awesome. The evening was good, too, until the alpha told me about these tattoo guys and how they are mercenaries, probably spying on me and out to hurt me.

Apparently, it’s not safe for me to be anywhere else than in the pack.

Ella shows me a picture of them and how they were in England when Dante and Ella came for me.

Fuck them. I won’t let these losers ruin my life. I’ve survived well up to now without watching every one of my steps. Dante and Ella are worried over nothing. Once a survivor, always a survivor. They are over the top worried, though, Dante in particular. He is always concerned about me, constantly. It’s super-annoying.

But this time, he has that really serious expression on his face. It’s what I call his beta personality. It’s when he is all business all of a sudden.

It’s cute and all that they are worried, but it’s annoying as fuck, and I can watch out for myself. It’s not like anyone was there to watch out for me the first fifteen years of my life. Why do I need that now?

I grab my new phone and skim through it. Ella has uploaded pictures and videos from Mom to the cloud. She told me we could watch them together, but I didn’t want to.

I want to be alone when I see her for the first time.

For a moment, I hesitate before clicking on the first video. It’s a young woman leaving the hospital with something hidden beneath her jacket. Lorenzo is picking her up. I swallow thickly. That’s her… it’s her…and the bundle she is hiding beneath her jacket, it’s me. The next video shows her twirling around; she is much younger in it and wears a sunflower dress.