Page 40 of A Second Chance for the Beta

She looks so nice. Wow, Austen is lucky to have such a mom. “You are Austen’s mother, right?” I ask her while she checks my ankle.

“Yes,” she looks at me in surprise before beaming a smile at me. “You must be Charlie! Austen told me he has a new friend.”

“Oh, that’s amazing.” Ella looks happy. “Austen is such a good kid. I didn’t know you befriended him.”

“It’s just been a few days,” I explain. “But I have hung out a bit with him, Gisela, and Ty.”

Dante sighs. “Ty? And she has already befriended the troublemaker.”

Ella elbows him before he can say anything more, but I’m curious as to what he means. He doesn’t look like he is going to explain it though, so I make a mental note to inquire later.

Nicole applies a cooling gel to my ankle before wrapping a bandage around it. “All done,” she says. “It’s just strained, dear. Make sure not to play too wild during the next few days.”

“Thank you!” I beam.

While Dante and Nicole chat a bit, I glance at the young woman who came with Nicole. She looks very shy and has kept to the background while watching Nicole.

Ella approaches her now. “How are you doing, Linda?” she asks softly.

“O…okay,” she stutters.

“Are you a doctor too?” I ask curiously.

“No.” She shakes her head. “I…I’m just training to be a nurse. Nicole helps me. She was here when the pack got freed and Alpha Liam took over.”

“Yes, ever since then we’ve become friends,” Nicole backs her up. “Linda just started her training and is doing very well.”

I notice how Linda has a mark on her neck, so she has a mate. She keeps subconsciously rubbing over it and scratches at her neck. Ella changes the subject and talks about an upcoming pack party, which slowly makes Linda more comfortable. Eventually, she and Nicole return home, leaving me completely curious.

“What’s with Linda?” I ask. “I don’t know how to say it. She is so nice, but she looked… hurt.”

“You noticed?” Ella says sadly. When I shrug, she sighs. “She went through a lot.”

I wait for her to say something else, but she remains quiet. To my surprise, Dante jumps in this time. “Linda was a pack member here before Alpha Liam took over. They didn’t have a good alpha.”

He looks at me insistently, like he wants me to understand something without words. I feel my heart clench slightly. Fuck, like Ella. Ella just told me once that the pack was crap before and that the alpha was a complete tool and abused his powers.

And I know he was the one who killed mom.

“I’m so sorry, Ella,” I whisper. “You lived in this terrible place too.”

Ella blinks at me before hugging me. “Don’t be! I’m in a wonderful place right now. And I have Dante and you. What else can a girl ask for?”

“Breakfast?” Dante offers.

I giggle. “He has a point.”

“He indeed has.” Ella sneaks her arms around Dante and kisses his cheek before ushering me to sit down. She doesn’t want me to help and instead rest my foot while she and Dante bring the plates to the table.

Breakfast is fun! Normally we eat in the dining hall of the packhouse, but because it’s my first school day, Dante and Ella wanted to do something more private for me.

When I’ve finished my food, and Ella and Dante clean the plates, she approaches me with a bright smile. “We got something for you.” She beams. “Show her, Dante!”

Dante looks equally excited as he hurries to fetch something. It’s a bag, not one of these lame backpacks everyone has, but a cool bag I can carry both over my shoulder but also on my back, and it has an owl on it. Again, not a lame childish design. It looks fucking amazing. There is also a pencil case with it and a whole set of Copic markers in all kinds of colors. They are so expensive; I can’t believe they got it for me! I love drawing comics, and they are perfect for it.

“And here,” Ella hands me a little box. “This is a joint present from Annie, Dave, Alpha Liam…” She pauses.

“Aryanna,” Dante adds. “And Jun.”