Page 2 of Beta and the Beast (Beastverse #2)

Henry

I don't think I've ever woken up this early in my life. Have I stayed up until four a.m. during college? Yeah, but there's something different about staying up that late and being forced to wake up that early.

Should be asleep. Romulus grumbles in our shared mind.

He's not wrong, either. We should be sleeping for four more hours, but we promised Sam we'd see his sister's shop this morning to get the measurements for the contractors to get the new filtration systems in place.

I didn't think about her owning a beta-only coffee shop and that it might impact when I could speak with her for the first time.

I want to make a good impression. She's Sam's little sister, and I need Sam to trust me as much as possible since I'm taking over most of the Young Alpha Center while he's busy opening the free clinic.

Not to mention, I'm about to be near his sister every single day, and even if alphas are rude to everyone else in their lives, they usually care about their family.

"Just thirty minutes, and we can go back home and take a long nap," I say out loud as we walk down the sidewalk.

When we moved here a few weeks ago, Lucas and I purchased an apartment in the city. It's close to the gym he trains at, the Young Alpha Center, and the bakery. I don't even need a car or to take public transport so long as I don't mind walking a little bit.

Still too early .

Take a nap, then.

And leave you defenseless? You look like a dork. Perfect pickings for a stronger alpha. No, you need me.

I suck in a long inhale and nudge my glasses up my nose so I can pinch the bridge. Romulus would have us walking around shirtless in grey sweatpants all the time if he had his way. Thankfully, I'm in control most of the time and make sure we dress in the least threatening way possible.

Not to mention, we're cozy. My sweater is a peach color today, but I have every pastel color of sweater. My khakis are ironed, and my loafers are filled with funny-sock-covered feet. If there were a diagram of the least threatening alpha, it'd be me. Maybe one day, it'll work.

It doesn't help things that I'm all but intruding on a beta safe space now that our bakery is a part of the building.

I'd feel bad about it if I didn't know that a dozen other alpha businesses were looking at the space for themselves before Sam stepped in and sold us and the young alphas to the landlord.

A group with a known mission statement to raise better behaved alphas or take a chance on one of the dozen or so other businesses? It's easy to see why the landlord chose us.

That doesn't mean the other tenants are happy about it, especially since most owners live in the apartments above their businesses.

That's why I offered to pay for better filtration systems in the businesses and the homes of the two properties on either side of the bakery.

I don't want anyone smelling our alpha pheromones while we're working.

The younger guys are learning to control themselves, but it doesn't take much for us to get a little overeager in coating the room with our pheromones, especially when you get so many of us together.

I turn onto the street with the bakery and smile a bit when I look at it.

The little strip it's a part of is quaint and friendly.

The coffee shop's wood siding is painted mint green, and the boutique next door is lavender.

The young alphas will hate that the colors are so soft, but they'll get over it.

With everything else we try to teach them, getting them to be okay working in a place that's pink and serving baked goods is going to be what they whine about the most. Thankfully, we've vetted the boys who want to work at the bakery, and they're good kids.

They're just having a rough go at it, either at home or at school.

We can help keep them from falling in with bad crowds and, hopefully, help them gain life skills that will help them be better than the men most of them are trying to escape.

It's still dark outside. The sun won't rise for at least another hour, but if this is what Sam's sister wants, it's what Sam's sister gets. I would say I understand, but I don't have a sister, let alone any beta family members.

My mom left as soon as she gave birth to Lucas and me, and my dad was more interested in work than anything else.

So, I've been around alphas my whole life.

I was just like the kids we help, except I also had too much money.

The only reason I didn't get into more trouble was Lucas was always there to kick mine and Romulus's ass.

Or, really, Remi was the one doing the ass-kicking.

Because you keep us weak. Lucas at least trains and works out. What do we do? None of that.

Do you want to start working out?

Romulus is silent for a moment and a moment more, and I realize he's not going to answer me.

He knows very well that neither of us likes working out.

Not that we need it to keep our physique.

We're not as strong or toned as other alphas, but we're nothing to sneeze at.

Instead of an eight-pack, we have a four, with a little extra padding that no omega has ever cared about.

They like lying on us more because we have a little extra instead of being all hard muscle.

Soft and sweater-clad. Every omega's dream.

Romulus growls in our mind and has me having to stop walking so I can focus all my attention on not laughing out loud.

I'm shaking my head and trying to come up with some sort of response to Romulus when the door to the little coffee shop opens, and for some reason, I've forgotten how to breathe.

I want that one.

And by that one, Romulus means the beautiful blonde beta scowling at us with her arms crossed over her chest and a rigid posture that tells us both she's already decided she doesn't like us.

I don't need her to like us. I need her under us.

And with that idiotic thought, I take my first breath and try not to adjust myself even though I'm starting to get hard.

Sarah, I'm assuming this is Sam's little sister, considering I don't know who else would be up this early in the coffee shop, is wrinkling her nose at me, but somehow keeping her scowl perfectly in place.

Her ire might hurt more, but I'm a good eight inches taller than her and too caught off guard by how beautiful her dark eyes are when she glares.

"Yeah, this is why I told my brother you needed to get here early. You're not even inside yet and already stinking the whole place up." Sarah shakes her head before swinging the door wide and tilting her head inside. "Let's get this over with."

She doesn't wait for me to respond or even introduce myself before heading back inside.

I catch the door before it closes. When I step inside and take a quick inhale to make sure no one else is scent-marking her space, I realize just how badly I'm trying to coat her entire existence in me.

I grab a chair from one of the tables and prop the door open, hoping it helps with some of the airflow.

"Sorry, we don't normally respond like this." I clear my throat as I finish talking and hope she asks me why I'm responding this way.

No, no, no. I do not want that even a little bit.

Liar.

"It's fine. My brother has a beast, and he's always making sure everyone can smell him." Sarah waves her hands around like she's trying to say it's not a big deal, but her tone and posture tell me she's even more pissed than she was when she first saw me this morning.

She ducks behind the counter and grabs a can of odor neutralizer. I know where this is going, but it doesn't help me keep Romulus's growl buried deep inside. Nope, a little bit of it slips out, and Sarah's eyes narrow accusingly as if we've harmed her.

"In my store, you spray down," she tells me, allowing no room for argument, and she won't get one from me.

Romulus might be gnashing his teeth and sulking about how his smell won't cling to her skin, but he's not out right now. He should never be out around Sarah. Not with the obsession that's already taking hold in our mind.

"Yes, ma'am." I give her what I hope is a charming smile as I take the odor neutralizer from her. Her lip twitches a little at my politeness, but I don't see it for long before removing my glasses and spraying the neutralizer over my body.

When I finish, Sarah looks a little more relaxed, and I'm pretty sure she has to look back up at me because her eyes are on other parts of my body that aren't my face.

Then again, it could be wishful thinking since I can't see very well without my glasses.

She's more of a pretty blob than anything else until I get them put back on.

"Sam told me you were here to check out the air filtration system in the coffee shop," Sarah says.

"The one in here and the one in your apartment." I look around the space to find where the main system is located. It should have all of the information I need about duct space and volume moved.

"You're not getting in my apartment," Sarah says, crossing her arms over her chest and giving me another scowl. Apparently, I've managed to lose all of her goodwill in the span of a few seconds.

"We can wait for one of your brothers to come over if you want," I tell her with a shrug.

I'm trying to do her a favor, and I also might want to see where she lives now that I've seen her and decided against all better judgment that I want her more than I've ever wanted anything in my life.

Sam said she's a beta.

She is.

I want her to be an omega. No, not any omega, my omega. Maybe she's a late bloomer. Growl at her and see if she perfumes for you.

I ignore Romulus and his deranged plans. There's no way Sarah is a late-blooming omega. The latest I've even heard of one presenting as one is twenty-two, and Sam said she was twenty-seven one of the times he was talking about his family.