Page 36 of Beta and the Beast (Beastverse #2)

Jace wanted to go inside and check on Sarah the day I bit her after he saw the haunted look on my face and realized I'd hurt her.

Thankfully, Sam was better able to convince Vilkas and Jace that Sarah needed the omegas more than she needed him, but he was sure she'd be grateful to know how much he cared.

"If you were grown, that wouldn't fly," I say, grabbing the parmesan off the counter and grating it.

Romulus doesn't even care how much of a claim Jace is staking on our beta.

He's not doing it in a romantic sense, but in a pack sense.

Not that we pack up much anymore, but some alphas still feel the call.

Being kicked out of his home, where he had a family to protect and watch over, probably hurt him even more based on how much pack instinct he has.

" Don't need to be grown to kick– " Vilkas starts to threaten Romulus and me, probably because of the dark bruising poking out from underneath Sarah's bandages.

I appreciate that he cares for her, but he can't just go around threatening other alphas, especially not ones that are stronger than him. That's how he ends up hurt or worse.

Romulus lets out a low growl, but lets me stay in control.

Jace shuts his mouth, being smart about keeping whatever comment he was about to make in his head.

It's not that I don't want him to care about Sarah if he's already decided he wants to watch out for her, protect her.

I won't say no to that, especially when there's a good chance he ends up living with me as soon as I hear back from the agency now that my paperwork is all sorted.

It's better that he gets along with my mate than if he didn't. Knowing his beast cares for her is a plus.

I just can't allow him to be disrespectful, which can get him in trouble with alphas stronger than him or beasts more volatile than Romulus.

"So, what are your plans for tonight?" Sarah asks no one in particular to change the subject.

"Eating dinner because Henry was kind enough to invite me, and then I think I'm going home to do laundry. I've been putting off folding everything for about three months now, but I think tonight might be the night.

"Sounds like a good time." Sarah laughs, turning her focus to Jace.

The tips of his ears are red, and his attention darts down to his lap. "I don't have any plans. I wasn't sure…"

"You're staying here tonight," Sarah says before he can get any more worried about where he'll sleep. "Same as before Henry and I mated."

"I don't want to keep you from your mate," Jace says quickly, his eyes going wide, his cheeks burning almost as bright as Sarah's when he says it.

Romulus is purring up a storm at the admission that Sarah is ours. He'll probably do that whenever anyone mentions it for the foreseeable future.

"I have a request sent in to house you in my apartment permanently, but until then, it's better if you stay here just until it goes through," I tell him, starting to plate the food.

"And you're not keeping him from anyone," Sarah tells him with a soft smile when he finally looks up. "It'll be an early night for me tonight since I need to be downstairs for the renovations."

"Oh, yeah, Lucas was asking us if we wouldn't mind helping this weekend," Jace says, earning him a curious glance from me as I pause my shredding of the cheese.

Why does Lucas know about my mate's plans for her coffee shop before me? Sure, he's helping her with the numbers and got her in contact with some people who can do security for it if she's opening it up to all dynamics, but still, I feel left out.

Jealous. Romulus mocks in our mind. You are jealous, as you should be. Lucas and Remus are much stronger than we are. I was lucky enough to claim her before she realized that.

Okay, first of all, we claimed her.

I claimed her.

Second of all, she doesn't want Lucas and Remus.

Of course, she doesn't. She wants us, but you're still jealous, aren't you?

Okay, now that it's clear he's just trying to bother me, I can pay more attention to the conversation around me.

I've only missed a bit, but they're done talking about it by the time I'm listening.

They made a plan to meet up this weekend to paint, which I completely missed, and now the conversation is moving on to other things.

"I was thinking about asking Lucas to train me," Jace says, more so blurting it out like he had to talk himself into it and knew that if he didn't say it out right that second, then it was never going to come out.

"Train you for what?" Hazel asks while I start passing out plates of food.

Sarah moves around the kitchen, grabbing utensils and salt and pepper before setting them all out on the counter we use as her dining room table. There are only three stools, so I'll stand.

"I want to fight," Jace says, sounding more confident.

I'm not surprised by him wanting to fight.

Many beasts need some sort of outlet for their anger or their lust. Romulus and I have been lucky that he's never been too controlled by either emotion, but that's not the case for a lot of beasts.

Remus is ruled by his anger and his need to control and fight.

It's what makes him so good at what he does, but it also means Lucas relies heavily on his job to keep Remus satisfied and not cause issues.

"Are you sure you want to fight?" Sarah asks as she takes the stool next to Jace. "There are so many jobs out there for alphas. Unless Vilkas is just an angry beast, fighting isn't all there is."

"It's just," Jace takes a deep breath, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'd like to start practicing now so when I'm old enough, I can compete. Maybe I like it, maybe I don't, but a job is a job, and fighting might be something Vilkas is good at."

I don't mention how his need to be part of a pack might interfere. If Vilkas is already showing signs of wanting to be part of a group and all that entails, he's not built for fighting. But I'm not about to stomp all over Jace's plans.

"If Lucas is helping with the renovations, you can talk to him about it then.

" I watch how everyone reacts to that statement, mainly because I still don't know what I missed when arguing with Romulus earlier.

No one has any reaction at all, which means that there's a good chance Lucas will be there this weekend to help Sarah with the painting they planned without me, and I haven't been invited at all.

Jealous.

"I'm just saying there's other work you can do," Sarah says, her lips flattening out.

It's easy enough for her to say since she's a beta and isn't controlled by some base desire. Some beasts need outlets, and from the look on her face, she's thinking about the only other beast she knows and what his job is.

I hold back my laugh, but it comes out like a snort.

Her elbow jabs into me, telling me to shut it, but that only makes me want to laugh more.

There's no way she'll bring up Scott and Fenrir's job, even if they had to go to medical school to get it.

Not that most alphas who work in heat clinics as the physical stimulation have to, but Scott's a whole doctor to go along with the other half of what his job was before he mated Lilah.

"Yeah, even if you don't want to go to school, because same," Hazel says with a wink at me as I bristle a bit at the idea of Jace not even thinking about school. "There are all kinds of jobs. Gabe, Henry's cousin, has a construction company. I'm sure he could get you on there."

Jace chews on his lower lip as he listens to what everyone has to say, but I can see the determination in his eyes.

There's a good chance he does end up training with Lucas, and a good chance he hates it, too.

But he'll never know until he tries, and I'm not about to tell him he's not allowed to try for something that might help him in life.

A beast needs a purpose. If fighting is what they want right now, I have a good way of making that happen.

"Alright, I'll talk with Lucas about training you, but it'll be on his schedule.

You tell me or him if you don't want to do it anymore, but only if it's because you don't want to, not because you get beat or you don't think you're any good," I say, making sure Jace gives me a nod before changing the subject.

"Now, what are the plans for this weekend and the shop?" I ask, letting Romulus take over to add his question. " And why don't we know about it? "