Page 6 of Beta and the Beast (Beastverse #2)

Henry

H op on me anytime? I all but snarl the words in my head at Romulus, who's still laughing about the whole stupid fight that happened.

She was into it.

I rub my temples, trying to keep myself from growling at Romulus.

It won't help this dinner go any better.

Not that there's much chance of it going well since Sarah is sitting across from us, smelling like temptation and making Romulus want to come out and growl at her like she's an omega eager to please us.

Everyone else at the table is friendly enough.

Fenrir hates me, though I don't blame him.

Romulus came out, staked a claim on his sister, and then made some sexual comments to her.

I'm sure he's mad as hell at me. I think any alpha with a sister he gives a single fuck about would be pissed at me.

At least Lucas is getting a kick out of this whole thing.

I don't think he's stopped smiling or chuckling at my misfortune since he figured out why Romulus was being such an ass.

"So, how do you know Henry?" Lucas asks.

I narrow my eyes at him as I drop my hand from rubbing my temples. Sam and Fenrir are in some heated whisper-growling argument, probably about me. But they're more focused on that than Lucas trying to pry where he doesn't need to.

Sarah's cheeks tint pink as she looks up at Lucas and snarls. It's cute and proof that she grew up with two older alpha brothers. She can give as good as she can take, I'm sure. Especially considering how fast and efficiently she took down Fenrir earlier.

Want her to try it on me. I'll play rough with her. She wants it. Needs it, probably.

I grind my teeth together to try to ignore Romulus. He's thinking fully with our dick right now, and he won't be happy until we're inside his latest obsession.

His growl is loud inside of me, so loud that a little bit of it slips out. Only one obsession. One. Her. Ours. Mine. No others.

Lucas flicks his gaze over to me, checking to make sure Romulus isn't about to come out and make family dinner even more awkward.

If he thought for a second he was, Remi would be out and dragging us back to the car.

Where Romulus is more so focused on fucking any and everything, Remi is more prone to dealing with things with his fists. It's why he's such a good fighter.

Sarah, who somehow looks beautiful even when she's scowling at me, answers Lucas's question and brings our attention fully to her. "I own the coffee shop next door to Henry's new bakery."

"Oh, well, isn't that nice?" Lucas says, a smile tugging further up his lips. "You two will get to work next door to each other for a while, then? Nowhere's safer than with my brother."

Lucas is laying it on thick, but he's always been able to read me easily. If Romulus and I are this twisted up about a beta, she's a pretty special beta.

Of course, she's special. She's ours. Now, we need her to see that.

Sarah lets out a little huff of a laugh that holds no humor.

The omegas watch our interaction with keen interest. I'm sure they can smell the lust rolling off me for this little beta.

Everyone here, except for Sarah, can probably smell it.

It's frustrating because I'm almost positive she wants nothing to do with me. At least not in that way.

"Henry is going to ruin my business, so no, I don't think it's very safe to be near him," Sarah states plainly, as if it isn't ripping my heart to shreds.

Romulus is in our head, growling, snarling, biting his teeth at me to fix it. Make it better. Make her trust us.

"Henry isn't ruining your business." Sam sighs with exasperation as he and Fenrir turn to the rest of us now that they're done arguing. "An alpha business was moving in next door, no matter what. This way, you at least know the alphas won't hurt you."

Fenrir's eyes flash something deadly as he pins me with his gaze. His growl is low and menacing, a constant sound behind the rest of our chatter.

"I had four customers today, Sam!" Sarah exclaims, pushing away from the table and grabbing her empty plate and half-full beer bottle. "Four. I can't pay my bills with four customers."

"It's just during the transition," Sam says, his voice hopeful. I wish I could be just as optimistic, but there's a lead weight in my stomach telling me this might ruin Sarah's business, and if it does, she'll blame it all on me.

"How much do you think you were outside?" Sarah turns her eyes to me, an accusation in them that has Romulus itching under the surface of our skin. He doesn't want her to accuse us of hurting her, not without knowing what we can do to make it better.

"I had the doors propped open all day." I settle back in my chair, trying to keep Romulus calm as I cross my arms over my chest. "Anyone walking by probably scented me. I'll have them closed up the rest of the week as much as I can to help contain my scent."

"You think all of my beta customers scented you and didn't come into their usual coffee shop because of that?" Sarah arches a brow at me as she questions my excuse. "Really, that's what you're going with?"

"You scented me," I counter, watching the pink rise higher on her cheeks because she can't deny she smelled me all day. I was pumping the bakery full of pheromones. Knowing she was next door with her cheap filtration unit made it hard not to try to overpower it with too many pheromones.

"I'm a beta," she tells me as though I'm unaware. "If I was scenting you, then you were purposefully being an ass about it."

"I was, and I'm sorry." I owe her nothing but the truth, especially if Romulus is serious about wanting her for more than just a fling.

Forever. Her little beta body quivering and aching underneath us for the rest of her life. I've never wanted anyone so bad. I need her. Need her now. Follow her inside.

Inside? I shake my head to get Romulus out of it and watch as Sarah walks away from us, her pert beta ass swaying left and right with each step.

She's doing it on purpose, and I don't even care because I get to stare at it.

Or, I get to stare at it until Sam and Lucas clear their throats as Lilah runs her hands over Fenrir's arm, the arm attached to his hand that's holding a knife.

I stand from the table, forcing the other alphas to do the same because they all think I'm about to do something stupid.

Do it. She's worth it. Run inside, lock us in, mate her, claim her, bite her.

"I'd offer to help with the dishes, but I think Lucas and I should get going," I say through gritted teeth as Romulus thinks more and more about how good Sarah will look when our teeth mark her neck.

I'm going to bite her so high. No covering it. No denying she's a special little beta.

Fenrir snarls again, his lips pulling back, his nose scrunching. If not for his omega running her hands over his arm, over his chest, he'd be on me already. Stupid Romulus and his stupid, lousy decision-making skills.

I have to work next door to Sarah for the foreseeable future—at least I do if Sam doesn't decide he no longer wants me as his business partner.

Technically, I own fifty percent of the Young Alpha Center, but if Sam wants me to remove myself from the bakery, I will.

I wouldn't give up on all of it, though.

No, I believe in this too much. I believe in the good we can do for these young alphas and for everyone they come into contact with.

"I'll see you out," Sam says. He doesn't look like he wants to murder me, but he doesn't look like he's happy with me, either. I can't say I blame him. Most alphas who show interest in a beta do it for the short term. A beast interested in a beta is usually only interested in one thing.

Actually, I don't think I've ever known a beast to care about fucking anything that wasn't an omega, but then again, I only know Romulus and Remus.

I kind of know Fenrir now, but I'm not about to ask him if he's ever been interested in a beta.

He'd be likely to rip my throat out, and Sarah isn't out here to protect me.

Lucas gives me an annoying smirk because he knows how badly Romulus and I have stepped in it now by wanting to get involved with a beta with two alpha brothers.

One of which has a beast, and the other is my business partner.

Nothing good comes of Romulus's newfound infatuation with Sarah, nothing good at all.

Sam doesn't say anything as we round the back of the house and go through the side gate to the front yard and driveway. No, he waits until we get to the car, and Lucas slides into the driver's side before clearing his throat.

"What's going on?" Sam's question is attempting not to be demanding, but his growl raises Romulus's hackles. Not enough to fight him. It would take a lot more than that to get Romulus to want to fight anyone, but it's enough for a warning growl to bubble up.

We're still technically higher in the hierarchy of things than Sam is, but that doesn't mean we want to make him submit. Honestly, it only strains our relationship more if we start demanding he treat us a certain way. It's how I keep the growl from growing loud in my chest.

"Nothing's going on," I say, my voice a little rougher than I want it to be, but there's no bark in it and no growl, so I'll count it as a win. "At least nothing has or will happen."

Sam glowers at me but manages to keep his displeasure in a form other than a growl.

His arms fold over his chest as he scans me up and down, sizing me up.

I keep my hands loose by my sides and try not to look like a threat.

I'm in a sweater, which should help with the non-threatening aspect.

He finishes his study before frowning harder.

"Sarah does whatever she wants. There's nothing Scott or I or any other alpha can do to stop her." Sam's eyes narrow a fraction further. "That won't change."

His jaw ticks back and forth, and I think he has more to say, but he just stares at me, almost daring me to contradict his words.

No arguments from me. I like the little beta being feisty. Gives me a reason to tame her. Soften her barbs with my tongue and my cock.

I groan at the appeal of Sarah mouthing off to us, not submitting to us, so we can enjoy making her do those things. It's not something we need to think about, especially when Sam is still staring at us and waiting for some kind of answer.

"We have no reason to stop her from being herself," I tell him. "Neither of us does. I promise you, we don't want to squash who she is. If anything, it's what's drawn Romulus to her."

Sam's lips press into a hard line at the admission that Romulus wants her. I'm sure having that suspicion confirmed won't do any good to help alleviate his fears.

"I have control over my beast," I tell him, leveling him with a sincere look.

I need him to remember I'm still the same man he interviewed multiple times, the same person he's had dinners with and stayed the night at my old house before Lucas and I moved here.

He knows me, and he knows Romulus. Just because Romulus is interested in his sister doesn't mean we've changed.

"I'm sure you do," Sam mutters before shaking his head. "Sarah's never shown any interest in alphas. I doubt you'll be the one to change her mind."

Romulus comes out before I can stop him, all teeth bared, snarling loudly in the air.

"Calm down," Sam says. "I'm not saying you can't attempt to date her. I'm saying that when she denies your advances, you continue working with me like nothing happened."

" And if she doesn't deny me? " Romulus asks.

Sam laughs, a small chuckle at first before it grows at how ridiculous he thinks Romulus's question is. It would make him more upset if his laugh weren't so genuine. It makes Romulus want to shrink back inside of me in embarrassment.

"If she doesn't reject you, then we all know hell has frozen over." Sam wipes at his eyes to make the laugh that much more of a jab at us. It works, though. Romulus is tucked back into our mind, sulking, while I'm left to say goodbye to Sam after all of that laughing at our predicament.

"Nothing changes if she rejects him," I tell Sam, rubbing the back of my neck. It's burning up, so I'm sure my face is scarlet.

"And when she rejects you?"

I have to bite back my growl at that question. This whole time, I've been fine with pinning all the blame of our infatuation on Romulus. I don't want anyone to think I might be just as rattled by the little beta, even if I am.

"Nothing changes," I say through gritted teeth.

Sam stares at me for a moment longer before dipping his head in a single nod. He lifts his hand goodbye to Lucas, then heads back to the backyard to be with his family.

I suck in a deep breath before opening the car door. I already know Lucas is going to have some smartass thing to say, and I need to be able to take it. I'm not even fully in the seat before he opens his mouth.

"A fucking beta?" he asks, throwing his head back in a laugh.

Romulus is taking control of our body as soon as he hears the tone Lucas is using when talking about our beta. Remi takes over Lucas's body for a fraction of a second, reminding Romulus he doesn't want to fight him, not even when they're messing with us.

"I figured you for the settling-down type. I just never imagined it being a beta." Lucas shakes his head one more time to get the last of his laugh out before backing out of the driveway.

I give his words time to hang in the air around us, letting them settle over me and trying to decipher if that's what I want. Do I want to settle down with Sarah and have her be the only one for the rest of my life?

Yes, idiot. What did you think I meant when I called her ours?