Beta

by Edugardo Gilbert X

  "So, Rachel," Alexa started, "Are you planning on sticking around for long?"

  I could hear the judgement in her tone and it was exactly what I had feared. Besides me, the other high ranking wives were a little snobby and judgmental. They never treated me that way since I was Titus's mate, not simply his wife. I was married and mated to the second highest wolf in the pack and they wouldn't dare speak against me out of fear and respect.

  "I think so. I mean, I want to."

  Another woman, Erin, jumped in the conversation, "So tell us...how is Alpha?" She asked suggestively.

  I rolled my eyes but continued to cut my peppers.

  Rachel shrugged, "He seems okay. A little stressed out."

  Oh God. She was so naive. I just prayed these woman didn't hassle her too much.

  They all laughed and Erin shook her head.

  "No, sweetheart, I meant in bed."

  Rachel's cheeks burned a red almost the color of her hair and I instantly felt bad for her.

  "Leave her alone," I said, annoyed.

  "Oh, come on, Liz. We're just having some girl talk," Alexa said lightly.

  "So?" Erin prompted Rachel to respond.

  "I-I don't know. I haven't been with him," she said quietly.

  Erin laughed, "Seriously? Why else would he keep you around?"

  I had had just about enough of this shit. I couldn't stand by while these bitches preyed on some innocent girl just because they were jealous she had caught Zac's eye.

  "Seriously, back off," I said firmly to Erin as I continued to cut.

  I could practically feel her eyes roll at my comment.

  "Well it's true," Erin said.

  I put my knife down and turned to her, "You're just jealous because he dumped you. Leave her alone."

  She scoffed, "You are seriously a drag lately."

  I turned back to my vegetables and the room fell into a tense silence. They needed to be put in their place. I was sick of them treating new girls like shit because they thought they were better. These women could be vicious and someone had to stand up to them.

  ********

  Zac walked in the kitchen with a light smile on his face but his smile was quickly replaced by a frown when he felt the tension. None of us were talking and Rachel still looked slightly embarrassed by Erin's comments. If those women knew what Rachel had been through in her life they wouldn't be making comments like that to her. At least, I hope they wouldn't.

  "Everything alright in here?" He asked Rachel cautiously.

  She smiled weakly at him and nodded.

  He looked to me for an answer but if Rachel wasn't going to tell him what happened then I wouldn't either.

  "Dinner will be ready soon," I said with a light smile.

  Zac wasn't stupid. He knew something happened but if we weren't going to tell him he probably assumed it wasn't very important. He went to the fridge and grabbed a few beers before tossing Rachel a look crossed between worry and appreciation. I loved that his concern and want for her was so clearly displayed because it only solidified my belief that he honestly cared for her.

  A deafening, high pitched whistle cut through the air. I clutched my ears in agony but it did nothing to help. The sound was so intense, I felt blood leaking on my fingers as I fell to my knees. The other women in the room were writhing on the ground, screaming in pain. The bottles of beer had shattered in Zac's hands. I couldn't tell if his ears were bleeding or if it was his hands but either way, he was losing a lot of blood.

  I managed to crawl over to him and pull his hands off his ears. It hurt even worse to remove my hands from my ears but I had to make sure he hadn't cut anything too deeply.

  I caught sight of Titus out of the corner of my eye, staggering into the kitchen. He fell to his knees next to me but I knew he couldn't help me. We were all at the mercy of this sound.

  Zac's cuts weren't too deep but mixed with the blood from his ears, it looked worse than it actually was. I pulled one of the dish towels down and wrapped his cut hand to stop the bleeding.

  Titus gripped my head and covered my ears by pulling me against his chest. I held onto his arm, desperately awaiting a moment of silence but the torture continued.

  My eyes started to burn and water and my vision started to blur. What the hell was going on?

  Tiny sparkles floated in the air and I realized they were silver flakes. Jesus we were inhaling silver! I pushed Titus off of me and got to my feet, grabbing a roll of paper towel and threw them in the sink while trying to hold my breath. I turned the water on full blast and soaked the roll through. I covered my mouth with one and hurried to Titus to cover his mouth and nose then moved on to Zac and the rest.

  The screeching was unbearable and my eyes burned like a lighter was being held to them. Through it all, I still caught a scent that didn't belong. A scent I knew too well.

  Andre crouched in front of me and Titus with a sinister grin plastered on his face.

  "Surprised to see me, ma chèrie?" He asked smoothly.

  His dark hair fell over his inhuman, perfect, features as he leaned to talk to me. He was just as I last saw him; no one would ever know I almost beheaded him just a few days ago.

  I felt Titus's chest rumble with a low warning growl. I was certain he couldn't manage more than that through the intense pain. If he could have, Andre would have been dead already.

  "Calm down, mutt. She won't suffer much," Andre said.

  Titus tried to push me behind him but I could tell the silver in the air was weakening him as quickly as it weakened me. My skin and eyes burned horribly and I knew everyone else was in as much pain.

  "Come along, Elizabeth," Andre prompted cheerfully.

  He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet roughly. I couldn't stop the cry of pain that escaped my lips. His cool touch seemed to set the silver further in my skin, searing my flesh.

  Titus wanted to shift. I could feel it but if he shifted, he wouldn't be able to stop from breathing in the silver. He would die slowly and painfully. I prayed he didn't let his temper get away from him and accidentally shift.

  Titus pushed to his feet and lunged at Andre but in his weakened state, he was no match for the vampire. Andre tossed him across the kitchen, slamming him into the giant steel fridge. The steel dented with the force of Titus's solid body but he seemed okay. I knew it would take a lot more than that to hurt Titus.

  Andre suddenly looked down at me in disgust. He touched my stomach but quickly drew his hand back.

  "You're pregnant," he accused.

  Oh shit. If he knew...he would kill the baby.

  "That dog impregnated you," he fumed. His eyes turned black, not even a hint of white in the at all.

  "Please," I begged.

  "Please what? Don't hurt that thing growing inside you?" He demanded.

  I didn't know what to say. I knew it didn't matter what I said. Anything would set him off because it was Titus's child. I was better off not saying anything. I feared speaking would only make him kill the baby and Titus. I needed to save at least one of them.

  "It is an abomination, Elizabeth. You were designed to carry the perfect being and you have desecrated your body with this miscreant."

  "Please, just don't hurt-"

  "I will do as I please," he looked over his shoulder, "Kill him."

  "No!" I cried out in an attempt to stop the vampire approaching Titus.

  "No! I'll do anything you want, Master! Anything! I swear!" I begged.

  Thank God my pleading caught his attention.

  "Anything?" He asked with a sly smile.

  "Just don't hurt him."

  "Interesting," he mused, "Why don't we give your soon-to-be ex husband a preview of what your life will be like after today?"

  I watched as the silver in the air started to settle to the floor. It was still in the air but not nearly as bad. If I could just buy a couple minutes, everyone could shift and we would be fine.

  "No," Titus growled.

  "I thin
k it is an excellent idea. On your knees, Elizabeth."

  How much time would I need for the silver to settle? Would I really have to do this or would we be able to shift before. Granted, there were far more horrific things he could make me do but I knew Titus would never look at me the same way after seeing me do something only Titus and I shared.

  I hesitated but Andre didn't miss a beat. He saw the hesitation and thrived on it. He gripped my shoulders and forced me to my knees. I looked to Titus for help but he was struggling to get up.

  The roar of Andre's zipper would haunt me forever. How had he taken something so special that I had only ever wanted Titus to experience and turn it into something so degrading and disgusting?

  My mind was reeling with thoughts of how this would affect Titus. How could he ever let me do this for him again after seeing me with Andre? How could I ever want to do this for Titus again?

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zac shift and take down one of the vampires; Titus quickly followed and went for Andre again. This time, Andre wasn't expecting it an Titus was able to take him to the floor. I quickly shifted and went for Andre to help Titus.

  Before I knew it, an all out war had broken out in the kitchen but I didn't know where Christian was. I didn't hear him anywhere and I hadn't seen him since I sent him to play with Emily. I prayed nothing had happened to him. I didn't know what I would do if he was harmed in any fashion. But Andre didn't want Christian. He couldn't care less about Christian because he wasn't biologically mine and he had nothin against Titus.

  Titus sank his teeth into Andre's neck as I went for the other side. Together, we ripped him apart but I knew he wasn't dead yet. At least he was incapacitated so we could handle the rest of the vampires.

  Looking around the room, it seemed the rest had already been handled.

  I heard a whimper upstairs and instantly took off in the direction of the sound. It wasn't Christian but it might have been Emily and I hoped Christian was with her.

  I stalked through the halls upstairs, waiting to hear or smell something. I picked up on a scent and nudged open a closet door to see Christian standing in front of Emily as she cried silently. I couldn't have been more proud of him in that moment. The way he stood in front of her, protected her, told me he was going to be an amazing mate to someone, someday.

  I nudged his stomach and he instantly wrapped his arms around my neck, burying his face in my fur. I would have hugged him back if I could but I didn't want to shift back in front of the kids. They weren't as mature as the adults when it came to nudity because they weren't used to shifting.

  Christian released me and turned to grab me a sheet. He set it in front of me and turned around, wrapping his arms around Emily to cover her. If I was able to smile in this form, I would have.

  I quickly shifted back and wrapped the sheet around my bare body.

  "Can you stay up here for just a little longer?" I asked Christian.

  "Yes, Momma."

  "Thank you. You were so brave, Christian."

  "I did what Dad said and took Emily up here," he said proudly.

  "You did a great job," I said as I cupped his cheek. I leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his head.

  I left them upstairs to go back downstairs and assess the situation.

  There was blood everywhere. I wasn't sure if there was more vampire or wolf blood but it looked like a massacre.

  "Is anyone hurt?" I asked Brent.

  "Minor injuries. I think Zac had it the worst but he's okay."

  I nodded and ventured further into the kitchen to see Titus already in a pair of mesh shorts, draining the vampires of their blood. I saw Andre's body, a dark ash color from being drained. A sense of relief flooded my body, finally knowing it was all over.

  Andre was dead. He would never come after me again.

  Titus noticed me and instantly left what he was doing to come over and envelope me in a tight hug. He held me as if his life depended on it and I knew I held onto him with the same intensity.

  "It's over," he assured me.

  I nodded, "I know. Thank you."

  "Why are you thanking me?"

  "You helped me kill him. You helped me end this."

  He pulled away slightly and half smiled at me. I stood on my tip toes and kissed him deeply, completely content with him.

  THE END