The Beta

by Ezra Dawn

  “Was there any sign that they knew we were on to them?”

  “No. There hasn’t been any signs of them scrambling to load everything up and disappear. I don’t think Carmine has realized we have this information yet. I’m thinking that he visits each lab at different times so it’s possible when the Russians raided the previous lab, they’d only just missed the bastard. Which means, we should have a bit of a window before he realizes that one has been destroyed. I’ve left some men behind at each location to keep an eye out just in case something changes.”

  “Then we need to move quickly before he does realize and puts everyone on alert.”

  “I agree.”

  “So, here’s what we’ll do. I’ll have you brief the other teams on the guard situation and what they should watch out for and then we’ll move on the labs.”

  “What’s the timeline?”

  “I want you and your team to get some rest so, let’s shoot for the day after tomorrow.”

  Kuro stands and says, “We’ll send all the guard information to the other teams.”

  As he and his team head for the door, I say, “Oh, and Kuro?”

  He looks over his shoulder at me with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah?”

  “Good work.”

  He grins. “Thanks, boss.”

  With that, he and the team exit the meeting house. He didn’t take the file with him so, I put it in the filing cabinet with the others he’s given me. Usually, he keeps a copy of everything in the files in case something should happen to the one he gives me. Once I have the file put away, I lock up the meeting house and head for home. It isn’t that late, so I think I’ll fix some lunch and wait for Leland to return. I can’t wait to hear how it went with his parents.

  Since I couldn’t meet them today, I’m hoping we can invite them over for dinner tomorrow night so our parents can meet each other. If I’m going to host a dinner for our families then I’ll have to go shopping. With that thought in mind, I head for my car instead of going inside and send a quick message to Leland through our link letting him know where I’ll be if he comes home and I’m not back.

  My parents ambushed me as soon as I walked through the front doors of the coven house. They’d been sitting on one of the couches facing the front door waiting for me to return. They were talking a mile a minute as they followed me up the stairs, but I chose to tune them out. Now, as I’m packing, I find them harder to ignore.

  “Leland! Leland, are you listening?”

  Turning from the duffel I just stuffed another set of clothes into, I say, “What?”

  “Have you not been paying attention? Your father and I wanted to know if you’d join us at his company party. There’s some people we’d like you to meet.”

  Smelling another set up, I shake my head. “No, I won’t be attending. I’ve got too much to do.”

  “But, honey, it’s imperative that you be there.”

  “Why? So, you can set me up on another blind date?”

  Seeing the guilty look on her face, I sigh. “I don’t need any help in the dating department.”

  “We just want you to be happy.”

  “What made you think I wasn’t?”

  They share a look. “Honey, all you do is work.”

  “So? I love my job.”

  “Work isn’t all there is to life. It can’t make you truly happy.”

  Crossing my arms, I say, “What is this really about?”

  “Nothing. We’re just worried about you.”

  Suddenly, it dawns on me. I’m now the same age my brother was when he died. He’d been actively searching for his beloved for years and when he found her, she was on her deathbed after being hit by a drunk driver as she was crossing the street. The sudden loss after only just finding her, drove him mad and he had to be dispatched by the council. “I’m not going to end up like Jared.”

  My mother steps forward and takes my hands in hers. “You can’t know that for certain.”

  “I do know that for certain. If my beloved were to die, I’d follow him to the afterlife no matter what. We wouldn’t be apart for long.”

  She rears back like she’s been slapped and stares at me with wide-eyes. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that if death didn’t take me quick enough, I’d speed the process along. A UV bullet to the brain should suffice.”

  Seeing her horrified expression, I decide to put her out of her misery and say, “There’s no need to worry though, I don’t think my beloved will be dying anytime soon. If he thinks he’s going to leave me like that before we’ve lived a long and happy life together, he’s sorely mistaken. I’ll drag him back from the brink then kick his ass for trying to go without me.”

  This time, my dad steps forward and says, “Son, are you saying you’ve already met your beloved?”

  Grinning, I nod and say, “Where did you think I was last night?”

  They share a look and my dad grins. “Well son, we know you went to pack lands for that meeting but when Vikan and Trager returned without you, we assumed you went into the city for some fun.”

  “Oh, I had some fun, but it wasn’t in the city. The good news is, you’ll be getting your wish. I’m moving back to Venetian Hills since my beloved is the pack’s beta. It’s easier if I move instead of asking him to do it.”

  They both engulf me in a hug and my mom says, “Congratulations, honey. We’re so happy for you. Now, when can we meet him?”

  “He was supposed to come with me today, but he had an emergency meeting to attend. His parents will be arriving sometime tonight thanks to his sister jumping the gun and telling them she thought he was dead when he wouldn’t answer his phone, so we plan to have everyone together for dinner tomorrow. I’ll call and let you know what time.”

  “Should we bring something? A dessert maybe?”

  “No, that’s okay. Just bring yourselves.”

  “Alright.”

  “Now, I have to finish packing so I can get back to Negan. Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

  “Well, we’d still like for you to attend your father’s company party. You can bring Negan.”

  “I’ll think about it. When’s the party?”

  “The day after tomorrow.”

  “I don’t think we’ll be able to go but I’ll talk to Negan anyways and will let you know when I call about dinner.”

  “Sounds good, honey. Want us to help you pack?”

  “Could you pack up the groceries in the fridge? I’ll give them to Damascus on my way out since I don’t plan to stay in this room anymore. I’d take the groceries with me, but Negan sent me a message through our mind link about going shopping and I doubt he’ll have room for my stuff too.”

  “We’ll take care of it.”

  “Thank you.”

  I quickly finish packing, and head out into the living area. I’ll stop by Alistair’s office on my way downstairs and let him know that he can give my room to someone else before I take the groceries to Damascus. My parents have the groceries in bags waiting for me when I walk out. After giving them both a hug, I take the groceries and walk out. As the door to my room closes, it feels like I’m closing a chapter on my life and starting a new one. In fact, I am. I’m closing the door on my life as a lonely bachelor and starting a new chapter with Negan. A chapter that I hope will be a very, very long one.

  With a quick stop in Alistair’s office, I head for the kitchen where Damascus is busy whipping up lunch. When he turns to grab a knife, he spots me and grins. “Leland! Hi! Need something?”

  Shaking my head, I hold up the bags of groceries and say, “I thought you could use these. I’m moving in with my beloved and he has plenty of food, so I won’t be needing them.”

  He squeals in excitement and bounds across the kitchen to wrap me in a hug. “Congratulations on meeting your beloved! I’ll gladly take these off your hands. Thank you.”

  “No problem.”

  I hand him the groceries and make my exit w
hile he’s busy putting them away. Once outside, I head for my car, anxious to get back to Negan. When I go get my stuff from my apartment, he’s definitely coming with me. There’s no way I’ll be driving sixteen hours and packing my stuff on my own. I’ll miss him too much. If I miss him this much when I’m only gone for a few hours, how will I feel when it’s for a few days? Depending on how I feel during my next assignment, I may be looking at a job change. Not that it would be a big deal. While I love my job, I know I’ll come to love Negan more so changing professions to be away from him less isn’t going to be a hardship. I still refuse to become an accountant though. I’m way too badass for that.

  I won’t know if keeping my job will work until I’ve been given my first assignment. Come to think of it, I do have some vacation time built up. I’ll call my superiors and let them know I’ll be taking my vacation time so I can spend it getting to know my mate. Now if I can just get Negan to agree to taking a vacation too, the possibilities of what we could do together are endless.

  Grinning at the thought of having my way with him on a beach somewhere I know I’ll be talking him into going on vacation with me very soon. But first, we have to get this raid over with and unless we take care of Carmine, I have a feeling that vacation I want to go on with Negan, won’t be happening for a while. Maybe I can bring the vacation to him…find a secluded spot in the woods and pitch a tent. Now, that sounds like it would be a good idea. It’s definitely something we could do as a short-term thing in between planning the next raid at least until Carmine and his coven are caught and we can plan a real vacation. Best not to make any concrete plans now though, since I haven’t talked to Negan and we can’t do anything until after this next raid is complete.

  The drive to pack lands from the coven house is short. When I pull into Negan’s driveway, I park to the side so there’s room for him to park when he gets back. Grabbing my bags from the back of my car, I head inside, surprised to find an older couple sitting at the kitchen table drinking what smells like tea. When I asked Negan if I needed a key before I left for the coven house, he said he doesn’t lock his doors because no one would dare break into his house unless they wanted to be kicked out of the pack. So, maybe these people are his parents? If so, they’re earlier than expected.

  Using our mind link, I reach out for Negan.

  Mon tendre, are you finished with shopping?

  Not yet, minun kaikkeni. I’ll be another half hour at the most. Why?

  I just got back from the coven house and found an older couple drinking tea in your kitchen.

  Shit…mom and dad. They’re early.

  What do you want me to do?

  Introduce yourself, minun kaikkeni and keep them company until I get home.

  What are their names? I don’t want to call them Mr. and Mrs. Negan.

  His laugh reverberates through our link before I get his next message.

  Inari and Elias but start with Mr. and Mrs. Verona since I can sense your nervousness.

  I can’t help it, they’re your parents and I’m meeting them on my own.

  It’ll be okay, minun kaikkeni. I’ll be home soon.

  You’d better.

  Shaking my head, I let the conversation fade and head for the bedroom to put my stuff away. When I pass by his parents, his mother says, “Excuse me, young man, but what are you doing here? Negan does still live here, right?”

  Nodding, I say, “He does. I’m moving in.” Before she can ask me any other questions, I make my way down the hall, refusing to let the conversation continue until I can get my nerves under control. When my nerves get the best of me, I tend to blurt out things that shouldn’t be said at all. The last thing I want is to blurt out that I’ve had sex with their son instead of greeting them like a normal person. Or worse, accidentally insult them. I did that to one of my bosses once. He called me into his office, and I was so nervous I’d be reprimanded that I blurted out his toupee did nothing for him and instead made him look like he skinned a skunk and slapped the fur on his head. Needless to say, he wasn’t wearing a toupee and I was put on perimeter guard duty for three weeks.

  After dropping my bags on the bed, I take a deep breath to calm myself and head back into the kitchen where I hold out my hand to his parents, smile, and say, “Hi, I’m Leland. You must be Mr. and Mrs. Verona. It’s nice to meet you.” Should I have told them I’m Negan’s mate? No…I’ll wait until Negan gets home and we can tell them together. I hope they aren’t homophobic. It would kill Negan to lose his parents.

  They both shake my hand and say, “Nice to meet you too, Leland.” Then his mother adds, “but please, call us Inari and Elias. This Mr. and Mrs., business makes us feel old.”

  Elias says, “Honey, we are old.”

  “Bah, I don’t feel a day over twenty-five.”

  Elias snorts and shakes his head while smiling. “So, Leland, do you know where our elusive offspring has run off to?”

  Laughing, I say, “Negan went to get groceries but should be back soon. In the meantime, I’d love to hear more about the two of you.”

  That must’ve been the right thing to say because Inari lights up like the sun and says, “Boy have I got a story for you,” and proceeds to regale me with the tale of the time Elias got his wolf’s head stuck in a tree because he chased a rabbit right into the burrow.

  When I walk into the house, arms laden with groceries, I’m met with laughter. For the first time, the house doesn’t feel cold and lonely when I walk through the door. Instead, all I feel is warm and happy, knowing my mate and my parents are getting along. I can’t wait to tell them, I’ve gotten a second chance at mated life, but I’m a little afraid of how they’ll react to the fact that Leland is a man. They’ve never expressed bigotry before, but a lot can change when you’re not there to witness it. Nodding to myself, I decide to wait until after dinner to say something. I’ve never known my parents to be violent people, but just in case, I’ll make sure there aren’t any plates or knives within their reach that they could possibly use as a weapon. As I head for the kitchen, I catch a bit of what they’re saying and have to fight back a groan as I realize my parents are telling Leland about all of my embarrassing moments.

  “So, one day, Elias came into the house and shifted in the kitchen. Negan was only six years old at the time but when he came into the kitchen and saw Elias walking around naked, Negan decided he didn’t have to wear clothes either. For the next two months his motto was, if dad can do it, I can do it, and absolutely refused to put on clothes when at home.”

  Leland laughs and says, “How’d you get him to stop?”

  “Elias had to start wearing clothes all the time. He’d shift outside and put on pants before coming into the house. When Negan saw his dad coming in wearing clothes, he stopped refusing to get dressed.”

  Grinning, I step into the kitchen fully and say, “I hope you aren’t telling him every embarrassing part of my childhood.”

  My mother grins at me and says, “Of course not, we’ve only told him some of it.”

  Sitting the bags on the counter, I begin pulling out the groceries so I can put them away. Looking over my shoulder at my mom, I wink and say, “Depending on what you told him, that might be worse than telling him everything.”

  She laughs but her expression quickly turns serious as she rises from her chair and walks over to me. She engulfs me in a hug and says, “I’m glad you’re alright. When your sister called us in a panic, we were worried something bad had happened to you.”

  “Anita shouldn’t have done that without checking things out first. If she’d called the alpha or come by the house, she would’ve known I was fine, and you wouldn’t have had to fly out here like you did.”

  “We were already planning to come visit but your sister’s call had us moving up our timeline.”

  “I didn’t see your bags when I came in, did you already put them in the guest room?”

  She shakes her head. “No, we booked a hotel room,” then she leans in and
whispers, “Your sister didn’t tell us you were getting a roommate or that he was a vampire,” low enough so only I can hear.

  Before I can say anything, she continues, “She did tell us about the date you went on yesterday. Why won’t you give the girl another date? She sounds like she’d be a nice girl if you’d give her another chance to prove it. And maybe, now that she knows about your sensitivity to perfume, it will go better. I know it’s been hard on you since losing Seraphina, but you shouldn’t have to spend your life alone.”

  “I’m not alone.”

  “A roommate isn’t the same as having a mate of your own and while I know any relationship you have may not be the same as what you had with Seraphina you should at least try to find someone.”