The Beta

by Ezra Dawn

  Looking over my shoulder at Leland who is laughing at something my father said, I smile and say, “I do have someone.”

  My mother sighs and shakes her head but before she can say anything about my being stubborn or try to convince me to go on a second date with that girl, I catch Leland’s scent as he comes up behind me. He steps in between me and my mother and wraps an arm around my waist. “Sorry to interrupt, mon tendre, but I wanted to ask if you had anything you wanted me to cook or should I order us takeout?”

  Grinning at him, I step to the side a bit so he can get a look at everything I bought and say, “Take your pick, minun kaikkeni. You can cook whatever you want.”

  He grins mischievously and says, “You might regret saying that later.”

  Nudging him playfully with my shoulder, I wink and say, “I doubt that.”

  He leans in but an uncertain expression crosses his face. He opens his mouth like he’s about to say something but stops before any words come out. I can see the indecisiveness written on his face, but it doesn’t last long. Seeming to have come to a decision, Leland’s expression goes from indecisive to determined and he closes the distance between us, pressing a brief kiss to my lips before he turns and begins perusing the selection of food.

  But that brief touch of his lips to mine, isn’t enough for me after spending most of the afternoon away from him so, instead of letting him browse his selections, I take the steaks he’s holding from him, place them back on the counter and drag him from the room. As soon as we’re safely behind the closed door of our bedroom, I push him against the door and take the kiss I wish he’d given me. I know he kept things brief out of respect for my parents and it makes me happy that he thought to consider their feelings. Especially, since I’ve never told them of my attraction to men.

  Eventually, it becomes imperative that we breathe, and I ease the kiss to an end. Resting my forehead against his, I take a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart. My cock is hard enough to pound nails, but I know with my parents in the kitchen, I can’t do anything about it right now. Leland grips my cock through my jeans and squeezes. Biting on my knuckles, I do my best not to groan as Leland leans forward and lightly nips my neck. “I can’t fuck you right now because your parents are here, but as soon as they leave, your sweet ass is mine, mon tendre.”

  Grinning, I press a kiss to his lips and say, “Looking forward to it.”

  He grabs the door knob and says, “Let’s get back out there. I still have to cook.”

  Stepping back, I let him exit the room first and quickly readjust myself, so my cock isn’t pressing against my zipper before following Leland out into the kitchen. As soon as we enter the kitchen, Leland goes back to trying to decide what to cook, while I walk outside knowing my parents will follow. If they have anything bigoted to say, I don’t want Leland to hear it. Sitting on my porch swing, I don’t have to wait long because as soon as my ass hits the cushion, the door opens, and my parents walk out.

  The swing is big enough for more than one person, so I’m not surprised when both of them sit on either side of me. As soon as my mom sits down, she smacks me upside the head. “Ow! What was that for?”

  She glares at me and says, “I’m disappointed in you.”

  “Is this because I never said anything about being attracted to men?”

  If looks could kill, I’d be six feet under right about now. “No, this is about you not saying anything about seeing anyone and still letting your sister talk you into going on blind dates when you have such a lovely man at home waiting for you. I thought I raised you better than that. I know bond mates have no physical restriction when it comes to staying faithful like fated pairs do but I never thought you’d put someone through that kind of pain.”

  Staring at her wide-eyed, I say, “Mom, no! That’s not what happened at all.”

  She folds her arms and says, “You’d better explain yourself then because I will not have you hurting that wonderful man in there fixing us dinner.”

  Her protectiveness of my mate has me fighting a grin. If I let my happiness show, she’ll probably smack me again. I have no idea how Leland won her over so quickly, but it makes me happy. “Leland is my second chance.”

  My father who has been silent so far, says, “Your second chance at what?”

  I know I’m grinning like a fool when I say, “A mate. When I scented him yesterday, I thought my lunch date’s perfume had clouded my nose and I was mistaken. I didn’t want to let myself hope but then I got smacked in the face by a door and had a nose bleed. It was the scent of my blood that called to Leland and the rest is history. It’s only been a day and a half, but it feels like longer.”

  When I look at my mother, she has tears in her eyes but she’s smiling. She wraps me in a hug and says, “Congratulations, sweetheart. We’re so happy for you. Are Leland’s parents still around? We’d love to meet them before we fly back to Finland in a week.”

  “They’ll be over for dinner tomorrow night.”

  She pats my knee and says, “Great. Now, let’s go back inside so I can officially welcome my new son-in-law to the family.”

  With a laugh, I stand up and follow her into the house, but before I step over the threshold I turn to my dad and say, “Are you okay with this?”

  He grins and says, “Of course I am. I don’t know if I ever told you this, but my mother and father weren’t fated mates. Shortly after my mother passed away my father met his mate in the form of a human male. They lived a very happy life together far away from the prying eyes of others until they both passed. Your happiness is all that matters to me son.”

  Wrapping an arm around him, I give him a brief hug and say, “Thanks dad.”

  “No thanks needed. Now, let’s go see what your mate cooked for us. It smells heavenly.”

  Nodding in agreement, I walk inside with my father following close behind. When Leland sees me, he grins, and it lights up his whole face and I know deep down that everything is going to be alright.

  Dinner goes off without a hitch and my parents leave right after dessert. Once we’ve cleaned everything up, I take Leland to bed, where I let him ravish me before returning the favor.

  It feels like I’ve only just gotten to sleep when I’m woken by my phone ringing. Reaching out, I grab it off the nightstand. Seeing Kuro’s name flashing on the screen, I hit the green button and say, “Hello?”

  “Sorry to wake you, boss, but I just got a report from the men I left behind at the labs. They’ve noticed the guards are suddenly on alert and vans have begun to arrive.”

  “Shit. Call everyone and tell them to mobilize. We have to move now before they disappear. We’ll get the demons from the entry teams to open up a portal for us to walk through because if we drive, we may not make it in time.”

  “You got it, boss.”

  Hearing the familiar click signaling the call has ended, I slip out of bed and get dressed. Circling the bed, I gently shake Leland awake and hand him a set of clothes. “Get dressed, minun kaikkeni, Kuro’s team noticed movement at the labs so, we have to move on them now.”

  Leland rubs his eyes and nods, taking the clothes from me. When he’s finished dressing, he straps on his weapons and we head out to meet the other teams. As soon as we walk through the portals, the magic users set up a command center hidden in the trees before the teams I’m in charge of breach the lab. Leland is part of the entry team that will go in first and while I’m worried for him, I can’t let it take away my focus from the task at hand.

  As the entry team clears the floors, I keep an ear out for anything suspicious on the comm links while also keeping an eye on Leland through our mind link. When the entry team has cleared half the floors, my worst fear comes to life as I feel Leland’s pain through our link. Without thinking of the consequences, I race into the lab, anxious to find my mate and make sure he’s okay.

  I knew going into this that things would be bad but as soon as we breached the front door on the lab, chaos ensued. Shots
were fired, gas grenades exploded all around us, and shifters with collars around their necks began to attack us. Thankfully, my beloved is an expert strategist and talked us through exactly what to do. With my team leading the way, we used tranq darts on the shifters with collars to knock them out and real bullets on the people who had been holding them captive.

  Our current goal is to clear the lab of guards and then ventilate the place before the other teams come in, so no one ends up affected by the gas. Hearing a low growl, I turn around in time to see a cheetah shifter with a collar around its neck launch itself at me. I don’t have time to shoot a tranq dart so, I prepare to fight. I really don’t want to hurt this shifter so, I’ll have to try to incapacitate rather than kill. It won’t be easy with the way this cat is snapping at me, but I’ll try my best.

  Hearing the roar of a bigger cat, has me looking away from the cheetah for a moment but it’s enough to give the cat an opportunity to take a swipe at me. The wound isn’t very deep or life threatening, but it still hurts like a motherfucker and I’m losing blood. Knowing I have to end this quick, I try to dodge the blows until an opportunity to incapacitate the shifter pops up.

  The unmistakable click of a gun being cocked behind me has the hair on the back of my neck standing on end, but I can’t focus on that now. I can survive most injuries unless my head is being cut off or a UV bullet is being used and it hits a vital point. I manage to incapacitate the cheetah in front of me and turn around just as the person behind me fires. I brace myself for the impact, but it doesn’t come. Instead, a beautiful gray wolf jumps in front of the bullet. The scent of his blood tells me the wolf is Negan, and I snap.

  Crossing the room in the blink of an eye, I tear out the throat of the man who shot my beloved before racing to Negan’s side. Using the comm link, I call for help while pressing my hands over the wound that won’t stop bleeding. Since we’re mated, he should be just as hard to kill as I am, but seeing his blood flowing out of him the way it is, has me fearing for his life.

  “Mon tendre, don’t you dare die on me. You better fight damn it, or so help me, I’ll follow you to the afterlife and kick your ass up and down the ghostly plane for leaving me behind.”

  Another pair of hands comes into view and I look up to see one of the magic users in front of me. “Let me take him. We’ll get the bullet out and stop the bleeding before transporting him to the doctor for further examination. We’ll take good care of him, I swear to you.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Altair.”

  “Well, if you’re lying to me Altair, I’ll make you regret it.”

  “I have no reason to lie. I may not have worked with him long, but I do respect Negan and I’ll make sure nothing happens to him, you have my word.”

  Nodding, I kiss the top of Negan’s furry head and move away. Altair lifts my beloved into his arms and disappears. With rage and pain now fueling me, I finish clearing the rest of the floors and start the ventilation process by breaking windows so the other teams can come in and look for clues. Once that’s done, I exit the lab and head for the command center. There’s another team there taking care of the rescues and getting their information.

  There’s no sign of Negan in the tent so I assume he’s been taken to the doctor. Spotting Altair, talking to someone I walk over to him and say, “Where’s Negan?”

  “I took him to the clinic in Asphalt Bay. The doctor there has a triage station set up for serious injuries. Once he’s healed, he can go home. We’ll be transporting everyone else to the Venetian Hills pack lands where we’ll set up another hospital tent to keep them all together until a decision is made on where to put them.”

  Nodding, I say, “Can you to take me to him?”

  “Sure.”

  Altair takes my hand and in an instant we’re no longer in the command center. Now, we’re standing in the lobby of a clinic. A man with silver hair exits one of the rooms with blood on the front of his scrubs. When he spots Altair, he heads our way and says, “The wolf you just brought in is going to be fine. I gave him a blood transfusion and stitched him up. Scans show no internal bleeding or any other injuries. As soon as the anesthetic wears off, he’ll be able to shift and as long as he takes it easy for the next few days, he’ll be right as rain.”

  “Can I see him?”

  The doc turns to me and says, “And you would be?”

  “The wolf’s mate.”

  With a nod, the doc says, “Of course. Follow me.”

  I follow him to the room and take a seat by the bed Negan’s wolf is resting on. A patch of fur around the wound is missing and I can’t help thinking Negan and his wolf won’t be happy about that. Scooting the chair closer to the bed, I reach out to run my fingers through his fur. “I used a simple sedative to knock him out so he should be coming around soon. Once he wakes up, get him to shift. It’ll hasten the healing process, so he won’t be feeling as much pain. He can go home afterwards. I’ll leave you to it.”

  He exits the room and I’m left alone with my mate. Stroking his fur, I stay tuned into our link so, I’ll know the minute he begins to wake up.

  Ow…

  Sighing in relief, I wait for him to open his eyes.

  When he looks at me, I say, “Shift.”

  With a whine, he licks my hand and shifts.

  “Fuck…that hurt,” then he reaches out and strokes my cheek, “Are you okay?”

  Feeling anger rise within me, I grit my teeth and say, “Am I okay? Am I okay? No, I’m not fucking okay. I watched my only reason for living get shot. Your blood is still on my hands! So, no, I’m not fucking okay and I swear to fate, if you ever put yourself at risk like that again, I will kick your ass, then chain you to our bed for a week while I withhold the use of my cock inside you and tease you sexually until you rethink your decision.”

  “I was only trying to protect you.”

  Reaching out I stroke his cheek and say, “I know, mon tendre, and I love that you’re so protective of me, but a simple bullet wound wouldn’t have killed me. It would’ve hurt like hell, but I wouldn’t have died.”

  His eyes widen, and I see his gaze focused on my shirt. Before he can ask, I say, “I’ve already healed. Don’t worry. Now, if you think you’re up to moving around, what do you say we blow this popsicle stand?”

  He grins at me and says, “Sounds good to me, minun kaikkeni. But, kiss me first.”

  Leaning forward, I whisper, “As you wish,” and press my lips to his.

  A Few Days Later…

  I wake up to the sound of flowing water and sigh happily. Leland is laying beside me on his stomach with his arm thrown across my waist. After I left the hospital in Asphalt Bay, Leland asked me if I had any camping supplies. Once I showed him where everything was, he told Joel not to expect us at any important meetings for a couple days and dragged me into the woods with him. We hiked for a while until we found a natural waterfall that flowed directly into the river.

  We’ve been camped out by that river for two whole days and it’s been amazing. Since the day I claimed Leland, I haven’t had anymore nightmares about the lab incident. Maybe it’s because he calms my wolf and I feel safe with him but there’s no way of knowing unless I’m without him for a while and I don’t see that happening. I caught him typing up his resignation for the vampire council on his phone last night. After what happened, I don’t think he’s ready for me to be out of his sight for an extended period of time. I don’t mind it though, I love having him close and I’m sure Joel or Alistair would be happy to offer him a position with them.

  Turning over on my side, I watch him sleep. Today is our last day out here until we can take some time to do it again. Joel texted last night and asked if we’d be willing to come help out with the placement of the rescued shifters. The three labs we raided were full of nothing but shifters of all different kinds. In total, we rescued sixty-five men and women who had been experimented on. Venetian Hills doesn’t have the housing for all of them so, until J
oel can have more houses built, the ones we can’t take will be split among the Asphalt Bay pack as well as the Venetian Hills coven. I’ve heard whispers that even Coal Springs has offered to take in some of the rescues.

  We didn’t find Carmine this time, but I have a feeling we’re getting close. The sad thing is, a few of the shifters we rescued are still in a coma and because of that, the only information we have on them is from the cages they were in when we rescued them. After thorough examinations, we know there’s nothing physically wrong with the comatose shifters, but so far, they haven’t woken up. It’s almost as if it’s a defense mechanism for what they’ve been through. Because they don’t have any pressing issues, the doctor suggested they be put in places where they can receive round the clock care but doesn’t smell like the lab they’ve been trapped in for so long. Which is why, Joel is calling a meeting for his inner circle. He plans to ask every inner circle member if they’d be willing to take in one of the comatose shifters until they’re awake and can decide if they want to return to their hometowns or stay in Venetian Hills.