Chapter 8
A Fucking Beta?
Aurora
“Afucking beta?”
The information doesn’t make any sense, and yet here I stand, looking at a tall, handsome male beta. He was supposed to be an omega. Have I been losing my mind over nothing?
I turn to my dad, who’s still by my chair. “He’s a fucking beta?”
He doesn’t look like he’s going to answer me.
Aghast, I seek out Liam, who looks ashamed.
“How did this fucking happen?”
Before Liam can say something to piss me off, the beta struggles in his hold. I grab the beta’s face and hold him still. “Where did you come from?” I ask nicely, but through gritted teeth.
He’s so real. The feel of him in my hands is like holding something rooted in reality for the first time after being asleep for so long.
I watch every expression on his face and in his curly lips.
“Well, when a daddy beta and a mommy beta love each other very much, they do a special dance…”
“Oh, he’s a funny bastard.” This gets a smile on his face. A stunning smile. I loosen my grip so it has more room for that fucking grin. It’s contagious, and I find myself mirroring him.
Wow, he’s beautiful. I feel hot all over, and a shiver passes through me. I do not understand this feeling I’m experiencing. My fingers pat over his jaw, and the prickle of his facial hair dances over my skin. What would it feel like against my cheek or the inside of my thigh?
I lean in and take a deep breath through my nose. Buttery croissant. And some cream. Vanilla maybe. My toes curl. And I just know my skin flushes.
“Get your hands off him, Aurora,” a deep and familiar voice says from nearby. I turn my head to see Locke.
Locke O’Bannon. Soto now. He looks well. He’s gained some weight, and his posture is straighter. His blonde hair looks wonderful, too. It’s still long, but only to his jaw, and cut really well. He used to have dark circles under his eyes, but now his face is bright and clear.
“Or what, Locke? You think you can make demands of me?”
I’m playing the part too well. I need to get my head in the game. I’m genuinely pissed off, but I shouldn’t be. I need to remember what I’m actually doing here.
I’m about to do just that, but when I turn back to the beta, whose head is turned towards Locke, I get a good look at the mark on the beta’s neck.
My whole body goes still.
Red-hot possessiveness snakes through me.
“Why does he have a mark on his neck like that?”
Men with marks like that are usually male omegas. I look at Liam, and I now understand. They thought this guy was Locke’s omega because of this mark. That’s why they lifted him. I pull my hand away, not wanting to do something stupid like touch his mark.
That would be perverse.
“That’s where I wanted it,” the beta answers, his smile still on his beautiful face. “You ask a lot of questions.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, did you want to ask for some back?” I roll my eyes.
“Yeah, I do. Why do you care if Locke has a beta?”
“I was told he found an omega, and he was being brought here. Liam here fucked up.” I cast my hand in his general dumbass direction. It was Liam who made this bad call. “And I care because Locke is here to bond with me.”
Quick as lightning, in a cruel tone, Locke says, “I’m not bonding with you, Aurora, give it up. We have an omega. The deal is done.”
And this, like most of my reactions tonight, is not fake. I step back and grab my chest as if he shot me.
And it does hurt.
It hurts a lot.
“What’re you talking about?”
“Her name is Cadi. We bonded yesterday. She’s ours. Oscar, Kol, Mads,” his head tilts to the beta, “and I are bonded with Cadi. We are Pack Soto. This is never going to happen.”
His words shake me out of my girlish emotions.
This is no time to be jealous. I have to warn him now before it’s too late.
I approach Locke so fast it scares him, and he tries to rear back.
I lean into his ear and, as quietly as I can, I say, “I know you don’t trust me, but you have to.
My father is going to try to kill you if you don’t bond me.
Refuse to bond. Refuse. Do not let in. He’ll use Maximus to kill you.
No matter what happens, you must believe me: I don’t want this.
I want you free and out of here. Alive.”
That should do it. But Locke looks so confused. His brain is racing to understand my words. I pray to the fates that he isn’t a fucking idiot.
I pinch my arm and think about my pet rabbit that died earlier this year, and tears run down my face. I pinch harder.
“Daddy!” I cry. My father comes over to us and wraps his arm around my shoulder. “He’s breaking my heart.”
I steal a glance at Mads, the beta, who has a curious look on his face.
I try to will him to play it cool with my thoughts.
Be cool, sexy beta. I mean, I meet a lot of betas, and even more men, not once have I ever had this visceral of a reaction to one.
It’s almost like a scent match. But he can’t be my scent match.
Betas don’t have the pheromones for that. At least I don’t think.
I narrow my eyes at him. Where did you come from?
My father kisses me on the top of my head.
“Seems like your alpha already replaced you with not only a female omega, but he even got himself his own beta pet.”
My father is so predictable. I just hope Locke can hold out a little longer. This will all be over tonight.
“I can’t believe he beat us, Dad!” I grab onto my dad’s arm and get in close. I haven’t been affectionate with him in months. “How did you let this happen!”
I look him in the eyes. Mine are wet, thinking about Cotton Candy, my small rabbit that turned up dead in her cage the day after I attempted to run away. That disastrous attempt will not be repeated. First, it was Cotton Candy. Next, it could be any one of Pack Star, or even Locke.
My father’s head cocks to the side, a genuine look of concern on his face, and his hand rests on my neck. My lip quivers.
“Little Bear, don’t look at me like that.”
Here we go…my big plan.
“I don’t think we should just let him go, just like that! He hurt my feelings. He made me think he might come back for me. We should make him earn his freedom!”
The thing is, I already knew that my father planned on forcing Locke to bond me. No matter who he bonds or who he loves. But I need to reframe the story. I need him to be held to his original promise. If Locke finds an omega, he gets to be free.
I need to take charge of the narrative.
“Earn his freedom?”
Actual tears break down my cheek, and his thumb wipes them away.
“He found an omega, but we can’t just let him go, just like that. It’s my birthday, and we are all here. What do you think he should do?” I ask with such sincerity. I can’t suggest it, or this whole thing falls apart.
He is silent for a long time, as I and everyone else wait for what he is going to say next.
Finally, and in a way that definitely means he hasn’t fully formed an answer, he says, “The fighting cage.”
Yes.
Oh my god. Yes.
“Yes!” I turn to Locke, standing tall with my father, as if we are speaking as one, and say, as loudly as I can.
“My father is right! You may have found yourself an omega, but in order to prove that you want her more than me, you have to fight Maximus! If you win, go to your omega, and I never want to see your face again! If you lose…well. I am sure a lot of people will enjoy the show.”
The crowd cries out in excitement. My father looks around, realizing how positively this plan is being seen, and so he does what he always does, and takes full credit for it.
“Locke, I always wanted you for a son. But you dug your own grave. This is the end of the road. If you defeat Maximus, I will personally send you back to Cash City. Good luck, alpha.”
Everyone laughs, claps, and begins looking for the bookies to take their bets.
“And put this beta on a leash. We can’t have them running around loose.”
Locke thrashes and panics as Liam takes him away. Carmen comes up with a collar and a chain. When my father turns to head into the fighting arena, she gets my permission to put them on the beta.
I wave my hand. She fastens the collar around Mads’s throat, then hands me the tail end of the leash. I reach out for her hand and give it a quick squeeze.
In this place of hedonism and violence, hierarchies reign supreme. Mads is a beta without an alpha handler. If he’s not wearing a collar, it would have to be explained.
The two men holding Mads let go, and he falls to the ground. He lets out a painful yell. I crouch down and put my hands on his shoulders. The heat of him seeps into my skin, and I just want more.
“Mads? That’s your name, right? Are you ok?”
He laughs. It’s a little manic.
“I can’t walk without a cane, sugar. And at this point, I probably need a crutches or a walker. A wheelchair would be nice. And a lot of pain meds.”
“Fuck,” I mutter and get even lower to his ear. “You need to keep it together, Mads. You will be out of this soon. I have a plan.”
I go to stand up, but he grabs my arm. “What’re you talking about?”
“Just follow my fucking lead.”
I rip his hand off of me and stand up, then point to Liam’s guys.
“Find me a cane or a crutch. Now.” And then to Carmen, who is still nearby, “I need Percocets.” She rushes away.
I’m sure she can find some drugs in this establishment.
I look down at Mads, who is holding himself in a contorted position.
I’ve got the end of the short leash lax between us.
I hope he’ll forgive me for this.