13. Beck
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
beck
Silence lingers heavily in the air between us, her scent taking on a biting sharpness.
I’m not sure that bodes well for me. I’ve already accepted that Charlotte's mine, even started making plans for daddy-daughter fishing dates and tea parties.
If she responds with anything other than yes , I might be so broken there will be nothing left to fix.
Her brow furrows a little. “You think I let some other Alpha fuck me after you left my bed?”
There are black tracks trailing down her flushed cheeks and her blonde hair is in tangled waves around her face, but fuck me if she isn’t the prettiest goddamn thing I’ve ever seen. Even when she’s working up a temper.
“Please, Jules. I just need to hear you say the words.”
I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m hanging on by a metaphorical thread here, which is why my voice isn’t as steady as it should be. My entire fucking future is on the line right now, and the next words out of her mouth could solidify my plan or shatter it into pieces.
Tentatively, her tiny hands grip my waist, hanging onto my shirt for dear life. The barely there contact has tension flooding through my body.
“I wasn’t with anyone else, Beck. I rode out the rest of my heat alone . So, yes. Charlotte’s your daughter. I… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I had no idea how to find you, and I?—”
The fuse was already lit, her words dousing it in gasoline until the explosion of four years worth of pent-up yearning can’t be contained.
My lips crash into hers, my grip on her neck ironclad.
There’s no way in hell I’m letting her walk away again now that I know the truth.
Not until she understands the way of things, at least.
Our tongues meet, the familiar taste of apples and brown sugar flooding my mouth. I’m not sure why I was worried about her trying to get away. Her hands are gripping the back of my tee, drawing our bodies closer until she’s molded against me.
Fuck, she feels so goddamn good.
My dick is eager to get the party started, but now is not the time, and sadly this is not the place.
The sounds she’s making light a flash fire in my blood, making it damn near impossible to pull away, but I find some inner strength I wasn’t aware existed and slowly retreat until I’m pressing tender kisses to her lips, each tear-stained cheek, the tip of her nose, and finally her forehead.
Her eyes are still closed, her breathing ragged, as I stare down at the Omega who will be mine whether she’s realized it yet or not.
I’ve never been more grateful for a bunch of old pricks than I am at this moment.
If things had gone differently last night, I might not be standing with my every wish come true right now.
“Consider that my formal intent to court you, Jules Callahan.”
Her bright amber eyes fly open, her swollen lips parting in a gasp.
I’d love nothing more than to finish what we just started—I’ve waited long enough to have her beneath me again as it is—but this is bigger than sex or biology.
This woman has had me tied up in knots from the moment she looked up at me from that bar stool.
I plan on doing this right and making sure she has no choice other than to accept me into her and Charlotte’s lives.
“Beck—”
Placing a single finger over her lips, I simply smile down at her. “Go. Let Grandma Rose know you’re okay before she puts out an APB or whatever Darling’s equivalent of that is.”
Her eyes spark as the corner of her lips quirk up. “Emergency phone tree. Everyone in town would be looking for me in under ten minutes tops . Sheriff would take at least that long to drag his large belly out from behind his desk.”
Even knotted, her hair is like silk when I brush a strand behind her ear.
“I meant what I said, little mama. We’ll discuss the details tonight.
Meet us at Slick & Saddle at six.” Leaning forward, I note the tempting sweet tones of brown sugar and the way her eyes soften at the nickname, but I manage to keep a tight hold on the reins of my control.
“Don’t keep us waiting. We won’t have much patience now that there’s nothing standing in our way. ”
Purposely sliding my jaw along hers, I mark her with my scent. I want anyone that gets close enough to know she’s mine and, unlike those other jackasses, there’s no way in hell this is ending any way other than with my bite mark on her soft skin.
“Meet us ?” she rasps.
“You’re about to discover just why our pack is better, little mama. Better prepare yourself now. Restraint isn’t usually in our vocabulary.”
With that last thought lingering between us, I force myself to turn and head back into the building.
I don’t look back because all it would take is a single glance of the swell of her lips or the way her tits look fucking phenomenal in that damn gown, and I’d say fuck everything and knot her right up against the wall of the stables.
The door slams shut behind me. Inside, Wyatt is pacing the fucking floor like a nervous hen while Kash continues to muck out the stalls like we didn’t just find a beautiful Omega in the rafters like a gift sent from God himself.
The fact that the latter is even putting in manual labor says all I need to know about where he stands, though I’m sure he’s come up with some lame ass attempt to be a martyr. Dude’s deep in denial.
Wyatt’s hazel eyes dart up to mine, a question in their depths. The smile that spreads across my face has to be at least a mile wide.
“She’s mine.”
“Which one?” Kash grumbles, not even pausing as he slides the shovel across the floor of the stall.
“Both, but specifically, Charlotte.”
Wyatt hollers as he jumps up and throws his arm in the air. “Yes!”
You’d think I told him the kid was his or something. Though he’s admittedly already head over heels for his niece.
But if we’re pack, wouldn’t he become one of her daddies? Would he want that? Daddy Wyatt? Damn, that sounds weird.
“We’re meeting her at the bar tonight at six. I’m going to lay out all of my cards and make sure she knows that I’m all in.” I turn to Wyatt. “You with me?”
“As if that’s even a fucking question, brother. She’s JJ Wilde—my every fantasy come to life. Not to mention, the mother of the most adorable little girl on the planet, which means she’s tied to us whether she likes it or not. Of fucking course, I’m with you.”
My gaze clashes with Kash who is now leaning carelessly on the shovel, trying to hide the tension bunching his shoulders as he adjusts his hat. “What about you, Kash?”
“I’ll do what I can to keep Jack in the dark while you two court Juliette. Just…” He clears his throat, looking down the length of the stables. “Try to be discreet, yeah? Darling has eyes and ears everywhere.”
Wyatt playfully punches his shoulder. “Fuck off, bro. You know you want her just as much as we do. We’re pack . We should be in this together. The way it was always supposed to be.”
He’s shaking his head before my brother even finishes talking.
“I can’t. The fact that my packmates are going after the persona non grata is bad enough.
I’d be surprised if Jack and Mason don’t show up in Darling ready to throw down just on that alone.
If I even so much as look her way, I’d ruin everything. I won’t do that to you guys.”
“Kash, c’mon, man. You know she?—”
“I know she hates me as much as I hate her.”
I roll my eyes. “You hate her about as much as a cow hates grass.”
“Or a horse hates carrots,” Wyatt adds.
“Or a pig hates mud.”
“Or—”
Kash growls. “Both of you. Shut the fuck up.”
“Juliette and Kash, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” Wyatt sings.
My laughter rings through the large building. “Just fucking admit it, dude. You fucking like her. Hell, maybe even lov?—”
Kash throws the shovel down, swiping his forearm against his sweaty face. “You two keep this up, and I’ll say screw it and let you handle any fallout with Jack on your own.”
“Ooooh. I’m trembling in my boots.” Wyatt’s whole body shakes with false tremors.
“You will be. Y’all have no idea the level of hatred my father has for the Callahans.”
I study my best friend and packmate. I’ve known him for years, and in all that time, I’ve never seen him this way.
Gone is the stuffy suit-wearing, non-smiling, tight-lipped Alpha who could’ve passed for a statue ninety percent of the time.
In his place, we’re seeing hints of the real man beneath the facade, the truth of who he is and who he could be peeking through the tiny fissures in the shell of the man Kash has been.
Whether he realizes it or not, Darling is good for him.
So is the woman we have every intention of making ours.
“But we’re not kids anymore, Kash. We’re grown-ass men with more power than your father realizes. Despite what you’ve apparently convinced yourself of, what he says no longer matters. Even his thoughts on the Callahans or, more specifically, Juliette.”
Something flashes in his eyes. “You guys didn’t see the depraved lengths he went to in order to try to ruin Mason.
If he thinks there’s even a remote possibility that the daughter of the woman he feels betrayed him is about to become a member of this pack…
” His grimace sparks a hint of uneasiness. “I don’t even want to imagine it.”
“Do you really have so little faith in us?” I murmur.
His sigh strikes right at my heart. “It’s not a lack of faith in you. It's…” He runs both hands down his face. “I don’t want to see anyone…not even Juliette…get caught in the crossfire of Jack’s brand of evil.”
“We won’t let anything happen to her, Kash. You’ve gotta know that. We’ve come a long way in four years, and we’d be even stronger with you on our side,” Wyatt pleads.
“Look…” I straighten, watching the misery flash across his face.
“If you can look me in the eye and tell me that you feel nothing for her whatsoever—not even the tiniest flicker of anything other than hate, I’ll drop it.
You can go it solo while Wyatt and I court the fuck out of your ex-best-friend. ”
Kash silently stares back at me, the muscles in his jaw bulging as he grits his teeth.
“I thought so. You have a few hours to work through that mess inside your brain. If you don’t show up at the bar, then we’ll know you’ve made your choice and will move forward on our own.”
“I want you in this with us,” Wyatt begins, as serious as I’ve ever seen him, “but like Beck said, you’re a grown man. You can make your own choices. I just hope you don’t regret them when you look in the mirror.”
He stalks off, whistling, with his hands in his pockets, leaving Kash staring after him with a shocked expression on his face.
“She’s nothing like the image I’d created in my head, pieced together from all those times you talked about her when we first met.
” I glance up toward the loft where she apparently cried herself to sleep last night all because some callous Alpha-assholes broke her heart.
“She’s an amazing woman, Kash. Kind, smart, fucking sexy as hell with a body that could make a good man sin. ”
His fists clench at his sides, his chest rising and falling at the mere mention of just how fucking perfect she is, but he still says nothing.
“She’s also my daughter’s mother. Fuck .
That still sounds strange as hell. But Charlotte has already taken a liking to you.
I want you to think about that while you work through your shit.
” I grip his shoulder, desperate to break through that seemingly impenetrable armor he’s erected around his heart.
“That little girl could use another amazing Alpha like you in her life. One who has her back in all ways. Including having the courage to finally do what he probably should’ve done years ago—bond her mama and take what rightfully should’ve been his first. It’s there in your eyes when you think no one is looking.
My one regret is that I unknowingly stole that from you. ”
Leaving him with that, I follow after Wyatt. It’s time we get on the same page and figure out how to win our girl’s heart.