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ChapterSeven
Briar
“I’ll make a chef of you yet,” Graham said triumphantly as he dropped the sliced chicken into the pan along with the veggies I’d sliced up. He was being far too nice considering my knife cuts looked like a toddler’s art project, but at least it’d taste good.
I watched on in fascination as he added spice after spice without measuring. Knowing me, it’d end up bitter and bland or absolutely inedible, but the smell already coming from his concoction was delicious.
“I think I’ll leave real cooking to you,” I said as I dropped the dishes in the sink and started to wash them. We both froze when the elevator doors clicked open, revealing Tallon and Wells. Even though Graham visibly tensed, he didn’t say anything. The opportunity was open for the beta to start off whatever this confrontation would be.
Tallon looked rough. His pale blue eyes had dark circles underneath them, and he generally seemed beaten down and exhausted.
“Are you okay?” I asked without thinking, my concern getting the better of me. I blamed the hormones, but what else could I do?
The man clearly wasn’t handling this well—me being here, his temporary separation from his pack. Part of me felt guilty for being the reason he’d gotten kicked out, but in truth, it was his own words that had done that, not me. It’d be interesting to see if he had foot-in-mouth disease or was just a genuine asshole. Since the others had kept him around before I showed up, I hoped that he was simply bad with words.
Both of them froze and looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
“Did you just ask if he’s okay?” Graham clarified. He was likely questioning my sanity at this point.
“No offense,” I threw at Tallon. “But he looks rough.”
“I’m fine.” He sighed, taking a bar stool on the far side of the island so he could see both of us. “I wanted to apologize to you. You didn’t deserve what I said to you.”
“I didn’t,” I agreed. “You know nothing about me or how this happened to me.”
“Well, I think I know how sex and pregnancy works,” he defended like I was questioning his intelligence. I’d never met someone so hellbent on expecting the worst in people. The thing was, responses like that often came from true trauma, and that was the only reason I didn’t let anger overtake me.
“Obviously,” I sighed. “Are you always this intense?”
He winced. “Shit. Sorry again. Yeah, I am.”
“It’s a real problem,” Wells agreed. He sat down next to Tallon, his hand resting on the beta’s thigh as he settled in. “Go on.” It was the blind leading the blind, with two men who obviously weren’t good with words trying to figure out how to fix this.
“I apologized,” he insisted, but this time Graham turned around and pointed at him with his wooden spatula.
“That was a shit apology, and you even snapped at her right after! At least tell her why you’re being a dick so we can fucking move on. Don’t make me spank your ass too, Tallon,” he growled. I’d never given older men much thought, but damn, he radiated power and sexual energy. In any other world but this one, I’d be here for it. Now, I didn’t have that option.
Tallon didn’t speak right away. His eyes were focused on the granite countertop, but I could still make out the tight lines of fury on his face. Wells squeezed his leg in silent encouragement, but that was as far as he pushed the other man.
“Look, you don’t owe me your life story. I know me being here is temporary. Just don’t assume you know me because of whatever it is that happened to you. Life’s not that simple,” I said firmly. Setting boundaries was one thing I’d had to learn to do while growing up because my mother always lacked them. It had helped with her, sort of, anyway, and it would probably help now. This situation was rocky, but even though I refused to make Tallon tell me something he didn’t want to, I also wouldn’t let him treat me like shit.
Tallon exhaled at my words, and I turned back to the dishes to distract myself. The tension in the kitchen was killing me, but the bitter stench of regret kept me from running away from it.
“My parents were both alphas. As a beta… I was their biggest failure,” Tallon started. His voice was low and almost muffled, so I focused in on him, not wanting to miss a single word. “Everything I did was never good enough. I was too slow at sports, not dominant enough, useless through and through.” I turned at that, my mouth already open to form some kind of protest, but he didn’t give me a moment to cut in or reassure him. “Dating as a beta is pretty limited, but I found a girl I thought was perfect. She was an omega, so I knew going in that it was risky. I couldn’t knot her through heats, and there would always be things that she’d lack thanks to our dynamic. It was about two months in that she changed, going from sweet to vindictive. She resented me for what I wasn’t, so I left.”
“Good, she didn’t deserve you,” I said, angry on his behalf. He smiled, but it was hollow.
“She wasn’t wrong. I’m not an alpha that can knot and protect, nor am I an omega who has a purpose and brings packs together.” He sighed and shrugged, the resignation in the movement making my blood boil.
“That’s utter bullshit.” Wells let out a bark of a laugh, and Graham joined in.
“What is?” he demanded, a hint of anger creeping back into his expression.
“Alphas get shit for being too angry and unpredictable. Omegas? We’re weak and only good for breeding. That or property. We all have some fucking stereotypes to battle, but useless? Hardly. Society is stupid! We’re all worth way more than we’re given credit for. How about the fact that betas make up over three-fourths of our fucking population? They literally run the world yet get no credit for that. You matter, Tallon. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.” There was a growl to my voice, the words full of a passion that had my voice rising, drawing the rest of the pack into the kitchen. My chest heaved as I finished speaking, and the silence that followed was intense.
Wells cleared his throat. “Nicely put.”
“That felt like it came from somewhere personal,” Miles said, raising his eyebrows. A blush crept up my cheeks at my outburst.
“I’ve just always thought it’s so fucked up how we keep each other down. I’m facing it now with being pregnant and packless, and I’ve dealt with the seeds of that bias my entire life. I’m not just here for an alpha’s pleasure, and he’s not just a placeholder,” I argued.
Miles held his hands up and nodded. “No arguments from me, Briar,” he agreed. “Life’s fucked up like that.”
“It is,” Beckham agreed, coming over and giving me a hug. It instantly had my frustration dissipating. “And, for the record, none of us think that about you, Tallon.”
“Do we think you’re a dick?” Miles asked with a glint of teasing in his eyes. “Yes, abso-fucking-lutely. But do we love you still? Yes.”
Graham pinched the bridge of his nose like this conversation was giving him a headache. “Miles, that’s two.”
Despite Miles’ curse, a cloud of lust hit us that had more than one of them adjusting in their seats.
“Thanks,” Tallon mumbled sheepishly, like he hadn’t expected the conversation to take this turn. And he probably hadn’t. If he was anything like me in my weakest moments, those self-doubts whispered in his head, trying to fool him into thinking they were the truth. When I was younger, those whispers had sounded like my mother, but on the dark days when I’d started to believe her words, they’d started to sound like me. It was hard to fight yourself. “I’m sorry again.”
“It’s okay. I’m a bit more sensitive to it. My parents assumed the same before they took a payout and exiled me to keep their silence.”
“What the fuck?” Wells’ anger was followed by Graham’s warning growl. The weight of all of their gazes was resting on me, but I wasn’t tempted to falter. There was no threat here against me. Something about releasing this was cathartic, and them knowing I wasn’t just a pushover omega who slept around was important to me.
“Yeah,” I laughed darkly. “The head assistant at the office said she’d pay for silence, but when I said no, she offered insane money to my dad, along with a paid contract, in exchange for my exile. No contact to them or from them. They barely hesitated.”
“Why do I feel like this gets worse?” Ellis asked quietly. I glanced up and met his pained gaze with a sad smile.
“The man who did this,” I said, pointing at my stomach, “was an alpha with power he doesn’t deserve. I was working late, the only one around… or I should have been. Apparently, he stopped back at the office for something and spotted me. He…” My voice faltered, and I closed my eyes. The pain still felt fresh despite how many months had passed.
“It’s okay. We get it,” Beckham said in a hushed tone, but that kindness steeled my resolve. I could do this. I could speak my truth without needing them to take pity on me. I could put a voice to what I’d survived.
“No, it’s fine,” I said with renewed anger. “He cornered me in the copy room, bent me over the table, and threatened me, my family, my future, anything he could use to coerce me. When I still said no, he left bruises and took what he wanted, my feelings and body be damned. It took a month to recover from the pain, then another month before I found out about the baby. His assistant went through my desk and found the test. That’s what started all this. That evening is when Liam called you,” I finished, gesturing to Ellis before nearly collapsing.
Just like that, the memories were back—the feel of his hands running over me, the bruising grip on my shoulder as he roughly pushed me onto the table and held me there. The ghost of his disgusting scent, a blend of booze, lust, and anger that had my stomach rolling, ready to heave up what was left of my breakfast.
