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BEATRICE
With both ofmy alphas out and a bristling Meeker scowling at my guests, I ushered my sister into the drawing room; it being the most habitable room in the house. She’d appeared not five minutes after Pax had left Jude at her shoulder, and requested for “whatever your cook has that can be brought up with all possible haste”. Jude had declined when offered a plate, saying he preferred to stand guard. As was her wont, she took the chair that afforded her a perfect view of the entire room, including the ability to spy out the windows should she wish.
“Polly—”
“Bea. I respect you, but your decision to pick these alphas… One who rejected you and the other who sought to buy you.”
“You were the one to say they’d have me.”
“But that didn’t mean you had to have them.”
A rush of shame flooded me. Impossible to pinpoint its origin, but the sting of her words, like a paper cut, had me wincing away from her. “You don’t understand.”
“Oh, a knot is a very persuasive thing, I am sure.”
“And how would you know? You’ve only been intimate with betas,” I snapped. “You are jumping to conclusions. I am far more aware of the difficulties I’ll face. The three of us could not be more different. I desire to make this work. One day I hope you understand that.” I stared hard at our partially finished meal on the table. Wine, sweet meats, napkins scrunched and left by the plates. “This is my home. You left home so long ago. I do not know if you remember what it is like to belong somewhere.”
“I have a home.”
“Do you? And how many nights in the week do you spend there? Wherever there is. We worry. Mama worries. I know she struggles… There is a distance between you.”
“Yes, you and the twins have always received her best.”
“Please—”
“What does home mean to you, Trix?” she asked, drawing out Jack’s name for me. An unsettling reminder of her prescience. Or perhaps she had disconnected from the world and saw us all as pieces on a board.
“Home is where an omega’s nest is. Cliche, perhaps, but ultimately my nest is here. Here too.” I put a hand over my heart. “You need to learn how to nest, sister.”
“Nest? You know I’ve never made a nest in my life.”
I sat back in my chair and stared hard at the omega I loved best in the world. Everything I had worked so hard to be, Polly had rebelled against. What she had made of herself never ceased to amaze me. “A nest doesn’t make you weak.”
“How—”
The door opened and Jude stuck his head in. “Time to go.”
“I haven’t finished my conversation with my sister,” Polly said.
“You pay me to keep you safe.”
“And I am unsafe in my sister’s home? With her mates?”
“Now, Hippolyta.”
I froze. None spoke to Polly in that tone. None. But my sister smiled, coy and dangerous.
“Does my Shadow need me?”
“Hippolyta—” It was nearly a growl, and I felt the hair on my arms stand on end.
“Sister, I believe I must leave you.”
“About time.” Jack pushed past the beta and stepped into my line of sight. “Time for bed, Trix.”
“Do you like this Bea?” Polly asked. “Being told what to do like a child. Is that what you like? What you want?”
“Hippolyta!” Jude all but barked. Her jaw clenched.
