The Beta's Justice

Chapter 11

Audrey's POV

Yawning, I rolled over. Blinking a few times, I saw the clock. It was already half past ten. Quickly, I grabbed my phone and found it was dead. I must not have plugged it in. Groaning, I searched for the power cord, plugged it in, and waited a moment before turning it on. Messages and missed calls came flooding in. I abruptly sat up feeling panicked.

Suddenly, my door swung open, showing my nervous mate. "Audrey, what's wrong?" he questioned out of breath.

Startled, I pulled the blankets up tighter around me. "I'm fine, why?"

"I felt your panic," he whispered, as he remained on the threshold.

"Oh, you can feel that now?" I asked, feeling my cheeks redden.

He nodded. "I was panicked. But not because of anything dangerous. It was because of all the missed calls and messages. My phone must have shut off during the night," I explained. Having him in the room was already calming me.

"Many of those wolves linked me when you didn't respond. I've handled most of it. If you let me look at your phone, I can tell you which ones need your attention," he offered as he continued to wait by the door.

"That would be great," I smiled as I moved over a bit on the bed and motioned for him to come over.

We had never been in my room for any extended period of time, alone. He slowly came into the room and made his way over to my bed, next to me. He sat down. Electricity. There was electricity between us instantly. I placed my phone in his hand and felt a jolt as our fingers touched. "When was your birthday again?" He asked as he took the phone and started to go through the messages and look over who had called.

"Not soon enough," I sighed as I tried to put a little space between us. It felt like we were too close. Close enough that I wanted to be closer.

"Looks like I took care of all of them," he smiled proudly as he handed me back my phone.

I set it down on my nightstand and then turned back to see that we were somehow closer to each other. "Ummm... maybe we should..." I felt as though my voice failed me. I tried to clear my throat, but it felt too dry.

"Right," he quickly understood what I meant.

Darren's POV

Her cheeks were incredibly red. "I know," I whispered as I leaned over and kissed her forehead before getting up.

She leaned into my touch. Then she shifted her position and her lips moved to mine. It was hard to fight it, but I managed to pull away. "What six, seven months," I smiled at her.

"Six and a half..." she groaned.

"It will be even better because we waited," I tried to assure her.

"Fine," she responded as she flapped back on the bed.

I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped. She glared over at me. "Sorry," I responded, trying to sound as apologetic as possible.

"Whatever," she muttered as she pulled the covers over her face.

I leaned back on my arm, kissed her lips quickly, and then was off the bed. "Why don't you get showered and dressed? Meet me downstairs and I'll have breakfast for you," I told her.

Instantly, she hopped off the bed and headed straight to the washroom. I closed the door before I left. I headed down to the first floor, finding the chef had gone on break. Usually, she only worked before and during meal times. The clean-up was left to the Omegas. "Oh, Beta... Darren," one greeted me, awkwardly.

"Good morning," I greeted her and the other Omegas in the kitchen. "I was just going to make breakfast."

They looked nervously at one another. "Don't worry. I'm sure the chef won't mind," I smiled reassuringly.

They appeared apprehensive, but they cleared the kitchen to let me cook. I tried to tell them they didn't need to leave, but they had practically raced from the kitchen. The possibility of them being afraid of me crossed my mind, but I pushed the thought away. Slowly, I began to pull together breakfast for Audrey. I decided on making pancakes, bacon, sausages, and eggs. By the time I was done, it felt as though I may have gone over the top.

Gathering the dishes, I set the table. She came down the stairs a few moments later as I was pouring orange juice into her cup. "Wow!" she squealed excitedly. "This all looks so great! The Moon Goddess is definitely blessing me too much!" she gushed as she slid into her chair and started digging in.

"I'm glad you feel that way," I smiled at her as I sat across from her. I had made myself a plate, although it held less food since I had already eaten and wasn't very hungry.

"Aren't you eating?" She asked as she peered over at me while she shoved a large piece of pancake in her mouth.

She was not very ladylike at this moment, but it somehow made her cuter. "I've already eaten," I told her and somehow regretted it.

"Oh... did you have to eat alone?" She peered at me sadly.

"No, I ate with some of the warriors who were around for breakfast. Leon has the chef making food for anyone who wants to eat. It's to help raise morale," I explained to her.

She nodded as she continued to eat. "That was nice." She cleared her plate. "Would it be completely unladylike for me to get a second plate?" She appeared worried.

I laughed. "No, I love a she-wolf that has an appetite," I told her, trying to ease her worry.

She smiled happily at my words as she filled her plate again. "I can't remember the last time I sat here and had a meal in peace," she sighed happily.

Audrey's POV

Suddenly, Axel and Maya came down the stairs. I could hear them before I could see them. They stopped when they saw us sitting at the dining table. "Audrey, when did you get back?" Maya asked as she came over to sit down near me.

She felt cold and a bit distant. "Yesterday," I responded shortly.

"Why didn’t you inform us?" She nodded toward Axel.

She was speaking so formally. It was odd for her. "I didn't have time to and by the time I did have time, it was late. I was exhausted," I informed her.

"Sure..." she huffed.

"Hungry?" Darren asked as he held out a plate. "There's plenty," he told her as he motioned to the table. He had cooked way too much for two, let alone for me.

Maya appeared caught off guard by his sudden input. "No," she grumbled.

"I am!" Axel cut in and took the plate. He started shoveling food onto his plate.

Maya didn't take her gaze away from me. "Maya, I'm sorry," I sighed.

"You should be," she snapped. "We almost lost Hunter. Dad is dead. Mom is dead. Then you suddenly get up and leave on a mission without so much as telling us. We had to find out from a warrior," she glared at me. Fuming.

It finally hit me. She was right. I had left her and Axel in the dark and alone. I shouldn't have. I should have been a better sister. "I'm truly sorry," I said as I reached over and took her hand. "Come on, I know your hungry eat with us. Let's talk. I'll answer all your questions," I promised her.

We talked for a few minutes before Hunter came into the dining room. "Wow, Audrey, you cooked all this?" He peered at the table in amazement.

"Well... I may have exaggerated on who made the food," I grinned at him.

"Then who cooked?" He asked with a half smile.

"Darren," I responded quietly.

He nodded as he walked over and placed a hand on Darren's shoulder. "Thank you," he said as he took a seat next to Axel.

This was the first family meal we've had in a long time. One that felt light even though the pack is not in good shape, our family was being stitched back together. A strong Beta family could only help to strengthen the pack. Maya lightened up and Axel spoke more. Darren even relaxed. I finally felt like I could breathe with ease. I missed my family.

I was about to ask Hunter how Leon was doing since I figured that he was just coming from the hospital, but Maya cut in. "Are you going to leave us?" She suddenly asked.

"Leave? What are you talking about?" I responded, confused.

I watched as she looked from me to Darren. "With him... you said that he's the future Alpha of his pack. He will obviously need to go back," she peered at me, trying hard not to cry.

"I won't be leaving any time soon, right, Darren?" I said as I looked over at him, hoping he would confirm it.

"Oh, right," he quickly agreed. "She's not even of age yet," he added, as though it would give Maya some kind of reassurance.

Before Maya could say anything, I jumped in. "Even after I am of age, I will stay until the pack is back to full strength," my words appeared to have settled her to some extent.

The rest of the meal was pleasant. Everything was talking like we used to. Even laughter bounced off the walls. Then Hunter went silent. His eyes were wide with shock. "She's awake..." he told us all in shock.

We all sat in silence for a long time. No one knew what to say. We simply stared at each other in complete shock. Then Maya broke the silence. “What should we do?” she asked.

We all looked at her. Hunter spoke first. “For now, we do what we have been instructed. I don't believe we should go see Nova or Leon at this time,” there was something in the tone of his voice. He knew something more and was not telling us. But no one wanted to push it. We all wanted to remain in our mostly happy bubble.

“That means, Maya and Axel, you are expected to go to school from now on. You are to help Alice with the program she is running there. Audrey, you will be helping Marcus with training the special wolves and pups. Darren, please also help,” he instructed everyone as he looked around the table.

“School,” Maya grumbled as she pushed some food around on her plate.

“Maya, you come from the Beta family. We have a certain responsibility to the pack. You know that. However, before, nothing was expected of you, but now, I expect you to be a model she-wolf. Young she-wolves look up to you and so I need you to be a good example,” his tone was stern but loving.

Maya's cheeks reddened. “I can do that,” she muttered as she took a fork full of food into her mouth.

“Now, Axel, I expect the same of you,” he nodded to him.

Axel was a lot more understanding and held Hunter on a pedestal. “Will do,” he affirmed as he cleaned his plate.

“Good, I'm glad we all understand our role. This pack needs a strong Beta family. I believe everyone here can do well,” he smiled pridefully at everyone.

Hunter was full of pride. I liked seeing this side of my brother. He deserved it. We deserve to feel good about our family. We soon finished our rather unplanned lunch and all went to complete our assignments. I was eager to see Lila. I was worried she wasn't handling the change in her life so well. Many of the other pups had been lucky enough that one of their parents had survived the fight and was still not trying to complete Ryker's failed plan.

I cleared away the table after sending everyone on their way. The omegas took the dishes from me, insisting that they clean them. They wiped the table and sent me away. Leaving the kitchen, Darren met me. “Ready?” he asked as he reached out his hand to me.

“Ready,” I responded as I took his hand. We left the packhouse and headed to the arena. “Everything is going to be okay,” I muttered more to myself.

“It will be,” he agreed. I knew he could sense my stress and worry. “Lila and the other pups would be fine. They came back to the pack quickly. They didn't have a lot of time to be tainted by your father.” He knew my greatest worry was for another wolf to turn out like I did. To become the monster I was. “You are good now,” he reassured me.

“I guess,” I mumbled, feeling as though my voice were strained.

“You are much better,” he said as he stopped abruptly and stepped in front of me. He placed his hands on my shoulder, making sure he had my full attention. “You are better,” he repeated. He said it again a few more times as he drew me closer to him.

“Okay, okay, you're right. I'm better,” I laughed as he wrapped me up in his arms and I hugged him back.

I felt at ease. His embrace calmed me. “Now that you understand. Let's get going,” he said as he kissed me, and then we went to the arena. Finally, I felt less like the monster my father had created.