Suddenly A Beta's Daughter

Chapter 7: The Beta's Daughter

Gabi POV:

Ben and I got on the elevator and went down to the fifth floor. He was explaining the layout of the building as we made our way down to dinner.

"Our pack house is a little bigger than other packs. Usually, the Alpha family has the top floor to themselves, and the Beta and Gamma family share the floor under them along with guest rooms for visiting Alphas. The last two to three floors are usually rooms for unmated wolves and recreation."

"But we live on the top floor. Are we part of the Alpha family? ".

"Sort of. Dad and the Alpha were raised as brothers, so he's pretty much just Uncle Matt to us, but no, we are the Beta family. As I said, we're a bit bigger, so the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma families share the top floor." We stepped off the elevator and started walking down the hall. "This floor holds rooms for visiting ranked members, a private dining room, conference room, screening/entertainment room, and a gym."

"Well, you guys are loaded," I mumbled under my breath, and he laughed.

"You could say that. Dad owns a couple of businesses, and so do Uncle Matt and Uncle David. A fraction of all the profits goes into running the pack. Plus, all the businesses on the pack lands pay taxes that go into the pack funds, too." We turned the corner, and at the end of the hall was a pair of double doors. "That's the dining room down there. We only use it on Sundays, or if we have guests other than that, we eat at home or in the first-floor dining hall." We stopped just outside the doors. Ben looked down at me as his hand rested on the doorknob. "Are you ready to meet the rest of your family?"

"Not really." I was nervous. It has always just been me and my mom. I'm not sure if I'll fit in with them. We have grown up in very different environments. This is probably just as sudden for them as it is for me. What if they don't accept me as one of them?

Ben reached out with his free hand and took hold of mine. "Don't worry, I'll be right here, and I know for a fact that they'll love you just as much as I do." I gave him a small smile and nodded my head. He squeezed my hand before opening the door and walking in with me trailing closely behind.

"There you are, pup."

Robert got up from the table and walked over to us. Doing so, we gained the attention of everyone sitting at the table, so I hid behind Ben's back, holding tightly onto his hand. He chuckled a little but still stood in front of me protectively. Robert looked a little concerned at my reaction but I couldn't help it, I never liked being the center of attention and there were too many eyes trying to pry over Ben's shoulder to take a look at me.

"You're okay, pup, no one here will hurt you."

"I know that," I pouted, still hiding.

He held out his hand to me, urging me to take it. Ben didn't move an inch. He just looked down at me assuredly, letting me know it was up to me. I stepped out from behind Ben, still holding on to his hand but not taking Robert's. He looked a little hurt that I didn't take his hand but I tried not to pay too much attention to him as I looked around at the people that had their eyes glued to me, one set of eyes caught me by surprise, Aiden was sitting amongst them, giving me a soft smile.

Robert cleared his throat, effectively breaking my eye contact with Aiden, as all eyes landed on him as he stepped slightly behind me. “I’d like you all to meet Gabi, my daughter.” There was a mixed reaction from those in the room. It seems as though a few already knew that I was coming, but everyone else had a look of complete shock on their face. I found it interesting that Aiden wasn’t surprised by the news as well, or at seeing me here, because I was.

“Damn Uncle Rob, when did you have another kid?...ow” a guy shouted. The girl sitting next to him hit him in his head almost immediately. They looked to be around the same age as Ben. “Oh, like the rest of you weren't thinking it.” A couple of glares were sent his way, and he seemed all the more confused. “What, did you guys know?” he asked the adults that were sitting towards the head of the table.

“It might have come as a bit of a surprise yesterday, but she is indeed our Beta’s child.” The man at the very head of the table spoke. He was a very large, well-built man dressed formally with his dark blonde hair gelled back, not a single strand out of place. He would have come off as intimidating if it wasn’t for his warm smile that reached into his dark brown eyes. “Well don't just stand there, Ben. Bring her here and take a seat.”

Ben walked me to the table and pulled out a chair in front of the boy that shouted earlier and then sat down to my left, directly across from Aiden.

“I’m Alpha Matthew, though to you I'm Uncle Matt” he gestured to his left to a small beautiful woman with long brown hair and soft Hazel eyes,” This is my mate and Luna Bethany, or Aunt Beth.”

“Hi sweetie, Your father has been talking about you nonstop since he found out about you. You are just as beautiful as he said you were.”

“Alright Beth, no need to exaggerate.” The adults started teasing Robert about his behavior for the past 24 hours. I stopped paying attention when I felt a familiar presence in my mind.

“Funny seeing you here.” I looked over at Aiden, and he gave me a bright smile. “I knew you were connected to my pack somehow. I just didn’t think you would be my best friend's sister.”

“I didn’t expect you to be here, let alone know Robert or my Brother”

“Fair enough, it's good to see you, though. I thought I would have had to search the woods if I wanted to see you again.” I blushed a little, and he chuckled at my reaction.

“Gabi.” I looked at Robert and saw that he was watching my interaction, “do you two happen to know each other?”

I looked around at everyone, and they all seemed curious, well, everyone, but Ben. I’m assuming because Aiden didn't seem surprised that I was here and Ben seemed to know that we were already acquainted and that the two of them had already spoken. However, it didn’t look like Aiden planned on explaining anything to anyone else; he seemed amused at everyone's confusion.

“Um… sort of.” I shot Aiden a look before turning back to Robert. “He found me in the woods and helped me shift.” Again, with all the shocked faces, you would think nothing out of the ordinary ever happens to these werewolves, ironic, really. “Then he made sure I got back home.”

Everyone's eyes glazed over for a few seconds before returning to normal, and everyone's reaction was…. Weird to say the least. Aiden sat back smiling, Ben and Robert looked horrified, Bethany looked like she was close to tears, while the rest looked like they were at a loss for words.

“Is everything okay?” I asked as I looked around at everyone's reaction.

Aiden’s POV:

“Gabi’s my mate.” I dropped a link to everyone in the room. The reaction I got from everyone was to be expected to be honest, but I am just too excited to keep it a secret from them.

“Nothing is wrong sweetie, it's just amazing how small this world of ours is.” My mom said, trying to comfort Gabi.

“That it is. Well, I’m glad that he was there to help you,” Dad said, then looked at me with his serious expression, “although I’ll have to have a serious conversation with you about leaving your post unintended.”

I rolled my eyes at him, earning myself a warning growl. “ It's not like I could just ignore her. She was literally screaming for help.”

“Then you should have called for help. She could have been a rogue, or it could have been a trap.”

“But it-”

“Enough!” he cut me off, his eyes turning black at my disrespect. “You know better, we’ll discuss all this later.”

“Yes sir.”

“I’m sorry.” I looked up at Gabi’s guilty eyes “I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”

“It’s not your fault, I get in plenty of trouble on my own.”

“Well, that's enough of that.” My mom started trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. “Gabi dear, let me finish up the introductions.” She pointed everyone out, explaining their rank and relation to her. I, however, was trying my best to ignore the death threats that my uncle was sending me from across the table, Ben seemed just as mad.

“What the f**k A. You can’t just drop a bomb like that at dinner.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t planning on announcing it, I was just excited. Though it looks like Dad and Uncle Rob are going to literally murder me.”

“Funny of you to assume I won't help them.” He glared at me.

“You love me too much to do that.”

“I love Gabi more. If anything happens because you decided to make premature announcements you better hope they get to you first.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his threat causing Joe to look at us like we’ve grown 2 heads.

Gabi’s POV:

Once things calmed down a bit, dinner was somewhat enjoyable. I especially like the Luna and Joe’s mate Kelly, they are a lot of fun. The Gamma female Sandra was a little on the formal side but her daughter Dorthea (Dotty) was absolutely adorable.

“Gabi you will absolutely love BloodStone High, the teachers are amazing and the subject choices are insane, anything you want to be there's a class for it.” Kelly told me excitedly, “I’ll even take you for your first day, it’ll be nice to have an excuse to visit my old teachers.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked with confusion probably written all over my face.

“Oh, I just assumed you were going to transfer since you’re here now, plus it would be good for you to learn more about your heritage.”

“I’m only here temporarily, just until my mom gets out of the hospital, I'm not changing schools.”

“Pup,” Robert looked at me sympathetically. “I think it would be best if you go to school here.”

“No, and stop calling me that. You can't just change my school, it's bad enough I can’t even stay with Dina and Mark.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to assume.”

“No, Kelly, it's okay. Gabi, I know this is a lot but that's an hour's drive, and I don’t think your mom is going to wake up anytime soon.”

“That's why I wanted to stay with Dina an-”

“Gabi please” he rubbed his hand down his face in exhaustion. “I understand you’re upset-”

“How could you possibly understand, I didn't take you from your home and force you to leave everything behind.”

“Gabi-”

“I get that you wanna play house but you can’t just take everything.”

‘Easy there Gabs, deep breath.’ Ben grabbed my hand, giving it a good squeeze trying to calm me down. ‘I know change is scary but this is hard on Dad too, this is new territory for all of us.’ I took a deep breath and squeezed his hand back to let him know I was okay.

“I’m sorry, I didn't mean to get upset.”

“It's okay, this has to be frustrating for you. I’m sure we can think of something that everyone can feel comfortable with.” The Luna said, trying to de-escalate the situation.

“I’m not switching schools.” I mumbled angrily, “I just want one thing to stay the same.”

“Well how about this, you can finish out the school year, and if your mom's condition near the start of next year does not improve you’ll transfer.”

“Who is gonna drive 4 hours every day to take her to and from school, and what about the rogues? As a young beta wolf with alpha blood, she's a walking target, it's not safe.” Once again everyone debated about my life as if I wasn’t there.

“Dad.” Robert looked over at Ben, “What if I intern at the Tech Company for a month.” Ben gained the curious looks of the adults. “I would have to learn how to run it eventually and we can drive out there and back together.” His suggestion was met with silence. ”If you are worried about my duties in the pack I'll take the evening sessions and night patrols.”

"What do you think Matt?"

"It's not a terrible idea, though we'll have to do some rearranging, though for security reasons it might be better to have Ben and Jonah go."

"What about me?" Aiden asked, "How come I can't do it."

"Ask me that after you learn to stay at your post" Alpha Matt glared at his son. "But ultimately it is up to you Rob, and Gabi of course. Is this something the two of you can agree on?"

“I guess, it’s not like I’m being given much of a choice.” I looked over at Robert waiting for him to give his answer.

He let out a heavy sigh before he finally gave in. “Fine, but at least take tomorrow off and try to settle in here. That’ll give us some time to make arrangements.”

I couldn’t help the smile that came at finally having something go my way, no matter how small, “Thank you.” Robert’s eyes softened and he smiled back at me.

“Alright now that all the drama is dealt with let's move on to dessert.” The Luna said brightly, Her eyes glazed over and a few moments later someone walked into the dining room with a chocolate cake in hand with a 16 candle on top. “Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.” Everyone slowly joined the Luna as the lady set the cake in front of me. “I know your birthday was yesterday, and you might think we are nothing but strangers to you, but I thought you could use a bit of cheering up.” I smiled up at her, not knowing how to react. “And despite what you may think, we are your family, and always will be. Hurry and blow out the candles.”

“Thank you, Luna,” she gave me a disappointed look, “I mean Aunt Beth.” I blew out the candles as Beth got up from her seat, picking up a colorful bag and bringing it to me. “Oh, you didn’t have to.”

“Nonsense, I’ve missed out on 16 birthdays, Christmases, and Goddess knows what else. This is the least I can do.” she put the bag in my hands, and I couldn't help but peek inside. It looked like two separate dresses, one white and one a royal blue.

“Thank you.”

“Of course, sweetie.” she smooths out a loose curl, tucking it behind my ear. “Rob”

“Huh,” he answered, his face turning a little red.

“Don’t you have something to give her as well?” I looked over at him, and he seemed rather nervous, not that I can entirely blame him. I haven't exactly been nice to him. “He dragged me in and out of so many stores this afternoon because he had to make sure it was perfect, and now he’s too scared to give it to you.” She giggled, and I couldn't help but blush a little at all the attention.

“I’m not scared,” he mumbled under his breath, making all the men at the table laugh at his expense. “And the only reason why we went to so many stores is because you’re so judgmental.” Beth elbowed him, and he pulled out a velvet box from his pocket before holding it out to me. “Here.”

I took the box from his hand and opened it up to reveal a beautiful necklace. It was a thin gold chain with a circular pendant no bigger than a dime with a lily carved into it and a small emerald beside it. “Thank you, it's beautiful.” I watched as the tension left his shoulders, and he gave me a big goofy smile.

“No fair, no one said we were giving out gifts,” Ben pouted, ”just wait I’ll spoil you silly tomorrow. Uncle Matt, can I take tomorrow off.”

“No fair. If he gets tomorrow off, I want off, too.”

“Me three.” Ben, Aiden, and Joe all gave the Alpha puppy dog eyes, while Robert and Matt rolled their eyes.

“You all can have the morning off, but you have to lead the afternoon elite training.”

“Deal.” All three shouted without hesitation. “Hey, Gabs wanna go to the entertainment room and binge some movies.”

“Sure.”

“You guys down,” Ben asked the rest of the younger crowd.

“Yay!” Dotty jumped up “I wanna watch Dinosaurs.”

The adults all laughed while everyone else let out a groan. If Dotty is anything like the twins, she has forced them to watch this thousands of times.

“Alright princess,” Ben walked around the table and lifted the little girl. She looked so tiny in his big arms. “Dinosaurs it is. Everyone else joins at your own risk. Come on, Gabs, don't worry about the gifts someone will take them to your room.” Surprisingly enough, they all got up and followed us out, leaving the adults to talk.

Roberts POV:

“Well that went well,” I leaned back, sighing heavily

“Don’t be so dramatic. That could have gone so much worse.”

“Worse, Beth, my pup hates me. Anytime I talk to her, she either ignores me or we're arguing”

“Can’t say I blame her,” I looked over at Dave and raised an eyebrow at him. “What, I’m not saying she hates you. It’s just with so much happening back to back she needs someone to blame, and you, my friend, are an easy target.”

“That makes sense. Just give her some more time I’m sure she’ll come around soon.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m gonna finish some work.”

Looking up at the clock, I saw that it was past midnight. I guess I should stop avoiding my daughter and get back to the suite.

‘Ben, it's pretty late. Are you guys back in the suite?'

‘No,’ He sounded like I woke him up, which means they’re probably all down there sleeping. ‘We’re still in the screening room.’

‘I know you kids got the morning off, but that doesn't mean you can stay up to the crack of dawn.’ I went up to the fifth floor and made my way to them the second I walked in. I saw my pups cuddled together under a blanket, Gabi fast asleep in his arms. Ben and Aiden were so engrossed in whatever it was they were watching they didn't even realize I was behind them. They needed to pay better attention to their surroundings.

I couldn’t help but take out my phone and snap a photo of them. That was enough to get the boy's attention.

“What are you kids up to?”

“Nothing,” Aiden answered. He tensed up as he looked up at me. I’ve known the boy his whole life. He’s a good kid, but that doesn’t make me comfortable with him being mated to my pup. “What are you doing here?”

“Don’t worry I’m not here to chew you out, at least not yet. How long has she been sleeping?”

“About an hour, I would have taken her up, but I was afraid I'd wake her up.”

“Give her here.” I reached down to pick her up and watched the hesitation in my son's eyes. I love that they bonded so fast and that Ben is so protective of her. The second he saw her, I could tell he’d give her the world if she asked. As happy as it makes me seeing them this way I’m saddened to know that she doesn't feel that bond with me. “Relax, she might not be my biggest fan at the moment, but I’m not gonna kidnap her.” Though if you ask her, I already did.

I got her up into my arms, and she was as light as a feather. I felt my heart flutter for the first time in a long time as she snuggled into my chest. I tightened my grip around her and placed a kiss on her forehead.

“You kids need to go to bed too, Don’t stay up too late.”

“Night Dad.”

“Night Uncle.”

I made my way up to the sixth floor. Once I walked through the door to our suite, I felt her stir in my arms.

“Rob.” She looked around and rubbed her eyes.

“Shh.. go back to sleep.”

“I’m sorry.” She mumbled sleepily.

I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped at her half-sleep ramblings. “What exactly are you sorry for?”

“For being so mean.” I stopped walking to look down at her. “I just want my mom.” Hearing her little sniffles broke my heart.

“I know love,” I got to her room and put her in bed, popping off her sneakers before tucking her in. ”Let it all out, There's nothing you can do that could make me love you any less.”