True Beta

Bonding with him

James nodded and drove us to Blue Harvest. Just as we pulled up to the large gate, it opened and Delilah jumped out of the back of the truck. She took off at top speed towards the large packhouse. When we parked, she had already shifted back to her human form and was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweater. She was pulling on her boots as James got out. Deacon quickly ran to her and picked her up, swinging her around in his arms. He gave her a deep kiss like it had been hours since they had seen each other, even though she was only in the back of the truck the entire time.

“You get used to it,” Ky said, rolling his eyes.

“He’s just jealous because he’s still unmated.” Deacon joked.

Ky just shrugged, “Keep f*****g with me and I’ll go to James’ pack.”

James laughed as he held my hand and walked with me up the steps, “I do need a Beta.”

“Oh, please take him!” Delilah joked.

I didn’t say anything as they all joked around. It was nice to see such a happy family. Even though Ky seemed to take the brunt of the teasing, he took it in stride and even teased back. Delilah led us to the pack hospital, still picking on Ky as we walked. Ky waved us off in the kitchen. Deacon went to his office.

“Mya!” Delilah called to a girl who was only a teenager.

She was wearing dark blue scrubs and was looking over a clipboard when Delilah called to her. She lifted her head slightly before smiling and handing the clipboard to a nurse. “Hey, sis. James.” She tilted her head as she looked at me. “Who’s this?”

“Brea. I need a full workup. She’s been through some things and was living as a rogue for a few months. She had a fainting spell at Blackwood, but I don’t trust them.” Delilah motioned me forward, “Brea, this is my sister-in-law, Mya.”

“Hello,” I whispered.

“Hey, I’m Dr. Norton, but you can call me Mya.” She gave me a soft smile.

James looked down at me, “I trust them completely. No one is going to hurt you.”

“Can you stay with me?”

He looked at Mya who furrowed her brows, “That’s your choice, Brea. James, if you’re going to be in the room, you had better be able to control yourself. If she’s been living as a rogue, then she hasn’t had proper care. I also need to know her history. All of it.”

I blushed.

He looked back down at me, “Do you want me to stay?”

“What if I stay with you?” Delilah piped in.

I nodded and looked up to James, who was nodding at her too. He kissed me on the forehead, “Link me when she’s done, Alpha.”

Delilah helped me undress and get into the gown on the table. She helped me lay on the table and put my legs in the stirrups. I tried to control my breathing as Mya told me everything she was doing. I held my sobs back as she checked my son. He was strong and healthy, despite me being so weak. Mya asked me questions, but I couldn’t answer her. It hurt too much to talk about all the things I had done. No, things were done to me.

Delilah shook her head, “You don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to. The important thing is James found you when he did. You and your pup are safe and healthy. If you never want to talk about it, then you don’t have to.” She held my hand.

“I do have a question.”

Mya looked up from her notes. She had kept her smile on her face, but her eyes looked sad. She knew that I had been abused for years. She could see the damage.

“Why does the pup get so excited around James?”

“What do you mean?”

“When James touches my belly, the pup starts kicking and moving around like crazy.” I rubbed my belly. Even mentioning his name had the pup kicking.

“He’s bonding with James. The twins were the same way, anytime I was anywhere near Deacon they went haywire.” Delilah proudly.

Mya hummed, “What about the baby's father? Lilah said he was at the hospital. What was the pup like when he was around him?”

I shook my head, “He didn’t move until James touched me. He was going crazy in the truck too, before we got to the packhouse.”

Mya nodded, “He’s bonding to James. It’s very unusual for an Alpha to breed anyone but his mate, but the pup is going to feed on you. Can you tell me how you ended up pregnant by Alpha Alexander? He’s mated isn’t he?”

Lei growled at the mention of Alexander, but I could feel that she trusted them. If she trusted them and so did James, then I knew I could as well. I told them everything. I told them about my brother giving me to Alpha Alexander during my heat, and when he came back, he was mated to his Luna. My father started treating me worse after that. Delilah’s eyes flashed purple and she snarled. Mya had quickly pinned her to the wall. Her eyes glazed over. Not soon after, Deacon came bursting into the room and swept Delilah up into his arms and ran out of the room. I could hear her snarls echoing down the hall. James came into the room finding me curled up on the table.

He looked me over and smiled. He pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head. Mya told me that I could get dressed. When I came out of the bathroom, James was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, his neck was red in anger. I gently touched his arm. I could feel him relax. He wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled me to his side. He kissed the top of my head as I leaned against him. My body was exhausted because it had been such a long day.

“I would say take her home, but I don’t think she’ll make it. Stay for the night and head out tomorrow. Dinner’s almost ready.” Mya waved us off.

James led me to the dining room, pulling out a chair for me to sit in. Ky sat in front of me, a large male sat next to him. He tilted his head at me. Ky just shook his head. A girl came and jokingly punched Ky on the shoulder and kissed the large male next to him. Ky ruffled her hair and received another punch in the shoulder. Deacon came and ruffled the girl’s hair too. Looking at them next to each other, I realized they were twins. Delilah came not long after Deacon, holding a screaming toddler and walking slowly with another. Mya grabbed the little girl from Delilah and kissed her forehead, swaying slowly. The little boy waddled to Deacon holding his arms up. The other male grabbed the little boy and threw him up in the air.

“How are you feeling, Brea?” Delilah asked, waving over to a server. The server brought over a large tray full of plates. They were serving grilled chicken with asparagus and little potatoes. James was already eating when I looked at him.

“I’m okay.”

“She needs to eat a lot more than she probably has in a few months, and lots and lots of rest.” Mya corrected me.

Delilah nodded, “Have you met everyone? Where’s Sam?”

“Here! Sorry, I saw the Gamma from Blackstone on the border. Had to use Axel to get him to beat it!” A man with shaggy brown hair came running up behind Delilah. He gave her a friendly kiss on her cheek, laughing as Deacon growled.

“Okay, hush Deac, let me introduce Brea.” She swatted him playfully. “Okay, so you’ve met Ky. Next to him is Jackson, our Gamma, and next to Jackson is Kyra. She’s Deacon’s twin sister. And obviously, you’ve met Mya. This i***t is Sam, our Beta.” She pointed to a table across the large dining room, “Over there the bear-looking man, is Axel and Lacy, his mate. Abram and Margret are next to them.” The large man came strolling over holding hands with a tall blonde.

Axel really was built like a bear. He had broad shoulders that were lined with muscles and his t-shirt looked like it would tear if he flexed the wrong way. He had jet black hair that hung just above his shoulders. His piercing blue eyes ran over me, landing on my belly. I shifted uncomfortably to James.

“Don’t worry, little one, Axel won’t hurt you.” James chuckled and kissed the top of my head. “Eat. The pup is letting you know he’s hungry.” He rubbed a small circle on my belly.

Mya tilted her head as James rubbed my belly. It was hard not to notice the little body sticking out under James’ hand. She smiled as James’s rubbing calmed the baby down and he sank back into my belly.

We ate dinner, Deacon and Delilah were talking about their pack and Sam kept bringing up the fact that my brother was circling the territory. Axel and James both growled. James was upset that my brother was anywhere near and Axel was upset at someone that threatened his territory. Ky just kept shut. After dinner, Mya showed James and me to a room. They had brought up my suitcases. It was all I had. I wouldn’t want anything else from Blackwood anyway. Except for my mom. I did miss her. Even though my father was cruel and hated me, the only reason my mother never helped me was that my father had gotten Alpha Raymond to command her. She couldn’t disobey his command, so she just stayed away. When we found out I was pregnant, I heard her tears, and then the usual smack as he hit her. He believed women were there to be seen and bred. Nothing else was useless to him. Leo sadly took after him. He had found his mate on his 18th birthday and she was locked away that same day. Leo didn’t want anyone to look at her. She was pregnant not long after and right before I left she was pregnant with their third pup in 5 years.

“This was my room when I lived here,” James said. The room was painted a light gray, it had a king-sized bed up against the wall right next to a window that was overlooking the forest. “Delilah had windows put in every room. It’s crazy how small a difference a window makes. When you live eighteen years without a window, you never notice how much you miss one.”

“Did you grow up where Delilah did?” I asked, sitting on the bed.

He nodded, “I got there before Delilah did, my entire pack was burned to the ground by rogues. I was caught in the flames. Dylan found me in the forest outside the territory line. I was half dead and had burns covering the entire left side of my body. I was about five or six. Dylan started the experiments not soon after. I was there. Then Axel came about a year later. Leon came six months later. The other kids all died during the experiments. I think we guys weren’t too far from it. Then Delilah came. Or was taken, whichever you wanna call it. We were all separated but a few years ago, Leon, Axel, and I started freaking out. It felt like we were being tortured along side her. Axel and I were almost put down because we killed a few of the assistants and guards. Dylan thought he had made a True Alpha, since all four of us are Alpha’s by blood and he had used her blood to save our lives. We were blood bonded.” James sighed, “When Lilah figured out that we were all bonded to her, there were the 4 blood Alphas and a few rogues that had inadvertently been trained to be Alphas. She brought us here and we stayed for a few weeks. Axel was mated to Lacy and Leon found out that his pack was still there and his parents didn’t have any more kids, so he was the rightful Alpha. Delilah obviously had Deacon and Blue Harvest.”

“You were orphaned,” I said. “Sometimes I wish I was orphaned.”

“Your dad seems like a real piece of work.”

I shrugged, “The entire pack is run like that. They only accept the strongest of wolves. Even though I’m ranked, I’m not as strong as the other ranked females or even some of the warriors. My dad knew from the time I was born he didn’t want me, so I was never trained. I was basically a packhouse cleaner. Besides visiting Alphas, no one touched me. Dad said I wasn’t worth the effort it took to swing his hand. Leo just never cared. As long as Dad was happy. I could have died, and he probably wouldn’t have noticed.”

“What about your mom?”

“She was always too afraid of Dad to do anything. She told me once that she had almost rejected him, but then she found out she was pregnant with me.”

He nodded, “You should get some rest. It’s been a long day.”

“Will you…” I pointed to the bed beside me.

“I’ll be back. Liah has something she wants to talk to me about.” He kissed my forehead, “get some sleep and I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.” He helped me lay down and pulled a blanket up to my shoulders.

I quickly fell asleep.