True Beta

Shopping and a rut

Brea’s POV

I woke up in bed, reaching for James’. His side of the bed was cold. It wasn’t long before I could see the forest blurring through his eyes. Another effect of the double mark. I felt like I was there running with him. Lei was still tired from having to take over our bodies. We couldn’t shift yet. She grumbled sadly before going back to sleep. I got out of bed finding an actual pair of James’ sweats. I had to roll them up since he was so much bigger than me. After searching and failing to find something for breakfast, I settled for a cup of coffee. Making James one, I grabbed his jacket and sat on the couch on the porch. This cottage had a perfect view of the sun rising over the hills. I watched as the colors reflected off the snow on the hilltops before settling high in the sky. It wasn’t as cold as it had been, but it was still chilly. The leaves were starting to grow back as spring was washing through. It would be months before we had truly warm weather, but I loved it here.

Growing up, I was one of the lucky pups who got to stay with my mother. We together shared a large bed and an old quilt. She would tuck me in every night, making sure I was warm, but I could feel the distance between us. She was afraid to truly bond with me, Father could rip me from her at any moment. And he did. The second I turned eighteen, I was forced to become a slave. I cooked and cleaned. The ranked wolves could use and abuse me in any way they wanted. For years, I was cold, wishing for death because no one was coming to save me. I didn’t need to be saved. I saved myself.

The second I decided to leave, my life went in a full one-eighty. It was no longer cold. It was warm and full of love. I got to watch my son grow up and interact with other pups. He had a father who loved him, though his biological father was still in the wind. We had a pack, a home, a family. Even though my mother was dead, I was glad I got to see her for the short time I did. She got to hold her grandson and see me happy for the first time in my life. I got to show her that even though my life had been so shitty before, it was beautiful now.

I could feel James coming closer. I still stared up at the hilltops. He kissed the top of my head, pulling the jacket tighter around me. “Beautiful.”

“It is.” I agreed.

He kept his eyes on me, I could feel his questions running through my mind. “I felt you…”

“I know. I felt your pain. It was strange. Crippling. My own pain with your pain from feeling my pain.” I sighed. I didn’t want to talk about it. It was in the past and all that mattered was I found my way home again.

“I looked everywhere for you.” The broken little boy he tried to hide came to the surface. “You were gone, but I knew you weren’t dead. I couldn’t believe it even if it were true.”

I cupped his face, “I’m right here, James. I’m not going anywhere.”

“The tracker. It was supposed to keep you safe.”

I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to remember that night. It would bring back the memories of the darkness, but James couldn’t let this go. He had failed me, or so he thought. Who would have thought two Alphas would go so far as to shoot me in the head? They were pretty deranged, but a gun was just below the wolves. Before Alexander shot me, Raymond had tried to cut my mark off, not realizing I was double marked. They were going to force mate me, but their wolves wouldn’t let them touch a marked she-wolf. The tracker had gotten sliced off in his efforts to cut deep enough to remove my mark. When they realized it wasn’t going anywhere, Alexander shot me in between my eyes.

I touched where the bullet had been. It was completely healed like nothing ever happened, but I would never forget that night. When I found Alexander, I would show him exactly how it felt. Lei barked in agreement; James gave a slight nod of his head. He would have blood.

We got dressed before cleaning the cottage. We walked hand in hand to our apartment. James’ scent was barely there. He looked at me sheepishly. We climbed back into bed, knowing Reese was too busy with his cousins to care that we were back. While James was napping, I took a quick shower. I grabbed a t-shirt and jeans. I noticed one of my favorite shirts was missing. Huh. I kissed James on his forehead before heading to my office.

The desk was covered in paperwork. There were contractor notices and updates. A bill from the furnishing store. I set to work. Starting with the oldest things first. By the time I had signed and sealed the last invoice check, my hand was sore. It had only been a few days, but a lot was going on. My pack needed to be fed, houses were still being built. I was opening the pile of mail. There was an unlabeled envelope. I opened it, inside was a letter from my mother.

Brea,

I know I could never make up for everything I put you through. Everything I let your father put you through. I wish I was stronger, but I was so afraid of what he would do if I left. I could not leave you there with him.

I am so very happy that I got to see a smile on your beautiful face, my sweet girl. I hope your life is everything you wish it to be, even if I cannot be in it. Inside, I have given you access to our family’s bank accounts. It will not be long before your father is found guilty of his many crimes. I will not be able to last much longer after he is executed. I do hope this helps you begin the life you deserve. The life your son deserves.

I love you, Brea.

I tried to blink back the tears as I read and reread the letter. She knew that Father was going to die, and his death would kill her too. She went after the rogue because she wanted to take the one thing he had taken from her. Choice. She made one strong decision and died fighting for me, for Reese, because she had finally gotten her strength to stand up for me.

I looked at the bank statement she had slipped behind the letter. There were a lot of zeros. Enough zeros to build a bigger packhouse a hundred times over. I knew we were well off, but Father never bought me anything unless it was absolutely necessary. On the backside of the bank statement, she had written the names of the packs that had bought and traded she-wolves. There weren’t many but enough to send to the council.

“Brea?” James was leaning against the doorjamb.

“Hey, how was your nap?”

“I don’t like waking up without you in my arms.” He came to stand behind me, “What’s that?”

“My mother gave me my family’s money.” I showed him the paper.

He balked. “That’s… a lot of zeroes. A lot of zeros.”

I didn’t know what to do with that kind of money. I was comfortable with the life I had. I was happy. I had my mate; my son was growing up and had a family he could grow up with. I looked back at all the bills we had. We used the last bit of the grant to build the hospital. We still had six more cottages we were building. Those would need to be furnished and clothes bought for new pack members. I liked keeping the packhouse fridge stocked, but the pantries were looking bare. I wanted to get a little bit of everything. We had gotten a lot more kids and teens. We hadn’t had much luck getting them acclimated into schools with humans. We could build a school.

James only nodded. Setting a budget, we still had more money than either of us knew what to do with. I said I wanted to surprise Lacy and Axel. I wanted to expand the cottage and move them in it, even though it would be months before they would need the extra space, it would be easier to move them now. Ky and Kara hadn’t had the chance to start their pups’ room or start getting things ready for him. I wanted to pay Delilah back for her help and send them on vacation. We would send Leon some money for his help. After everything, we still had an extreme amount of money.

James talked me into going on a shopping spree, suggesting I take Kara and Delilah. I would face time, Lacy, so she wouldn’t feel left out. We ordered trucks of food for the packhouse. James called Deacon to talk about investments. He called Axel and Ky. Axel was excited, he enjoyed working with his hands, and it turned out Ky enjoyed designing houses. It was decided our pack would start an architectural firm. We quickly enrolled Ky in college. James and Axel hadn’t gone to school, in the traditional sense. Leaving them to their business plans, I found Reese and Jennifer.

“I’m headed to the mall; would you like to come?” I asked.

“Oh, no dear! I’m okay. You enjoy yourself.” She looked scared. She hadn’t been able to spend money. Julius was worse than Alexander.

“Luna Jen, I know that Blackstone treated you horribly, but James would never allow anyone to hurt you. I just received a large amount of money. Insanely large. If you need anything please, let’s go get it. It doesn’t matter if it is for one of the kids or you personally.”

She smiled at me softly, “No one has called me Luna in many years.”

“No matter what you endured, you are and will always be a Luna.” I smiled back at her, “Now let’s go get some massages and you can tell me stories of when James was a boy.”

We met Delilah at the mall. We spent hours going through the stores. I talked Jennifer into buying an entirely new wardrobe and phones for the kids. I found a purple floor-length halter dress. James would love it. By the time we left, the SUV was completely full of things. We also got a few new bedroom sets for the kids. I bought Kara a bedroom set for the pup and a maternity wardrobe. I got James a suit. I had made him an appointment to get it tailored. I made a reservation for a fancy restaurant for Delilah and Deacon.

Pulling into the drive, James, Lukas, and Ky were standing at the top of the stairs. James wrapped me in his arms, kissing me deeply. He rubbed his nose on my mark, growling as he inhaled my scent. He pulled me closer to him, inciting a flame in my belly.

“I would prefer not to see my son take his Luna, especially not in front of the pack.” Jen laughed.

James chuckled, but his eyes were black with lust, “I would prefer to take my Luna straight to bed. Reese is napping with JJ. We will see you all in a few days.”

“Days?” I asked him. “James, we can’t be locked away for days.”

Ky laughed, but when I looked at him questioningly, he stopped. He raised his eyebrow, “You seriously can’t feel it?”

Jen looked at me then back to James, understanding written on her face, “Oh, Dear! You’re in heat!”

I chuckled, “I’m not in heat. I would feel that.”

“Not yet, but it’s close. And I plan on making the most of it.” James almost growled, “We’re going to the cottage. Just leave her things in our apartment.” James had a bag slung over his shoulder as he went to pick me up.

“Wait, I need something from my bags!” I ran towards the car, finding what I wanted. James beamed when he saw the name of the bag.

He picked me up, swinging the bag on my back. He quickly shifted and ran towards our cottage. I slid off his back and went to open the door. I could feel him shift behind me, quickly pushing me into the cottage. Kicking the door shut, he leaned down and licked and kissed my mark. He was already hard. I could feel it in my back as he pushed me towards the couch. He reached around the front of my shirt, ripping it down the front. He unhooked my bra, roughly grabbing my breasts. He pulled my jeans down, hooking my panties with them. I cried out as he sucked on my lower lips. I rocked my hips as he pulled my c**t between his teeth, I had never had an orgasm so fast.

“Need you,” James growled out. His eyes were onyx black as he bent me over the couch. I moaned as he roughly thrust inside me. His pace was punishing as he pumped into me. I was so wet, the sounds of our skin hitting were driving our wolves insane. Gray was driven by the need to mate with me. He could see nothing but getting me pregnant. Lei wanted nothing more than to let him.

“Gonna make you round with my pups,” Gray growled as he found my c**t. He pinched me just as he rotated his hips and slammed into me. “c*m for me, Brea.”

My body was so wound up, I did as I was told. James groaned as my walls tightened around him, his movements slowed, allowing me to breathe from the pleasure. I rocked my hips back against him, earning a smack. He quickened his pace, thrusting into me painfully hard. He had no sense of the tender and loving James. There was only one motivation; to get me pregnant. He was almost animalistic.

“More.” He flipped me over quickly, still pummeling into me. He pinched my n*****s, pulling them away from my breast. “Again.”

I did, screaming as he came with me. I could feel the sticky liquid seeping out, running down to my back entrance. James leaned down kissing my mark, his chest heaving. His eyes were flickering between his warm green and Gray’s onyx black. He was still rock hard, slowly thrusting inside me. I closed my eyes, loving how he felt.

“Open your eyes, baby.” He cupped my cheeks, kissing my forehead.

I looked up at him, “Are you okay?”

He rolled his hips into me, “Rut. Gray is going insane. You smell so god damn good, Brea.” He nibbled on my mark, “Your heat is so close. Make you scream my name, over and over again.”

I moaned again, “James.” I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his lips to mine. I kissed him deeply, letting him dominate me. His tongue explored my mouth, I rocked into him.

“Do you want more, beautiful?” He slowly pulled out.

I nodded.

“My pleasure.” He thrust back inside me, setting his punishingly fast pace.

It was mine too.