Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

Iwatched our beta saunter through the front door. He was still in his daily uniform of crisp jeans and a t-shirt. I watched him rub the back of his neck as if deep in thought, from where I lounged on the couch.

I set my laptop to the side and rubbed my eyes.

Done. I was done with work for the entire long weekend. Or at least until Sunday. Tonight...

I knew I needed the break, but there was always something to be done- to be gotten ahead of.

Cal's brow furrowed at the tile flooring.

I motioned to the side of my face the moment he noticed me, eyes widening as if he didn"t realize anyone else was in the house.

"You have lipstick on your neck," I informed him.

Cal's hand immediately reached up but didn't rub the nonexistent mark away. If anything he flushed. Freckles on his cheeks were more pronounced when they were brightened with red, likely remembering how that kiss mark got there.

"I do not."

I huffed a short laugh and shook my head.

I wasn't going to lie, I was surprised that whoever he met the other week made it this long, let alone how much time he was spending with them. Usually when Cal had a fascination with someone, it lasted a few days like any other obsession.

My jealousy was purely from the fact I hadn't seen him much, though he seemed to be getting work done from what he'd been emailing me of the local non-profits I asked him to look into.

Cal only shared his affections with Liam, though I'm sure would've with anyone in the pack. That was one thing about our beta. He always had enough love to go around.

Liam's eyes widened at Cal as he came down the stairs wearing a loose pair of gray sweatpants. His hair stuck up in all directions and he wore his glasses. Being able to see just fine, however, didn't stop him from catching Cal's hand.

He bent the beta's head to the side to get a look at the light pink shade for himself. "So you're really taking this girl out now."

"I think we already went over what I was doing last week. More than a week ago," said Cal. "Did you forget? Is that why you had to come to track me down today to give her a once-over yourself."

My eyes widened at Liam, though I wasn't surprised.

He huffed.

"You didn't say it was a woman," snarked Liam, as if he could get out of this one.

"I didn't realize I had to," Cal muttered. "You really thought I needed another dick around here? Hell no. I get that enough from you assholes."

Cal chuckled at his own joke before his face settled back into something more pensive, nearing a frown.

I wasn"t sure when the last time I saw that kind of expression on his face. "You alright there, Cal?"

"Ella wasn't feeling well this afternoon."

"Is she sick?" I asked.

"She's been working herself to the bone for some alumni project in the library," Cal explained. "She must"ve caught some sort of cold that has been bugging her for the past few days. Not to mention, I finally went back to her place when I dropped her off tonight. I wanted to make sure she got back okay, not that I think it probably would"ve helped."

"What's the problem?"

"Honestly?" Cal said, "She lives in a shithole."

"Look at Cal, starting to have standards," Liam commented.

Cal rolled his eyes. "I don't understand it. I know rent is rough, but I can't imagine that she isn't being paid decently for her job to live somewhere at least a little safer."

"Where does she work again?" I asked.

"The university library."

"She works at Prestford?"

Cal paused as if he didn't want to tell us and keep his new friend all to himself. Eventually, he nodded.

So did I. "I can look into it."

"You don't have to. It was just shocking considering how she seems to try to take care of herself otherwise. Or at least she tries to," expressed Cal. "And..."

"And?" I asked.

He paused. "Nothing."

"Trying to find an easy reason to offload her, beta?" Liam asked. He was beginning to have the moody tact of his teenage self that I often got into fights with or ignored until it passed when we lived in a small boarding school dormitory where there was no escaping it.

All of us must"ve had something under our skin lately.

"No." Cal nearly growled.

"What then?" he asked. "Going to bring her over for a dinner of cereal and talk out your confused feelings for each other?"

"Maybe."

My eyes flicked back up from where they fell off my two pack mates bickering.

Cal shrugged. "She likes cereal."

"You're kidding."

Cal shook his head. "I think she could use the friends too. The only problem is that she seems to have had a not-so-good experience though. With alphas."

"You didn't tell her you were already with a pack?"

"Well..."

"Cal," I admonished. Cal might not have been a great communicator, but he did know better than to hide us.

"I was waiting for the right moment." Cal turned. "And yes, I did tell her after the first date. We were just talking about you guys today. She wanted to know more about all of us."

"Good. It's not right for you to not tell her," I said. "It probably only made her more nervous because you tried to hide it."

"I know that," said Cal. "Now. For a minute there, I just wasn't thinking."

"When do you?" muttered Liam.

"Knock it off, Liam."

"You act like this is even a good idea. What's going to happen, Cal, huh?"

"Liam," I tried to cut in, but it looked like all of us knew that was a lost cause. I took a deep breath, preparing to stand up if I had to get between the two.

"You"re going to bring this girl back to the house and add her in like this place needs another beta? We can barely all hold ourselves together. And if she can't stand being around an alpha, what's the point anyway? She basically flinched when she saw me show up."

"Neither of us were expecting you and you weren't exactly, hm, what's the word? Nice."

I raised my eyebrows again and this time, Liam caught them.

He pointed a finger at me. "Don't you even start."

I was just watching the show.

"And, hey, what's wrong with another beta?" Cal asked.

"Nothing." Liam seethed before he groaned, caught between the two of us.

There were only two ways this could go for Liam.

He decided on his own.

He turned to head back towards the main staircase so he could go sulk for another night. "Don't even listen to me. It's fine! Something has been nagging at me for days and I can't figure out what the hell it is let alone the fact that you all are just brushing aside my perfectly reasonable thought the other day like no one even still wants us to be an actual pack."

"Liam!" I called out, feeling his frustration and distress through the bond.

I took a deep breath, and looked away, knowing Liam was already heading back towards his bedroom again without having to listen for the shut of his door that echoed the rest of the back downstairs between us.

Liam wasn't the only one who thought that one day when we had a steady pack we would introduce an omega. That we could make our pack complete. Maybe even make a family more than we already were. But we tried before and that...

Well, we all knew that didn't end well the last time.

I cleared my throat.

Cal still stood halfway to the living room. The sound I made, seemed to startle him back into movement towards the kitchen. Reaching up one of the lower shelves, he grabbed a glass of water.

"You're serious about this girl," I said, a bit of a question in my tone. "More than just a friend?"

Not looking back, Cal filled his cup halfway before putting the pitcher back in the fridge. "I think you'd love her too. She's smart and funny and a workaholic like you."

I raised my eyebrows.

Though Cal liked to play the field when he got restless, he never talked about anyone he went out with this way before. He seemed...attached. "You're thinking of introducing her to us."

"Maybe. Yeah, I am. I think you'd like her," Cal said, again. "Would that be a bad thing?"

"Of course not," I immediately said, though I wasn't so sure.

I first had all this extra busy business work on my plate that my father did purely to punish me, I was sure. Liam was talking about introducing another omega into this pack which was a recipe for likely heartache and disappointment. Now Cal met this beta that he was head over heels for.

"We'll take it one day at a time," I said, simply. "Do what feels right."

"Thank you, Demi."

I grumbled. "Don't call me that."

Cal grinned, eyes wild with happiness as he swept past me, throwing the suddenly sweet scent he had my way along with something else a little sweeter and more potent, thick and a little fruity. The tinge of scent caught in my throat until he was already gone, up the stairs leaving me alone in the living room once again in the quiet. The sound of nothing hung all around me.

One day at a time.

Everything would be back here in the house how we were supposed to be now that everyone was back together and no more work trips were on the horizon again, even if I couldn't help but feel restless. For now, I just had to make sure this pack survived and stuck together.

No matter what it took.

I reached back for my laptop as another email came in.