21 My Brother's Beta
So because you awesome fans voted and commented on "Six Words" (for my english class) I got 100%!!!!! I think that deserved an upload, si?
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Chapter Twenty-One
I was still feeling guilty over the fact that Aaron so clearly was waiting for me to be on the same wave as him, but I managed to pull up a smile and pretend that I was enjoying myself as he continued packing away all the science equipment. It was like I didn’t enjoy being around him; it was just that I had this lingering thought in the back of my mind that Aaron would get sick of waiting, and would leave me for someone who could reciprocate his feelings.
When everything was cleaned and packed away, Aaron swiftly jumped over the bench – one hand on the granite landing – and landed effortlessly in front of me. “Ready?”
“For what?” I asked. I’m pretty sure that he had only planned for a science lesson. Or maybe…
No, surely he wasn’t dragging me off for another science block! I like Aaron, but science is just… Uninviting.
He laughed, filling my ears with the greatest sound on Earth. “We have school, you nufty.”
“Did you just call me a nufty?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
He shook his head. “No. Definitely not.”
I gave him a ‘what the hell’ look, resembling Jackie Chan’s confused look to a tee. “I think you did, Aaron.”
“Why would I call my lovely, amazing mate that?” he asked innocently, wrapping my left hand into both of his, as he looked deep into my eyes. “My beautiful, gorgeous, intelligent-“
“Don’t try and sweet talk me, boy,” I laughed, patting him on the chest. “Doesn’t work on me.”
It does actually. He grinned, “That’s what I lov-like about you.”
I frowned at his poor attempt of his catch, unable to look into his eyes. Instead, I concentrated on his hands, holding them in mine and messaging them slightly. I noticed a few scars, but decided to not bring them up. “You can say it, you know.”
“Say what?” he asked, playing dumb. He’s actually quite a smooth liar – but I can see through it. I also have been able to.
“You know,” I said, trying to give the impression of the L-word without actually saying it myself. “That word…”
“I shouldn’t say it around you,” he said quietly, his gaze cast down at our hands, too. I looked up at him in shock. Didn’t he love me anymore? I know it’s selfish to want him to love me without having to myself, but I am going in that direction. I just need more time to really get to know him, properly.
I took a deep breath, trying not to show my worry. “Why not?”
“Because I can see that it makes you uncomfortable,” he said in explanation, twirling around my bronze thumb-ring that I’d bought when shopping with Victoria and Ashlyn three years ago. His voice caught a little, but as manly as he is, he just cleared his throat and carried on. “When – if – you do say it, I don’t want it to be out of guilt, or pressure. I want to know that you mean it; I want to see it in your eyes. I know that sounds corny, but that’s how I feel.”
Without thinking, I pulled him close to him and gave him one long, sweet kiss. I knew that the bell would be going any second and someone – like my brother – could see us, so I pulled away after a few seconds and just held him. His arms wrapped around me, embracing me with so much protection and compassion that I didn’t doubt anything that he said. That he’ll ever say. If my ‘Love’ for him was put on a scale, I would like to think that it just went up a notch.
When the bell went off, I pulled away from him and whispered a good-bye as I left to go to my locker. I heard him whisper it back, more in my mind than my ears. When I turned around, he was already gone.
* * *
At four o’clock, Aaron and I were standing outside quite possibly the biggest house in all of America. It wasn’t so much of a house as it was a few conjoined castles, completely towering over the two of us. And it’s very rare that Aaron is made to look small.
We were here because of Maddy, of course. She’d found Aaron during school, gave him a note with her address and two words: Bring Bethany.
So here we were, at her new house – which, I’m assuming, her parents did not live in with her – waiting for something to happen. Was she going to come out and get us, or were we supposed to go knock on the front door?
I asked Aaron, to which he replied, “We should wait here. If she wants us, she can get off her ass and come get us.”
I smiled. I liked Angry Aaron – he’s even sexier than Regular Aaron. His dark eyes smouldered to near black, and his biceps flexed as he pushed himself away from the fence we were leaning on, and instead walked over to a tree and sat in it’s shade. He patted the spot next to him, motioning for me to go sit with him. I walked over, and instead sat on his lap. Instinctively, his hands came up to rest on my thighs.
“So…” Aaron started, smirking a little and just looking into my eyes. “I like this skirt.”
I laughed, smacking his hands as they playfully ran up and down my legs. Despite this, I made no move to actually move them. “Down, boy.”
He pouted playfully. “Aww, can’t I admire my beautiful mate?”
“You’re going have to wait ‘til I’m seventeen,” I said. He pouted again, so I added, “Your rule, not mine.”
“Who said I’m going to break the rule?” he asked, grinning and raising an eyebrow. Then, he nodded like he’d figured out some hidden answer. “Oh, right, I’m not allowed to kiss you. I’m turning into a nun! A munk! I will never kiss you again! You can say goo-bye to-“
Cutting off his joking rant, I planted a kiss on his lips. As usual, fireworks exploded within me, and that magnetic connection between the two of us pulled me impossibly closer to him. My hands wrapped into his hair, tugging a little. He moaned into my mouth, smiling against my lips.
I didn’t want to pull away – ever – but I could hear Maddy calling my name from her door’s entrance. Groaning, I leisurely slid off of him, and stood up. He stood up as well, standing slightly in front of me out of habbit.
“Take your time, will ya?” Maddison yelled across the front yard. “It’s not like there’s chores for you to do, or anything.”
“Oh, good, we can leave then,” Aaron muttered so that only I could hear. I smiled up at him in return.
“Now, hurry up,” she said. It was only then that I looked up at her, in a robe with wet hair falling down her back and a pair of flip-flops on her feet. By the looks of it, she was getting ready to go out. To where, I don’t care. She walked ahead of us, leading us into the most empty looking room I’ve ever seen in such a big house. “The list of stuff to do is on the kitchen bench. I’m going to Jase Morrison’s party in a few hours, so I’ll kick you out then. Whatever you don’t finish today, you can come back again tomorrow and do.”
I rolled my eyes at her bossy attitude, and just smirked as she flipped me off for it. A moment later, she disappeared into another room to get ready or something.
I turned to Aaron, about to say something, but then her voice carried from another room. “Actually, I’m busy tomorrow. Finish it today, or I may just have to pay a visit to your brother.”
My cheeks instantly flushed with anger, and I could tell that Aaron was pissed off by the – unusually sexy – vein that was bulging out of his neck, just below the skin. When her footsteps became faint and her bad music was turned up to full volume, I whispered to Aaron, “I can’t work for her. She can’t just walk all over us. Who knows how long we’ll have to deal with her? She could carry this on for the rest of the year, if she wanted to.”
“Kyle’s going to find out whenever either of us see him after we’ve mated,” he said, trying to reason. “If we could just hold out until then-“
“But what about Bailey?” I whispered back, looking into his eyes. I knew that he wasn’t trying to defend Maddy, but was just thinking logically instead of angrily like I was. “If we don’t stop this, my niece – you Goddaughter – is at risk.”
“So what are you saying?” he asked, smiling slightly.
I smiled back, but my eyes were determined. “This ends. Now.”
“Okay. C’mon, we’ll set it up whilst we’re ‘cleaning’.”
* * *
Two hours later, we were ready and knew exactly what was going to happen. We just had to wait for Maddy to hurry up and want to leave already, so that we could get this whole thing started.
Eventually, we grew impatient. I mean, how long does it take to go out? It’s not like she’d going to have tea with the Queen or anything. It’s probably just some house party in a Sophomore’s garage.
“She’s taking a while,” Aaron commented from above me, perched on a high branch in a tree. I looked up to see him staring at the house, annoyed. “She better not have left us here.”
“How about me find out?” I said coyly, raising an eyebrow.
He looked down at me with confusion. “Whatcha doing, Beth?”
“Hang on a minute,” I told him, walking a few metres towards the house. Then, at the top of my lungs, I started screaming. It was the loudest, most high pitch scream that had ever escaped my mouth. I must have been a really annoying baby.
“Beth, what’s going on!” in seconds, Aaron was in front of me, clutching my face in his warm hands. He searched my body, swearing. “What? What’s going on? Are you hurt?”
I laughed, grabbing his face. “I’m fine, Aaron. I just thought if I yelled loud enough, she’ll come out to see what’s going on.”
“Oh,” he said, looking a bit embarrassed. He looked me in the eyes, smiling sheepishly. “Okay. Just next time tell me, yeah? I get kind of freaked out at the thought of you being hurt.”
“I can see that,” I joked, standing up close to him, I kissed him lightly on the lips. “Once she’s gone, nothing will ever hurt us.”
“Well, maybe your brother,” he replied, frowning.
“And my dad,” I agreed.
His eyes went wide. “I thought he knew! Does he not approve of me? Oh, God, if Kyle and your dad both come at me, I’m a dead man.”
“I highly doubt they’ll do much damage,” I assured him, wrapping my arms around his torso. His arms settled around me, holding us close together in his warmth. I smiled. “Besides, they have to go through me to get to you.”
“Beth, I’m going to say this once, and please listen,” he pulled back, holding me at arms length. His tone was serious, but gentle. “You are not to protect me if it comes to it. If your brother reacts badly, you have to run.”
I shook my head. “No can do. We’re a team now – I’m not leaving you.”
He smiled. “I know you want to be there to try and calm him, but I doubt it’ll do much. I just want you safe, away from Kyle in case he shifts.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, right, I keep forgetting that you’re new to this,” he said, shaking his head. “If a Were gets too angry, our inner wolves take over and shift. We have no control over what happens at that stage.”
“Kyle won’t hurt me,” I said, defiantly. “He’s my brother.”
Aaron turned away, avoiding my eyes. When he spoke, it was a small whisper. “What if it’s not enough?”
“It will be,” I said, grabbing the back of his neck and forcing him to look at me. There were tears in his eyes; this was the first time I’d seen him cry.
“But what if it’s not?” he said, holding me in his embrace. “I don’t want to hurt him, but if he goes anywhere near you… I don’t know. I care for you too much to put you in that sort of danger. If anything were to happen to you, it would kill me. And I know that he’s your brother, and he loves you, but what about his other half? He’s only partly human. If his wolf were to take over, then his Alpha does, too. His first priority is to eliminate disobedience.”
“Aaron, -“
“Just, listen,” he said, holding my hands in his. “If it comes to it, I need you to run. His wolf won’t care that you’re his sister.”
I sucked in a breath, suddenly scared. Is it true? Would Kyle really hurt me, us? I don’t know anymore. It’s hard to tell with the Were world – there’s so many different rules, and systems. But if it were true… then had I left it too late? Should I have just told Kyle when I found out that I had a mate? I had so many chances, so many opportunities. Every time Kyle bought up Alicia, every time I saw Bailey, when his friends started questioning me about it… I hadn’t said a word.
And now it’s too late.
I may have just effectively killed Aaron.
My eyes filled with water, but I didn’t let the tears fall. “Don’t ever die, Aaron. Don’t you dare.”
“Shh…” he said, pulling me in to a hug and gently kissing the top of my head. It wasn’t a promise, but I couldn’t speak any more. The thought of Aaron dying was like nothing I’d ever felt before. I didn’t want anything to happen to him. Ever.
“What the hell is going on out here!” a shrilling voice yelled from behind us. I spun around, coming face-to-face with Maddy. She looked like she had a litre of foundation on her face, but her clothes weren’t too bad, actually. “Why aren’t you two working?”
I took a deep breath, giving Aaron a final look before he went to stand at least ten metres behind me. I couldn’t be too close. “We don’t want to work any more.”
“Well, you don’t really have a choice,” she smiled maliciously, taking a step towards me. “Unless you want Kyle to find out… oh, and that ugly baby to choke.”
“Listen close, Maddison,” my eyes blazed with anger, my suppressed She-Wolf rising to just below the surface. She howled from within me, telling me to set this bitch straight, just like I’d done with Ashlyn on the first day of school. She needed me to do it now. “We’re not working for you anymore.”
“Fine,” she said, even though she looked pretty shocked. “Then say goodbye to your niece.”
“No, you misunderstood me,” I snapped, making my own step to close the difference between us. “We’re not working for you, and you’re not going to tell Kyle. You’re not going near Bailey, either.”
She scoffed. “And why’s that, exactly?”
“Because if you do go near my family,” I started, speaking slowly so that the venom in my voice had full effect. “Then we’ll come after you.”
“Right,” she said, smiling evilly. “I have millions of dollars in my bank account, hundreds of contacts just waiting to do me a favour, an assassin on speed-dial, and I’ve got dirt on you. And what do you have, dear Bethany?”
“She has me,” Aaron interjected, pulling his shirt over his head. Madison looked at him with a raised eyebrow, looking impassive. But then her expression changed. We both watched, awed, as Aaron began to shift in front of us.
It was beautiful, really. His arms shot out to his sides as his muscles rippled throughout him, making his skin ripple with power. Fur sprouted out of him the same time that his bones shifted with ease, and he landed on all fours. Within seconds, his body was morphed into a giant dark-brown wolf, black eyes gleaming. He growled lowly, but I could tell he was smiling at me. This is going to work, his eyes assured me.
Maddy screamed, stumbling backwards. I turned towards her, feeling a little guilty but mostly triumphant. She accidentally fell over, eyes on Aaron’s wolf. “What the fuck are you!”
“We, dear Maddison,” I crouched down, so that I was eye-level with her. “Are Werewolves. And we’re not the only ones. There’s hundreds of us who would gladly protect Bailey, all means necessary.”
“You people are fucking freaks!” she screamed, shifting as far away from me as she could. Tears started rolling down her face, a terrified expression instilled on her features.
“I don’t like that word,” I said, menacingly. “Don’t call us that.”
She looked at me, calculatingly. She looked between my mate and eye, trying to find some loophole. But she came up short, slumping. “Okay.”
“Good,” I said. I sat down, got comfortable, and enjoyed this way too much. “Now, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to move to a different school, and I’m not going to see your face again. Aaron and I are going to tell Kyle about us in our own time, and that’s going to have nothing to do with you. And you’re going to leave Bailey alone.
“If you come near my family, my friends, my mate or I ever again, you’ll have me to deal with.”
She cowered away, but nodded.
“Cool,” I said, standing up. I motioned for her to get up as well, to which she hurriedly complied. “Now, can you please go and get Aaron a pair of shorts? Clothes tend to rip when you turn into an eight-foot mythical creature.”
Aaron howled a laugh behind me, making a smile light up on my face. Maddy nodded again, and then sprinted off towards her house. I watched closely as she got into the house, making sure that she didn’t drive away or anything. A few minutes later, a large pair of tracksuit pants were thrown out of one of the top windows, before the glass being locked and shuttered.
I turned towards Aaron, grinning. He shifted back, quickly pulling on the pants and then running towards me. “We did it,” I said, breathless. “We actually did it!”
“You were brilliant,” he replied, pulling me to his chest. He leant down, placing a passionate kiss onto my lips. Sighing in relief, he pulled back. “She’s actually going to stay away, I can tell.”
“This is amazing!” I squealed, jumping up and down like a little girl. “Bailey’s safe, we’re safe, and we can talk to Kyle whenever we want! We’ve got freedom.”
“I think this calls for celebration,” he replied, smiling down at me with so much joy and admiration that my heart swelled. “I’m taking you out tonight. Kyle’s busy, so we’ve got Bailey with us tonight.”
I kissed him quickly again. “Perfect.”
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How was it, awesome fans? I hope it was up to standard!
Unfortunately, I do have to mention that this upload does not mean I’m back. I’ve got exams coming up, then graduation, and then transition. Plus I’ve still got some family stuff to deal with, so I’ll upload whenever I can, but I doubt it’ll be that soon or frequent…
Oh, and I’m planning on getting this book published! I’m going to edit it all once I’m done, and change up some stuff so it’s a lot better, but what do you think? Just tell me if you’d be interested in buying it, ‘cause that’d be awesome!
Imagine a hard copy of this…
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