Skaydal - Unsettled Beta

2

Mato

Avoiding Zack wasn't as hard as I had thought it would be. After the incident at the house, I realized I didn't have to avoid him. Zack was doing a bang-up job of not being around. Like, at all. According to my little sister, Zack traveled in and out of Skaydal so much that it was a wonder he was a beta. I found it strange, but mostly it hurt. It was clear to me that Zack hated me, but what I couldn't understand was, why he hadn't just rejected me and be done with it. The thought alone made me feel sick, but I had to come to terms with it. Zack and I may be fated mates, but we are definitely not meant to be together.

"Mato!" I turned to see my older brother, Jett, rushing toward me and I smiled.

"Where are you coming from?" I asked him.

"Jo-Ann at the real estate office," my eyes widened at that and a rush of want coursed through my body. After we had spent the past few weeks working out what we’d like to do for the rest of our lives, this was step one. Getting a shop space on the busy street of Skaydal for our business.

"What did she say?" I wasn't sure I even wanted to know, but this was something we had been talking about. Our future – or the lack thereof - at Blue Tails pack had been clear to each of us. We belonged to Benjamin and that was that. But now, here at Skaydal, we had the opportunity to do whatever we wanted. We could finally work toward making our dreams come true. A dream that me and my siblings craved to make real. Maybe, just maybe, this was our chance.

"Well, she told me we needed financing," Jett scrunched his nose at the word 'financing' and I chuckled. Benjamin never worried about paying any of us, so we were broke. I don’t ever remember seeing any of my family members with money. The few things we owned we brought with us. We were used to sleeping on the floor. We were used to not having the luxury of cell phones or TVs. We were used to not having any food in the cupboards or the fridge. We were used to not having a lot of anything. Of course, some had been more privileged than others, but I quickly pushed the depressing thoughts away. It belonged in the past. This was our future.

"How do we get that?" I asked as we walked along the main road of Skaydal. It was late in the afternoon, but the businesses were still bustling with activity. The whole atmosphere was different, and I loved it. I didn’t love the way some people stared at me or whispered something I couldn’t quite hear, but I loved the feeling the town offered.

"She said we'd have to go to the bank or..." his voice trailed off and I glanced at him briefly.

"Or?"

"Or we could put together a business plan and send it to Grayson,"

"Oh,” I sighed softly and then I smiled. “Oh!" I shouldn't have been surprised but I was. Grayson was nothing like Benjamin and I had to remind myself of that fact daily. "Would he help us?" I then asked as the excitement bubbled just below the surface.

"According to Jo-Ann, if Grayson likes the idea, then he'll fund it, no problem," Jett looked doubtful and I silently agreed, the high fading. “If he doesn’t like it, then it’s a no-go,”

"I don't think Grayson will go for our idea," I hate to say it, but it's better to be honest than to lie and give anyone any false hope.

"I figured. So, what are we going to do now?" his question was loaded. He was asking about our future and what we could do next, but I had no idea. And as we walked along in silence, I felt hopeless and down. We weren’t all that skilled, but I would have to accept that my only job would be as a warrior, and I hated it. Benjamin’s fault that I did, but we needed to start making money. We needed to be able to put food on the table. Just because we managed to escape Benjamin didn't mean our lives were any different. My parents went to the pack house every night and filled our containers full of food. It had been purely by accident that my mother had found out that some members would cook meals at the pack house and that everyone was welcome. If it wasn’t for that, we would starve. Because that is all we had. We had nothing else. The house that had been given to us had power and water which was more than Benjamin had ever given us, but it was empty.

"Maybe Carmen or Triston will have an idea," I declared as we entered our street. I had to hope that my siblings would come up with another plan.

"Maybe," he murmured, but I suddenly picked up on that sweet smell that I knew belonged to Zack. I froze as I spotted him hanging around the front of our house. "He here for another list?" Jett asked, but I ignored him as I considered turning around and running back into town. However, Zack looked our way and our eyes locked.

"Zack," I whispered and the look on his face made me start walking forward with Jett right behind me.

"Sorry, I was ah..." Zack's voice was off somehow and I wondered if the weirdness was because of me.

"Why are you hanging around our house?" Jett questioned him curiously and I cringed in embarrassment. Jett’s forwardness was an acquired taste and not everyone appreciated his blatant honesty or how easily he spoke his thoughts.

"Ah...I, um, came to talk to...your father," I raised my brow at that and then the most adorable thing happened. Zack blushed. His cheeks turned a light shade of pink and I couldn’t help but notice how the tips of his ears turned bright red. Zack blushing just made him even more attractive. I smiled as Zack fidgeted with the hem of his blue t-shirt.

"He is inside," Jett pointed out as he waved his hand over at the front door. "Why didn’t you just knock?" my brother and I both knew the answer to that and so I slapped his arm. My brother was now being an asshole.

"Stop," I growled out. As entertaining as it was to see my mate flustered, I wasn’t interested in being around him. I made a move to pass by both of them when Zack suddenly reached out and stopped me by wrapping his long, strong fingers around my arm.

"Could we talk?" he asked softly, and I desperately wanted to say yes, but I shook my head and tore my arm out of his loose grip. The flash of hurt in his eyes made me want to reconsider, but I headed inside instead. My parents were in the kitchen and judging by the way my mother was pretending to wipe down the sparkling counters and by the way my father had his head in the empty fridge, I knew they had been watching from the window. I shook my head at them as they did their best to act natural. It wasn’t working.

"Did you get it?" Carmen asked as she came around the corner and entered the kitchen. My heart sank as I remembered why I had gone into town in the first place.

"Sorry Car,” I said gently as I used the nickname, she hated but loved. “They don't have it," the smile that had graced her pretty features dropped. "But Amy said that she would look into getting it," she nodded, and even though she spotted Zack, she turned around and left the kitchen. She was bummed, I knew that she would be and the fact that she didn’t want to stick around for Zack meant a lot.

"What don't they have?" Zack asked and I spun around.

"You don't get to show any interest in my family," I hissed out angrily.

"Mato!" my mother exclaimed in surprise. I should apologize. I knew I should, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Zack avoided me every single chance he got, but now he wants to pay attention. No. It doesn’t work like that.

"What do you want?" Jett once again questioned, and Zack looked so uncomfortable, so hurt and so confused that I actually felt sorry for him. The feeling didn’t last very long though, so I patiently waited to hear what it was that he wanted.

"Um...Grayson wanted me to ask you to put a list together of everything you need,"

"What?" my father asked, and I stared at Zack, waiting for him to clarify. He cleared his throat and wiped his hands on his dark blue jeans. All that did was draw my gaze to his thick thighs.

"Many of you don't have much in terms of furniture and groceries, so Grayson wants each household to give him a list of everything you need," as he explained, his eyes danced between us, never lingering too long, and I wondered why. Why couldn’t he keep eye contact with me?

"Grayson...he is prepared to do that...for us?" my mother asked, dazed.

"Not prepared too...he wants to. Also, he wants to know who wants to work and what work you’d like to do," Zack went on, but he continued to avoid my gaze.

"My mother can't," I started to say, but the look she gave me shut me up.

"Can't what?" he asked as he finally looked at me. I simply shook my head because I would never embarrass my mother like that.

"Nothing," my father said. "When do you need the list?"

"By tomorrow if possible...I’m late in getting all the information together," his eyes darted to me – once again - and I immediately understood. He had been avoiding me, so he had been avoiding his job.

"Must be nice to have such a caring and rich Alpha," I suddenly blurted out. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wished I could take them back. Zack's whole demeanor changed as he turned his full attention my way. His deep blue eyes were captivating, and I found that I couldn’t look away. Now that his attention was once again on me, focused on me, I felt my knees threatening to give out.

"Considering he is also your Alpha now, it is nice," he then turned back to my father. "Make me that list please as soon as possible," and just like that he was gone. Jett scoffed before he left the kitchen while my parents studied me closely.

"Mato...what is going on between the two of you?" my mother asked.

"I've never seen mates treat each other like that," my father commented.

"I don't know what is going on and that...was the first time we acknowledged each other with words,"

"Why?" my mother came over to my side and gently touched my arm.

"I don't think he wants me as his mate," I admitted, and it was the first time I had said it out loud. The words felt hollow, but the pain was real, and I quickly excused myself and went to my room. Carmen's door was open, and I considered talking to her, but then I changed my mind. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, so I closed my bedroom door. I also did not think about Zack all night.