The Missing Beta

Chapter 27

~Aston~

I watch her face, and a myriad of emotions are displayed. I don't know if it's a bad thing that I remember or a good one. The silence grows between us, and I start to get nervous. “That game,” Katarina says quietly. A grin breaks out on my face because I know exactly what she's referring to.

“You mean when you told me that you were still wearing day of the week underwear when you started middle school.” Katarina gasps and slaps my arm. I throw my head back and laugh.

“I can't believe you remember that! OMG! That's so embarassing.” I double over, laughing until my stomach starts to hurt. I look up and see Katarina with the cutest pout on her face. I want to kiss her forehead to ease the lines on her face. Sh.it! Where did that thought come from? I shake my head and straighten out my clothes.

“The game itself was fun. I mean hide and seek with the added bonus of having to reveal secrets when caught. I just never expected you to have such crazy secrets.” Katarina moves to swat me again, but I catch her hand before she can make contact. Our eyes are on each other, and the air seems to leave the room, even though we are practically outside. Katarina slowly removes her hand from mine and moves back slightly. Her denial, her rejection, hurts.

“Whatever. You better keep all of that to yourself!” I smile at her and shake my head.

“Maybe King and I should get together and compare notes.”

“You can't.” Katarina's voice is barely a whisper, but I heard her anyway.

“What do you mean by that?” Katarina looks away and sighs.

“You probably know things about me that he doesn't.” Is she serious? She's about to marry a man who doesn't know everything about her? I quickly change my thoughts, not liking the direction they are taking. Katarina and I are friends, while King and I are friends. I can't have these thoughts about my friend or my friend's woman.

“I guess that makes sense. The things I know about you were from when you were a child and he knows you as an adult, which is way more important.” I'd argue that he should know both, but it isn't for me to say.

We sit in silence for a while, listening to the rainfall. Pretty soon, everything will pick up, and there will be a dangerous storm. I'm not too worried because this place is secure, and Katarina will be fine here with us. “I'm going to turn in.” I turn to see her stand and walk inside the house. I hope I didn't make her feel uncomfortable in any way. I decide to stay on the porch for a while, and hopefully, things make more sense in the morning.

~Katarina~

I toss and turn as the weather rages outside. It went from hard rain to thunder and lightning. I peeped out the window once or twice, and I can barely see through the rain. I guess it's a good thing we were able to stay here. I hate to think what would have happened if we had gotten caught in that.

A scream cuts through the atmosphere, abruptly making me sit up. I think it was a scream, anyway. I listen closely, trying to see if I need to worry about anything. No one comes to the room, and there's no more noise. I guess the wind is making me hear things.

I slowly lay my body down again, only to spring up at the sound of another scream. This time, I'm pretty sure that's what I hear. I throw the blankets back and swing my legs over the side of the bed. I won’t lie and say I'm not scared because I am. For all I know, we are being attacked right now.

I step out of bed and slowly walk to the door. I open it cautiously and am met with a flurry of voices. “What's wrong with him?”

“I have no idea. He seems like he's in pain, but he was laying on the couch just a minute ago.”

“Is he bleeding or something?”

“No, he has no injuries.”

“Guys, I think… I think he's shifting.”

“Hurry up and get him outside!” Shifting? Who's shifting? It's clear someone is hurt, but who that could be isn't clear.

I move down the hallway toward the noises that got me out of bed. I encounter none of the warriors, but I'm not worried. I'm sure they are close enough to handle a threat if it comes to that. I make my way to the front door to find it slightly open. I quietly look out the door and see two warriors on the porch, but their direction is fixed outside. It's still hard to see through the rain, but I have to guess that whatever's going on, it's happening outside.

I pull the door open and walk onto the porch. “Luna! Uh, you can go back to bed. Everything is fine.”

“First, don't call me Luna, not yet. Second, how could everything be fine when someone seems to be in pain. I heard it from my bed.”

“We are sorry to wake you, Lun- uh, Katarina. It seems that Aston is having a bit of an issue.” Aston?! Aston is the one in trouble? I push past the two warriors and throw the porch door open. I step onto the stairs, feeling the rain beat down on me. There, in front of me, I see Aston's body twisting and turning, with fur sprouting everywhere. My Goddess, he’s shifting.

~King~

We weren't going to be back today, but everything was concluded early enough that we could leave. Katarina was supposed to be back, too, so I'm excited to be able to surprise her. Things have been so crazy lately that we haven't had any time together.

We don't do anything intimately other than kiss, but I always hope to change that. I've always been se.xually active since I was about 15. Being with Katarina has been different for me. The urges have been real, and I've had to find ways to deal with them. She wants to wait until our wedding night. Bright spot is that I will be the only man who has had her.

I walk downstairs, thinking I'll call Wayne to check their ETA when I bump into him on the ground floor. “Oops, my bad.”

“Wayne? You guys are back already? I wonder why Katarina didn't call me to let me know.” When we return from trips, we always contact each other, so no one worries.

“Uh, well, actually…” I step back and look at Wayne. He looks a bit flustered, and I wonder why. “I don't think Katarina is back yet.”

“You don't think? How would you not know?”

“Well, I had to help my mate with the pregnancy so I asked Aston to fill in for me. I know they said they would be staying the night because a storm hit and it won't lessen up until the early morning.” I remember Katarina texting something about staying the night, but I barely glanced at the text. I go to pull my phone out of my pocket when Wayne's words wash over me. My blood starts to boil, and I strain myself, trying to keep in control.

“Did you say that Aston filled in for you?” Wayne nods. “Aston is with Katarina as part of her detail?” My voice comes out harsher than I intended, causing Wayne to step back. “Aston is with Katarina right now?!” As soon as Wayne nods, a growl rips out of my body and shakes the walls around us. I turn and run out of the packhouse, shifting as soon as I feel the air on my face.