BELLA & THE BETA

Six

Bella checked every inch of the room even though she knew there was nothing to be wary of. They couldn't have known that she'd change her mind and decide to sleep in Nigel's room. Which meant there were no listening devices or cameras. Moving there had been an impulsive decision and sooner or later, she was going to end up paying for it. All her life, she'd only been careless a few times and always ended up suffering. This time wouldn't be any different. But hopefully, before that, she would've come up with a plan. Finding out her next target was her mate had thrown her off. Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined something like that happening. So her behavior was normal. She could cut herself some slack and take a few days to figure things out.

After making sure there were no traps in the room, she climbed on the bed and buried her nose in the pillow. Both she and her wolf sighed. One in happiness, the other in confusion. Could she even go through with killing him? The scent on his pillows alone made her want to sneak next door and crawl into his arms. She wanted him to admit his mistake and promise to make it up to her forever. He looked like a protector. The kind of person who would have defended her from Aries while growing up. The kind of man she had dreamed of whenever she thought of her future. Why did he have to be the beta of Hell Manes? Would Grim allow her to pick another mission?

Who was she kidding? Of course, he wouldn't. He'd given her one chance and if she failed, she would have to forget about retiring. He wasn't the type of person who compromised. But how was she supposed to kill the one person she'd been desperate to find? What would be the point of retiring from her job just to end up living alone? Damn her cursed fate. Wouldn't it have been better to die along with her parents? Why did the goddess spare her life? Starting to feel hopeless, Bella decided to talk to the only person she could call. It didn't escape her just how pathetic her life was. If she was ever in trouble, she'd rather die than call her colleagues or boss. Was staying in the organization and continuing her job the only option she had?

"Miss me already?" Eden asked. She didn't sound out of breath or tipsy. Why?

"Shouldn't you be having your second orgasm? What happened to Mr. Enforcer?"

"Thanks to you, he postponed"

Bella sat upright "Me? What did I do?"

"You claimed his boss. I get the feeling that most of the members were against his mating with that woman. My author nose can smell drama from a mile away"

"Really? Tell me more. What else did he say?"

"Nothing much. He was just excited that the ceremony was cancelled. I think most of them are rooting for you guys so don't worry about being an outcast. Try to befriend them and find out more about your man from them. Or get them drunk. That should work"

"What will be the use of that if he doesn't want me?"

"Girl, don't give up before you even begin. Did you like seeing him with that woman?"

"Of course not. I've already come up with a hundred ways to kill her"

"Then imagine letting her have him. Can you bear seeing him be happy with her? Having pups and growing old together?"

No. She would kill them both before she let that happen.

"Yeah. Okay. I see what you mean. It's too soon for me to give up. But just in case, don't find another roommate just yet"

"Wouldn't dream of it. I truly hope things work out between you guys" she said then hung up.

Bella felt better knowing she had supporters. As an outsider, it would be hard to win against a member they'd known all their lives. Even when she had asked Nigel to kick her out, she knew he'd never do it. Since he was going to mate with her, he had to have feelings for her. It was clear he'd been annoyed by her appearance. Hell, if she hadn't stopped him, he would have marked his little girlfriend. She couldn't let that happen. If he didn't want her, then the least she could do was make sure he also spent his life alone. She could be vengeful and petty when she wanted to.

And soon, Nigel would find out the kind of woman the goddess had blessed him with.

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"There you are. How did you sleep? Was the room to your liking? If not, feel free to ask Nigel for anything. He's at your disposal"

Bella's steps faltered and she came to a stop at the dining room's entrance. There were five people still having breakfast, including Nigel and Roman Vance. She knew him because she'd seen his photo in a chat group on the dark web. A lot of women worshipped him while most men wanted to be him. A daredevil is what they called him. Because he didn't care about anyone's opinion. He even dared to venture into the human world and kill a few of their criminals. There was a bounty on his head -she believed some of the Alphas had come together and put the hit- but no one wanted to accept the job. Even Aries had turned it down, claiming he didn't need the money. It was the reason they'd targeted Nigel. The funny thing was, everyone knew who Roman was but very few could identify Nigel. Seeing them together in the same room, casually eating as if a lot of people didn't want them dead made her pause.

What made her think she could succeed? Had she been insane when she agreed to take out Hell Manes beta?

"Why are you just standing there? Come sit down" the only woman in the room told her, motioning to the seat next to her. Judging by how close she was sitting to Alpha Vance, she had to be his nutcase mate. Except, she looked perfectly fine to her. Pretty, classy, composed. The way a Luna should. Then again, hadn't she learned from early on that looks could be deceiving?

"Good morning" Bella answered for lack of a better thing to say. Unless she was roleplaying, she didn't know how to interact with people.

"I'm Beverly and this is my mate, Roman. Feel free to ask us for anything you need. We'll do our best to meet your needs. How was your night?"

"Excited much?" Nigel murmured under his breath, earning himself a dirty look.

"If you're done with breakfast, please go get the car and wait for us"

"I'm not yet done"

Beverly rolled her eyes "He's not a morning person. Don't take whatever he says or does to heart. Wanna know what he said about me when we first met?"

"You said you'd forgiven me"

"I have. But that doesn't mean I will forget" she told him smiling. Bella hid a smile of her own. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out they were one big happy family.

"Or maybe he's just grumpy because I kicked him out of his room" That seemed to be the right thing to say because Beverly's eyes went round and she shared a victorious look with her mate. To Bella's surprise, Alpha Vance gave her a sweet smile. If she snapped a picture and uploaded it to the group chat, no one would believe it was real.

"What's the use of bragging if you couldn't even sleep a wink?"

"How did you know that? Did you also spend the whole night thinking about me?" Before he could reply, a little boy ran in and went straight to Vance. He picked him up, settled him on his lap, and watched lovingly as a member handed a little girl to his mate. A sense of longing and jealousy hit her out of nowhere. She wanted that. She'd imagined this exact scene and many more countless times and was looking forward to it. Her eyes shifted to Nigel, only to find his were already on hers. Bella quickly looked away. Surprised by the moisture in her eyes. Had it been decided then? That she would spend the rest of her life alone? Because she couldn't see how the situation would ever be in her favor. What the f**k had she gotten herself into?

"This is Addy and that is Leander. They're still half asleep or I promise, they would be all over you"

"They're lovely"

"Thank you. Why don't you have breakfast then we'll discuss everything else after? Make yourself at home. Don't be shy"

"Okay," Bella busied herself with getting a cup of coffee as the Alpha couple fed their children. The more she looked at them, the more she realized how ridiculous her dreams had been. She didn't even know the first thing about being a mother yet she was busy dreaming of having pups with her mate. And now that she'd met him, she knew it wasn't going to happen. Once Nigel found out the reason she'd decided to move there, he was going to kick her out. And even if he miraculously chose to overlook her past, would Grim do the same? Would he let her have pups and live happily with the man she's supposed to kill?

Even worse, would he spare Nigel just because he happened to be her mate?

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