The Duty of a Beta (13 page)

For the first time in his life, Talbot fought against the urge to lower his eyes and show them his complete respect and deference. “If…if someone should be put in limbo, it’s me, not Gunnar,” Talbot managed to stutter out.

“Tal?” Bennett asked.

“It’s my fault, not his!”
Just talking about limbo sent a shiver through him.
It was all he could do to stop his teeth from chattering as he forced the words out.

Frowning,
Marsdon
looked from him to Gunnar and back again before he turned his attention to Bennett. Something silent passed between the two alphas.

“Back to the house,”
Marsdon
ordered.

Talbot quickly stepped forward, desperate to walk back at Gunnar’s side, hoping that perhaps he’d be able to whisper apologies for getting him into so much trouble, but Bennett kept hold of Gunnar’s shirt collar and
Marsdon
caught hold of Talbot’s shoulder.

The alpha maintained a firm hold on him and kept him right on the other side of the group as they all walked back to the farm house, some of the wolves still running at their heels in their lupine form.

Even though months had passed, without Gunnar at his side there was no way Talbot could keep his memories of the challenge circle out of his head. When Bennett had been standing in the circle, that had been bad enough, but to actually be the wolf in the centre of the ring, to have to fight every wolf in the pack…

The thought made his stomach twist and somersault inside him. But still, better him than Gunnar. The pack would probably go easier on him. And even if they didn’t, Talbot had no doubt it would still be better him than Gunnar.

The moment they reached the farm house,
Marsdon
turned to the other members of the pack. “Go up to your rooms, or back to your duties. Either way, no one is to enter the main hall until we’re finished in there.”

The gammas all left in different directions, leaving Gunnar and Talbot alone in the main hall with the alphas. Bennett immediately marched Gunnar across to one of the big sofas flanking the fire and pushed him roughly down onto the leather-clad cushions. The beta tumbled back. His hands skidded against the fabric as he tried to steady himself. As soon as he regained his balance, Talbot saw him sit up straight, but he didn’t attempt to rise.

Talbot tried to step forward, but
Marsdon’s
hand was still on his shoulder and the alpha guided him, far more gently but no less determinedly than Bennett had moved Gunnar, to the opposite sofa. The alpha nudged him to take a seat. Talbot’s legs were shaking so badly he couldn’t protest. He landed heavily on the cushion.

“Are you hurt?”
Marsdon
gently touched Talbot’s cheek, coaxing him to look away from Gunnar for a few seconds. “Are you hurt?” he repeated.

Talbot shook his head.

“We need you to tell us the truth, Tal,”
Marsdon
said, very seriously. “No one’s mad at you, and no one is
going
to be mad at you either. You’re not in any trouble. Okay?”

Talbot swallowed. No one was mad at him. They were all mad at Gunnar—because Gunnar had told them all it was entirely his fault. “About being in limbo,” he managed to whisper. “I—”

“There’s no way in hell either of your alphas is going to put you in limbo,”
Marsdon
cut in, just a touch of impatience creeping into his voice.

“I—”

“It’s not going to happen,”
Marsdon
told him.

Talbot looked down as he fought against every instinct and desperately tried to disagree with his alpha. He closed his eyes as he stared down at his clenched fists. He had to do something. If he was going to have any right to think about Gunnar as his mate, even inside his own head, he had to act.

“He lied.” The words exploded from his lips

Marsdon’s
jaw clenched with obvious anger, but he nodded, and his tone was far more encouraging when he spoke again. “Tell us what he told you.”

Talbot shook his head, his heart quietly breaking as he realised that all he was doing was making things worse. “You don’t understand.”

“We will if you’ll tell us what happened. We’ll believe whatever you say,”
Marsdon
promised as he crouched down and brought himself closer to Talbot’s height.

“It wasn’t Gunnar’s fault,” Talbot said. “It was mine.” He couldn’t look his alpha in the eye when he said it. He said the words to his feet instead.

Gentle fingertips touched his cheek, encouraging him to look up. Finally, he managed to do as
Marsdon
wanted. The alpha frowned as their gazes met.

Talbot wanted, more than almost anything, to look away. But he resolutely forced himself to keep his attention up and on the other wolf’s eyes.

It was his fault.
Marsdon
had to see that—both the alphas had to see it.

Talbot swallowed rapidly as he saw the expression in the other man’s eyes gradually change. The other wolf pulled back from him. He turned to Gunnar.

“Do you have anything to say?”
Marsdon
asked, just a touch of genuine query mixing in with the demand.

“I was the one making the decisions,” Gunnar said. His voice couldn’t have been more different to the way Talbot’s had sounded when he put his own case forward. Somehow, his lies sounded more like the truth than anything Talbot had said. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Marsdon’s
eyes narrowed. Bennett was still standing by the side of the sofa he’d pushed Gunnar down onto. He was glaring down at him too. Talbot could almost feel the alphas weighing up the different stories that were being offered to them.

Gunnar didn’t even blink under their scrutiny. “How hard do you think it could be for anyone to convince an omega that something was his idea even if it wasn’t?” he asked. “And how easy do you think it would be for someone to convince me of the same thing?”

Talbot shook his head, but no one was looking in his direction. The alphas were still focussed on the beta. The atmosphere changed around Talbot as he sensed anger building inside them. Reaching out, he tugged at
Marsdon’s
sleeve. The alpha didn’t even seem to notice.

Talbot shifted forward on the sofa. “
Marsdon
…”

“Shut up.”

Talbot turned towards Gunnar as the beta’s order hit the air.

“Mind your manners, Gunnar—you’re in enough trouble as it is,” Bennett snapped. He turned away from him then, as if dismissing him from his mind. “Tal—
go
ahead, have your say. You’re under no obligation to obey his orders now.”

“I…I wanted to…I wanted everything we did together,” Talbot managed to stutter out. “I wanted—even before
we…
I’ve always wanted him, since the first day he joined our pack.”

Marsdon
reached out and ruffled his hair with his fingertips. There was just a touch of sadness in his eyes when he looked down at him, but that didn’t matter, because Talbot saw the beginnings of understanding and realisation there too.

“I was the one who decided what would happen between us,” Gunnar cut in from the other side of the fire. “Talbot isn’t responsible for any of this.”

Marsdon
and Bennett both turned back to the other man, as if they were watching one of those strange human tennis matches and the truth was bouncing back and forth between Talbot and his lover as fast as any little yellow ball could.

It was only when the alphas looked away from them both that the atmosphere seemed to change once more. Bennett moved to sit on the arm of the sofa. “Meaning that if anyone is to be punished, it should be you and not Tal?” he asked.

Gunnar didn’t even hesitate. “Yes.”

“No!” Talbot burst out.

“Be quiet,” Gunnar growled.

As their gazes met one more time, Talbot realised what was happening, why the beta was telling all those lies about whose idea things were. Before he knew what he was doing, and apparently before
Marsdon
had a chance to react and stop him, he was off the sofa, across the room and kneeling on the floor in front of the beta.

Unable to make his throat work, all he could do was shake his head. Gunnar couldn’t do that.

Talbot felt a hand on his shoulder, tugging gently at him, ordering him to rise, but
Marsdon’s
hand had little power over him right then, not when he was looking into Gunnar’s eyes.

“Obey your alphas,” Gunnar ordered, turning his gaze pointedly away.

“But, you—”

“Are not your concern,” Gunnar finished for him.

Talbot shook his head again. Even if he was never going to feel the other man’s hands on his skin again, or enjoy the way the beta’s lips caressed his, Gunnar would always be his concern.

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Bennett said from somewhere off to Talbot’s right.

The omega could only nod.

Gunnar’s hand came to rest on his cheek, trying to stop the gesture short. “Don’t.”

Even if Talbot could have obeyed every other order the beta might ever give him, he knew that one was beyond him. There was no way he could stop loving the other wolf. It simply wasn’t in him not to belong to Gunnar and be his mate with his heart, soul and everything else at his disposal.

Talbot closed his eyes, knowing his answer wasn’t the one the other man wanted to receive and not wanting to see the disappointment in Gunnar’s eyes.

Chapter Six

Gunnar closed his eyes as Talbot bowed his head lower over his lap. Cupping the omega’s other cheek in his other
hand,
he dipped his head to rest it against the younger man’s temple.

“Everything will be fine,” Gunnar whispered. “
You’ll
be fine.” That was the most important thing, after all.

Talbot tried to shake his head, but Gunnar tightened his hold on him and refused to give the younger man permission to disagree with him while he was the one who had the omega’s best interests firmly at heart.

The beta had no doubt he could deal with the anger of the alphas and the rest of the pack. He was reasonably sure he could even deal with being sent away from the pack in disgrace. But Talbot had to be kept safe.

Gunnar let his lips brush very gently against the omega’s temple one last time before he lifted his head and turned to face
Marsdon
and Bennett.

“He’s not the only one, is he?”
Marsdon
asked.

Gunnar made sure no hint of emotion crossed his face. Dipping his eyes just once, to indicate that he had no interest in challenging the alpha’s place in the pack’s hierarchy, he quickly met
Marsdon’s
gaze and held it.

The alpha looked away first, but there was no weakness in the move. He merely looked to his mate, as if to check that they were in agreement.

“Is there some reason why you didn’t come to us and tell us that you found the idea of being mated to Alfred disagreeable?” Bennett asked as he moved to stand at his mate’s side.

Gunnar held his gaze just as respectfully as he had
Marsdon’s
, but he couldn’t let the comment pass without answering it. “I haven’t said I’m unwilling to be mated to him,” Gunnar said. “I’m still not saying that.”

“Oh?”
Marsdon
asked.

“I knew what you had planned for me when I joined your pack.”

“So if we were to order the pack outside to observe a mating ceremony between you and Alfred, you wouldn’t have any objection?” Bennett asked, sceptically.

“I’ll respect my alphas’ right to make that decision,” Gunnar said, barely resisting the temptation to cover Talbot’s ears so he wouldn’t hear him say it.

The omega was barely nineteen. He couldn’t be expected to understand why it was better for Gunnar to give in to their request rather than fight against it. He’d probably never even realise that his choice would be what mollified their leaders into accepting them both back into the fold without Talbot receiving any punishment at all. If it came to a choice between trying to get what he wanted and succeeding in keeping Talbot safe, there was no real choice to make.

Gunnar felt the smaller man flinch and hated himself all the more for screwing things up so badly. The fact that he had no doubt the omega would forgive him without the slightest hesitation was beside the point. That just made it worse.

“And if we order the pack outside to observe a mating ceremony between you and Talbot?” Bennett asked. The words seemed to come from very far away. Even then, Gunnar could barely bring himself to listen to them.

“Then I’ll respect my alphas’ right to…” Gunnar’s lips kept moving, but the rest of the sentence faded away as the other wolf’s actual words started to sink in. Looking up, he met Bennett’s gaze.

“Gunnar?” Bennett prompted.

The beta looked from one alpha to the other and back again, trying to work out what the hell was going on. When he looked down and his gaze fell on Talbot, the little wolf looked so hopeful.

Gunnar swallowed. He dropped his hands away from Talbot’s face. “May I speak to you both in private?”