Beta’s Delight: Dixon Pack Book 2

by Bryce Evans

  She had no clue what was going on, but Bane and Josh chased after them. “What the hell is going on?” Simone asked over her shoulder as she followed the parade to the kitchen. When she opened the door, Bane and Josh were trying to wrestle Ben away from the bathroom, closed, and likely locked. Simone wanted to panic, until she heard the whimpering coming from the bathroom.

  Everyone stopped, including Ben, who stared at the door. Ben looked bigger, his nose was flaring out and in like a bear in the wild. It was a sight to see, until seven of his men burst into the kitchen.

  “What’s going on Bane?” Simone demanded.

  “I think Monica is the Alpha’s mate. He wants to run off with her, but she’s scared.” Bane explained. He had his hands busy, trying to keep Ben from the door.

  Josh looked scared himself as he stood in front of the door at Banes side, stopping Ben from entering. The Alpha of the bears looked crazy, like he was about to tear the door down. She had never seen claws up close, but his were out. Simone had to do something. What was Ben going to do with those?

  “Stop, Ben. Don’t you hear her? She’s terrified of you. What the hell is wrong with you?” Simone snapped, annoyed with how this big man was just ignoring Monica’s cries. She stared down at his massive bear claws. “All of you get out of here, so I can talk to her.” Simone wasn’t going to let anyone get to her new friend. His size alone probably frightened her. “Ben, I’m not asking.” Simone picked up a frying pan, and held it tight. She wasn’t playing with any of them. It would be over her dead body before Ben or anyone tried to get to Monica. Never again would a man hurt her or anyone she cared about—no matter how big they were.

  Bane growled like nothing she had heard before. His body grew taller and bigger, even his claws came out in an aggressive manner. He was growing in size.

  Holy shit.

  Quinn ran up beside him and stuck her hands out. At first, Simone thought she was trying to calm the situation down. Then her hands started to glow.

  Finally, Ben straightened up and blinked a couple of times. It looked like he was fighting with himself. Thank the Lord when his claws retracted, and he straightened up.

  “You can’t keep her from me, witch.” Ben roared.

  Bane’s voice was graveled when he spoke, “Alpha, you don’t know Monica and what happened to her and her brother growing up. I’ll explain it to you if you go outside. This isn’t happening now. Come on Alpha, just give her some time.” Bane pleaded. Simone knew that whatever it took, Ben wasn’t getting in that bathroom.

  “Mine.” Ben spat out. “I’ll be outside, but she’s mine Beta, and nobody, including you and the witch, will keep her from me.” Ben’s voice was rough and final as he turned around and walked out with his men in tow. She could see them standing to the side, ready to dish out whatever their Alpha needed. The noises they were making said they were gearing up for a fight.

  Simone watched them go, but what got her attention was Quinn and how she was lit up like a Christmas tree. At first she thought it was the lights playing tricks on her eyes, but the men gave her a wide birth, walking around her to get to the door.

  Blowing out her breath, Quinn ran over and put her hand on Simone’s shoulder, “You can put it down now. I’ve never seen anyone do that! You realize you just threatened a bear shifter.”

  “I don’t care. He wasn’t going to touch her.” Simone threatened. Her heart was pounding as she put the frying pan down and turned to the bathroom door. “Monica, he’s gone. You can come out now.” She could still hear Monica whimpering, but the door never unlocked.

  Simone reached up, took a canister down from the top shelf, and retrieved a set of keys. Feverishly, she found the one she was looking for, and unlocked the door. She wanted to cry when the door finally opened to reveal Monica, curled up into a ball, shaking on the floor.

  “Mon.” Josh ran over to her, wrapping his arms around her. “It’s okay Mon. He’s gone, I promise.” Simone dropped to her knees and put her hand on Monica’s back. Finally, Monica released her legs. Josh placed her on her back, but her eyes were vacant, head rolling back.

  “She’s done this before, but it was a long time ago.” Josh said plainly, but everyone could hear the fear and uncertainty in his voice.

  “I think she’s in shock.” Bane said.

  “Josh, go next door. Get a quilt from the store and bring it back.” Quinn suggested. Bane picked her up, put her in his arms, and sat down in the chair with her. Her teeth were chattering as he rocked her.

  “She’s freezing cold.” Bane put his arms around her, trying to warm her up, until Josh ran in with a quilt. Simone and Quinn tucked it around her.

  “I’ve got to get out front before he comes back in here. He needs to know the truth, Josh,” Bane said, “I’ve got to tell him.”

  Annoyed and frustrated, Simone kept her mouth shut until she could find out what on earth was going on. Bane stood up and set Monica into her brother’s arms. Josh took Bane’s seat, playing with her hair as he held her.

  “When we were little, Mon always wanted for me to play with her hair. It put’s her right to sleep.” They watched as Monica closed her eyes and nodded off. Josh smiled down at her. “She’ll sleep for a while.”

  “I’ll go outside with the customers and call Arden. I think we may need his help.” Quinn got up and walked to the front.

  Simone was thankful that Quinn was helping her out so much, but she didn’t understand what was going on and why Ben said she was ‘mine’, like Monica had no choice if she went with him. Quinn had said that there was a lot to explain, but this was surreal.

  “I guess you’re kinda lost, wondering what the hell is going on?” Josh asked, getting her attention.

  Simone pulled up a chair and sat down in front of them. “None of it makes sense to me right now. I don’t want your sister hurt, and she seems petrified of Ben. Did he hurt her or something before?” Simone asked, annoyed. She wanted answers before she went off on someone, namely Ben Renshaw.

  Josh glanced down at Monica, still sound to sleep. “When we were fifteen years old, we lived with the Mason Pack. I was at home with my parents, but Monica had spent the night with her best friend Jessie. We heard the alarm go off and we went into the safe room, until we heard the front door open and Monica yelling for our parents. My mom and dad both left the safe room, told me to lock it behind them and not to open it for anyone. They came out of nowhere.”

  “They?” Simone asked not understanding who he was talking about.

  “Vampires. They got through our gates, started killing all the adults in our pack, kidnapping the kids. Monica put up a fight, but one of the vampires raped her and almost drained her dry. If it hadn’t been for the alarm going off and alerting the pack, she would have been taken, probably even turned. We were lucky, our Alpha was holding try outs for guards—we had a lot of wolves on pack land. But we lost our parents that night. They killed them front of her, and took best friend Jessie.”

  Simone’s hand was over her mouth; she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Vampires were killing everyone and kidnapping children. Poor Monica, now she understood the pain behind her eyes. “Dear God, that poor child.”

  “Ben, however, is another problem. My sister has never dated or been with a man since…but Ben is her mate. No way a shifter would act like that if it they weren’t mated. That’s why he’s acting so aggressive. He thinks we’re keeping her away from him.”

  “What’s a mate? I mean, Quinn said Arden the Alpha was her mate, but is that like a husband?”

  “Sort of, but it’s different for shifters. When we meet our mate, it’s forever. We will never love or even be attracted to another woman but our mate. Mates complete each other. It’s different for shifters—she’s the other half of his soul. He will never want another woman, except her. He will never stray or be tempted. If they are true mates, then they’ll both feel that way about each other. He will only want her, and his bear wants her too. The animal th
at lives inside of us will feel the same way about her. That’s why you saw all the growling and claws. He wants to mate with her and make her his by marking her.”

  “Marking her? With those big ass claws?” Simone said, fearing for Monica’s safety.

  “No.” Josh stammered, his cheeks turning red as a beet. She could see how embarrassed he was telling her about this, but she had to know. “Not like that. I mean, we do claw at each other’s skin, but we heal really fast. How do I tell you this without getting awkward?” Rubbing at the back of his neck, Josh continued. “Okay here goes—when we have sex for the first time with our mate, we bite into each other’s shoulders. The bite mixes our DNA, that way we’ll be connected and mated for life.”

  “Then why did she run like that?” Simone asked. “She knew he was her mate, right?”

  “Yeah, but with everything that happened with her, she may not accept him. He’s big, like the vampires that killed my parents, and…she’s scared. Until she gets to know him, it won’t work. I won’t let him have her if she doesn’t accept him. If Ben is the man Arden says he is, then he’ll give her time to adjust and get to know him, but I won’t let him just run off with her. I will kill him if he touches my sister without her consent. I was too young to know what to do before, but not now. This time, nobody will mess with my sister.” Josh snarled. He would have to get behind Simone first. Nobody, including the Alpha of the bears, would touch her until Monica was okay with it.

  “Nobody will hurt her, Josh.” They both turned to see a man standing at the door.

  “Alpha.” Josh stood up, Monica cradled in his arms, as the man walked over. He put his hand up to Monica’s face, pushing her hair away from her eyes.

  “Tate is out back with the SUV. Take your sister home, I’ll handle this.” The Alpha said, opening the back door for Josh to carry his sister out. Simone watched the man who was Quinn’s mate closely. He didn’t show any emotions, just looked around her kitchen like he didn’t have a care in the world. She could see what Quinn saw in him, with his black hair, grey eyes, and that five-o-clock shadow. Now that she was paying attention, Simone could see the power radiating off of him that made him the Alpha. He was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt, and just like Bane, he was very well built.

  “You must be the woman who has my Beta missing work.”

  “I never asked him to miss work. In fact, I never asked him to help me at all.” Simone titled her chin up at the man. “Bane can leave any time he wants to.”

  Arden smiled. “I’m Arden Dixon.” He stuck his hand out for her to shake. She blinked a couple of times at the gesture.

  “Simone Alexander.” She said, shaking his hand.

  “Bane likes you. He always gets his work done and takes care of the pack. But I couldn’t get him to leave even if I wanted to.”

  “Why’s that? I thought you were the Alpha?” Simone asked, wondering now what the Alpha really meant.

  “Bane may be my Beta, but it’s only by choice. He’s just as much Alpha as I am, but I know my best friend, and he has never acted like this towards a woman.” Simone narrowed her eyes at him, and he added, “Never.”

  “Look, I’m not looking to fill in for someone else until he finds his mate. Besides, I came here to get away from relationships. I want my life back, and dating isn’t part of it.” Simone didn’t want to talk about this anymore, and she didn’t have to when Ben rushed in.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Where is she?” Ben demanded. His eyes had changed as he looked around the kitchen for Monica.

  “She’s resting at home.” Arden replied. If he was nervous, he didn’t show it, even though Ben was much larger than all of them and pissed off.

  “You can’t keep my mate from me, Dixon.” Ben challenged.

  “You ass,” Simone snapped, “You know the story about what happened to that poor girl, and you’re still demanding she comes with you?”

  Bane rushed over and tried to hold her back, but Simone had had enough of this man’s audacity, thinking he could just throw her over his shoulder cave man style and take her to mate with.

  “She was raped for God’s sake!” Simone snapped. “Don’t you get that? She watched them kill her parents, and then they raped her. She was only fifteen years old, still a child. You think she’ll want you when you demand that she goes with you to become your mate? Have you no shame? Are you so fucked up in the head that you can’t understand that this girl is terrified? When her brother carried her out of here, her eyes were vacant. She was suffering from a triggering flashback, but hey, as long as you get what you want. People like you have no clue what happens to a woman when they get taken advantage of. It changes you, forever.” Before Bane could get a good hold on her, she was up and had her finger pointed in the bear’s chest. “You touch her without her wanting you to, and so help me God, I will kill you.”

  Bane picked her up before Ben could say anything more and carried her out the back door.

  “You put me down, Bane!” Simone screamed. It was starting to get dark outside as Bane ran through the woods with her. He was running so fast that when he put her down they were standing next to a small pond.

  “What the hell? Why did you take me away from my own store?” She snarled, waiting for him to answer. “Asshole.”

  “You needed to cool off, and you didn’t know what was discussed outside. He wasn’t going to take her away, Ben just wanted to see if she was okay. You don’t know what it’s like for him. He will think about her all the time. He won’t be able to focus on anything, unless he can see that she’s okay. Arden will allow him to come and see her while she’s asleep. That way she won’t know that he was even there. I can’t believe he handled it as well as he did.”

  “I don’t understand any of this.” Simone said throwing her hands up in frustration. “All I do know is that girl has been through enough, and he needs to understand that and not push her. I won’t let him just take her.”

  “Calm down, Simone.” Bane pleaded, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Calm down,” he repeated, moving his hands down her arms to her ribs. “Did I hurt you?”

  Simone took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She didn’t know if it was from the bear, or the man rubbing up and down her arms. “What are you doing?” she whispered.

  “Trying to make sure I didn’t hurt you.” Bane said, sounding anguished at the thought of causing her pain.

  “I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt.” Simone watched as Bane held her shirt up so he could inspect her ribs. “Really. You didn’t hurt me. See?” Simone grabbed his face bringing it up to her’s. “I promise,” she whispered as they gazed at each other.

  “All I want to do is kiss you, but I’m scared that I’m going to hurt you.” Bane’s breath quickened as he waited for her to answer.

  “Then do it.”

  * * *

  Lowering his head, Bane brought his mouth down on to hers. Her lips were soft as his tongue explored her mouth. He wanted more, but he couldn’t do that to Simone. She had been through enough, and just like Monica, everything bad that had happened to her in the past was still at the forefront of her mind. The kiss lasted only for a few minutes, but it was enough for him to know that he wanted more. Bane wanted to know more about Simone. He knew about the bad, but now he wanted to know about the good too. He wanted to know what made her happy, and give all of those things to her.

  Bane stroked her hair, pushing it behind her ears. “How do you know how Ben was feeling?” Simone asked. “It’s been bugging me ever since you said something. How did Bane know? Was it something they all felt?

  “Ever since we were pups, we were taught about mates. Especially the ones who see each other, and then the scent says it all.”

  “Scent?”

  “We have incredible scenting abilities that can detect things for miles, especially our mate. One sniff and we’re on the hunt. Just like you saw when Ben caught Monica’s scent, he had to have her. It’s instinct when a wolf goes o
n the hunt for his mate. I can’t do it justice, I’ve never…”

  Simone put her head down; she felt like a fool. What was she expecting from him? Bane never said she was his mate. She wanted to smack herself upside the head. She had done it again—Simone had fallen for the wrong man.

  “I need to get back to the store. I’ve got some things to do before tomorrow.” Simone got up and started looking around, trying to get her bearings and figure out which direction to walk in.

  “Now?” His voice questioned. She could hear the hurt there, but this wouldn’t end well for her, and keeping with the plan was what she needed to do.

  Trying her best, she tried to act like his feelings had no effect on her, even though she was dying inside. How did she let this happen?

  “What about what happened just now?” Bane asked.

  Simone blinked to keep from crying. She couldn’t let him see how hurt she was. “It was just a kiss. I’m not ready for a relationship right now, and you’re waiting for the sparks to fly with your mate. Do you think you can point me in the right direction to my store, or give me a lift like you did before?” Simone asked with an easy-going expression that pained her to fake.

  “It meant something to me.” Bane whispered under his breath. She heard him, but she couldn’t act like it bothered her. Looking down at her watch, Simone cringed when she seen the time. It was nearly nine at night. She had to clean the whole store, both front and kitchen, and get it ready to go again first thing in the morning.

  “Come on.” Bane turned around and started walking. It was dark beneath the canopy of trees, but the moon was full and bright. It wasn’t long before she started to hear howling.

  “Wolves.” Simone muttered, looking around. The sound called to her, but she didn’t understand why. As they kept walking, she could see lights up ahead, coming from the biggest log cabin she had ever seen. “Beautiful.”