Becoming Beta (Completed)

Chapter 39

Zeke

Valerie needs to wear a straightjacket when she sleeps. I love the girl, but waking up with a black eye isn't ideal. Liam glanced up at me from his plate of pancakes before he snickered for the thousandth time this morning. "I'm tired of you teasing the boy. Knock it off" Grams scolded him as she narrowed her eyes. Liam muttered an apology before stuffing some pancakes in his mouth. "How'd you sleep, darlin'?" Grams asked, looking at my mate.

With a blush on her cheeks, Valerie glanced up at Grams. "Good" she said simply. "Thank you for making breakfast" Valerie said gratefully. Everyone began having their own conversations. Valerie leaned over to me. "Is this everyone that I was supposed to meet?" she inquired.

I looked around and shook my head. "You haven't met Mason yet. But I heard he lives in his own house. Then there's Amanda and Kat. They should be around here somewhere" I stated. I had to remember not to act my usual way around Amanda. That wouldn't go too well with Valerie in the room. "Where's Mason and the girls?" I questioned, looking around the table.

Sam shrugged with his eyebrows furrowed together. "They're all at Mason's house. They said they'll be here for breakfast, but-"

"Hey. Sorry we're late!" Mason apologized, coming through the door. I quickly stood up and gave him a quick hug. "Long time no see, kid" he said, patting my back. I scowled at the old nickname as we pulled away. "What happened to your eye?" he asked casually.

I shrugged before greeting the girls. "Manda Panda!" I chirped, causing her to glare at me. Regardless of her anger, I still wrapped my arms around her. I felt a pang of jealousy that wasn't mine, so I quickly let go and moved onto Kat. "Hey, Kat" Our hug was short so I wouldn't piss off Valerie. Before starting a conversation, I turned around and grabbed my mate's hand to pull her out of her seat. "This is my mate, Valerie" I introduced. She relaxed as I rubbed small circles on the back of her hand. "That's Mason, Amanda, and Kat" I named off.

She nodded her head and smiled at them. "Valley" I dropped Valerie's hand as we both turned around to face Kenny. He was rubbing his eyes and yawning at the doorway. "I'm hungry" Kenny stated.

Valerie walked closer and led him to the table. He took my seat and Valerie switched out the plates so Kenny would have a clean one. She grabbed a couple pancakes and I put some bacon on his plate. "You can have more if you're still hungry when that's all gone" Valerie told him as he munched on bacon. He nodded his head, unable to talk with his mouth full. "Wave to Bubba's friends" she instructed softly as she pointed to Mason, Kat, and Amanda.

Kenny waved before swallowing his food and greeting everyone around the table. "Hi, Grams!" he chirped happily. I'm proud to say that I got Kenny to easily warm up to Grams; but then again, everyone warms up to Grams.

The older woman smiled kindly at Kenny. "Hello, Kenny. How'd you sleep?" she wondered. He smiled and began blabbering about his dreams. Grams listened intently along with Liam- he actually looked very intrigued by the kid's story.

From the corner of my eye, I spotted Mason motioning me over. "Dude. Not that I'm judging or anything. But is he Valerie's?" he questioned.

Hearing him, Valerie walked over to us and laced our fingers together. "He's ours. We're adopting him" she said with a strong voice. I pressed a kiss to her temple and gave her hand a small squeeze.

"How old are you?" Amanda blurted, not hiding the shock in her voice. Valerie's eyes slightly narrowed, but she kept herself composed as she answered. "Wow. I think you must be a responsible girl to be able to take care of a kid at this age. Zeke's lucky to have you since he's probably one of the most irresponsible guys on this planet" she teased.