The Beta

XLI

*Faye*

Oh, the airport. One of my favorite places to be. Unlike most people, it excited me to be surrounded by travelers, people venturing off to new locations. I could set aside my distaste for the impatience, rude employees, and typically unsatisfactory fast food, because the experience was still worth it.

Rian and Titus clearly didn't agree. Ever since we'd rolled our luggage into the airport, Rian had been gripping my right hand like a safety beam. He'd told me three times not to wander off, even though I had been standing perfectly still. Then, after we got through security and found our gate, they wouldn't let me walk to the bathroom alone.

"It's twenty yards away," I informed the two intense boys, both of whom stood on either side of me like rigid gargoyles. "You can literally watch me walk to the bathroom and back out."

"I'll stand outside," Rian offered, stepping towards the restroom.

"What are you guys worried about?"

"Bad things happen in airports," Titus growled, his dark eyes suspiciously sweeping through the crowd around us.

I rolled my eyes. "Like what? I've flown by myself before. Nothing has ever happened to me."

"You've flown alone?" Rian demanded through gritted teeth.

"Most girls my age have," I replied with a nonchalant shrug. "It's not a big deal."

"It is to me." He grabbed my hand again and pulled me towards the restroom.

"You're worse than my dad," I sputtered, jerking my hand out when we reached the threshold to the door. I stormed inside without looking back at him.

The rest of our travels followed similarly. We had a three-hour layover in Denver, and if the guys hadn't been anxious before, the layover definitely did them in. Rian started complaining about my weak bladder and Titus went on and on about how irresponsible I was, trying to sneak off to the convenient store beside our gate. I just wanted to get a break from them. They were totally dampening my travel mood.

After we boarded the second leg of our trip and suffered through another two hours of their complaining, the plane finally touched down in Nampa, Idaho. The moment we'd disembarked both boys visibly relaxed. I hadn't realized their stress had affected me until my shoulders softened.

"Alpha left a car for us last night," Titus said as we picked up our luggage from the respective carousel.

"Which one?" Rian asked, taking my hand again. He didn't squeeze so hard this time.

"His truck."

I didn't pay attention to their conversation while they debated about who would drive and who could have shotgun. Instead, I was enjoying the cool breeze blowing through my cotton blouse and jeans. The temperature in Georgia had climbed up into the nineties today, so this was a pleasant change.

A few minutes of scavenging the parking garage passed until they located the right vehicle. Apparently, Rian's uncle had a thing for pick-up trucks. The machine was enormous and red, the dream vehicle for most men in my hometown. Once the luggage had been secured in the open bed, I was ushered into the shotgun seat.

"I'm the safer driver," Titus grumbled as he lifted himself into the backseat.

"You definitely aren't," Rian shot back.

The truck rumbled to life. I fastened my seatbelt and took a deep breath. Butterflies had stirred in my stomach about half an hour ago when the reality of my situation finally crashed down. I would be meeting Rian's family. His pack. His Alpha. The most important people in his life.

I was terrified of what they'd think of me, a human. They were stronger, faster, and smarter. Did any of them even understand what being mated to a normal, plain Jane was like? And what would I do when I embarrassed myself? Because I undoubtedly would in some way or another.

"Are you alright?" Rian asked softly.

When I looked over at him, I heard my breathing. It was loud and ragged, as if I'd just gone on a run. I clamped my lips shut while my cheeks warmed.

"I'm fine," I lied. "Just nervous."

"About what?" Titus leaned forward, resting his elbows on the center console and his chin on his palms. "Does the fact that you'll be surrounded by bloodthirsty wolves twenty-four-seven freak you out?"

Rian briefly tore his gaze off the road to shoot him a glare. "Shut up, Titus."

"No," I said quietly, though that wasn't entirely true either. "I'm just...nervous about meeting everybody."

"Don't be worried, Faye. It's going to be fine," Rian assured me, scooping up my trembling hand. "Everyone is going to love you."

Nibbling on my lip, I turned to stare out the window. Trees whipped by as we merged onto a mostly desolate interstate.

"You don't need to care about what other people think," Titus remarked. He squeezed my shoulder, taking me by surprise. When our eyes met, his typically cynical, sarcastic ones were soft with sympathy. "They're mostly idiots anyway."

I smiled a little. "Thank you. Even though I'm sure that's not true."

"Well, they aren't that dumb, but most of them—especially the girls—are psyched about meeting you. I don't know why. They think it's so cool that you're a human. Like, why? Your life is so boring."

So we were back to this again.

Rian began to scold him before my chuckle cut him off.

"You're right," I admitted. "My life is boring. I like it that way."

"Yeah," Titus muttered. "All that is about to change."

My palms started sweating while I considered that. Everything was about to change.