Beauty and The Beta (Bailey)
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Chapter 40 Asher + Leaving my office for the night, planning on going to the gym, despite it being almost midnight, Iheard footsteps up ahead of me, and I couldn’t help but wonder who would be in the packhouse atthat time of night. The packhouse is always abandoned about an hour after dinner has finished, witheveryone returning to their homes for the night. And the place becomes my lonely hideout. A placewhere I am free to roam in the darkness and silence. Not caring for anyone else. Though, tonight, I worked a little later than usual as there was a backlog of paperwork with Calebhaving to stay with Eden and take care of her. She was truly struggling with this pregnancy. I wasthinking this baby would not be long until it decided to make its appearance and arrive in our crazylittle world. At least then, I suppose, it would stop making its mother suffer… well, then it would justbe causing both its mother and father to suffer sleepless nights…ah, the joys of children! packhouse I listened carefully for the noise of the footsteps once more, wondering who they would be at thislate hour, and could feel Zion pushing forward too, feeling unsettled at someone being in the whenthey shouldn’t be. He is rippling beneath my skin, ready to push forward and shift should the needpresent itself. The sound of someone here had him on edge as much as it did me…… protect me I increased the speed of my own steps, to turn the corner, to walk straight into Eden, and nearlybackwards as I almost bounced off her pregnancy bump. “Ooff!” she mumbled, stumbling backward herself. I quickly went to steady myself and go to helpher. but she had already leant against the wall, her breathing quite rapid as she held her belly. “S**tAsher!” she snapped now, sounding far from impressed with me. Though I could hear the fear withinher voice, so I think the snapping was more because I had scared her. “What are you doing in here at this time of night, Eden?” I asked her, completely puzzled. Sheshould be home in bed by now surely? “You should be at home!” I had to say I was more than a littleconcerned at the fact to get here she had to have walked across the pack on her own in the dark

too. Why hadn’t Caleb come? Or called for me? “Oh should I?” she snapped again. “Thanks Dad.” My eyes widened at her grumpiness. Jeez, if this is what Caleb has to put up with on a daily basis,then he was welcome to married bliss. “Fine, go back to wandering around in the dark then, ohhappy one.” I snarled, not in the mood for dealing with her mood swings, as I turned to move away. “Where are you going?” Eden asked me, like she was shocked I was suddenly leaving her. “Away from you.” “Not rude much.” She is eyeing me with a scowl. I don’t know if she thought her evil eyes weregoing to scare me, but they simply amused me. “Well, if you are talking to me like that, you can’t expect me to want to talk to you, nor spend timewith you. Besides, I am going to bed.” I lied, still planning on going to the gym, knowing it was fartoo early yet for me to even try getting any sleep. “Well you can’t expect me to be in a good mood at this time of night when I want to be asleep shegrumbled. G. Chapter 40 Asher -5 Pearts I frowned. “So why are you up then?” I replace myself asking, despite me saying I didn’t plan on talkingto her. “Let alone wandering around the corridors of the packhouse!” “I am ling for the new teacher to arrive,” She told me with a shrug. I already told you would bearriving. Do you not listen?” earlier she I rolled my eyes. Yes, she may have told me, but I still would not expect her to be arriving at thistime of the f**g night! Why on earth would she allow a new member of the pack to arrive in the earlyhours? Needing to get away or not, desperate for her to join our pack or not, it still seems illogical toallow someone to come at this time of day… or night, as the case may be. This woman did not thinksometimes, I swear. Though her excuse for anything she did of late that we disagreed with was thatit was pregnancy brain. Personally, I think it was just bad planning, or being too big-hearted…

“Go home Eden.” I said to her with a sigh. “No, I need to wait for the new teacher. She should be here anytime, or in the next hour or two.” “I will stay up and wait for her. Why did you not just ask me? You know I am here anyway, and Irarely sleep well.” I said to her, already hating myself for even suggesting this, but knowing I wouldbe awake for hours yet, and it seemed silly Eden struggling to keep herself awake, and makingherself feel more ill than she already does in the process. I would just have to fight all my naturalinstincts to avoid. interacting with people I don’t know or like and welcome the teacher the best wayI could. “Are you sure?” she says to me with a small smile, and I give her a reluctant nod, knowing that Iwould regret this “Aww, thank you, Asher!” she gave me a big hug “And when you get home, give Caleb a big kick, preferably in the head, and tell him he is a lazy f**r.it should have been him coming here doing this and not you. Especially at this time of night.” I toldher and she laughed. “He looked all sweet, all snuggled up fast asleep, sucking his thumb, I didn’t want to disturb him shesaid with an affectionate smile. I found myself smiling too, in spite of myself. I can’t believe my best friend still sucked his thumb. Iknew he had done for as long as I could remember.. “Hmm, you may want to keep that quiet, it kindof ruins his big, tough. Alpha image when you say he sucks his thumb.” I told her and she laughed. “Thanks again Ash, I will go home and try to get some sleep now. If this one will let me. Please benice to the new girl. Her name is Bailey, remember?” she tells me, with a warning stare. Like shethought I couldn’t be trusted to welcome someone into our pack nicely… not like it was that difficultto do, was it? And, besides, if she decided to turn up in the middle of the night, then that was herlook out, she would have to take us as she found us. Can’t say I was bothered if she was here ornot. It was more for Eden that she was coming….