The Beta's Heart

1. Wrenches and Reflections

Tyler James

The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, glinting off the tools and engine parts scattered across the concrete floor. Hunched over a vintage Mustang with a wrench in one hand and a rag in the other, I shook my head with a frown.

"Someone sure messed you up, didn't they, baby? But don't you worry. I'm going to have you running like a dream again before you know it."

Then the front door opened with a loud bang, followed by Gamma Landry's voice echoing through the cavernous garage.

"Yo, Ty! You here, bro?"

"Where else would I be?" I called back, setting the wrench down and wiping my hands on the rag.

Strolling over, Gamma Lan tossed me a bottle of Arizona Sweet Tea, otherwise known as manna from heaven.

"Brought you a snack."

"Thanks, man." With a grin, I cracked open the bottle and took a long swig. "Ahh! That hits the spot!"

"And in case you skipped breakfast." He tossed me a bag of chips as he plopped down on a nearby stool, the springs groaning under his weight.

"Charlie Nelson let one of her babies leave the O without breakfast?" I made a shocked face. "Come on, now."

Along with thousands of others, Charlotte Nelson had been widowed in the shifter sickness six years ago. Left with two little pups and one on the way, she'd needed a job to provide for them as well as something to keep her too busy to grieve for her mate.

Since she was a delta, the alphas at the time decided to promote her to den mother of the pack's orphanage, and I for one was glad they did. She was organized, had a lot of common sense, and took care of me and the other three orphans the same as she did her own.

"Yeah, you're right. Don't know what I was thinking," Gamma Lan chuckled, then gestured towards the Mustang. "This one's a beauty. New, ain't she?"

"Yep. Got her in yesterday, and she's going to be a tough fix. The wiring is a flat-out mess, and pretty much all of the interior is shot, but her body's rust-free and all original."

Setting down my tea bottle, I opened the bag of chips. I was still as full as a tick from Charlie's breakfast of pancakes and sausage less than an hour ago, but I was never going to say no to barbecue chips!

"You're lucky, bro, getting to work with these old muscle cars all the time."

"I know it. Alpha Jayden keeps offering me the job at the alpha library—"

"Probably because you're there all the time," he snorted.

"Yeah, and I love reading and researching, but I think I'd get bored doing that all day every day. Even though the pay would be better and it comes with a nice apartment, I'm leaning toward staying here at the Busted Knuckle," I said around a mouth full of chips.

"Then tell alpha that."

"I don't know if I can," I admitted. "I don't want him to feel like I'm slapping his hand away when he and the other alphas have been nothing but kind and generous to me."

"Alpha Jay wouldn't think that." Gamma Lan shook his head. "None of the alphas would. They love you like a kid brother and want you to be happy. Besides, I can't see River being content to guard a bunch of dusty old books for the rest of his life."

I nodded, polishing off the chips. He was right about River. Beta wolves were driven to protect, and mine wasn't any different. Right now, he was content to be the guardian of the orphanage, but that would change when I turned eighteen and moved into the packhouse.