Rafflesia's Lament

Chapter 15

"Beta, can you please tell me what's up with him?" Dalton said, crossing his arms.

Beta looked down at the ground. "He needs a minute to cool off."

"That's fucking obvious! I guess his marriage is a touchy subject. Wish you had given me a heads-up about that," Dalton said through his teeth.

Beta hated how he wasn't wrong... Even though he knew it was a touchy subject for a different reason. At the same time, he knew Alpha and Charlie hadn't been getting along lately like they used to. He could imagine that was making it all worse for Alpha.

Beta walked towards the door. "I should go check on him."

"Why? He'll be back," Dalton grumbled.

"I should make sure he doesn't leave. We need to settle this."

"I guess you're right about that. It would suck if he disappeared on us."

"Exactly. He is struggling to come to terms with seeing you. I need to make sure he is okay," Beta explained further. He felt his throat tighten with each passing second. He should have stopped Alpha from leaving. He should have offered Alpha his room to calm down.

"Wait, do you want me to come with you?" Dalton said as he walked up next to him.

"That isn't a good idea," Beta shook his head. "Stay here."

"Uh huh?" Dalton turned away. "Figured."

"Yeah," Beta scratched his head feeling uneasy. "So, I'm going out there to check on him. I don't know if he will come back here with me but I'll be back as soon as I can.

"Okay," Dalton went to sit down on the couch. He was looking away from Beta.

"I'm sorry he just left," Beta said feeling guilty that everything was not going favorable. Beta's spine tingled at the lack of a response. His shoulders fell as he made his way to the door.

Beta then suddenly remembered something. He knew that when he was going to go out there, Alpha was going to be unfiltered in what he had to say. He knew he could say the worst of the worst about this whole situation, and it wasn't ideal for his dad to hear about it. Of course, they already agreed that his dad wasn't going to come out with him, but Beta could imagine there was a chance he could still overhear what they were going to say to each other.

"Hey Dad," Beta croaked.

"What?"

"Please don't eavesdrop when I go out there. Not that-"

"Really now?" Dalton interrupted as his head spun around angrily towards Beta. "Eavesdrop? What are we? Preschoolers?"

"I mean you were eavesdropping a few minutes ago when Alpha first got here-"

"What choice did I have? You shoved me in a closet and the walls are so thin. Also, Alpha is so freaking loud it was impossible to not hear you!"

"Okay, that's a good point! But now you have a choice, and it will mean a lot to me if you give us some privacy to talk this out. I am sure that Alpha is going to say stuff that he doesn't mean, and you will not like hearing it. I am going to make everything better between us. I promise!"

"Wow, so you are admitting to me that you are going to talk behind my back. Eavesdropping. Like a bunch of sissies. God this is what happens when you lose the man of the house and only have a mother to raise you."

"Dad stop." Beta whispered at him.

"Ugh, your older brother has always been so difficult. He is too much of a rule follower and a show-off. If he is going through a divorce with her or some shit tell me." Dalton grunted. "Whatever Alpha has to say to me he should say it to me like a man!"