Taming the Hellbeast

Ch. 7: And who might that be?

The common room was crowded that morning.

Santine had gotten back from Jax's and gone to her office to clean up after Ainsley, but Lydia had taken care of it, so she had gone to her room to shower. She had not wanted to shower. Her body had been all tingly after her afternoon with Jax, and his smell lingered on her skin like a cocoon of calm. For the sake of keeping up appearances, she had done it. She had excused herself through Ace and gotten her dinner brought up to her room.

For the first time in years, Santine had slept peacefully. With the added bonus of no headaches from Jax. She felt him, but not any pain.

Piers had texted her and asked why she was not at dinner or had been in the common room to be with the new arrivals from Typhon's pack. She had texted him it was work, and she had been busy. Piers meant well, she knew that, but she had needed some space to get her head on straight, and she had difficulty figuring out how she was going to break the news to him. He would be devastated.

Stuff she had chosen to postpone because, in the grand scheme of things, she did not have the capacity to bother.

Cruel, maybe a little.

Necessary to keep focused, yes.

Typhon's men, who had arrived the night before, were sitting at a table eating the breakfast Dora had cooked, all looking at Dora like they wanted to steal her away. Santine could not blame them, Dora was an excellent cook.

"Santine?" Typhon had silently sneaked up on her and stood right behind her. "Did you find him? You look a lot more relaxed now."

"Yes, I found him and I need your help, if you don't mind?"

He rested his hands on his hips and glared at her for her formality. "I said I was here to help. You don't have to ask. Just tell me what you need."

"I've talked Jax into meeting with some of my trusted friends for us to perhaps figure out a solution to all of this. I'd like to gather a small team to go visit him later, if you would come and bring somebody you trust?"

Typhon looked like he zoned out and a moment later, a medium-height dark-skinned man with the cutest afro curls and big brown eyes came rushing over to them. "Alpha," he said with friendly familiarity, though the word was respectful. Then he turned his attention to Santine. "Alpha."

"This is Loken, my Beta. Loken, meet Santine."

Loken shook her hand with a firm grip and unlike other men, he did not give her the once over or gave any indication he was distracted by her looks. It was a completely new experience with Typhon and his Beta. Usually, men would look and appreciate what they saw before they gave in to the respectful behavior they needed to show.

"Santine needs us for a meeting. Can you make sure you're ready after breakfast and have the guys join the pack's training program for the day?"

"Sure thing, Q." He smiled. "Anything else, because I'm trying to persuade that lovely lady to marry me. Have you tried her stew?" Loken gestured at Dora and made lovey-dovey eyes at her, wiggling his eyebrows, making her laugh and throw a dish towel after him.

"Don't mind him, he's a foodie. I promise you, he'd ditch his loyalty to me for somebody who can cook for him." Typhon laughed as he led Santine over to the kitchen counter, where Dora observed them closely.

"Alpha, Alpha." She bowed her head.

"Dora, would you stop that, please?"

"We have guests, this is how I am." She shoved a plate filled with steak, bacon, eggs, fruit, and a sizeable chunk of freshly baked bread into Typhon's hands. "Eat up, there's more where that came from."