Beta's Bliss - Audiobook

I thought I was straight until I saw him. Now my whole life has been turned upside down.

My life was perfect until him. It’s been months since I saw her brother Jake under the full moon, and I still can’t get him out of my head. He haunts my thoughts and dreams alike with his stunning perfection. That’s why I had to break up with his sister.

I thought if I threw myself into my work the thoughts would go away. But now this hunky blue-eyed alpha is back, claiming I’m his mate, and I find myself unable to disobey his every order. But he’s off limits, and I have other things to focus on.

There’s no way I can admit that I have feelings for him, though. Especially when my ex-girlfriend comes running back, claiming that I’m her mate too. Between that, Kael’s wedding to plan, remodeling the coffee shop, becoming the pack beta, and a thousand other things, I can feel myself cracking under the pressure.

It was all supposed to be a secret until I was ready. But then Jake announces to the entire pack that he’s my mate and all hell breaks loose.

TROPES: standalone, gay for you/bi awakening, alpha wolf, light D/s themes, forbidden love, forced proximity, found family, strict roles, and HEA.

Chapter One:
Someone was speaking to me as I stared out the window, lost in thought about the woman who’d left me because I couldn’t get her brother out of my head.
“Leo!” the voice insisted. “Could really use some help over here!”
I shook my head, jogging over to where Cooper held the cabinet against the wall. “Hold it right there,” I said as I stretched, lifting the driver far above my head. The motor whirred into life as I drove the screw through the cupboard brace, securing it in place. “Alright, you can let it go now. That should do it.”
“Fuck, these things are heavy…” Cooper sighed, shaking his hands out. “What the hell did you build these from, concrete?”
“It’s oak,” I replied with a smile. “Kael said he wanted the coffee shop cabinets solid and able to put up with abuse.” Cooper lifted a dark eyebrow. “Believe me, if you knew this guy like I do, you’d understand how many things he breaks all the time.”
“Talking shit about me again?” a voice called over the tinkling of an overhead bell.
I looked up, a dark-haired man striding through the front door of the coffee shop, a muscled ginger with an armful of boxes behind him.
“Speak of the devil,” I laughed, setting the cordless drill down on the counter. “And his handler.”
“You better watch yourself, Leo Murphy,” Kael said, waving a warning finger in my direction. “Remember, I’m paying your wages right now.”
“The pack pays my wages,” I said, giving him a small wink. “Just because you’re dating the Alpha’s son doesn’t mean you get to boss me around.” I turned toward the muscled ginger, placing boxes on the counter and held out my hand. “How are you holding up, Chance? Old ball and chain treating you well?”
He shook my hand with a laugh. “We’re not married yet.”
“I don’t like how you avoided that question,” Kael added.
Chance leaned in close. “He hasn’t had his coffee yet this morning, so he’s a little grumpy.”
“That explains everything.”
“Fuck both of you,” Kael said, turning around and grabbing Cooper by the arm. “And I’m taking your apprentice.”
“Please bring him back in one piece.”
Kael flipped me the bird as he and Cooper disappeared through a swinging door into the kitchens. He was definitely grumpy this morning, but not any more than usual. Plus, I knew it was all in good fun. We’d been friends for most of our lives and although he put up a good shield around people, I could tell he was ridiculously happy ever since he’d met Chance. They were a perfect match. Kael was strong willed, short-tempered, and could accomplish anything once he put his mind to it. Chance, on the other hand, was gentle, strong, and more supportive than seemed possible. He’d been a buddy of mine since the day I’d come to Marquette for college. I met him in my ‘Intro to Biology’ class. We were fast friends and thanks to him, I was now the Gamma of the pack.
“Hopefully the coffee will perk him up a bit,” Chance sighed, shaking his head. “But I’m glad I’ve got you here for a moment. There are some things I want to talk to you about.”
“Sure thing,” I replied, leaning against the counter. “What’s up?”
“My dad is gonna retire.”
“What?!”
Dave Tellurian, the Alpha of the pack, was going to retire? That didn’t seem possible. He lived for the pack, spending every waking moment keeping it running single handedly since his wife had passed years ago. Chance and I had done our best to help him, but he was a powerhouse of a man. Even after being brutally attacked last year and hospitalized for a couple weeks, he didn’t seem phased in the slightest. If anything, he’d been working even harder for the Tellurian pack. It was his entire life.
“Yeah,” Chance said, scratching the back of his head. “He’s going to make the announcement after the wedding.”
“Does Kael know?”
“Not yet.”
“Dude… you need to tell him.”
“I know, I know…” Chance sighed. “But he’s so wrapped up in this coffee shop and his book is selling pretty well, then there’s all the wedding planning he’s doing that I’m terrible at. He’s got so much on his plate already, I don’t want to throw the Luna card on there as well.”
“Did we ever figure out if it’s Luno, because he’s a guy?”
“Nope. But I did find a gender neutral one on a werewolf fanfiction site.”
“What was it?”
“Lunerth.”
“That… is terrible.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Well, whatever the title is gonna be, you should let him know about it soon,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “He’s gonna need some time to process that.”
“Don’t worry, I’m gonna tell him tonight after a couple of bottles of wine.”
“Good idea.”
“But I needed to tell you first.”
I furrowed my brows, giving Chance an odd look. The man in front of me took a deep breath, readying himself to speak. There wasn’t much that could shake Chance up, but he seemed nervous. I’m sure taking over the pack as Alpha was no small task, but he’d proven himself several times over while his father was recovering from the attacks. He was a capable and strong leader, the kind anyone could rely on. With Kael at his side as Luna, the Tellurian pack would be sure to flourish.
“I would like to formally ask you to be my Beta.”
My breath caught in my chest. I hadn’t been expecting that.
“Are… Are you serious?”
“Of course,” Chance nodded. “You’ve already proven yourself to be a capable Gamma. Not to mention you were integral last year in putting that monster down that attacked my father. Without you, Kael and I would have been at the mercy of that monster.”
“All I did was lead the rescue team. You guys killed him before we even got there.”
“The point is, you showed the signs of a good leader, and I want someone like that on my side. You’d be my right-hand guy, the one I lean on to run the pack.”
“And your super-hot carpenter.” I reached up and ran my fingers through my short sandy blond hair. Cockiness was my defense mechanism and sometimes I even annoyed myself. “If I grow it out a little more, I’d basically be Jesus.”
“Modest as always.”
“Look, I can’t help it if the ladies love me.”
Why did I say that? The truth was, they all got tired of me eventually.
“Speaking of which, how is Carah?”
Chance may as well have punched me in the gut right there. Not that he had any idea what had been going through my head for the past few weeks.
“She’s… not seeing me right now.”