“I am a beer geek, you could say,” he admits.
For a moment, he stays quiet. He doesn’t say anything or push me into joining him. What a nice change for once. It gives meroom to think my answer through and not say yes immediately. After a while, I realize I might not necessarily be up for company, but a cold beer certainly sounds nice.
“Alright,” I say.
While following Martin to his private cottage, I keep worrying about what to talk to him about. He is going to be my future beta, but I don’t know him at all. My parents chose him. I keep wondering what to say, trying to think of several sentences and talking points. Smalltalk has never been my forte, which is why my parents always send Lissa with me to gatherings I am supposed to attend.
“It’s still warm. We can sit outside if you want,” Martin offers.
I nod, and he disappears into the cottage, just to return five minutes later with beer and some chips. “I wasn’t prepared for a guest,” he tells me.
“Didn’t you eat anything during the gathering?”
He shrugs. “It wasn’t the type of food I like.”
I nod, taking a handful of the chips he offers me. I wasn’t a fan of the food either.
Silence engulfs us, the feeling of discomfort growing inside me. I should say something. An alpha is able to hold a conversation anytime.
He is my future beta… so we should be able to connect somehow, or rather, I should be able to connect to him. It’s on me.
What can we talk about?
The evening? The evening sucked big time, and he was just there to keep an eye on me. So, I am sure he was either bored to death by it or at least inconvenienced. I don’t know much about him, so maybe I should ask, but then that would be embarrassing to admit how little I know.
Maybe work…
I feel lame for having to resort to talking about our rank and work, but I can’t come up with anything else.
“How is your training going?” I ask awkwardly.
“My beta training or actual warrior training?” he asks.
I have no idea. “Both, I guess.”
“I am really trying to learn everything a beta should know,” he says, moving the can between his hands. “So, okay, I guess? There is always room for improvement. And the pack structures are…” His voice trails off.
“Are what?” I ask curiously.
“They are meticulously structured,” he says.
Is it me, or did he just sound evasive? Its structures… How else are structures supposed to be than… structured? I want to ask more about it, curious to know what he truly wants to say, but as usual, I miss the right moment, and he continues.
“As for training. I am doing quite well, but I could do with a stronger sparring partner.”
“You must have surpassed most of the warriors by now,” I muse.
He nods. “I am not sure if I am really good, though.”
I look at him, wondering what is expected of me to say now. Should I set him up with someone better? It makes sense that he is the best in his group, or he wouldn’t be in the running for beta. Or maybe he is just an overly hard worker. Or he believes he is better than he is.
I doubt the latter is true, though. He doesn’t come over as a show-off.
I am not sure how I should react, so I stick with the first thing that comes to my mind. “I could be your sparring partner.”
Martin looks at me, surprised.
Shit, probably a bad suggestion.
