Kintsukuroi_Chapter 8

 

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Chapter-8

“We need to talk,” Miles told Jayna solemnly as she got back from work, arms crossed and something that would have been a scowl on anyone else’s face.

Jayna raised an eyebrow in surprise, glancing once towards the closed door of her house and the vague shadows of Ben and Janardan that she could barely make out through the windows before nodding her head in assent and slipping her car keys into her pure. She crossed the hedge that separated her house from Miles’ through the small gap they maintained for this very purpose.

“Hey,” She offered a grin to her friend, hoping the beta wasn’t in any trouble. “So, what’s up? Everything alright?”

“I wouldn’t have had to summon you if everything was alright now; would I, Jayna?” The beta returned icily as he opened the door to let them both inside.

Jayna frowned- Miles was one of her closest friends and his unexpectedly frigid behaviour had her worrying over what had gone wrong. It couldn’t be something between them directly- she’d been far too busy over the past few weeks for anything more than a polite wave. Was it Janardan, then?... Things had been slowly but surely settling down between her and Janardan ever since that disastrous birthday-memorial. As summer had waned into the beginning of autumn, Jayna had found herself relying more and more on the warrior. The alpha had proven to be a quick study and was now completely responsible for picking up and dropping Ben to school. He usually ensured Ben was done with his homework as well by the time Jayna returned from work, so she only had to check it over for errors as Janardan was still not confident about looking over and checking Ben’s work. The system allowed her to spend some much needed quality time with her son and since the majority of it was spent in play, she didn’t feel guilty about being too strict.

“Did- did Janardan do something?” Jayna asked in a small voice- this, just when things seemed to be going well.

If anything Miles’ frown deepened.

“Miles, what?” Jayna demanded, getting impatient. “I can’t read your mind, dude; so just tell me, okay?”

The beta exhaled slowly before nodding to himself and starting, “I honestly think you are naïve and unobservant, Jayna and that’s pretty much the only reason I’m here telling you and not on the phone to human rights.”

Jayna gasped at the words, eyes widening in disbelief at the threat.

“Okay, so I have some questions and you’re going to answer them for me, clear?” Her friend continued, oblivious to her horrified expression.

Jayna nodded, throat dry. What could have gone so wrong that Miles was considering contacting human rights groups?!

“Does Janardan have jacket?”

“I- I don’t know,” Jayna admitted. She had never seen Janardan wear anything apart from his two tee-shirts and three flannel overshirts. Hell, as far as Jayna was aware, the man only possessed one pair of jeans and one pair of thread-bare cotton sweatpants that were way too long to have originally belonged to him.

“Right,” Miles agreed, “Because it was the height of summer when you guys came back from his pack and it was ideal for that weather, but its pretty nippy out there now and I still see him in the same effing clothes.”

“I’ll ask him,” Jayna offered.

Miles nodded crisply before moving onto his next query, “Are you aware that he spends his time doing repairs and cleaning your house?”

“Yes,” Jayna admitted. She had been pleasantly surprised when she’d found the perpetually clogging kitchen pipe suddenly start working without a hitch. Then the creaky step at her front door stopped groaning every time she set foot on it. Her garden too began to flourish as though it received regular care instead of just over the weekends. Lately, ever-growing sections her hardwood floors had begun to shine like they had been freshly polished. So yes, she was aware that Janardan was behind the sudden home-improvements her house boasted.

“Did you order him to do these things?”

“What?! No! Of course, not!” Jayna responded, outraged. “Why? Did Janardan say that I had asked him to do all this stuff?!”

“No,” Miles assured, “The alpha has not complained about you, don’t worry. I just wanted to confirm it.”

“Right,” Jayna grumbled; disbelief clear in her tone.

“That man worships the ground you walk on, Jayna. He will never complain about anything that you do.” The beta added once he noticed her scepticism.

“But you will, on his behalf?” Jayna accused, “I mean okay, yeah; I know that you have a crush on the alpha. But that doesn’t give you any right to lay fabricated accusations on me and - !”

“Jayna,” The omega interrupted sharply, “That man in your house? He shows all the classic signs of abuse. I need to know that it’s not you. Alright?”

“He-” Jayna hesitated, not wanting to betray the alpha’s confidences. Then, choosing her words carefully, elaborated, “He’s had a rough time.”

“Understatement,” Miles snorted, something in his face softening.

“No.” Jayna corrected, “I mean... not- not here. Back in the back before I met him... he’s- he’s had to deal with some things.”

“And then the culture shock of the city,” The beta  nodded knowingly, “Ouch!”

Jayna smiled wanly, “Give him some time. I’m sure he’ll get better,”

The pharmacologist sighed, “Uhm yeah, about that...Are you aware whether or not Janardan has lost weight?”

“Uhhh....” Jayna tried to think back over what she had seen. Did Janardan look thinner that he had? “I- I don’t know.”

“He has,” Miles told her in no uncertain terms.

“I’ll talk to him, see if it helps...” Jayna offered with a shrug.

“Yes,” Her friend agreed solemnly, “You guys do need to talk,”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The omega asked sharply, noting the stressed words.

“Have you been talking to him?” Miles responded with a question of his own, “And I mean not like talking about your day or Ben or even some godforsaken TV show... I mean, you know, really talk?”

Had they? Jayna wondered, thinking back. She was usually so caught up with her job that she had to specifically set aside time for Ben, but had she unknowingly been ignoring Janardan? She was no longer discounting the man the way she had prior to the Hayden fiasco, but on thinking back, after their talk about punishments, their conversations were mostly ... superficial. Her cheeks coloured at the realization, “I’ll try to do better.”

“Great,” The beta nodded supportively. “One last thing... and I don’t know how to ask you this without sounding offensive, but did you tell him that he had to pay you back in cash or kind for living at your house and stuff?”

“What?!” Jayna nearly shouted- keeping her voice within an acceptable decibel range out of sheer force of will, affronted beyond belief by the question. “No! Of course not! What kind of heartless monster do you take me for anyway?!”

Miles expression only reflected blatant relief at her reaction and that brought her up short.

“Why? Why did you ask me that, Miles?” She asked after a brief pause, dreading the answer.

“I spoke to him,” The beta admitted.

“Janardan?”

“Yeah,” Miles agreed, “I was trimming my side of the hedge and he was working on the flower-beds on your side and we were just chatting, you know? He was completely soaked through with sweat and I just casually asked why he was working so hard... and- and it was something he said that just struck me as odd, you know?” Worried blue-grey eyes rose to meet her’s momentarily, “He wasn’t complaining, Jayna. Far from it, in fact... he- he sounded guilty, to be honest. He claimed that doing maintenance around the house was the least he could do to show his gratitude given the way he was ‘basically sponging off a widowed omega’. Those were his exact words.” The beta explained with finger quotes.

“Sponging off?!” Jayna repeated, musing: “doesn’t sound like something he would say, does it? I mean the man didn’t understand what asshole meant. His English is usually so... proper, you know? No colloquialisms... where did he even pick that up?”

“Huh,” Miles huffed. “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but yeah; you’re right. That doesn’t sound like something he would say either… To be frank, what had caught my attention was the reference to widowed omega... he never calls you anything other than Omega-heir. Jayna, on rare occasions. So widowed omega? Yeah, not a descriptor I’d expect from him either.”

“I’m glad to hear that it wasn’t you,” Miles confessed when she didn’t say anything to his disclosure. “And I’m sorry for accusing you, but I was worried that you were allowing your hatred of the situation to cloud your behaviour... So, yeah... sorry.”

Jayna waived away the apology with a smile, “No, I’m glad you brought it to my attention. Someone has been filling his head with nonsense, Miles... and with the history he has… especially considering the- the way I treated him initially; I’m not surprised that he believed that shit. And you know, it never struck me before this, but I never actually apologised to him, you know? No wonder he thinks he needs to ‘earn his keep’ so to speak. … I- I guess I have to tell him that I was wrong and apologise for my behaviour. Hopefully, that’ll let me figure out who has been telling him these things. Thank you for letting me know,  I need to get to the bottom of this.”

“Good luck,” The beta told her sincerely, “And you have me if you want help, okay?”

Jayna grinned as she rose, “Thanks, man. You’re a good friend.”

Janardan was in the kitchen with Ben perched cross-legged on the platform (safely within his reach) when Jayna entered, both alphas focussed on something Janardan was doing. She slipped off her shoes and sneaked closer, eager to find out what had the eager expression on the youngster’s face and found Janardan narrating a story (complete with voices) and using flour as his story-aide.  Curious, she held her place and watched as the older man arranged the flour in a heap as he described what the protagonist (a rabbit, seriously?!) was doing and jumped with Ben when the poor bunny encountered the evil lion. She heaved a sigh (noting that Ben did the same) as the ‘smart’ little bunny lead the evil lion on a merry goose chase through the flour-forest.  Janardan then made an indentation in the heap before filling it with water and covering it with a thin layer of flour to hide the liquid within. Jayna couldn’t help but smile when Benny clapped his hands at that. Then the lion ‘faced off’ with the ‘other lion’ inside the ‘well’ (in actually, just his reflection and the echo of his own voice from within the well) and jumped in to fight his competitor.  Janardan deftly broke the ‘well’ and started kneading the dough to show the lion drowning and getting buried in a watery grave as the wily  little rabbit escaped.

“Wow! That was brilliant!” Jayna said as she joined Ben in clapping at the tale’s end.

“Mama!!!” Ben squealed and in a swift move only children are capable of jumped off the counter. Jayna’s heart near jumped to her throat in terror as she realized what was happening even as  Janardan clamped his forearm around the boy’s waist and gently lowered him to the floor with a mildly reproachful, “Woah! Careful, baeta.” [Baeta (pronunciation: Bay-ta) = son]

Jayna watched Janardan from the corner of her eye even as she interacted with Ben and listened to the child ramble about his day and the absolutely amazing transformer toy that Nicki had brought to school but how the teacher had scolded him for playing with it during class and taken it away and how Nicki had cried and how his Mama had agreed with Mrs. Hanes and left the toy with the teacher and how Nicki had cried like a baby and-

“Breathe, Benny.” Jayna told the boy with a chuckle.

The boy pouted at the (apparently unnecessary) interruption but continued his story and Jayna gave up trying to find time to talk to Janardan privately while the kid was awake. She approached the alpha after putting Ben to bed, “Uh... can we talk?”

Janardan smiled, “I suspected you had something on your mind. How can I help you?”

Jayna blushed, nodded to herself and after debating with herself for a bit about how to broach the topic before blurting out, “Janardan, do you have winter-wear?”

“Alphas run hot, Omega-heir. I’m fine.” The warrior responded after a brief pause.

“It’s colder here than on pack-land. We should get you some stuff,”

“I- I couldn’t accept, Omega-heir, please. You’ve done too much for me already,”

“Too much?” Jayna raised an eyebrow, “What have I done for you, Janardan? Apart from hurting your feelings?”

“You’re teaching me to read and write in English. You taught me to drive. You’ve given me a space to live.  And-”

“And?” She pressed when the alpha trailed off, expecting the man to fail to find anything else that he could be grateful about.

“You’ve trusted me with Ben,” The alpha answered in a soft whisper.

Jayna felt her heart clench at the last one- it had been the hardest part for her, but to know that Janardan knew that was fairly mortifying. “You speak as if you’ve not done anything for me.”

“I haven’t!”

“No?” The omega challenged, “You’ve cooked and cleaned and repaired . And you’ve made my little garden a thing of envy for my neighbours. And most importantly, you’ve taken care of Ben.  You got hit by a car while trying to protect him... just because I haven’t acknowledged it doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten, Janardan. So yes, you’ve done far more for me and Ben that you take credit for.”

“It’s the least I could do, ‘Mega-heir. Please, aisey sharminda na karein.” [aisey sharminda na karein= don’t embarrass me like this.(usually said as an expression of humility)]

“Janardan, do you... do you think you need to earn your keep to stay with us?” Jayna asked, deciding they would spend the night going in circles like this unless she asked Janardan about the money thing point-blank.

“Don’t I?” The alpha asked softly, “A good-for-nothing alpha sponging off whatever the omega earns... it’s shameful!”

“Who told you that?” Jayna asked sharply.

Janardan looked away, jaw pulsing.

“Janardan, please...?” Jayna coaxed, “I know that that’s not something you came up with on your own. Hell man, you didn’t know about money till you came here! So tell me, you told you that you are good-for nothing?”

“Alpha Hayden,” was the reluctant confession.

“Bastard,” Jayna cursed, finally understanding just what the older man had said to her gentle warrior at that memorial. Janardan hadn’t reacted by going violent the way the man had expected, but his words had cut deep and the alpha had chosen to react by trying to ‘earn’ his place in Jayna’s house. She felt tears fill her eyes at the realization and she reached out to grab the older man’s forearm, “I wish you had told me earlier, Janardan, because he was wrong. He was so wrong! You’re a far better man that he could ever hope to be... Please tell me that you can see that? You are so important to me- to Ben.”

“What brought this on, ‘Mega-heir?”  Janardan asked softly, covering Jayna’s hand where she was gripping his forearm with his own and rubbing soothing little circles on its back in an effort to calm the distraught omega.

“Will you accept one of Adam’s old jackets if I gave them to you? I-I I know it’s going to be a hand-me-down, and that you deserve better, but I’m too busy with the University examinations right now to take a day off. They’ll be over in another week, and then we’ll go and get you something proper in your size. Use it in the interim, please?”

“I’d be honoured to wear Master Adam’s old clothes,” Janardan told her. “I don’t need new ones.”

 

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A fortnight later, Jayna glanced at the alpha shadowing her obediently as she stepped into the police station, the man had Ben in his arms and his complete attention was focused on the chattering child although Jayna didn’t doubt that the alpha’s keen eyes missed nothing of what was going on around them.

“This one bothering you, omega?” One of the officers rose the minute she stepped inside, obviously recognizing Janardan from his stint two months prior.

“No, no he’s fine.” Jayna hurried to assure, “I was actually hoping for a meeting with Chief Deer?”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“Yes, I do.”

The man nodded and headed for an office to the far end, checking a log kept on the table next to the door, “What name should I be looking for?”

“Page,”

He felt Janardan stiffen next to her but was grateful when the alpha didn’t comment on the fact that she’d chosen to keep her maiden name even after her mating with Adam.

“Okay, found it!” The man called, before poking his head in through the door and exchanging a few words that they could not hear. He emerged a moment later, “You’re up,”

Jayna swallowed as she made her way over, Janardan at her heels. She stepped inside and turned to the alpha, “I’d like to speak privately to the Chief, Janardan. Could you watch o’er Ben for a few minutes?”

Janardan’s nostrils flared at the clear dismissal, and the alpha quickly took in the small room over-stuffed with files before stepping away with a curt nod.

“What brings you to me ummm... Ms. - ?”

“Page,” She supplied with a smile and gratefully accepted the offered seat. “I ... uh... I was hoping for ... well, for a job or something, actually-”

“You want to work here?!” Chief Deer repeated in surprise: omegas didn’t traditionally work in the police force.

“Not me!” Jayna clarified, “I’m part of the faculty at the University... no, I – uh...  my ...” She sighed- it would be way too confusing if she didn’t provide any back-story so with a fortifying breath he explained, “My husband passed away two months ago in a bombing. Not- not here, we were uh... we were visiting his Pack and it happened there. He uh... he was the Pack Alpha’s son; so he was set to inherit the mantle. So now, with his passing, my son’s the next in line.”

The Chief’s brows furrowed as he took that in.

“Since I was not raised there and am unfamiliar with the pack’s traditions, plus he feared another attack; so my alpha-in-law had this alpha, Janardan; accompany us back here to protect us and then eventually escort us back to Pack-lands once he’s of age.”

“The alpha is underage?!”

Jayna huffed, “No, my son is.”

“Ah... okay? I don’t see how we can help...?”

“Janardan... Janardan’s a good alpha, and – he was a great warrior in his pack and part of the Guard there, actually and... Well, he’s been reduced to a babysitter-”

The Chief rose to walk to the glass window separating his office from the rest of the station and peered between the blinds to watch the alpha interact with the child, “Doesn’t look like he’s complaining.”

“He isn’t,” Jayna agreed, “And he won’t, ever. He’s been trained to put his pack and his Alpha before him and he’ll die to protect Ben and me... he won’t ever complain... but it’s killing him. So I was hoping you could… suggest something?”

“This is not an employment bureau, young lady.” The chief told her dismissively.

“I know,” She agreed, “But please, just consider him for-”

“No,” The chief interrupted.

Jayna felt her face fall at the clear dismissal and rose, preparing to leave.

“Hold on,” The Chief called just as she reached for the doorknob.

She turned back, expression hopelessly grateful at the call-back.

“Before you leave, tell me this, why here? You could’ve gone to a store or something, seen if they were hiring... why a police station?”

“He’s not comfortable with the language yet. He can speak just fine, although colloquialisms trip him up at times, but reading and writing it fluently are still- ... well, he’s still learning that bit. So a store will be a nightmare for him. Besides, he’s a soldier, good at following orders. And he’s strong- it took six of your men to hold him last tim-”

“You telling me he has a record for violence?!” The aging alpha’s eyebrows hit his receding hairline.

“No!” Jayna protested, “He’s not violent. ... He’s just... protective, you know? There- there was a misunderstanding two months ago with uh... with one of my colleagues and uhm... he-he was. Well, my colleague placed a call citing domestic disturbance and tried to provoke Janardan and-”

“Someone easy to provoke isn’t someone I’d want on my staff, ma’am.” Chief Deer interrupted.

Again, Jayna shook his head. “But Janardan wasn’t the first to throw a punch, Hayden was!”

“But he was the one my men restrained?”

“They took both into custody-”

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ in there somewhere,” smiled the chief.

Jayna smiled self-consciously, “Janardan was restraining Hayden since he had spouted some filth about me... and he didn’t obstruct your men when they came for him... but they approached me for my statement at the same time as taking him into custody and he uh... he was fresh from the pack then and not fluent in English yet, so he sort of went berserk. He laid out two of your men before I could assure him that it was alright.”

“And you say he is not violent...?” the chief questioned incredulously.

“No! He’s not violent...” Jayna protested with a blush, “Apparently my friend- my former friend,” She amended with a scowl, “had hoped to build a relationship with me now that my mate had passed away and viewed Janardan as an obstacle. So he threatened to hurt me, Janardan blocked him- wouldn’t let him get close to me... he- he punched Janardan in retaliation and the man defended himself. What Hayden had forgotten to take into account was Janardan being a member of the Guard back in his pack, so uh... well, Janardan’s restraining hold was a lot harder than he’d anticipated... He’d called the cops in advance in hopes of provoking the alpha enough to make him seem violent and get booked by the cops. Anyway, when they arrived, Janardan was holding him to the floor, arms twisted behind his back. When the cops tried to get to me, Janardan reacted on instinct and stepped between them and me. The language issue had him unable to follow your men’s words and well, he refused to move despite repeated warnings-”

Jim Deer’s lips twitched at the anecdote and after a brief moment, he summoned Olson. He eyed the man’s sling and remembered that the officer had started wearing it after call of domestic disturbance some two months ago and frowned as he connected the dots in light of Jayna’s story.

“What happened to your arm?”

“Nightstick fracture of my ulna,” The alpha scowled, “It was a domestic. I told ‘bout it, remember, Chief? Murphy got his nose busted on the same call.”

“Was it the alpha outside?”

Olson narrowed his gaze at the question but peered through the blinds obediently and nodded his confirmation stiffly before glancing towards Jayna. His eyes widened in recognition and Jayna felt herself wince at the knowledge that she was responsible for the man’s injury.

“He any good?” The Chief asked, curious despite himself.

“The man’s a beast. Nothing keeps him down. We tasered him twice and he still continued to resist us.”

Jim Deer’s brows furrowed, “But he was innocent?”

“Yeah,” Olson answered without hesitation, “The guy was just hopping mad that his ‘mega and kid had been threatened. Apparently, kept spouting how he was supposed to protect them-”

“Apparently?”

“He was speaking in a different language, Chief. Chao was the only one who understood.”

“But he’s not a risk to omegas or omegas?”

“Nah. Dude stopped fighting the moment this one asked him to. ... The violent types usually get offended when the fairer sexes ask them to do something... but this one wasn’t like that. As long as this one was around in his sightline,” The alpha gestured with a nod in Jayna’s direction, “guy was harmless as a kitten.”

“What about Hoffman? She wasn’t there?”

“Hoffman?” The cop looked confused, “No, why?”

“I’d like to see if he reacts to betas the same way or not,”

“Oh, Hoffman wasn’t but Reinholt was, if it helps. He didn’t try to attack him or anything when he went to question him. Language was an issue till Chao arrived but he was a perfect gentleman with Reinholt. Kept asking him about his ‘mega and refused to answer any of his questions till he was assured of their safety, but then again, guy was just worried after the shit he’d heard the other bastard say.”

Jim Deer hummed contemplatively at the recounting and then dismissed the officer. Jayna waited.

After about another minute of silent contemplation, the police Chief turned to Jayna, “Tell you what, you leave me your- and his-  contact details. I have an idea about where he can be useful, but I cannot promise anything just yet. If something comes of it, I’ll get back to the two of you.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter-9

Earlier Parts:  Prologue- Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter-3- Chapter 4- Chapter 5 - Chapter 6-

Chapter 7

As always, comments and critique is welcome :-)