Page 62 of Wanted Beta

I’m falling back on the one thing I know to try and get us out of this mess, but I know Enzo won’t understand that. He has some very black and white views of the world.

To me, the world has always been painted in a million different shades of gray.

Nobody is all good, or all bad.

Everyone has flaws.

I get my coffee and go straight for a table in the corner of the seating area, away from the small groups of other people dotted around.

I’m not sure how long I sit at that table, but I barely touch the coffee and when I eventually realize the cup is still mostly full, it’s already stone-cold.

Sighing, I get to my feet.

It’s probably time to go home.

I pick up the cup and flip the coin in my other hand absently, somehow surprised when it flies out of my fingers and rolls across the floor of the seating area.

Chasing it, I slow to a halt when I see it rolling to a stop at the feet of someone who’s wearing pink jeans.

That weird feeling I got when I found the coin doubles.

The woman in the bright jeans bends down and picks the quarter up. “Huh.”

She’s probably a couple inches over five feet tall, and she has wavy, golden-blonde hair.

I know the instant our eyes meet that she’s mine.

Fated mates are rare, and I’ve already found two of them.

This one makes three.

I guess my luck tonight isn’t so bad after all.

“You know, I lost one of these today,” she tells me, as she holds the quarter out to me.

“I found that one in the candy store this afternoon.”

Her bright eyes widen. “The candy store? That’s where I got the change so I could go up to the arcade with my sister.”

“Then this quarter is yours. I’m glad it found a way back to you.”

She gives me a bemused smile. “Do I know you, or something?”

She feels something for me, like I do for her, but she’s a Beta so she’s going to write that feeling off as simple attraction. It’s up to me to do something to make sure we connect.

She’s mine to protect and care for from now on, even if she doesn’t know it.

“I don’t think so, but we can fix that. I’m Gio.”

“I’m Beth,” she tells me. “And I should probably be going.”

“You’ve got somewhere you need to be?” I ask.

“Um …” Her cheeks flush pink. “Well …”

“I ask, because I was about to get some change and head up to the arcade, if you wanted to join me?”

She blinks. “Oh. That … sounds like fun.”

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