Page 98 of Wanted Beta

“Seriously. It was.”

“Why?”

“It’s a profession,” she says. “I made a list in senior year at high school, and I crossed off the stuff I couldn’t do. It’s what was left at the end.”

“You made a list?”

“I had limited time to apply to colleges, and it was the easiest way to narrow things down.”

“Okay. So, what kind of stuff did you cross out?”

She frowns. “Let’s see. Teaching. Nursing. Accounts. Legal. Anything white collar that you need to be specially qualified to do, basically.”

“And that’s because you didn’t know what to go for?”

“I thought about doing a business course,” she says, a wry smile forming on her lips. “But my sisters all went into professional jobs, and my parents … I was kind of a handful as a kid. They were always worried that I wouldn’t be able to fend for myself. Besides, I’m not an Alpha. What do I know about running my own business?”

A slow smile spreads my lips wide as we approach the restaurant.

Everything she said about it, all the things she pointed out, they’re exactly what’s wrong with this place, and I know how to get her to spend time with us now.

And it doesn’t matter one little bit if she’s in a no-dating phase or not.

“Well, I think we need to hire you,” I tell her as we stop by the door.

Gio has moved around to the side of the building to check the alley, and Enzo and Arrow haven’t caught up to us yet, so it’s just me and her, standing outside my pack’s failing restaurant, gazing at each other.

This is the start of the best time of our lives, and I don’t think she even knows it.

“Hire me?” she asks. “I know this place doesn’t look like a restaurant, but it’s definitely not a library.”

I laugh. “That’s why we need you.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Because you’re turning it into a library?”

“No. We need you because you’re not a librarian,” I tell her. “You see the things we’re doing wrong. We need help to fix those things. We need your help.”

“I mean, I already told you so you could just …”

I shake my head slowly. “No. We couldn’t. We need you, Beth.”

We need you like we need the air we breathe.

You’ll see that yourself when you’ve spent enough time around us.

Right now, all I need you to do is say yes.

“I’m not above begging,” I warn her, ready to drop to my knees.

Her bright eyes widen. “You’re serious.”

“We’ll pay you to be our consultant, and we’ll listen to every bit of advice you give us.”

I can hear my pack mates approaching from both sides while I wait for her answer.

They have no idea I’m securing her company, for all of us.

“I could use a break from my course,” she murmurs. “But I have to put a timer on it.”

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