Page 102 of Wanted Beta

There are plenty of places for a lurker to lie in wait.

Alleys, bushy areas, dark corners.

I’ll have a poke around once I know she’s in her apartment.

I count down a few minutes in my head and I buzz her apartment number when I’m done.

My heart is pounding as I wait for her to pick up.

“I’m here,” she tells me, sounding a little breathless.

“Goodnight, Beth.”

“Night, Gio.”

I step away from the door, and I methodically check the closest hiding spots.

My search results in nothing but a single rat rifling through some dropped trash.

I make the walk back to the restaurant assured that my new fated mate is safe.

Chapter Forty-Four

Rourke

Imessed up starting that fight with the kid from the restaurant tonight. I let him get to me and I know it. I thought I could let Beth go, that I could protect her from a distance without inserting myself into her life. It’s not that easy. My instincts still tell me she’s mine.

It doesn’t matter if I deserve to have her or not.

I’ll always want her. That’s never going to go away.

This pack from the restaurant, they’re going to try and mess with her.

That’s what they do. It’s how they work. Packs aren’t like couples. They don’t share the same values. They’re predatory. They disrespect mating bonds, and they hurt the Betas they prey on.

I can’t let that happen. I need to find a way to keep Beth safe until she meets the right guy.

So, I move through the back alleys, leaving her alone with the pack’s lead Alpha.

I get to the side alley at her sister’s apartment building, and I climb onto the top of the dumpsters, just barely reaching the end of the fire escape ladder that leads up to the escape route outside her bedroom window. I tug it down and get climbing.

I reach her window just in time to catch a glimpse of the hallway light going on inside the apartment. A second later, I hear something in the alley, and I look down to catch sight of the Alpha pacing around.

He did this earlier at his place.

Bastard knows I’m onto him.

He doesn’t look up. Not once.

When he exits, I turn back to the window, watching and waiting.

Beth doesn’t immediately come into the room. I catch sight of her in the hallway, then she comes in without her jacket and purse, cell phone in hand.

She closes the door and flops onto the bed sideways, phone raised while she keeps her eyes on the screen. I don’t know what she’s doing, but I’d guess she’s texting a friend.

I don’t think she kept in touch with anyone from back home.

None of those girls left town after graduation.

---