Page 192 of Wanted Beta

I’d lost the one thing that mattered to me.

I could barely figure out how to keep going.

That’s how it’s going to feel again if I don’t do something to fix all the damage I’ve done.

I can live with barely being able to function, but I need Beth to know I didn’t want to hurt her.

So, I wait around until she leaves the apartment, and I follow her home, keeping just enough distance to make sure she doesn’t notice me in the shadows behind her and her Beta.

It pissed me off when he told me Beth was his mate.

I reacted without thinking, and I regret that now.

I hide from sight in a nearby alley until he leaves.

Beth is the one I’ve hurt the most. She takes priority over everyone and everything else.

I slip into the alley by the side of her building, and I make my way up the fire escape to her window. It doesn’t matter how long I have to hang around, I’ll stay close until she’s ready to talk to me. She deserves to know the truth.

Chapter Eighty-Eight

Beth

As soon as I realize Rourke’s mother was behind our breakup, my memories of that moment start to shift. Little things that seemed meaningless at the time suddenly make sense.

The way he made sure he told me he’d never not love me the night before, and that I should remember that, always. It was just another declaration, until he hurt me. Then, it was a lie.

But it wasn’t a lie, and I think he did that to try and lessen the blow in some small way.

He was always thinking of the little things, and going out of his way to make me feel loved.

Up until he blew our relationship up.

I make my way from the living room to the bedroom, hoping I haven’t already scared him away.

He did spend a long time sitting out in the hallway before, but eventually, he left.

I go straight to the window and haul the drapes apart.

He’s leaning against the wall when I pull the window open.

He looks in at me, and my eyes fill with tears.

“I know,” I tell him.

“You know?” he asks, his voice soft.

“Your mother didn’t like me, and someone just reminded me how much weight she carries with Cressidan City College.”

Saying that out loud makes it feel like a sick joke.

He broke up with me because of his psycho parents.

It’s so fucked up.

“I knew if I kept seeing you, it would just be the start,” he admits. “She’s vicious, Beth. I didn’t want her to ruin your life.”

“And you didn’t think that losing you might be enough to ruin it?”

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