Page 10 of A Beta Protects

As everyone returns to their breakfast, the sound of a car engine heading this way distracts me from the piece of bacon I’m about to stuff in my mouth.

I glance toward the entryway. “Anyone expecting anything?”

Head shakes accompany murmurs of dissent.

Galen focuses on Rose. “Any new shoe deliveries, Rose?”

Her eyes widen. “It’s been at least a week since I used the pa—” Jones coughs, cutting Rose off. She darts a rapid glance at Kira, remembers we have a human in our midst. Talk of pack credit cards might lead to questions none of us want to answer, “—personal credit card.”

It’s early, and none of us are expecting anyone.

The greater mystery is why Kira is suddenly gripping her fork tight as she stares at the open kitchen doorway, as if trying to see through walls to discover who it might be.

“Everything okay?” She jumps at my voice. The fork flies out of her hand, clashes to her plate and there is absolutely no way any of us miss the way she flinches at the sound.

She laughs nervously, her cheeks pink. “Uh, sorry about that. The mess I mean. I’ll?—”

“No worries.” Chloe smiles reassuringly at her as she makes quick work of scooping the few bits of egg from the table into her hand and carries it over to the trash. On her way back to the table, she snags a new fork she places beside Kira’s plate. “It’s just a bit of scrambled egg. It’s no big deal.”

Chloe is an alpha. Although Kira isn’t a shifter, her fear and wariness is that of a submissive shifter. It’s in an alpha’s nature to want to protect the weakest members of our pack, so Chloe’s reaction doesn’t surprise me. Neither does the look of concern Galen aims her way.

Kira hunches her shoulders, and the sharp tang of her fear is unmistakable. For her, dropping something is a big deal, and I need to know why.

My wolf growls in my head at the scent of Kira’s fear, wanting to eviscerate the person or thing that caused it. Because Kira is acting like she expected one, or maybe all of us, to punish her for the mess.

Outside, a car door slams shut, reminding me of our unexpected guest.

We’re in the kitchen at the back of the house, so there’s no scenting the air to figure out who it is. The footsteps are familiar and Chloe, who has returned to her seat from putting the egg in the trash, perks up. Her reaction confirms who is paying us a visit this morning.

Shawn, Wylder’s sheriff.

As beta, I’m the second in command. It’s my job to assess potential threats to the pack. Galen leads, but I’m his right-hand man. Which is to say, I should be getting off my ass and going to see what Shawn wants. If it’s anything that poses a danger to us, to deal with it. But my mate is leaking fear. Something is wrong. I can’t leave her.

“I’ll see what Shawn wants.” Galen must have seen more than I wanted him to see, about me, maybe even about Kira, for him to push his chair back and set his fork down beside his half-finished breakfast as he rises.

Sierra flashes Galen a grateful smile and, seeing it, his expression softens as he takes her hand and briefly squeezes it before he walks out.

The front door swings open, letting a blast of cool air through the entryway and to the kitchen.

I hear Galen greet Shawn at the front door. Shawn asks if he can come in for a minute. Because I’m watching Kira, I catch the exact moment all the blood drains from her face when she first sees Shawn.

Shawn is a trim man in his late twenties, with short, light brown hair, bright blue eyes, and an amiable disposition. He’s wearing his usual light green khaki long-sleeve sheriff’s uniform, a friendly smile on his lips that he’s mainly aiming at Chloe.

Chloe’s cheeks turn pink before she points her face down as Galen turns to see what caught Shawn’s attention.

“Did you want to join us, Shawn?” Sierra asks with an odd note in her voice that makes me wonder if she caught the interplay between Shawn and Chloe. “We have plenty if you want to.”

That is no exaggeration.

Shifters have big appetites, and a pack of them, who went for a long run last night and didn’t end that run with a rabbit or a deer, were ravenous this morning. Kira missed the first round of breakfast that everyone fell on the moment they came down.

Nick, who does the cooking, knows to make extra. There’s still a good helping of eggs, bacon, hash browns, pancakes, and toast that will all go by the time breakfast is over. No one wastes food around here.

Shawn looks interested. More in a certain blonde shifter than the breakfast. After a long pause, where it’s clear he’s debating saying yes, he shakes his head and refocuses on Galen. “No. I had a fax come in overnight, and I wanted to ask if you’d seen…” His voice trails off as his eyes wander back to the table.

Now he’s no longer distracted by Chloe, he’s finally processing the fact that we have a new arrival at our breakfast table this morning.

Kira is still ashen faced with a strange half-smile on her lips as she stares at a point just above Shawn’s right shoulder.

---