Page 57 of A Beta Protects

“I did.” I could apologize, but it’s not Galen who needs my apology or my forgiveness.

It’s Kira.

He stares at me. “Does she know?”

I shake my head. “I did tell her… eventually, but she was asleep and didn’t hear.”

He curses, swings away, curses again, and then glares at me. “Now what?”

“Now I tell her what the bite means, and that I’m not human,” I say calmly. “She will walk away and that will be that.”

Galen’s expression doesn’t change. “And your wolf? How does he feel about that?”

In the distance, a car engine heads toward our property.

I glance toward the house, but we’re too far away to see it. Galen must have anticipated doing a lot of growling for us to be this deep in the forest. Kira is human. If she heard all that growling, she might start to wonder about us.

I’m not alarmed by the engine. Firstly, because Bryce signed the divorce papers, and secondly, it’s a familiar engine we’ve heard countless times over the years.

Ivar, the postman will drop the letters at the house and leave.

A couple of minutes later, I hear him do just that.

Galen’s expression becomes increasingly more thunderous the longer I don’t speak. “Dom. This is not one of the times to take fucking forever to decide what you want to say. Is your wolf attached to her?”

I nod.

His stare extends. “And you still bit her!”

“I tried to stop myself,” I hiss. “But I’ve wanted her since the first time I saw her, and my wolf has needed her since I was twenty-one and I couldn’t?—”

He grips my arms and shakes me. “Okay, I get it. If she walks away?”

I shrug. “I’ll ensure she has everything she needs so she won’t?—”

“You,” he interrupts, “I meant you. I know you’ll look after her. But what does this mean for your wolf, who is attached to his mate and might lose her?”

Death most likely. Not that I would ever tell Kira that.

“We should go inside and finish breakfast.” I turn to leave.

Galen’s hand tightens on my shoulder. “So you’ll just let her walk away, knowing it will kill you and your wolf.”

Kira is in the house with Sierra. If Galen dragged me out here to talk, I have no doubt Sierra cleared that kitchen at the first opportunity to talk with Kira. I need to tell her what I am. I should have already, but it’s not easy knowing I will lose her.

“She escaped an abuser.” I stare toward the house, though I can’t see it. “Whatever Kira needs to be happy, whatever she needs to be free, is hers. If that place is not with me, then so be it. I’ll accept those consequences.”

“And me? The alpha who will be without his beta?”

I turn to look at him. “You’ll cope. I have on good authority your growling has reduced by thirty percent. That’s near normal levels,” I say dryly.

He doesn’t smile. “You’re my friend, Dom. Not just my beta. I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t.”

But I don’t believe that. From his probing stare, neither does he..

“We should go back to the house.”

---