Page 9 of A Beta Protects

It was never an accident. I was always there by design. Until I nearly followed her into her house when she was carrying in the groceries. I realized I was inching closer to ripping her husband’s throat open.

During a poker game at Aaron’s house one night, I mentioned I was going to be leaving Palmerston soon, to continue the same aimless wandering I’d spent most of my life doing. He was getting ready for his next deployment and suggested I join the Marines.

Me, a Marine?

I laughed for a solid five minutes.

He shrugged, told me to think it over, that I wouldn’t find a better purpose than fighting for my country, even if it took me thousands of miles away for months and months at a time.

I went home, and as I got ready for bed, I thought about those thousands of miles and months away from Kira.

And that’s when I realized how I could keep my wolf from killing Kira’s husband and stealing her away from her happy life in Missouri.

Sierra laughs belatedly, returning me to the present. “So, Dom is like a closed door that someone locked and threw away the key. He has told us absolutely nothing about you, Kira.”

She’s not the only one eyeing Kira curiously.

Galen tried to pin me down for details last night until I told him I needed to go for a run. He offered to join me. I told him that it looked like Sierra wanted to talk to him about something, and when he turned to his mate, I took advantage and walked quickly away.

Yes, Sierra had looked like she wanted to talk. But not to him. To me. About Kira. About why I’ve spent years sitting on the front porch steps, staring into the distance, and then suddenly a woman turns up in the middle of the night that I’d told none of them about.

And about why I’ve suddenly lost the calm they know me for.

I dig my fork into my eggs as I tell myself the reason for Kira’s damp T-shirt can’t possibly be that she has no clothes with her. Because if that was the case, it would mean she left her home in Missouri—not exactly a short distance away—in a hurry.

And along the way misplaced her wedding ring?

“We knew each other a few years ago,” I say. “That’s all.”

Galen’s piercing green eyes narrow in suspicion. “I see.”

“So, you’re here for Dom’s birthday, then?” Nick asks.

Pretty blue eyes fix on me. Kira still has the most beautiful eyes in the world, framed with long, dark blonde lashes. “It’s your birthday?”

Galen sits back in his seat as he abandons his breakfast to focus on me. That look confirms he’s going to be pinning me down at the first opportunity for answers about why almost every word I’ve spoken since Kira has appeared has been a lie. “Next week. It’s his big thirty. We planned on having a party to celebrate.”

If Kira sticks around—and I’ll be doing everything in my power to convince her that’s exactly what she wants to do—then the nature of that party will have to change. We’d planned on having a BBQ in the backyard, then stripping out of our clothes and spending the next several hours running as wolves.

That can’t happen now.

Kira might wonder what happened to the party guests when she starts tripping over clothes on the back porch.

“Oh, that sounds nice,” Kira says brightly. “But I’m not staying. I was just in the area.”

“That’s a shame.” Rose is eyeing Kira with so much interest I need to make sure never to leave them alone together. Rose loves to shop. She never needs an excuse to drive into Wylder and spend an hour chatting about fashion to Tricia, the boutique store owner. She is also far too curious about my mate. “Are you from around here, then?”

Kira’s hand tightens around her fork and her gaze turns evasive. “Uh, no. Missouri, actually.”

Missouri, we all know, is in the Midwest. Wylder is on the far east coast. There’s no ‘being in the area’ unless you intended to be here.

The silence extends for two beats.

“So you were passing through?” Aly’s brow furrows in confusion.

When Kira’s eyes flicker, I would put money on her trying to come up with a lie. “Um. Something like that. Do you think I could have another pancake?”

“Sure.” Nick forks another pancake onto her plate, and as Kira lowers her head, I shoot Rose a warning look to drop it. If Kira doesn’t want to talk, she doesn’t talk.

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