Page 28 of A Beta Protects

“We get the boring, unimportant jobs because he doesn’t trust us not to mess it up,” Chloe whispers loudly at me as she turns on the faucet.

I look at Nick for a confirmation or denial.

He doesn’t say a word, all but confirming it.

And that, strangely, has me smiling. I’ve never lived in a big house of friends, or chosen family like this before, but I think I like it.

10

DOM

“You think he was aiming for you or Kira?” Galen darts a rapid glance my way as he pulls out of our property on onto the main road headed into town.

Since I know what Bryce looks like, it makes sense that I’m in the passenger seat, watching out for him. He was conventionally handsome, blond and blue eyed, and about 5’9, I think. A little shorter than me, but not by much.

The last time I saw Bryce was years ago, after Aaron’s funeral and I’d left the Marines, when I decided I needed to leave Palmerston or I’d kill him. Staying away from Kira was becoming impossible, and I’d had enough of military life. My wolf has a good nose, but five years is a long time to remember a scent I did my best to avoid.

Kira’s husband’s scent drove me into a rage every time I smelled it. Or maybe it was knowing he had my mate.

My wolf snarls in my head.

Ex-husband, I mentally reassure my wolf.

Kira left him. He lost all right to her when he had her running with only the clothes on her back.

“No. He was after me.” I might not remember Bryce’s scent, but I remember the possessive arm he slung around Kira’s waist and moved her closer to his side the second she smiled at me.

“Do you think he knows he hit you?”

I hope not. If Bryce saw me shrug off getting hit, he might have seen enough to suspect I’m not fully human.

“Can’t be sure. I was busy getting Kira back in the car.”

I learned to move slower, pretend to struggle with lifting weights that I could have lifted with one hand for five hours and it never would have strained me. I was careful. No one could have known I was anything other than human, not after my four years in the Marines.

“So the guy just wants you dead, then?” Galen changes gears as we approach main street.

“Yep.” Wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to kill me, and it wouldn’t be the first time I survived being shot at.

I joined the Marines when I was twenty-one and left when I’d just turned twenty-five. If I hadn’t met Aaron, Kira’s big brother, I’m not sure what I would have done with my life. Probably spent those four years bumming across the country, trying to figure out who left me in the Minnesota backcountry, and why. And I’d have gotten nowhere.

“You’re being particularly uncommunicative of late, Dom.”

“I’m wondering if Bryce came here alone.”

Galen slows, giving me a rapid glance too fast to read. “You think he didn’t?”

“I think he’s a cop who might have friends willing to watch his back, or maybe help him grab Kira.”

It won’t happen. There is no way I’m letting that happen.

If I hadn’t been trying to hide my wound from Kira, I’d have grabbed more than just Galen for this hunt. More so if this wasn’t a bright, sun-drenched early afternoon. It would make hunting him easier if we could do it as wolves instead of in our human form.

Instead, I borrowed Galen’s phone, sending a quick text to Chloe before we left the house, warning her of the shooting.

More importantly, while we were gone, warning her and the rest of Pack Hunt to watch over Kira and ensure all those shopping bags went to go to her room and she was safe.

No one is grabbing her from the house. Not without them paying for it with their life.

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