Page 56 of A Beta Protects

I’d rather not go back, especially if it means coming face to face with Bryce, but I can’t live on Dom’s charity forever, even if he says he doesn’t mind buying stuff for me.

“I’m going for a walk.”

Sierra pops to her feet. “I can?—”

“No, that’s okay,” I interrupt. “But thanks.”

I leave her in the kitchen, briefly smiling when I pass the den and living room where everyone has settled on the navy couches to finish their breakfast.

Outside, I rub my bare arms, shivering, when a sudden gust of wind whips my skirt up. The sky is a deeper shade of blue, and dark gray clouds are forming. It will rain today. Not soon, but maybe later there will be another lightning storm like last night.

There’s no sign of Dom. But that growly side of him Sierra told me was so protective has seriously stirred my curiosity.

Thinking he’s in the outbuilding, I head toward it, hoping to find him there. The door is slightly open. When I push it the rest of the way open and yell his name, he doesn’t respond.

I hope Dom and Galen didn’t go off to fight each other.

Galen was definitely pissed at Dom. I’m not sure why I think it has to do with me, but I don’t want to be the cause of any problems between Dom and his friends.

As I wander back to the house, the hum of an approaching car engine grows louder. Through a gap in the trees, I spot a white post office truck slow to a halt feet from the front porch.

Excited there might be another letter, this time from my attorney with news about speeding up the divorce process, I hurry toward the white truck as the driver’s side door swings open, and come to a screeching halt as I choke back my panic.

It’s not the postman, though the blond man is wearing a postman’s uniform.

It’s Bryce, and he did not come unarmed.

I open my mouth to scream.

“Do it, and I will kill you, Kira,” Bryce warns, pointing his gun at me. “Get in and you might just survive this.”

I hesitate.

I thought he signed the divorce papers because he was letting me go.

He wasn’t. It was an alibi. That’s all it was. I told the attorney if anything ever happened to me, it would be Bryce who did it. But now, with proof that he signed the divorce form without hesitation, if anyone asks any questions, he can say he had nothing to do with my death. That he let me go, and I went off and got myself killed by someone else.

Why else would he be here in disguise?

“Or you can scream, and Dom—” he spits out Dom’s name like a curse, “—can come running and I kill him instead.”

Me or Dom.

There’s no choice.

I walk toward the truck. Bryce opens the back and motions the gun toward it, a sign for me to get in. My heart is pounding so hard I can barely hear myself think, and my palms are sweating.

As I move to get in, a burst of pain explodes at the back of my head.

My world tips and sways as I smack onto a hard surface with a grunt.

I’m lying on something cold and hard as a door slams shut, then seconds later, we’re moving.

18

DOM

“You bit her.” Galen gets right to the point after marching me out of the house, down the porch and into the forest.

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