Page 155 of The Beta's Blind Date

“Oh, I am so glad to see you too!” Merina says. “I have been stuck at Amber Forest since the attack. I tried to get over here before the storm hit, but Alpha Benjamin was insistent that everyone needed to stay in the pack they fled to after the attack. And I tried and tried to call, but there was limited service during the snowstorm, and Alpha Ben said Alpha Wesley was very busy, so I had to wait until the storm cleared.”

“It’s fine, Luna,” Taryn says as Merina releases her. “I’m sure the Silver Ridge members understand.”

“Yes, they have been most gracious in assuring me they hold nothing against me for not being here for them, too. And everyone is so worried about Dominic and has been so kind to me…” Her lip trembles, and her red-rimmed eyes fill with unshed tears. “Have you found any sign of him? Or heard from him? I thought maybe he’d try to contact you through mindlink to at least let someone know if he’s trapped or injured and needing help.”

“We haven’t found any sign of him yet,” Wesley says, pulling Merina’s attention away from my mate. “We were just up at Silver Ridge examining the damage and searching for any trace of him, but we came up empty.”

She covers her mouth with her hand and squeezes her eyes shut, a tear falling down her splotchy cheeks. The evidence of her emotional turmoil is clear on her face and in her body—the dark circles under her eyes, the red tip of her nose, the hair that looks like she attempted to style it but didn’t have the energy or the heart, and the overall fatigue in her body as she tries but cannot maintain a proper, luna-like posture.

“I’m so worried about him,” she says into her hand. “He’s a powerful alpha, but rogues are vicious and ruthless. Goddess knows what they may do to him or force him to do.”

“Haven,” Wesley says, glancing at his mate. “Why don’t you find Maddie and have her help you get Luna Merina set up in a guest room so she can connect with her pack members here? I need to speak with Alpha Ben and Reid and Taryn for a moment, and then I will come find you.”

Haven nods and takes Merina’s hand, leading the weeping woman away from us. They walk past us and into the house with us right behind them, and as they turn down the hall towards the guest rooms, Merina glances back at Taryn and me once more before disappearing around the corner.

“Did you really need to speak with me?” Ben asks in a whisper as we walk in the opposite direction towards Wesley’s office.

“No. I just needed her to stop asking questions about Dominic. The less we have to lie to her, the less we have to worry about keeping our stories straight.”

“You found him?” Ben asks as the door to the office closes behind us.

Wesley nods and plops himself down in his desk chair. “Found him wounded and bleeding. He looked like he’d been running for a while, and Levi suspects the wounds are self-inflicted. Dr. Russo will confirm when he examines him.”

“Why would he injure himself?” Ben asks, leaning against the window with his arms crossed.

“Maybe trying to escape the rogues? If they chained him up, he might have done whatever he could to get himself free,” Wes says, shrugging. “Levi wasn’t completely sure they were self-inflicted. He only has EMT training, but he’s usually spot-on with his guesses. We just need his dad to confirm.”

“Or he did it for attention,” I say under my breath. “How’d he know we’d be at his pack? I’m not convinced it was coincidence that he stumbled onto his pack grounds while we were there. That’s too easy. He had to know we were there.”

“How would he have known? We didn’t tell anyone where we were going, and even if we had, he was too far away for anyone from his pack to mindlink him,” Taryn says.

I shrug and sit down, pulling her into my lap. “I’m just saying.”

Ben stares at me—at us—and then sighs, leaning his head back against the window. “Every time one of you finds your mate, I get more antsy to find mine,” he says, bumping his head against the glass in a steady rhythm.

“I’m sure she’s out there somewhere,” I say, wrapping my arms around Taryn.

“Have you gone to any mating balls?” Taryn asks.

I frown and glance at Wesley, who wears a matching expression on his face. No one from our pack has been to a mating ball since the disaster of one we attended six years ago. The one where Nolan’s mate rejected him on the spot.

“I haven’t had time,” Ben says, lifting his head to look at her. “I’ve been too busy ensuring my pack will be a safe place for my luna when I find her.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that when you do,” Taryn says, smiling at him.

“I hope so.”

Wesley’s frown deepens, and he sits up straighter in his chair, his eyes glazing over as he gets a mindlink. His teeth grit together, and his hand clenches into a fist as he glances at us.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Dominic is awake. And he’s demanding to see Taryn.”

Chapter 54

TARYN

“Hellfuckingno,”Reidgrowls, his grip on me tightening. “She is not speaking to him. You are not speaking to him,” he repeats, his body vibrating from the intensity of his hold on me and the possessiveness radiating from him.

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