Page 163 of The Beta's Blind Date

The atmosphere in the room shifts, pulsing around and weighing down on us, centered on and originating from Dominic. I back away, one step at a time. Reid mirrors my movements, mimicking me by feel alone, and I stay close to him, respecting his need to be the protector of our family. The rattling of the cuffs on the bed frame and the grunts and snarls from Dominic fly towards us, and I clutch Reid’s sweatshirt to hide my shaking hands.

Dominic’s eyes switch from me to Reid, and he tugs hard against the restraints, his body taut and his muscles twitching from the effort. The air around him pulses again, a blinking haze of gray, before it returns to normal.

“Really, Taryn?” he asks, his eyes on Reid. “You let him fuck you, even after everything I said to you? Even with all you know about him?” He shakes his head and sucks on his tongue. “I thought you were better than that. I thought you had standards.” He laces each word with distaste and shoots them across the room at us, poison darts aimed straight for our hearts. “I thought you wanted your mate.”

But instead of his words having the desired effect on either of us, they bounce off us like spilled beads skittering across the floor. My hands entwine with Reid’s and he looks at me, a softness forming behind his wild, possessive eyes.

“Reidismy mate.”

Dominic scoffs, his eyes rolling. “You can’t tell me you believe he’ll change his ways for you? Become a ‘better male?’ Or that you’d prefer to be the beta female of Crescent Lake over being my luna?”

“He did, and I do,” I say, squeezing Reid’s hand as his brow furrows and he turns to glare at Dominic.

Dominic’s nostrils flare and his jaw clenches. “It doesn’t matter. He’s a beta, and I’m an alpha. A lycan. I can take him in a fight.”

I tense, waiting for Reid’s reaction, for him to launch himself at Dominic and throw punches. But instead, he leans his head back, face tilted to the ceiling, and he laughs. A loud, clear, full belly laugh that shakes his entire body. His hand covers his stomach, and I press my lips together to hide the smile creeping across my face.

Red flashes across Dominic’s face and eyes. “Why are you laughing? You think you can defeat me? You may be the beta and you may train the best warriors in your pack, but you’re still just a werewolf. You’re no match for me.”

Reid continues laughing, his arm wrapping around me and pulling me into his side. He presses his lips into my forehead to muffle his laughter, hugging me to his chest without a care in the world, without worry of what Dominic will think or how he’ll react.

Dominic tugs again on his restraints, black flecks popping and spiking around his arms. “Fine. If you’re so cocky in your ability to win her, then prove it.” His eyes glint, like a spark flying from hammered steel, and he squares his shoulders. “I, Alpha Dominic Sterling Rivers, challenge you, Beta Reid—”

“They’re marked,” Wesley says, stalking closer to the bed. “You can’t challenge for a marked mate.”

“You let him mark you?” Dominic snarls.

“And she marked me back,” Reid says, pulling his hoodie to the side to display his mark, proud as a peacock. “She is mine—mine—and there isn’t anything you can do about it.”

Dominic’s lips tip into a cruel, icy smile. “That’s where you’re wrong, Beta. I may not be able to challenge you for her, but there are other ways I can defeat you. I have an entire pack, and there is no existing alliance between Crescent Lake and Silver Ridge. There is nothing stopping me from attacking your pack and declaring war.”

“Except your pack is destroyed,” Reid points out. “Your members are scattered, split between our pack and Amber Forest. You haven’t even realized you’ve already lost four pack members—including your own beta—and you’ll lose more when they hear what you did to Taryn.”

Dominic frowns when he hears Dawson is no longer a member of his pack, but he presses on. “It doesn’t matter. I still have members loyal to me. I have allies in other packs in the country. They’ll come to my aid.”

Reid sighs and shakes his head. “When will you get it through your thick skull? Taryn doesn’t want you. None of those packs will support your false claim on her or the actions you took to claim her. You should focus your energy on fixing your pack and finding your true mate instead.”

“I don’t want my true mate!” Dominic growls, throwing his body forward, the cuffs clattering on the bedrails. The air swells and swirls, like pressure building before a storm, black and gray and terrifying.

Wesley and King Malachi move closer to the bed, both ready to pounce should Dominic break free from the silver chains. Which he shouldn’t. But he wasn’t supposed to wake up, either.

“I have found the female I want as my mate. And I will have her! I will make her mine, even if I have to kill every member of Crescent Lake. I will kill everyone and save you for last, Beta. That way, when she watches me take your life, she’ll know who the superior male is and know she chose wrong.”

The chains on the bed creak underneath Dominic’s strength, still potent even with the silver cuffs around his wrists and ankles. He may not have access to his enhanced lycan abilities, but his human form is strong.

A snap echoes through the room as a chain breaks from the strain.

“The sedative?!” King Malachi asks, jumping to pin Dominic’s free arm to the bed.

“Almost done,” Dr. Russo says.

Dominic fights against the king’s hold on him, his face in a snarl and his growls deafening. Reid moves me behind him again, his hands covering my stomach and his pupils dilating.

“You will never have them! They are mine!” His shoulders heave and his snarl matches Dominic’s, his claws and his canines protruding as he prepares to defend us.

But Dominic freezes, Reid’s words cutting his growls short. The silence descending over the room is as heavy as the tension, and no one moves, all eyes on Dominic.

He looks at Reid, then at me, and then at Reid’s hands covering my stomach. I swallow as his eyes remain there as he processes Reid’s words and actions.

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