Page 166 of The Beta's Blind Date

“I was asking Taryn,” Wes says, sighing.

I frown at him and glance at my shivering mate. The shift in her energy and composure from when she used her powers on Dominic to now is drastic, and my wolf and I are on protection overdrive. My lip curls and I growl. “Just give her a minute at least, Wes!”

He flinches and looks at Taryn, then rubs his forehead. “I’m sorry. I think we’re all a little on edge right now, and we all could use a breather.”

“It’s fine,” I say, sighing. “I just don’t want to push her too hard.”

“We’re waiting for someone, anyway. It will give Taryn time to shake off the darkness and for the rest of us to relax,” Dr. Russo says.

“Who are we waiting for?” I ask.

“Maya. She’s bringing us some supplies we may need.”

I nod and the room goes silent, all of us losing ourselves in our thoughts. I brush a few stray braids away from Taryn’s face, and she turns into my touch, her cheek resting against my palm. My eyes close and I focus on our bond, like I’ve done both times she’s tried to heal Dominic, and I send everything I have to her. Love, peace, warmth, and strength flow from me in equal measure, and her skin heats under my hand, her coloring returning to its normal, deep, rich tone instead of being tinged with gray.

“What are you doing?”she asks through mindlink.

“I’m giving you my strength.”

“You don’t have to do that, Reid,”she says.

“I do, though. I’m your mate.”

“Reid…”

“Your gift is healing others; my gift is healing you. Let me take care of you.”

Her eyes water and a smile tugs at her lips.“When did you become such a softy?”

I huff out a laugh.“I’m only a softy for you. You and Sour Patch,”I say, covering her stomach again.

She gives a quiet laugh, too, her shoulders shaking and her eyes sparkling.“Oh, I can already picture it. One bat of her eyelashes and you’ll be giving her anything she wants, even if I’ve already told her no.”

“I can’t believe you would think of telling our daughter no!”

“One of us has to.”

“As long as it’s not me, we’ll be fine.”

She laughs out loud at that, and I chuckle with her, her face tucking into my chest. I press my nose into the top of her head as we continue to laugh, holding tight to each other.

Sebastian catches my eye from across the table, his fingertips tenting in front of his mouth, hiding a half-smile.

“What?”

“I just find this whole situation highly amusing,” he says, leaning back and crossing his arms. “Beta Reid, brought to his knees by the mate he swore he would reject. Beta Reid, a mark on his neck and a pup on the way.”

“You don’t have to be a dickhead about it.”

“You were a dickhead about the mate bond for over ten years.”

“I was wrong, okay? I was very, very wrong.”

“How’d that feel?” Maya asks, entering the conference room, a large canvas tote bag on her shoulder.

“Felt great, to be honest,” I say, smiling at her as she walks around the table. “I was wrong, and I’ll own it. I’m not ashamed. My mate is a badass warrior female, and I want everyone to know she’s mine.”

I duck my head and kiss the top of Taryn’s hair. Maya’s lips twitch and she turns to Seb. “You’re right, this is very amusing.”

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