Page 28 of The Beta's Blind Date

But I hate that I can’t control the reactions of others when they see me shift. I hate that I can’t predict their thoughts or read their minds. I hate that I have to think about proving myself capable of anything beyond basic self-defense skills once people know my wolf is small.

Reid squeezes my hand, and I turn to him again, glancing down to where we touch. I didn’t realize he was still holding my hand. He looks down for a second, too, then drops my hand and clears his throat, pulling my focus to his face and his kind eyes.

“No one here is going to judge you for your wolf or how she looks. They all know better than to do that, know better than to judge someone based on what they are on the outside.”

“Okay,” I say with more confidence than I feel.

But I don’t need him to pity me or know I am terrified. Or know the judgment I’m most worried about isn’t from the rest of his pack, but from him.

Just him.

It’s not logical since he hasn’t given me any reason to doubt him, but it’s the truth. His reaction to my wolf feels important, feels like it may be a turning point for our relationship. Our… friendship. If he judges me, pities me, or laughs at me—I’m pretty sure it might break me more than any reaction anyone has had to her.

He grins and beckons me with a jerk of his head, leading me towards the tree line near the lake. I see this lake often on runs around the Silver Ridge pack borders, but I’ve never seen it up close. The crescent moon shape isn’t as noticeable as it is from above, but the way the redwood trees, the sun, and the clouds reflect in a perfect mirror image on the surface of the water is incomparable to anything I’ve seen before.

“It’s beautiful here,” I say.

He glances at me, then around his home, taking his time to see everything, to look at it through the eyes of a visitor or a newcomer. “I’m so used to it sometimes I forget to appreciate what we have here.” He looks at me again. “Silver Ridge is pretty, too, though. I’ve been there a few times.”

“It’s different from here. We don’t have a lake, and we get more snow and get it sooner than you do. And it’s colder. Although it’s cold as balls here, too.” My body shivers as an icy breeze blows by us as if to emphasize my point. “See?”

He chuckles. “You don’t like the cold?”

“I am from the San Diego area,” I remind him. “I am used to beaches, canyons, and big cities. To me, ‘cold’ is when you need a hoodie or maybe a cute scarf around your neck. This is… this is arctic temperatures to me.”

He laughs harder. “Again, I guess I am used to it.”

I cross my arms to block against the breeze as it picks up into a full wind. “Hmph.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll try to make this quick,” he says, lifting his hands in surrender as we reach the trees. “Since we’re not in the same pack, we won’t be able to mindlink. After we shift, we’re going to run the perimeter of the lake. There is a man-made—or, I guess, wolf-made—path you should be able to find no problem. Just follow that all the way around and back to this spot, and then we’ll be finished for the day.”

I nod and glance around until I see a tree with a trunk large enough to hide my body while I strip before I shift. Nudity is normal for us as werewolves since our clothes rip if we have to shift in a hurry, but it’s common courtesy to give privacy if you can. If the situation allows.

And, as much as I want to see Reid Thomas in the buff, I promised myself I would be on my best behavior today and not act on my dirty thoughts about this sexy-as-hell male who doesn’t want a mate.

Easier said than done with the way my thoughts about him race every time my eyes land on his delicious body. Which is another reason I decided to take the route of caution and change behind a tree.

I take my shoes and clothes off as fast as I can and shift right away so I’m not naked in the frigid air. It’s colder here under the cover of the trees where the sun doesn’t reach the forest floor.

My bones crack and reset. Gray, white, and tan fur sprouts from my skin, and before I know it, my petite wolf is standing where my human body was moments ago. I shake out my fur and stretch my legs, then trot around the trunk and back towards Reid.

Who is still in his human form.

I huff and give a small growl, doing my best to convey my annoyance with him while in my wolf form.

But he is unfazed, his attention on my wolf and not my attitude. He circles around me, his face unreadable and his eyes scanning me, assessing me, and my nerves are back.

I want his approval. I’m eager for it. I need it in a way I haven’t needed approval from anyone in a long time.

I sit on my haunches and wait, trying to seem patient, although I am anything but. Each passing second of him staring at my wolf without saying a word adds another butterfly to my stomach and an extra beat to my heart rate until I’m ready to explode.

“Beautiful,” he says when I think I can’t wait any longer. “No offense, but your alpha is a dumbass.”

With that one word, that one simple sentence, all my doubts and fears dissipate and blow away across the surface of the lake, like dandelion seeds on the wind. My wolf wags her tail at his praise, like some attention-seeking pup. I roll my eyes at her, even though if I had a tail I would wag it too.

He steps closer to me and holds his hand out, hovering it over my head. “May I?”

My wolf nudges his hand with her snout, and before I can stop her, she also gives it a lick, and I’m face-palming myself in my head.

---