Page 96 of The Beta's Blind Date

I frown and then shake my head, continuing my steady pace along the path back towards the packhouse and the reception tents.“He’s too late,”I reply.“I already told her I want to talk to her and explain everything. She agreed to stay here with me instead of going back to Silver Ridge tonight. How can he ask her if she’s here with me?”

“Because she just left with him.”

“Fuck!” I yell.

My wolf growls and bares his teeth in my mind, and I take off at a run, leaving Nolan in the dust as I race towards the parking lot.

My gut twists, and my heart pounds in time with my footfalls, my wolf howling and pushing me forward. There’s no way she’d agree to his proposal, but I can’t let her leave with him. I can’t risk the sliver of doubt I feel within me; the sliver of doubt I know is in her.

She’s mine.

I reach the parking lot that is no longer full, and I scan the vehicles, looking for the signature silver of Dominic’s Land Rover, the one his mom bought him ten years ago when he became alpha, but it’s gone.

They’re gone.

I pull my phone from my pocket and dial her number, but it goes straight to her voicemail. I try again, but get the same result. My hand tugs at my hair as I keep trying to reach her. And keep failing.

“Reid!” Sebastian yells, coming around the edge of the parking lot. “What are you doing?”

I whip around towards him and pace the edge of the parking lot. “They’re gone. They’ve left. I tried to call her, but her phone is off or dead.” I pause and shove my hands in my hair, crouching to the ground and groaning. “This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have left her alone at the reception, should have let you light the candles instead, like you suggested. And if I had just claimed her, just told her what she was to me right away, then—”

Sebastian grabs my arm and yanks me to my feet. “Reid, you’re wasting time. You need to go after them. Go get your girl back. Tell her she’s yours before you lose her for good.”

I blow out a breath, pushing my fears, frustrations, and self-blame aside and focusing on what I need to do. “You’re right,” I say, turning and walking towards one of the pack SUVs.

“Won’t shifting and running be faster?” Seb asks, following me.

“Yes, but she can’t shift to come back here with me.”

“She shifted the other day. When we played hide and seek.”

“I know, but she hasn’t been able to since. Or, at least, she wasn’t able to at her challenge. And I don’t want to risk her not being able to still.”

He nods as I climb into the vehicle. “Call me if you need backup.”

He slaps the hood as I start the engine, and I take off as fast as I can. My hands clench the steering wheel as I drive, speeding around the curves and switchbacks at a speed that is borderline too fast, but I need to get to my girl. I don’t trust that dickhead Dominic. Not after everything he’s done to Taryn. To my mate.

I’m not sure how far in front of me they are, but I’m over halfway to Silver Ridge when Taryn’s fear and pain hit me with the force of a nuclear explosion. I clench my teeth and let out a muffled groan, pressing my foot down harder on the gas. The terror and panic she feels grows, leaving me breathless, as I glimpse an eery, orange glow against the starry, cloudless sky, and smoke winding its way into the night on the horizon, on the crest of the mountain, where I know Silver Ridge’s packhouse and town center sit.

This is not good.

“Call Sebastian,” I say between my teeth to the voice assistant programmed into the vehicle.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, answering right away.

“Silver Ridge is on fire, and Taryn is hurt.”

I keep my report brief. I don’t have the time or the energy to explain everything. But Sebastian is our delta, our head warrior, for a reason. He’s level-headed in a crisis, and he doesn’t need details to know it’s an emergency and he needs to act.

“You focus on getting to her,” he says. “I’ll take care of the rest.”

He hangs up and I stop the car, jumping out and shifting into my wolf, leaving my tux in shreds behind me as I take off into the snowy, dark forest to find my mate before it’s too late.

Chapter 34

TARYN

Thenightseemstoboth zoom by and drag on. Several guests have left already, but there are still plenty out on the dance floor, including Haven, her niece, Stella, and several pups from Crescent Lake all doing the chicken dance. Wesley watches them from the edge of the dance floor, smiling as he does, surrounded by the visiting alphas—Benjamin, Alton, and Dominic—and Sebastian. I clutch Reid’s tux jacket draped over my shoulders tighter and meander over to the dessert table.

---