Page 127 of The Beta's Blind Date

I nod against her shoulder and pinch my lips together, holding in my cries. “Thank you. I don’t know where I would be without you and Alpha Wesley. You’ve both already done so much for me.”

“You’re part of our family,” she says, smiling. “And wolves protect their family.”

Chapter 44

REID

Karmaisafunnything. Sometimes it works in our favor, and other times, it works against us.

This morning it is not working in my favor. The bed is empty. Taryn is nowhere in sight, and I know this is payback for me leaving the bed before she woke up yesterday morning.

“I knew I should have stayed in bed with her instead of making breakfast,” I grumble, rubbing my eyes with my palms.

I sit and swing my legs over the edge of the mattress, stretching my neck as I do, and I spy a bright yellow sticky note on the lamp. I snatch it, and my eyes zip over each letter of her handwriting, my wolf pushing forward as her scent floats from the paper and into my nose.

I’m going to the gym in the basement. I will be back soon.

Love,

Cadet Taryn

Love. She wrote “Love.” Does she mean that? Or is it similar to how girls say “Love ya!” to each other when saying goodbye?

Or am I overthinking the whole thing?

I stand from the bed and stretch my arms above my head, the note clutched in my hand. I’ll get dressed and join her in the gym. We can race each other on the treadmills and maybe get some sparring in—sparring which will double as foreplay—before we come back here and wrestle naked.

Perfect. Just like her tight, exquisite body.

I groan and adjust my morning wood in my underwear as images of her “finishing me later” flash through my mind—her plump lips wrapped around my cock, her gorgeous tits hanging down and brushing my thighs as she took me further into her mouth with each pass, her hand between her thighs as she played with herself while pleasuring me.

Yeah. I definitely want a repeat of that today. I see why the Goddess paired us together. She’s the female version of me—always horny and ready to go. I’ve never met a female like her—a female who matches me in every way. And I will never meet another like her because she’s the one made to be my perfect match. My other half. My girl. My mate.

Mine.

I grab the last clean set of clothing I borrowed from the spares in the guest housing area and throw them on before brushing my teeth, rushing through the motions so I can get down to the basement and join my girl.

But when I reach the living area, I halt in my tracks. My girl is there, sitting on the rock couch, staring out the window behind it with her chin in her hand and my black blanket wrapped around her. Her emotions hit me like a tidal wave, heavy and suffocating, a mix of so many it is difficult to pinpoint each one.

“I thought you went to the gym?” I ask, holding up the yellow sticky note.

“I was going to, but then realized I didn’t feel like doing a workout. I did some stretching with Haven instead,” she says, glancing at me for a moment.

My heart clenches at the red-rimmed eyes and puffy cheeks, and I swallow, dropping the note and moving to sit with her. “Hey,” I soothe, taking her face in my hands and pulling her close to me. “Talk to me.”

She leans forward so her forehead hits my chest. “Does it ever get any easier?” she asks into my shirt.

“Does what ever get any easier?”

“Losing your parents.”

I suck in a breath, and my throat tightens. “Do you want me to sugarcoat it, or do you want me to be honest?”

“Be honest. Please.”

I pull her into my lap and rest my chin on her head, holding her with all my might. “It gets different. Sometimes I forget the exact shade of blue her eyes were or the exact pitch of her voice. Sometimes I don’t know if what I remember—the little moments, the songs she would sing, the hugs—are real memories, or things people have told me about, or things I wish had happened. There are times I go days without thinking about her, and I feel guilty when I realize that. But the grief never goes away. It’s always there, just beneath the surface, lurking and waiting to surprise you when you least expect it.”

My head leans back against the couch, and I scrub a hand over my face, closing my eyes.

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