Page 25 of The Beta's Blind Date

“Since when?”

“I moved up there a little over a year ago. My parents lived there before they moved to Southern California.”

“I had no idea!” Holden says, setting his hands on his hips.

I stalk the last handful of steps until I’m right next to Taryn, my eyes boring into Holden’s skull, my arms crossing over my chest as I raise a brow at him, my body and jaw as tight as they were when Taryn and Holden hugged. “Holden. Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

Holden glances at me and flinches under my ire and my heavy stare. “Well, we’ll have to get coffee or something and catch up some more another time, Taryn. I have to go patrol the grounds right now.”

He waves at her and gives me a nod before he scurries away. I can visualize his brown wolf in my mind, ears flat against his head and tail between his legs after angering his beta. My lips twitch with a silent, smug laugh at the image and the preening of my wolf in my head from protecting our mate from another male.

Then I remember Taryn is right next to me. And Taryn doesn’t know we’re mates. And I don’t want a mate.

Goddess, damn it.

Thank everything under the sun and the moon she is oblivious to my whirlwind of emotions, to my sudden about-face. She’s just standing there, waving goodbye to Holden as he leaves.

“So what are we going to start with?” she asks, turning to me when Holden is out of sight, her lips in a broad smile that lights up her entire face and puts little stars in her midnight eyes.

But my face is dead serious, my mouth pulled into a tight, thin line. There is no humor in my face, no twinkle in my eyes.

“Run. Now,” I order, pointing towards the perimeter of the field.

I know she’s warmed up because she asked to have this session after her regular warrior training in Silver Ridge, so there’s no need to stretch.

“Out here?” she asks, looking around at the snow.

“Where else would we run?”

“The gym?”

“Warriors don’t get to pick the weather when they are called to action. Do you want to be a warrior?” She nods. “Then run!”

My voice is tinged with a growl, and her eyes widen. She lets out a little squeal before taking off towards the edge of the field at a light pace. As soon as she turns her back to me, I follow her, my stoic beta facade cracking and a laugh teasing my lips. Her own laughter filters back towards me as she runs.

“What are you laughing at, Cadet? You’re supposed to be running!” My voice is harsh and barking, but my lips are smiling, a silent, withheld laugh shaking my shoulders as I catch up to her.

“Sir, yes, sir!” she says over her shoulder, her lips pressing together as she fights her laughs too.

I let her set the pace, but I stay right on her heels, pushing her to go a little faster, to work a little harder. I want to see what she is capable of already, take a measure of her abilities, and move on from there to what she needs to work on.

Plus, if I stay behind her, I have an excellent view of her long, muscular legs and her round, toned ass.

Not that I’m looking. Because I’m not. Looking. I have no interest in her like that at all. It’s the mate bond and my wolf making me do that.

“How do you know Holden?” I ask to keep my mind off her beautiful body and her sweet, summertime scent as it wafts behind her and into my nose while she runs.

“Cross country in high school. He was the boys’ state champion the same year I was the girls’ state champion.”

“Oh.”

I am calm and collected on the outside. But on the inside, my wolf dances with glee that there aren’t lingering feelings or a forgotten relationship between them.

Not that I care. Those are my wolf’s feelings, not mine.

I stay quiet after that. I don’t trust my wolf to keep his jealousy and possessiveness in check, and I don’t trust him to not force me to do something idiotic because of that jealousy and possessiveness. Instead, I take advantage of our comfortable silence and assess her speed, gait, and breathing, taking mental notes on the minor constructive feedback I want to give her.

We run several more laps in this same manner until I can tell her body is loose and ready for a more intense workout.

---