Page 37 of The Beta's Blind Date

“Why won’t he let her?” Wesley asks.

“She thinks it’s because of her small wolf,” I say, leaving off the other reason.

The reason that makes my wolf raise his hackles and bare his teeth. The her sleeping with him reason.

“There’s nothing wrong with a small wolf,” Nolan says, shaking his head.

“That’s what I said!”

“Her alpha sounds like a dumbass,” Sebastian says.

“I said that too!”

“Are you all ready?” a female asks from the other side of the door.

“Not yet!” Wesley yells back.

He glares at me, since I am the only one who hasn’t changed yet.

“I’m changing, I’m changing!” I say, lifting my hands. “You were the ones asking me questions and distracting me!” I pull my sweatpants and T-shirt off and grab the tux labeled with my name, putting the entire ensemble on as quickly as I can, paying no attention to what it looks like. “At least I was just late. Your dad isn’t even here, and I don’t hear you yelling at him.”

“He’s on vacation.”

“And?”

“And he did his last fitting before he left,” Wesley says. “You ready?”

I sigh and finish buttoning my suit jacket. “Yes.”

“We’re ready!” Wesley yells to the female waiting at the door.

She enters and brings with her the scent of the most pungent perfume I’ve ever smelled in my life. It’s heavy and floral and so fake it has me almost gagging from how overpowering it is. And it doesn’t mesh with her natural scent. At all.

Most shifters don’t wear cologne or perfume, because it interferes with our natural scents. But I guess this female doesn’t care about that.

Everything about this she-wolf screams fake, like that she-wolf, Kimberly, who rejected Nolan six years ago. Her hair is bleach blonde, her skin is almost orange from tanning lotion or a tanning bed or whatever females use these days to look “sun-kissed,” and she’s painted her makeup on to look as though she’s wearing none. I think she’s even drawn freckles across her cheeks.

Is that a thing now?

My eyes water and I scratch at my nose, surreptitiously trying to cover it and inhale the remnants of Taryn’s scent on my skin. I glance at the others, gauging if it’s only me who has this reaction to her. Wesley’s eyes meet mine, and they’re watering too, and it’s all I can do to not laugh.

I cover it with a cough, and Wesley echoes the sound, his fist in front of his mouth and his eyes twinkling with laughter. When it’s my turn for her to check the fit of my suit, I hold my breath.

Maybe I imagine it, but she takes extra time making sure my suit fits me properly. Her hands linger too long on my body, and between those intentional touches and the cloying scent of her perfume, my wolf is done with her. And so am I.

I glare at her as she places one last, most likely unnecessary pin, holding back a growl and pinching my lips together so they don’t curl into a snarl. She doesn’t flinch, though; she just smiles at me and moves on to Nolan, who she spends less than five minutes on.

“All right, you can change and put them back on the rack. They’ll be ready for you to pick up in two weeks.”

“Thank you, Caroline,” Wesley says.

She smiles and walks out of the conference room, but not before shooting me a glance and giving me a very obvious once-over.

Old me would have changed into my clothes and followed her in no time flat. But old me didn’t have a mate. And even though Taryn can’t feel our bond, it’s not right to be intimate with another female while we’re still mates. Plus, my wolf wouldn’t let me. Plus, this female is as fake as they come.

Maybe old me wouldn’t have noticed that, either. But I do now.

My dad and Felix change and leave quickly, but I take my time, laughing and talking with my friends. With Wesley finding his mate and becoming alpha and Nolan always busy with his gamma duties with Luna Haven, it seems moments like this when it’s the four of us are rare.

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