Page 41 of The Beta's Blind Date

Lucky me.

“Where have you been?” he asks, crossing his arms and sniffing the air. “Why do you smell like Crescent Lake?”

“I spent some time with a friend from there. We went on a run and had lunch in town,” I say, leaving out the more specific details about who I was with and what we did. “Not that I need to report my every movement to you,” I add, maneuvering around him.

“Lunch? Where? With who?”

I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose, then turn around. “Brewed Awakenings. And I don’t have to tell you who I was with. We are not together. We are no longer a ‘thing.’ You may be the alpha, but you don’t get to control every movement of every member of your pack. You don’t get to be privy to every minor detail of our lives. Of my life.”

I take two steps towards my apartment when his groan stops me in my tracks. I look at him again, and his face is in his hand, his head shaking. “That’s not—I wasn’t—I’m not trying to control you, Taryn. I’m just protective. I’m an alpha. It’s part of my nature to feel protective of my pack members. All of them. Not just you.”

His lips press together, and I know there is more he wants to say, more he wants to add to that sentence—probably something like “although I am also extra protective of you”—but he doesn’t let himself say it, doesn’t verbalize that he wants to look after me. Because that would mean admitting he’s more serious about me than he wants to be. That would mean admitting he was wrong for letting me go, wrong for letting me walk away when I said he needed to choose me.

“While I appreciate the friendly, alpha-ly concern,” I say, standing my ground between him and my apartment door, even though a small part of me wants to touch his arm. “I am a big girl. I am a trained warrior. And while I may not hold that rank here—yet—I am more than capable of protecting myself if needed.”

I turn on my heel and take the last few steps towards my apartment, entering it and closing the door behind me before he can say another word.

Chapter 14

TARYN

Myalarmblares,wrenchingme from a dead sleep. My body is heavy, nestled into my bed under my warm, down comforter.

On a normal day, I would press snooze on my alarm and let it wake me up again in five minutes. And then another five minutes. And then another. On a normal day, I would hunker down into my cushiony bed and savor its warmth and comfort until the last second.

But today isn’t a normal day. Today is an important day. Today will set everything in motion for the future I’ve been working for, the future I deserve.

Rolling onto my back, I stare at the ceiling and take several long, deep, focused breaths before I get up and start getting ready. I change, pulling on leggings and a white top similar to the one I wore yesterday while training with Reid. I remove my pink satin bonnet and scarf, and since I just did my hair last night, I leave my twists alone and pull a section of them up and out of my face, then slip on a head wrap. My favorite pink tie-dye one, the one I wear when I need good luck.

As I head out the door of my apartment, I slip my headphones in and turn on my “get pumped” playlist. The upbeat, motivational, dance-worthy music has me shaking my hips while I walk down the hall and into the kitchen, mouthing the lyrics and nodding my head to the beat. I grab a banana from the fruit basket on the counter and peel it, leaning against the wall by the back door as I eat and look over the law Reid sent me yesterday.

I read through it several times last night while I did my self-care spa day—in between episodes of Queen Charlotte, of course—but I want to look it over again. I need to make sure I say everything correctly, that I use the precise wording stated in the law’s text; otherwise, my challenge will be void.

Pack members—mainly warriors, but also a few trainees like myself—fill the large, clean, gray, white, and blue kitchen, grabbing bananas or protein bars and filling up their water bottles. Other than a cursory nod or a polite wave hello, most of them pay little attention to me, even though I am not a full warrior. Not yet, at least. But trainees may attend up to two elite warrior workouts a week—a stipulation I take full advantage of—so they are used to seeing me among their ranks on occasion.

Although I haven’t attended one in a while. But that’s about to change.

Blake bounces into the kitchen, her two-toned hair pulled back in a high ponytail that swings with each of her steps. She spots me right away and weaves through the ever-growing crowd of warriors, disappearing for a split second behind a group of three she-wolves who are much taller than her.

“How was your self-care spa day?” she asks when she reaches me.

I take one of my headphones out of my ear and pause the music. “Perfect. Relaxing. Quiet,” I say. “I feel refreshed and like I can take on the world.”

“And Queen Charlotte?”

“Just as perfect as every other time I’ve binge-watched every episode in one night.”

“And how many times is that now?”

“Oh Goddess, I don’t know. I don’t keep track,” I scoff. Blake’s eyebrow lifts, and she crosses her arms and taps her foot on the floor. “Okay, okay. Five. Maybe six. Probably more. I just love the way King George looks at her, all right? I want a male to look at me like that! Is that too much to ask for?”

Blake laughs and shrugs. “Probably.”

“Well, fingers crossed Selene has been paying attention to my tastes and sends me a male that checks all of my boxes. And that she sends him soon.”

The back door flies open and Dawson pokes his head into the kitchen, his normal laughter gone and his stoic, warrior facade in place, and everyone in the room quiets and straightens up as his stare passes over all the gathered bodies. “What are you all doing lounging around in here? Training starts in five minutes! Get your asses out on the field!”

As one unit, we all file out of the kitchen and onto the training field behind the packhouse. I prepare myself for the icy air, the one aspect of living here I’m sure I will never adjust to, even with how beautiful the snow-flecked territory looks in the middle of winter.

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