Page 87 of The Beta's Blind Date

I can’t remember the last time I was in his apartment, but it looks the same as it has since he moved in when we took over the pack almost three years ago. It’s clean and tidy, although not over the top, perfectionist clean, like Haven and Wesley’s house. They are neat freaks and picky about where things go and how their house should look. Sebastian’s is just a minimalist vibe. He has what he needs and nothing more.

“What do you need help with?” he asks, strolling into his living room.

He sits on the tan couch, closing his book after tucking a small red bookmark into it. I perch on the matching armchair, elbows on my knees and hands clasped between them, my body leaning forward. My throat clenches and my foot bounces, but Seb waits, folding a rumpled navy blue blanket.

He’s patient and quiet and will sit here all night while I debate with myself how to tell him, where to start, or if I should tell him at all. But I don’t have all night.

“Taryn’s my mate,” I blurt, running my hands through my hair again. “She’s my mate, and she doesn’t feel our mate bond.”

He freezes, the blanket halfway folded in his hands, and he stares at me. We’re both silent for a moment, gazes held, and I continue. “I’ve known since the moment I saw her on our blind date. But she didn’t feel it. And I’ve searched the library and the internet, and I haven’t found any answers about why I am the only one of the two of us who can feel the bond.”

Everything floods out like a leak in a water hose, but there is no stopping me now that I’ve started. I’ve kept it all to myself for so long. Spilling it to Sebastian is an indescribable relief. Like a weight off my chest. Like Atlas putting the heavens down after holding them for Selene only knows how long.

“At first I was going to reject her, but the more time I spent with her and the more I got to know her, the clearer it became I was falling for her. Forher, not the bond,” I clarify. “Before, I would have told you there was no difference, but now I understand. I realize how wrong I’ve been.” I sigh and run my hands down my face. “Anyway, I was going to tell her the truth after her warrior challenge, but she failed it and has been in an emotional funk ever since, so I was going to wait until after the wedding. But now I think I’ve fucked everything up irreparably.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and breathe, eyes squeezed shut.

“How’d you fuck it up?” Seb asks.

I peek at him, ready to see him giving me one of his smug smirks or a venomous glare, but his eyes examine me, and I can tell that calculating brain of his is already working through everything I’ve said, already plotting some method of redemption for me.

“She kissed me,” I confess, and I swear his lip twitches, swear he’s holding in a laugh, but otherwise he doesn’t react. “She kissed me in front of Brewed Awakenings earlier this afternoon, and my wolf pushed forward and my canines descended and—and I pushed her away, and she thinks it’s because I panicked about the kiss, when really it was because I was trying to hide that I almost marked her!”

I jump from the chair and pace, tugging at the strands of my hair. “What do I do? How do I make this right? She’s supposed to come to the wedding with Alpha Dickhead tomorrow—”

“Alpha Dickhead?”

“I mean Alpha Dominic—and I want to tell her, but I know she’s going to be angry—so, so angry, and—”

“And you don’t want to ruin Wesley and Haven’s big day or cause a scene,” he finishes, and I nod. “Reid…” He shakes his head and sighs. “I knew something was going on between the two of you—you and Taryn—but I didn’t…” He rubs his chin and sets the blanket aside, standing and grabbing my shoulders to stop my dramatic pacing. “Are you sure she doesn’t feel it too?”

“What?”

“I’ve never heard of only one mate feeling the bond. Maybe she’s pretending?”

I shake my head. “No. No way,” I say. “I can feel her, Seb.” I point at my chest, stabbing at it with my finger. “She is devastated. Embarrassed. Angry. She’s been throwing so many negative emotions down our bond all evening. She’s not faking it. It’s genuine.”

He searches my eyes, then nods and squeezes my shoulders. “Okay. We can’t do anything drastic right now. Or tomorrow. We both have jobs to do to help with the wedding and reception, and those jobs are our priority. But I promise you, after tomorrow night, once Wes and Haven are on their honeymoon, I will help you figure out what is going on with your mate. We can ask my dad, talk with Dr. Russo… Hell, we’ll call in a favor with King Malachi if we have to.”

I let out a long, slow breath, and nod. “Okay.”

He stares at me for a long moment, then lets me go, and we both return to our seats, both of us leaning back against the cushions. Then he smiles, the grin stretching further across his face as each second passes.

How can he smile? Nothing about this is smile worthy. “What are you smiling about?” I grumble.

“Well,” he says, laughing. “I’m two for two.”

I frown. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I got Haven and Wes together, and they ended up being mates, and I got you and Taryn together, and you two ended up being mates,” he says, putting his hands behind his head and crossing his legs at the ankles, his tall form stretched out on the couch. “I am on a roll.”

His smugness leeches out of him, filling the room and pressing against me like a dust storm.

“Don’t get too cocky about it or go telling everyone,” I warn, rolling my eyes. “People will start assuming you’re Yente.” He wrinkles his brow and turns his head towards me. “Sebastian, Sebastian, make me a match! Find me a find—”

A pillow thrown at my face cuts my song short, along with a small, teasing growl. I laugh, grabbing it and propping it up behind my head, stretching myself out and mimicking Seb’s pose.

“You don’t know Tchaikovsky, but you know ‘Fiddler on the Roof?’” Seb asks, shaking his head. “I will never understand you.”

“My mom loved musicals,” I say with a shrug. “I watched them with her before she died, and I never stopped watching them after.”

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