Page 89 of The Beta's Blind Date

“You don’t have to worry. She’s here to stay,” I reassure him, patting his shoulder.

His attention is pulled away from our conversation as a group of guests walk up to him, and he turns to greet them, his alpha charm on display, every hint of his nerves covered by his usual confidence and swagger.

Alpha Benjamin, his brother, Oliver, and their sister, Luna Nicole, and her mate, Alpha Alton, from Vigne Della Luna are among the arrivals, and they linger to chat with us.

“Sorry again about Kent. And Caroline,” Ben says. “I sent Kent to be a grunt in the royal army, and Caroline is on bathroom cleaning duty for the foreseeable future.” He sighs and shakes his head. “Unfortunately, I’m still weeding through some of the assholes left after my dad’s days as alpha.”

“You mean dickheads,” I say, correcting him, and Seb laughs.

“Dickheads, assholes.” Ben shrugs. “The point is, they’re around, and I’m working on figuring out who they are, and it’s exhausting. But I’m not resting until they’re all found. I’m hoping they’ll all be gone by the time I find my luna. I don’t want her to have to deal with them, too.”

Ben continues talking to Wesley and the others, but the summer scent of peonies mixed with ripe peaches and fresh strawberries pulls my attention towards the packhouse, where Taryn descends the stairs.

My heart skips a beat, and I forget how to breathe as she walks across the snow-covered grounds. She’s always beautiful, but tonight she is stunning. She wears a dark burgundy jumpsuit that shows off her long legs and hugs every curve of her body, highlighting her perky, round ass and breasts. It has one sleeve that extends to her wrist, and her other shoulder is bare, her unmarked neck exposed by her hair that is pulled over her sleeved shoulder.

Her skin glows, illuminated by the gold jewelry on her neck and wrists and the gold accessories in her newly braided hair. And her hair—fucking Selene, her hair. The braids and curls tumble and spiral down her back and over her shoulder, like inky swirls of calligraphy on a piece of parchment, writing a heartwarming story of beauty and love. She is a muse in human form—my muse. My exquisite, incomparable mate.

My instincts scream at me to go to her, to take her hand in mine and press my mouth to the back of it, to pull her against my body and claim her plump, full lips, claim them with a kiss so fierce, so possessive, that no one present at this wedding has any doubts who she belongs to. My wolf whines and tugs against my restraints, urging me to act on those instincts, but I refrain.

Her eyes find me with the same ease mine found her. They lock on me, sweeping over all of me, drinking me in, and through the bond I feel a glimmer of appreciation, a shimmer of desire, and a flutter of regret.

She makes her way towards me, following her alpha and his beta, Dawson, who has Blake on his arm. My wolf growls as Dominic approaches us, but I console him by honing in on the fact that Taryn is behind Dominic, keeping her distance, not holding his hand or touching him at all.

I shove my hands in my pockets, though, to hide my fists and the claws threatening to extend. Sebastian glances at me, then moves around his brother, talking to me through the pack link as he grips my shoulder, digging his fingers in to keep my focus on him instead of my mate being here with another male.“Don’t react. He might say something to rile you up. He may be a dickhead, but he’s an alpha, and he’s not an idiot. I’m sure he knows there’s something going on between you and Taryn. But you need to be the strong one right now. You need him to think he can’t get under your skin.”

I give him a quick nod, almost imperceptible, as Dominic reaches Wesley.

“Alpha Wesley,” he says, shaking Wes’s hand. “It’s been a while. Congratulations on your big day.”

“Thank you,” Wesley replies. “I know weddings aren’t the norm for werewolves, but—”

“But what the luna wants, the luna gets?”

Wes beams and shrugs. “Something like that.” He looks behind Dominic at my mate and reaches his hand out to her. “Hey, Taryn,” he says. She steps towards him and clasps his hand. “How did your challenge go?”

She gives him a weak smile. “I was unable to complete it,” she says.

Wes looks at me and frowns, then looks back at her. “I’m sorry, I—I didn’t know.”

“No need to apologize,” she says.

“She’s going to try again in a few weeks,” Dominic says, staring down at her. “When she’s had some time to destress and recuperate.”

That won’t be necessary,I think.She’ll be here, in Crescent Lake, as a full-fledged warrior, with my mark on her neck.

Wesley and Nolan make small talk with Dominic, Dawson, and Blake, but Taryn meanders away from them, moving towards me, her dark eyes searching mine. Up close, the gold charms and threads in her hair glitter, catching the light from the moon, the stars, and the candles and lanterns and mirroring it back to the world. The effect is reminiscent of stars in a moonless sky, twinkling and winking in and out of existence as the braids and curls of her hair shift and slide with her movements.

She stops about a foot away from me. Too far. She should be closer. She should be in my arms. I clench my fists tighter in my pockets, my claws piercing the skin on my palms.

She gives me a smile, more genuine than the one she gave Wes, and my heart swells, pumping faster. “Hey,” she says.

“Hey,” I reply, taking an almost unnoticeable step closer as Sebastian strolls back towards the others, leaving the two of us alone. “You look…” My mouth opens and closes as I search for the right words, my eyes skating over her body and her face.

She waits, expectant, and words fail me. There is nothing I can think of to describe how she looks, how I feel when I see her. Nothing that can paint a proper picture of the effect she has on me, of how perfect she is.

“We should find our seats, Taryn,” Dominic says, interrupting my train of thought. “We don’t want to hold up the ceremony.”

“Right,” she says, tearing her eyes from me. “Let’s go.”

---