Page 98 of The Beta's Blind Date

Dawson and Blake both stare at us wide-eyed. Flames of fury lick in Blake’s eyes as she watches Dominic’s steps, her body trembling in Dawson’s hold. Dominic pauses when we stand next to them, staring at them in turn, another alpha command rolling off his tongue.

“You two will not speak of this to anyone,” Dominic orders. “You can leave later. After we’ve been gone for a while.”

Blake shakes her head, her eyes watering and glistening in the candlelight. “Fuck you, Dominic,” she spits. “You’ve lost any remaining respect I had for you.”

He ignores her and keeps walking, his hands in his pockets and his head held high as he maneuvers through the crowd. My feet follow him, even though I want nothing less. My wolf, my mind, and my heart all fight against the command on my body, but it’s futile.

“Taryn—” Dawson says, and I glance at him, pulling my lip into my mouth and standing up straighter, blinking back the itching tears in my eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t—I can’t—”

I shake my head and turn away from him and Blake, walking out of the tent and to Dominic’s side, my body forcing me to walk faster to obey his command. He opens the passenger door of his Land Rover for me, and I slide in, my eyes closing so I don’t have to meet the cold steel of his gray eyes.

“Get this jacket off your body and out of my car,” he says, tugging it from my shoulders and tossing it on the ground. “Disgusting,” he growls, slamming my door and storming to the driver’s side.

He gets in and starts the engine, taking off before he’s buckled. His nose wrinkles and he turns the air conditioner on, blasting frigid air into the interior of the vehicle.

“It’s too cold for that,” I say, reaching for the controls.

“Don’t touch it!” he says, growling. “You reek of Crescent Lake wolves and especially that asshole beta. Goddess, it’s nauseating.”

“I think he smells nice,” I say, the words out before I can think them through.

Dominic scoffs, pushing his foot down harder on the gas. “I shouldn’t have let it go as far as I did tonight. It’s clear he’s just using you to get what he wants. I thought you were smarter than that. I thought you wanted someone serious, someone willing to settle down, take you as a mate, and have a family with you?”

“He’s not using me, Dominic,” I say, shaking my head. “We’re taking things slow, taking them one step at a time. He wants me. He wants to try, even though he’s never done this. With anyone. But he wants to try for me.”

“And how do you know he’s not saying what you want to hear? How do you know he won’t toss you aside once you’ve spread your legs for him?”

“He said—”

“He’s a player, Taryn. A womanizer. He’s not going to change his ways overnight for some female he met on a blind date. And you’re delusional if you think he will.”

I shake my head and stare out the window, pinching my lips together. It doesn’t matter what I say to Dominic. He’s made up his mind. And I don’t owe him an explanation. He may be my alpha, but that’s it. And he won’t be that for much longer.

I said I’d ask Wesley if I could become a Crescent Lake pack member out of anger and spite, but now that the idea is out in the open, it’s becoming more appealing. They are a devoted family, and they welcomed me into their ranks with open arms, treating me as one of their own even though they didn’t know me. I feel more at home at Crescent Lake than anywhere else.

“Be my luna,” Dominic says, breaking the silence, his voice tight and hoarse.

My head whips around, and I suck in a breath, my brow furrowed. “What?”

“Be my luna,” he says again, glancing away from the road for a moment.

His eyes search mine, but it’s too dark for me to read the intent behind his words, to decipher his expression.

I bark out a harsh laugh filled with incredulity. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Of course I am.”

“You want me to be your luna?” He nods, his hands gripping the wheel. “You want me to be your luna after you refused to commit to me, after I gave you a choice, an ultimatum? After I moved on and found someone else, someone who respects me and sees me? After you alpha commanded me to leave his pack and come with you, like some tantrum-throwing tyrant alpha who can’t handle one lowly pack member refusing him? You think I would agree to be your luna after all that?!”

“I was wrong to let you go, Taryn.”

“Yes. You were,” I confirm. “But it’s too late. I told you, I have moved on. I have found someone else. And even if he shatters my heart into millions of pieces, I would never agree to come back to you, to be your luna.”

His fingers flex against the wheel, and he clenches his jaw, his body stiffening and then relaxing as he breathes in and out. He takes in one last inhale, and his power builds within him, revving up to full strength, emanating from him in waves.

My eyes widen, and I scoot backwards in my seat, pressing myself against the door. My hand scrabbles at the handle, but we’re moving too fast for me to open the door and jump out and escape what I know he’s about to do to me.

“Taryn,” he says, his full alpha command laced into his words, his eyes dark and his canines lowered. “Taryn, you will—”

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