Page 59 of Chosen Beta

She only wants to see him rot in prison for the rest of his miserable life, and she’d do anything it took to help any of the other Omegas he’s hurt.

I’m going to avoid calling her because it’s too hard forme.

It makes me feel pathetic under the circumstances, but not enough to change my mind.

I spend a few seconds lost in anguish, staring at her number in my phone before I shamefully scroll past it. The name of one of her Alpha mates is just a few spots down in my list.

Kellan was a friend for a while before he met Brooke, and the thought of calling him makes me feel guilty, and underhanded, because we really haven’t kept in touch and I’m only calling him because I’m too gutless to call Brooke.

He’s one of Brooke’s fated mates.

I’m just the girl who helped him get into the academy so he could see her again.

In this moment I don’t know what ever made me think I could be with her.

She’s so completely out of my league.

The pack she found are perfect for her.

Kellan spent his whole adult life saving like a demon for that chance to see her again.

He deserves to be with her. He’s the Alpha she’s always needed.

I hit dial on his number, and I bring the phone to my ear while I try to compose myself to talk to a guy I’m intensely happy for and extremely jealous of, all at the same time.

He picks up in a single ring, so I’m guessing he had his phone out.

“Lana? Is that you?” he answers, sounding surprised.

I take a breath and pull a smile to my lips. “It’s me, and before you drag me for not calling, I should remind you, you haven’t exactly kept in touch with me, either.”

“Sorry,” he apologizes, making me feel instantly guilty for giving him pre-emptive shade. “For the first time in my life it feels like the days are flying past in a blur. I can barely keep up. Sorry for not calling. It’s not because I didn’t want to.”

He means it. He’s too nice not to feel bad about ignoring a friend.

It makes me feel even worse, because he hasn’t called for the right reasons.

I didn’t want to call him, and that makes me feel like an asshole.

“It’s okay,” I tell him. “I’ve been busy, too. I was just ragging you, K.”

“Oh. Right,” he says with a laugh. “So, what’s happening?”

“I’m glad you asked, because I kind of need a favor.”

“Anything,” he tells me.

I know he means that, too.

I did everything I could to help him get into the academy when it seemed next to impossible.

He bought me a car because I joked about it, so he doesn’t really owe me anything, but I’m going to ask anyway, because I’m too scared to go straight to Brooke with this.

“It’s kind of a weird ask,” I admit. “But I had a realization that Brooke’s father was probably using the academy in his work. I wondered if you guys had found anything in his office that might tell us who his subjects were.”

“Funny you should ask,” he says. “Brooke found files on a hard-drive we had someone crack for us. She’s been trying to work out who the subjects are from Goldcrest because he used codes for everyone’s name. She was making a list, and she was going to bring it to you once she got done.”

“Oh,” I murmur, feeling like even more of an asshole for bypassing calling her now.

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