Page 122 of Bonding with the Beta

“What the hell are you doing?” I snap myself back into reality. “Get out.”

He shrugs. “You always used to let me in,” he slurs. “Whether that was two in the morning or ten in the morning. What’s the difference?”

I scowl at him, my blood bubbling beneath the surface. “Leave, Josh. I don’t want you here.”

“What happened to us, Kayleigh?” he asks, his voice cracking a little.

My teeth clamp down on my tongue to stop myself from screaming at his audacity. “What happened is that you’re an asshole, and I know my worth. I deserved so much better than the way you treated me. So please, fuck off. I don’t want to see you.”

I refuse to let tears gather in my eyes, not after how many times I cried over this pathetic boy. I’m not letting another free for him. He doesn’t deserve it.

His tall, muscular frame towers over me as he pushes himself into my room and slams the door with force. My heart hammers in my chest, and I breathe through my nose in frustration.

“Get out!” I bellow at him.

Josh’s hands clamp down on my shoulders, stopping me from moving. I struggle against him, but he doesn’t budge as he shoves me against the wall. My blood runs cold, and I turn rigid beneath his death grip.

His intoxication makes my stomach roll with nausea, and the smell of vodka on his breath is vile. I almost dry-heave. “Oh, come on,” he murmurs. “You used to love it when I came over unexpectedly. You’d always invite me in because you were so broken.”

I grit my teeth. “You were the one who broke me, Josh.”

“I didn’t do anything,” he slurs. “It’s not my fault you were so fragile.”

My hands raise, and I use all my strength to shove him off me. He stumbles for a moment, and red flashes in his eyes. “Leave, Josh,” I grumble. “Before I scream this whole block down, and I’ll have you dragged out of here by the security.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He steps forward again.

I shake my head and slip around him as his hand latches onto my wrist, tugging me backwards aggressively. This time, I try to pull out of his grip, but it’s impossible, his blunt fingernails digging into my skin.

“Josh, you’re hurting me,” I clench my jaw. “Let me go.”

“You make me out to be this monster, Kayleigh,” he scoffs. “But I’m not. I’m a good person.”

“What do you want from me?”

“One more night.”

My face recoils from his grotesque suggestion. “I’d sooner have sex with a cactus than ever touch you again. Now, fucking leave before you make a fool out of yourself.”

“Because of that new boyfriend you’ve got?” he asks, his other hand gripping my jaw.

I struggle against him. “You have no right to interrogate me about my boyfriend. You’re no longer in my life for a reason, Josh.”

He laughs and pulls our faces closer. A strike of panic rushes through me as he almost presses his lips to mine. I breathe through my nose heavily before I raise my knee and connect it to his groin.

Josh buckles over in pain and releases me. I slip beneath him and rush towards my bedroom door, fumbling to get it open as I hear him groan behind me. I step out into the hall at the same time I feel a hand wrap around my wrist once more, tugging me backwards as my heart sinks deep in my chest.

A scream bellows from my lungs as a hand claps over my mouth, and my bedroom door is slammed shut.

“You really shouldn’t have done that, Kayleigh,” Josh growls in my ear as I fight against him. “I’m gonna make you pay for that.”

40

KAYDEN

“Okay, in this box, we’ve got kid’s clothes and shoes,” Jaxon says as he taps the cardboard box with his hand. “And these are women's clothes and other necessities.”

The Alpha of the new pack in our district, Cole, looks beyond grateful, his eyes crinkling as we work around the donations we’ve managed to collect to help them to settle into their new home after having nothing. “Thank you,” he says before taking his wife's hand. “You have no idea what your kindness means for us.”

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