Page 150 of Bonding with the Beta

My heels click against the floor, and the woman glances in my direction as I stare her down. Her hands are on my man. She’s touching what’s mine.

“What the fuck is this?” I blurt when I am close enough.

Kayden snaps his attention to me and immediately moves away from her as if he’s been caught red-handed. “Kayleigh?—”

The woman steps in front of him and flashes a confused expression at me. “I’m Kayden’s mate. Who are you?”

My nostrils flare as her words bite at my soul. “I’m his girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” she recoils as if she’s been slapped.

I glance at Kayden, who is staring at me like he’s losing control of everything.

Heartbreak once? It hurts.

Heartbreak twice? It feels like falling off a cliff and knowing the painful ending will be inevitable.

“Kayden, please say something,” I rasp, tears welling in my eyes.

His mouth falls open as he looks between us. “Kayleigh, this isn’t—” He drags a hand down his haunted face. “I need?—”

“Me. He needs me. Thanks for keeping him warm for me,” she cuts him off before pressing a possessive hand to his chest.The action makes me want to rip her damn face off. “I’ll take over from here. It’s where he belongs and willalwaysbelong.”

Her words stab me right through the chest until I’m a bleeding mess.

“Harley,” Kayden’s voice is low, “stop.”

A tear drips down my face as I stare back at him in disbelief. My heart shatters into pieces so small that it could never be put back together the same again.

I wait for him to give me some kind of reassurance. Something.Anything.

But he doesn’t.

“Well,” I choke painfully. “Thanks for being such a fucking coward, Kayden. I hope you two are very happy together.”

“Oh, trust me,” Harley flashes me a sarcastic smile, “we will be. Thanks for your concern.”

I turn on my heel and walk across the patio before I kill her out of burning hatred. My throat clenches, and I resist the urge to scream. Kayden and Harley’s voices erupt into a heated discussion behind me, but I zone them out.

“Kayleigh.” Ava rushes to my side as I frantically push away the tears that stain my cheeks. “Kayleigh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. None of us?—”

I turn around, and she halts before I reach the steps towards the car park. “You knew exactly what a bond feels like, what having a mate feels like,” I sob, my heart hollow. “You should have warned me. You should have told me what was going to happen. You should have told me to stay away.”

Ava’s face deteriorates. “I’m sorry, Kayleigh. Don’t leave. You’re upset.”

I shake my head in disbelief and turn around. “I can’t be here.”

My hands dig around in my bag to call myself an Uber because I cannot stay a second longer. If I see them together again, I’ll break.

“Kayleigh.Kayleigh.Wait, please,” Kayden’s voice echoes from behind me.

A sob wracks my throat, and I hunch forward, releasing everything at the sound of him calling my name. “Please, just listen to me,” he begs, but I don’t turn around.

He grabs my wrist, and I retract like his touch is poison.

“Don’t touch me,” I grit out.

“Please, look at me,” he exhales, the words nothing but a desperate mess of emotions. “Kayleigh, please.”

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