Page 82 of Beginning Fate

“Sure, I guess. I mean, if you do.”

I remembered how it felt at first with all those girls crowding us. It made me shudder just thinking about it. I had just gotten comfortable in that room with the boys providing a buffer for us. How much worse would it be in the basement?

My curiosity was piqued, though. I really wanted to see what was down there. If the beer wasn’t hindering my thoughts just a little, I probably would have said no and waited to see it later when there wasn’t a party going on.

Unfortunately for me, the beer was giving me a false sense of security and made me feel like I could handle absolutely anything.

Denny

Chapter 21

Lauren seemed really relaxed after downing those two beers. I was glad I cut her off when I did. I knew she didn’t drink much, if at all, and she’d already had one back in the room.

I had never needed alcohol to have a good time. But I also didn’t mind partaking now and then. Over the years, I’d learned some lessons the hard way, and it had certainly taught me where my point of no return lay. I had no desire to get drunk and probably do something really stupid around my mate.

It wasn’t that I cared if she saw me at my worst. It was just that now was not the time to make a fool of myself. I still had to convince her not to return to New York. I certainly didn’t want to give her reasons to leave me.

We were growing closer. I could feel it. A lot of her initial fears and concerns were gone. More importantly, our bond was strengthening. I knew it and so did she.

So far, tonight was going great. I just hoped it would continue that way.

I kept her close to me as we weaved back through the living room and then downstairs to the bar and dance floor.

As I suspected, the room was overcrowded with heavily drunk people, and things were getting a little crazy.

What I hadn’t anticipated was the number of unmated males I did not know. They seemed to be everywhere, and my wolf was not happy about it.

I froze, trying to decide where best to hide Lauren from them.

My vision was clouding in a sea of red as I began to panic.

Something caught her attention, and she moved towards it so quickly that we lost contact.

My wolf roared in my head, and a feral growl erupted from me.

A few people dancing nearby stopped and backed away.

“Denny? Are you okay?” Oscar asked.

“Denny?” Kevin tried.

I heard them but couldn’t manage to respond.

I could no longer see my mate.

“Back off,” I warned them.

“One of you go get the brothers upstairs. Something’s wrong.”

“I’ll do it,” Will offered.

“I’ll come with you,” his twin brother added.

The two of them took off.

“Wasn’t Lauren with him?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, she’s over there,” Jett pointed.

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