Page 127 of The Beta's Heart

“Leave it, Peri! The truth about my past isn’t worth even the smallest risk to my future!”

Ignoring me, she yanked the entire drawer out of the filing cabinet as the house groaned again, more ominously this time. Before she could argue, I scooped her up—drawer and all—and sprinted out of there.

We barely made it outside before the entire structure collapsed behind us with a deafening crash, sending a cloud of grit and dust into the air. Coughing, I set my mate down gently and brushed off the debris as best I could, considering I was covered with it, too.

“You could have gotten yourself killed, Sunshine,” I scolded her quietly, relief and adrenaline mingled in my voice.

“Yeah, well, you can’t get rid of me that easily,” she retorted, holding up the drawer triumphantly.

Before I could take the heavy thing from her, River woke up with a start.

What Ty-Ty and mate do?he asked with a mix of curiosity and sulkiness.Have fun wifout me?

“Somuch fun, Riv,” Peri rasped, then bent over and coughed.

Not look like fun. Dovie, was fun?

No, my sweet. Remember I explained sarcasm? Peri was being sarcastic.

Oh. Dat.River rolled his eyes and blew a raspberry at her.

“Considering we both almost died, I think a little sarcasm is warranted here,” Peri defended herself the second she stopped choking.

“What happened to Little Miss ‘If the fucking roof falls in on me, I’ll dig my way out!’Hmm?” I smirked.

“Aha! Finally!” Making me wonder if she’d hit her head, Peri set down the drawer and started gyrating around in a happy dance. “That’s ten dollars in the swear bear, Mr. James! Bwahahaha!”

“Per, I don’t think it counts if I’m quoting someone,” I started to say, but she cut me off ruthlessly.

“Rules are rules, Tyler,” she scowled and poked my chest with her pointer finger. “You swore, you pay. No exceptions.”

Meanie mate!River let out a playful growl, and I chuckled.

“Fine, fine. I’ll pay up when we get home.”

“This alone was worth the trip over here—and the scare.” She waved the birth certificate at me. “Now, let’s go before any more houses decide to collapse on us.”

“Agreed,” I said, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

#

Winding our way around tables and giving quick hellos to those we knew, Peri, Ash, and I finally reached the kitchen, where Roger Poe reigned supreme.

“Alpha Ash!” he called out the second we stepped into his domain, although his eyes stayed locked on his sizzling burgers and chicken. “Beta Ty and pretty Peri! What brings you three to my humble diner? The cheeseburgers or the cheesesteaks?”

“Well, we probably won’t be leaving without one or the other,” Ash joked with a grin, “but we need some information first.”

“What kind of information?”

“About my parents,” I said, my voice raspy, and I quickly cleared my throat.

Roger stopped flipping burgers and finally looked at us, his dark brown eyes boring into me as sorrow flickered in their depths.

“Hey, Bridge! Take over for a sec!” he called over his shoulder, and Bridger Donahue trotted over from the sink, drying his hands on a dishtowel and giving the three of us a nod before he took the metal spatula Roger held out.

“Let’s talk outside,” Roger muttered and led us out of the back door. “I guess I gave you good enough directions for you to find your old place, huh?”

“Found it and salvaged some papers out of it before it finished collapsing,” I said. “Unfortunately, all it did was give me even more questions.”

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