Page 20 of The Beta's Heart

With a grin, I caught the bottle and took a long drink, savoring the cool water. It wasn’t Arizona Sweet Tea, but it would do.

Matthew, sprawled out on the grass nearby, rolled his eyes at our banter, but didn’t say anything.

“All right, enough chit-chat,” Em said, clapping his hands. “Break’s over. Last set before we hit the showers. Make it count, boys.”

We all groaned, but got back up and pushed through the final round of exercises. The camaraderie, even with Matthew’s silence, felt good and as we headed toward the showers, I relaxed and dropped my guard.

Dropped it a little too far, apparently, because I made the horrible mistake of stripping off my sweat-soaked shirt, too tired and sore to remember not to, and nearly died of shame at the sudden silence and the way they stopped to stare. As shock rippled through the beta bond, I flung my t-shirt over my shoulder to hide my back and ran ahead of them.

Tears blurred my vision as I pounded through the locker room door, wanting to crawl into a hole and die. Snatching my shower bag, I bolted into a stall, my heart pounding in my chest as I scolded myself for being so stupid.

And in front ofMatthew, of all people!

I cleaned up in record time and didn’t wait around to ask anyone for a ride. River was dying to run, anyway, so I reminded him to carry my gear bag in his mouth, then shifted and let him loose.

While I might have hoped they’d just forget about it and leave me alone, something told me they wouldn’t—and I was right.

After dinner, Alpha Jay showed up at the O and asked if I would let one of the pack deltas look at my scars. He said he wanted to make sure they were as healed as they could get. I didn’t want to, but Iowed all the alphas a lot, including my life, so I agreed and let him drive me to the pack’s medical clinic, where Alpha Ash was wearing a hole in the floor of the foyer.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked, searching through the bonds to see who was here with an injury.

“Yeah. Why?”

“If no one’s injured or sick, why are you here and pacing like a caged animal?”

“I’m here for you, bro!”

“What? Why?” I frowned in confusion. “What’s going on?”

“You’re my beta and my friend, and I’m worried about you. We all are. Emerson linked us about how bad your scars are, and we want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Oh.” The tension left my shoulders. “That’sall? Whew. I thought it was something serious.”

“Thisisserious, Ty,” Alpha Jay insisted. “They shouldn’t be this bad. It could lead to health issues down the road or something.”

“Not to mention the fact that you’re probably self-conscious about them,” Alpha Ash chimed in. “If we can get them looking better, you won’t be so worried about your mate seeing them.”

“The Moon Goddess won’t givemea mate, alpha,” I muttered. “She wouldn’t punish some poor girl that way.”

“Shut up, kid!” Sid slipped into his voice for a second, and my mouth snapped closed. “Don’t ever say that again!”

“You are worth a mate, Tyler,” Alpha Jay broke in. “Your scars don’t make you unworthy of happiness.”

I took a deep breath, trying to wrap my head around what they were saying. It was hard to believe, but maybe they had a point. Maybe healing these dumb scars would do more than just fix my body. Maybe it could heal something inside me, too. It was a long shot, but hope was all that kept me going some days, so I decided to believe that this was the start of something better.

“All right,” I said quietly.

“Thank you.” Alpha Ash smiled, a hint of relief in his eyes. “Let’s get you checked out and see what we can do.”

Dr. Myers, Crew’s dad, came out then and led us back to a private exam room. I hesitated as I reached for the hem of my shirt, but gathered my courage and pulled it off, revealing my back first.

Dr. Myers’s gasp was quiet, but it felt like a shout in that silent room. My heart raced as I clenched my shirt in my fists, wishing I could hide the shame that made my cheeks burn.

I hate being vulnerable like this! Makes me feel so helpless!

“Do they bother you, son? And I mean beyond how they look,” Dr. Myers’ voice was tinged with concern as he rolled his stool around to face me, his eyes holding a mix of professional curiosity and genuine empathy.

“It’s not only how they look. It’s about … feeling whole again, I guess,” I admitted, and both alphas growled low in their throats. Even without looking, I knew their eyes glinted with wolf light. “But yeah, they bother me some.”

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