Page 39 of The Beta's Heart

Without hesitation, we followed his instructions, running to the restroom and locking the door behind us. Tension twisted my stomach into knots as I listened at the door and heard the betas’ fading footsteps and the angry rumbles of their wolves.

Well, we’re not going to sit here and wait with only a thin piece of wood and a deadbolt between us and death,I decided.The betas can do their part, and we’ll do ours.

“Okay, we know help is on the way, but the betas are outnumbered.” I gathered my girls into a tight huddle. “We need a plan in case they can’t hold the line until the others get here. We can’t let anything happen to the luna.”

“Behind the diner is an open field that leads to the woods,” Callie said. “As soon as we hit the trees, we’re on pack territory. I saywe go through the kitchen, out the back door, and book it for the border.”

As we quickly roughed out a plan, I kept my eyes on Posy. She was crying silently, her breath coming in little pants, and she shook hard enough to rattle her teeth.

“Luna’s not going to be able to run, Per,” Callie said, pointing out what we all could see.

“My wolf is a large one. I’ll carry her,” Lilah said with determination in her mismatched eyes. “The three of you run guard around us. If we’re attacked, buy as much time as you can for me to get her back on pack lands.”

Sounded like a good enough plan to me, so I nodded and linked Cole to let him know what was happening.

#

Tyler

The air crackled with tension as we lined up outside Roger’s Diner, ready to face whatever threat came at us.

“What’s the plan, boys?” Roger Poe stepped between me and Crew, rolled his neck, and cracked his knuckles. “Wolf, human, or half-shifted?”

“Go back inside, Rog,” Emerson rumbled. “This is beta business and—”

“The hell I will! Brook and I got beta blood the same as you.” As Em opened his mouth to continue arguing, Roger threw up one hand. “And don’t even try to order me out of this fight. Alpha Cole himself gave me permission to defend my diner any time I needed to and in any way I saw fit.”

“They ain’t coming for your diner, old man,” Tristan told him with exasperation. “Get your ass behind your grill and stay there!”

Ineverwould have spoken to an elder like that, but Roger was Tris’ great-uncle on his mother’s side, the Poes having been one of the smaller families from Dark Woods while the Harringtons had always been powerful warriors for the River Rapids pack. I didn’t really know too much about family dynamics, so maybe it was okay to talk like that between relatives?

“You get that bass out your voice ’fore you talk to me again, son, or you going to learn better over my knee!” Roger fired back, so maybe it wasn’t okay? “You ain’t so big I can’t whup you for sassing me!”

“Hey, let’s focus on whupping the enemies and not each other,” Crew intervened, jerking his head toward the parking lot. “Rog, stay close to me and link one of us if you get in trouble.”

As Roger muttered about kids these days getting too big for their britches, the Tall Pines wolves kept tumbling out of the two mini buses, their snarls and aggressive postures a clear declaration that they weren’t leaving without a fight.

That was fine with me. River had been longing for some new playthings—and play with his prey he did. While most wolves prided themselves on how fast they could rip out a throat, mine liked to toy with his, giggling to himself when they foolishly started to believe that they could beat him, that they would live.

So far, none ever had.

“This is your one and only warning,” Emerson’s voice rang out, authoritative and firm. “Turn back now or face the consequences.”

“Step aside, Five Fangs filth,” sneered their obvious leader, an unusually tall shifter with a cruel sneer. “We’re taking back what belongs to our alpha.”

With a low growl, I exchanged glances with the others, and we all nodded. We knew what needed to be done.

Half-shifting, we bulked up until our clothes split at the seams, fur sprouted everywhere, and our faces elongated into wolf heads until we looked exactly like the creatures that humans pictured when they heard the term werewolf.

All right, boys, let’s show them what happens when they threaten our luna,Em murmured in the link, and we all growled our agreement.

The first clash was an explosion of flashing fangs and tearing claws. I kept my moves calculated and precise, River and I working together to separate each shifter from his head.

Don’t miss a single one,I told my wolf.

Me kill them all!he roared back, adrenaline flooding us both.

Although we were greatly outnumbered, we held them back, Em’s strategic commands guiding our movements with an efficiency and ferocity that they couldn’t match. Not only were we five betas—and one old man—from the second most powerful pack in the kingdom, but we were also protecting our vulnerable luna, a combination that spelled their doom before they even realized it. Even if they had brought along twice as many wolves, we would not have fallen or faltered in our duty so long as they threatened Luna Posy.

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