Page 98 of The Beta's Heart

“Or else what? You gonna sic your little girlfriend on us? You think she’ddareto do anything?”

“You bet your sweet ass I would!” I sneered, stepping up, anger and confidence surging through me.

As the trio exchanged uncertain glances, Korine tried to maintain her composure.

“Fine. Have it your way.” She turned on her heel and called back over her shoulder, “But don’t think we won’t finish this later.”

“It’s already finished, bitch.” I shrugged as if I couldn’t care less, and in a way it was true.

Ty was mine and would always be mine; nothing they could do would change that. It was just the adrenaline of finally standing up to them that was making me shake, not fear or worry.

As they strutted off in a snit, I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, and my mate pulled me into a hug.

“You okay, Sunshine?”

“Yeah, Thanks for standing up for me.”

“Always,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Ain’t nobody gonna mess with my girl.”

“Did it ruin our date?” I whispered into his shirt.

“Naw, Sunshine, just added some unexpected zing to it.”

Smiling at each other, we settled back into our seats, the tension slowly ebbing away.

As the house lights went off, I glanced at Tyler, his profile illuminated by the flickering screen. Despite the drama, I felt a sense of pride and happiness. He’d faced down the queen beeswithme andforme! He always made me feel so special, so loved, like I was the only girl in the world—and maybe to him, I was.

#

Tyler

That evening, I asked if Dove could join me by the fire pit.

Peri happily agreed, probably very aware that she spent far more time with River than I got to with Dove.

That was mostly River’s fault. He wouldn’t leave Peri alone. Ever since the ‘porky pie’ incident when we moved in, he wanted to go for an hour-long walk in the woods with her every single evening.

Now, watching Dove as she gazed into the dancing flames with a thoughtful expression, I admired her fur glowing in the firelight. She was so calm and peaceful, and I was glad for that since my wolf needed a lot of soothing. That thought reminded me of something I’d been meaning to talk to her about.

“Dove,” I began softly, “I wanted to apologize if River’s behavior gets to be too much sometimes. He’s… different, I know. When he first manifested, things were… rough. My father…”

A knot formed in my throat, and I had to pause for a moment until it loosened up.

Take your time, Tyler, but just to let you know, you don’t have to apologize for one thing about River. In my eyes, he is perfect just the way he is.

“Well, I’m glad about that.”

Finish your story, please.

“My father hurt my mother in front of us and later… Later, we found him with her dead body. That’s when he… when he cut me up with a silver knife.”

I knew Peri was listening, too, and I was glad. Not only because I was grateful for the deep swells of love and sympathy she was flooding me with through the mate bond, but also because I didn’t want to tell the story a second time.

The source of your scars,Dove said wisely.They don’t look like the kinds of scars left by a silver knife.

“River healed them that night, but Dr. Myers says there was too much contact with silver in too short a time. Plus, Riv panicked. He was only a few hours old and had to endure all of that, then basically bring me back from the dead. Doc said the scars are called keloids.”

Do they bother you?Dove’s eyes shone with care and sorrow.

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