Page 100 of Defiant Beta

Xavier

A student sitswith her back against a tree, gazing down into her lap.

She twirls a blade of grass between her fingers as the wind whips her long, blonde hair around.

I’m late to rescue Levi and Della from the motel room, and I’m dying to know how they got locked in there, but I stop when she sniffs and rubs a hand over her face.

For years, we’ve been so focused on finding Aly’s killer that we literally blinded ourselves to the world around us.

Like people needing help.

Levi accused Vincent of being cold. What about me?

Five minutes, then you have to go.

I turn around and walk back. “Everything okay?”

She scrambles to her feet, dragging her hand across her reddened eyes. “Sorry, I’ll?—”

I lift a hand to calm her, recognizing her as a girl I’ve seen with Della. “You’re not in trouble.”

She sighs. “I probably am. I should be at a math quiz, but I didn’t go.”

“Because you don’t like math?”

“Because I didn’t see the point. No one cares if we pass the quiz. The only thing that matters is that we match with the right alpha at the end-of-year ball.”

I take out my cell phone to quickly message Levi that I’m running late. Then I sit on the grass, resting my back against the tree. Moments later, she joins me.

Her toffee scent teases my senses. It’s rich and buttery sweet, but not overpowering. She’s an omega, and as an alpha, I’m drawn to omegas, but her scent lacks the appeal of Della’s subtle, beta fragrance.

“What’s your name?” I ask.

“River. You’re the gardener, right?”

I nod. “Xavier.”

Shit. I shouldn’t have given her my real name, but it’s too late for that now.

“Do you ever feel like you’re heading in a direction you’re not sure about? That maybe you want something you’re not supposed to want?”

My mind flashes to Della.

I hope she’s recovering from what happened to her. I want to be with the rest of my pack, not here, pretending to be a gardener. Justice for Aly is important, but we’ve been searching for it for so long that I’m tired.

Aly wouldn’t have wanted this life for us. If she’d survived and we hadn’t, I’d want her to be happy rather than on an endless quest for justice.

I miss being a pack. And Della. I hadn’t known I would ever want again, but I do.

“Occasionally,” I admit.

“So, what do you do?”

I mentally wince. “Not sure that’s a question I can answer for you.”

“Because I’m an omega?”

“Because I’m not you.”

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