Page 133 of Defiant Beta

I hold my index finger and thumb close together. “About this much.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Really?”

I widen the fingers a little more—half an inch.

He exhales a sigh and lifts me onto the counter. “You’re killing me here. I went in guns blazing, served the biggest game I have. I was trying toimpress. And I get that!”

My lips twitch. “Why would you be trying to impress?”

He bends closer, the heat of his chest warming mine. “Since I caught a girl I mistook for a squirrel, I might have liked the way she felt in my arms.”

“You mistook me for a squirrel?”

He winks. “A very sexy squirrel.”

I laugh. “You’re insane.”

“Maybe a little,” he concedes, and his smile fades. “Levi worried about hurting you. About you not being ready. That’s why he was saying it was a mistake. Not because he doesn’t like you. I forgot to say that before in the bathroom. He didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I like him. That’s why it hurt so much to hear him say it was a mistake,” I quietly admit.

“You should tell him that.”

“I was going to before a certain alpha fried my brain with a kiss I can’t get out of my mind.”

He flashes me a grin. “You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that.”

“Because you’re the best kisser ever and your ego would never recover?”

He loses his amiable expression. “Because I like you a lot and want you to see past the mask I sometimes like to wear.”

“Iknewyou were hiding something behind that bushy beard.”

“Snacks?” He lifts an eyebrow.

“A soft side,” I say with a smile. “Something to go along with that romantic side you keep trying to hide from me.”

“You want me to stop hiding it?” He cradles the nape of my neck and leans into me.

“Yes, I think I do.”

“Done.”

I study him, not sure I want to ask this question, but knowing I need to. “What was she like? Aly?”

What I mean is, was she like me? Am I enough like her, except for the designation part, that I’ll do as a replacement?

“We’re not trying to replace you, Della.”

I scrunch my nose. “Am I that easy to read?”

“Your eyes, yes.” His smile is brief. “She was a neighbor. Quiet unless you knew her. Long dark hair, green eyes. Pretty. She noticed Levi was going through shit before anyone else did, helped him, and us too, when our parents died. She was a nurturer.”

“Do you miss her?” It sounds like he misses her a heap. Enough to make me question what he would want with me, because I’m no nurturer.

“She was our omega. Yes, I miss her. But…”

“But?”

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