Page 148 of Defiant Beta

“Who’s here?” Xavier, in a custom black suit, yawns into his glass.

Two days ago, we watched Della climb into the back of Kylian Sutton’s Audi, and he drove her away.

Nothinghas felt the same since Della left.

“Della.” I pass off my untouched glass of champagne flute to a passing server. “I’m going after her.”

“Levi.” Xavier grips my arm and pulls me back, frowning. “Della is with her sister. You’re seeing things.” He shakes his head. “It’s just wishful thinking. It isn’t like I haven’t wished that…”

I yank on my arm. “It was her.”

We’ve stuck to the shadows on the hunt for Ms. Huffman, with the invitations that Vincent secured for tonight.

As I scanned the room for the fifth time since we arrived thirty minutes ago, I did not expect my gaze to clash with Della’s large, dark blue eyes.

I scowl at the crowded dance floor as I work out how to get around the dancing alphas and omegas. When a couple spins past, I step forward.

Xavier starts to follow, then twists around, frowning. “Where the hell is Vince?”

Good question.

Then I see him pushing through the dancers, shoving people out of his way. Taking advantage of the path he’s carving through the crowds, Xavier and I follow him out.

By the time we venture outside the ballroom to reach the moonlit quad, Della and Vincent are nowhere to be seen.

“Are you sure it was her?” Xavier asks as I scan the shadows.

A couple kiss against a wall. A blond woman in a pink dress. Definitely not Della. Everyone else is inside. “It was her.”

“What was she doing here?”

“Probably here to blow up the school,” I mutter as I check down the side of the ballroom.

Nothing.

Where the fuck did Vincent disappear to?

Xavier’s expression is thoughtful. After months of him having a thick, dark beard, seeing him without it takes some getting used to.

“She was being weird that morning. I know we checked if she was still sleeping when we were talking in the kitchen, and it looked like she was, but maybe she wasn’t,” he says.

A thought suddenly occurs to me. “You think she ditched us to come here?”

“I think she thought we were ditching her, so she ditched us first,” Xavier mutters, narrowing his eyes at a figure in the distance.

“We weren’t ditching her,” I mutter. “Should we go back inside? Maybe they went out of a side room instead of the front?”

Vincent is out of breath as he steps out of the shadows. “Did you see where she went?”

“Where the fuck did you go?” I glare at him.

“I saw a woman running toward the parking lot,” he says, frustrated.

“Della?” I demand.

He shakes his head. “A girl had forgotten her bag and was going to get it. Of course, I didn’t learn that until I’d scared her half to death by chasing her across the quad.”

If Della slipped out of the ball, she’s here to cause mischief. Before I can suggest that we split up and check all the buildings, Kylian emerges from the ballroom’s double doors with a grin.

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