Page 158 of Defiant Beta

“You’re family,” Rune had rumbled. “Take the three months, or Kylian will buy you the building.”

I took the three months.

My job is at the same beauty store where I bought the cherry and praline perfume I used to mask myself as an omega. Since they were short-staffed, I could start immediately.

What I really want to do is confront the three alphas who haven’t shown their faces since they said goodbye to me at the Haven end-of-year ball. But I’m terrified that they don’t want me, have in fact replaced me, and knocking on their door will lead to a pain I’m not sure I’m ready to embrace.

I got a job and an apartment, and I’m trying to figure out what I want to do with my life now that my focus is no longer on watching over my sister.

Haven Academy is closed after the shocking revelation of an omega serial killer at the school prompted the Council and Omega Institute to find a new way to protect omegas.

I didn’t report it, so it must have been Vincent, Levi, or Xavier.

A familiar male voice yanks me out of my thoughts.

“No. That’s too sweet. I’m looking for one with more notes of cherry.”

I abandon my work station and creep toward the voice, knowing who it is but still certain I’m wrong.

It’s in my section of the fragrance store, but not my counter. As the newest worker here, no one trusts me with the high-end stuff yet.

A tall, dark-haired man in a gray checked jacket stands in front of a designer perfume counter.

I recognize those shoulders.

“This one, sir?” Mya, a pretty beta, offers him a pale pink bottle.

Vincent lowers his head to sniff and then shakes it. “No. What else do you have?”

Mya returns the sample bottle to the display case. “That’s it. You’ve tried every single fragrance I have. Are you sure it wasthiscounter?”

“Maybe that wasn’t the smell I was looking for after all.”

I’m creeping closer, curious about what he’s doing here when he turns around.

I drop.

My pencil skirt bunches around my thighs, and I start crawling away as fast as I can.

If my manager saw me, there’s no way I’d have a job after this.

“Miss Jackson. Is there a reason you’re crawling around the store?”

I squeeze my eyes shut, heave out a sigh, and look up.

Vincent is standing beside me, hands in his pockets, head cocked as he studies me. And he’s wearing the gray jacket I almost admitted made me sigh. He’s no math professor, but he sure knows how to wear the heck out of a tweed jacket.

“I dropped something,” I lie.

“And that something was?” he asks, amused.

I struggle to get to my feet. “It’s lost forever now. No point wasting time looking for it.”

A hand appears, and when I grasp it, Vincent helps me up from the floor. “Are you sure? I have time to help you look.” His tone is serious, but there’s a flicker of amusement in his gray eyes.

A pang hits me in my chest, and I stifle the urge to fling myself in his arms and hug him hard. How can I have missed himthismuch?

How has he, in the short time I’ve known him, become so essential to my happiness?

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