Page 136 of Defiant Beta

A line forms between his eyebrows. “What did you hear?”

“I heard you say it was a mistake. Us. That’s what I get for having my ear to a closed door, huh? Clearly, I learned nothing from that filthy motel.” I quip, trying to pretend it hadn’t been a dagger in the gut.

He stares at me, then mutters a curse as he slumps back into the couch, not just shocked, but devastated. “Youheardthat?”

I nod.

“What else?”

“Just that. I mean, I figured I’d heard plenty, and I’m no masochist to go looking for more pain. Hmm. Maybe I did learn a little something from the motel and?—”

He kisses me hard and deep, reminding me of how perfect that night was and how much I didn’t want it to end. He breaks it as suddenly as he started it.

Cupping the nape of my neck, he looks me right in the eye. “It was not a mistake. It willneverbe a mistake. I just… I didn’t want to rush you after what happened to you.” I open my mouth to tell him that he didn’t rush me, but he continues. “And I did. You had a nightmare because ofme. Youshouldhate me.”

“The things those alphas did to me triggered the nightmare.” I poke him in the chest. “It wasn’t your fault. Do I need to poke you again, or do you believe me now?”

He gives me a searching look and pulls me into a hug. “I don’t deserve you.” His voice is gruff and gentle, igniting a new warmth in my heart.

“I’m not all that.” I wind my arms around his waist, my cheek against his chest. “Thanks for making my bed for me.”

He kisses the top of my head. “Xavier is shit at it. You’d have still been waiting for him to finish if he’d been the one to do it.”

Laughing, I tighten my arms around him. “Really?”

“Really.” He pulls back to look down at me, and his eyes are soft as he tucks hair behind my ear. “And you are all that. Even if you don’t want to see it, I do. We all do.”

Chapter 40

Xavier

“You’re lettingDella distract you from what’s important here.” Vincent starts the engine the second I slide into the passenger seat and slam my door shut.

I blow out a sigh and snap my seatbelt on. “I should’ve known there was a reason you dragged me out here in the middle of the night.”

Vincent pulls away from the house. “You don’t deny it.”

“No, I don’t deny it.”

“Aly would want justice.”

“Aly—” I pierce him with a stare, “—would not have wanted us to throw away ten years of our life. She would want us to behappy.”

Vincent is silent for a moment, but I know he’s thinking hard. Too hard, because he whispers, “She’s not ours, Xavier.”

“Who are you trying to convince? You or me?”

His fingers tighten around the steering wheel. “She’s going to leave. When all this is over and I’ve found the alphas who hurt her, shewillleave us.”

Ah. The heart of the conversation.

Fear.

My brother is afraid to let himself believe we can have a future with her.

“So, we ask her to stay.”

He takes a breath and releases it. “You didn’t see her in the shower, Xavier. I keep wishing I could go back in time to when I caught her crawling out of my classroom and stop her from leaving the school.”

---