Page 149 of Defiant Beta

“Hey. Fancy seeing you guys here.”

“What are you doing here?” Xavier asks, frowning at him.

Yes, why is Della’s sister’s mate at an event intended to match unmated alphas and omegas?

His smile is lazy as he lifts his shoulder in a careless shrug. “Never came to one of these things before, and we kept getting invitations all the time. Nancy has a drawer full of them at home. I figured it might be time to see what it was all about.”

“You have an omega. Everleigh,” Xavier reminds him.

He grins. “I do, don’t I? Anyway, did you guys see the refreshment table? It’s a joke. I’m sure the champagne was flat before they poured it.”

“You’re distracting us,” Vincent says, his eyes sharpening. “Della is here to do something. She knows that we know she’s here, and you’re here to distract us long enough for her to do it.”

Kylian scratches his jaw. “Interesting theory. One I’d like to follow up with what exactlyyou’redoing here.”

A light is on in the wellness center. At nearly nine, it’s too late for anyone to be there. What is Ms. Huffman doing? Getting ridof evidence? Packing so she can slip away because she suspects we’re on to her?

“This is serious, Kylian. None of us wanted her in danger,” Vincent says. “Did she tell you what she was doing here?”

Kylian drops the lazy act. Suddenly, he’s serious. “Finding a friend. She doesn’t want any omega to be trapped with an alpha like Lawrence Wentworth. I’m here to help. So is Cian.”

Cian Barnes, another of Everleigh’s scent matches.

Xavier steps forward. “Where is she?”

“She said she was headed to the science building,” Kylian says.

Vincent and Xavier take off across the quad toward it.

I hang back, keeping them in my sight. Our priorities have shifted, but I haven’t forgotten the reason we’re here tonight. It’s not just about getting justice for Aly. It’s about stopping a killer from hurting anyone else. “Do me a favor.”

Kylian cocks his head, curious. “That is?”

I step closer, lowering my voice when a laughing couple emerges from the ballroom. “It’s not safe for her here. We’re hunting an omega killer. Next time you see her, sit on her. She can’t be running around tonight.”

I move to follow Vincent and Xavier when Kylian grabs my wrist. I get a chill being this close to him when I remember what happened to Lawrence Wentworth.

“Who?” One word, quiet and intense.

“The wellness instructor. Ms. Huffman. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. About five feet five. Fifty, but doesn’t look it. A student said she was wearing a silver dress.” Not that any of us have seen her tonight.

He lets me go, and I run off, leaving him in the shadows as he raises a phone to his ear.

Chapter 44

Della

One handon the curved iron railing, I drag myself up the clock tower stairs.

With each step, I curse my stupid, heavy velvet skirt that keeps trying to drag me back down. Finally, I reach the top, passing the massive iron bell.

Flinging the door open, I step onto the roof, shivering violently as a gust of wind sends me stumbling back a half-step.

I was about to break into the science building when I saw Ms. Huffman in a full-length silver dress that looked like aluminum foil.

After what I overheard Vincent, Xavier, and Levi talking about right before they ditched me, it’s clear Ms. Huffman is wrapped up in the mystery of who killed their omega.

Apart from gray stone, there's little else up here—just impressive views of the school about twenty feet below and the distant city.

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