Page 4 of Knot Your Average Beta

My fingers tighten on his shirt—wait, when did my hand move to his shirt?—and I pull him closer. Burying my nose in the hollow behind his ear to breathe him in the way he’s breathing me in. This is… fucking inappropriate as hell for a coffee shop in the late afternoon. But I can’t seem to get myself to stop.

The alpha chuckles and slides his cheek along mine, scent marking me.

It’s startling enough that I pull back from him.

A complete stranger just scent marked me.

That… that shit is even more inappropriate.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says, grinning down at me. “You’re meant to be mine, anyway.”

Something about the gleam in his eyes as he says it makes my heart thud heavily in my chest. And, even though I know it’s not true, some part of me wishes it was. A really large part of me does.

“Is that so?” I ask, arching a brow and his grin just widens.

“Yep.”

I hum and toy with my plate. Why am I toying with my plate? Am I nervous? What? No. I can’t possibly be. I’m never nervous around men. Ever. Or at least not since I was a teenager.

We linger there in silence for a moment, and just as I open my mouth to ask his name, his phone rings. He doesn’t pull it out, but his smile morphs… it turns from beaming into something a little more feral, dangerous. “I have to go,” he says, gold eyes still fixed on me. “But I want to see you again.”

“Does this qualify as ‘seeing’?” I ask, pulling my hand from the plate and shifting to face him more fully.

“We’re looking at each other, aren’t we?”

I laugh and his face lights up. “I suppose we are.”

A second later, he slides a black card embossed in gold on the table. “Give this to the bouncer at the door. He’ll let you into the VIP section. Free drinks on the house. Good for tonight only.”

I don’t look at the card. I’m honestly not sure I can look away from this beautiful alpha standing in front of me. “You’ll come?” he asks, sounding hopeful as hell.

“I’ll come,” I agree, without thinking. Something about him just makes me feel… That’s it. He makes me feel, which is a hell of a lot more than any of the other guys I’ve been with, including the two asshats I just got fired over.

“Fuck yeah, you will,” he growls in a tone that tells me he means I’ll be coming in bed on his cock. And just like that, I’m wet between my legs again. His nostrils flare, like he can scent my arousal, which isn’t possible for a beta, but the look he gives me tells me he knows what just happened in my panties.

He leans down and rubs his cheek on mine again, presses a soft kiss there and then strides away from me, singing along with the song playing over the sound system. Heartbreaker by Marina.

My lips curl into a smirk at the coincidence because the shade of red on my lips is called Heartbreaker. Kismet.

As the door closes behind the pale-haired alpha, I pick up the card, running a thumb over the raised text. It feels fucking fancy as hell, which I suppose is the case if it’s an invitation to the VIP section of the club.

Still grinning like a loon, I pick up my phone and send a text to Sylvie to see if she’s up for a change of plans.

Chapter 2: In which I learn to believe in love at first sight

Swift isn’t here. It really shouldn’t surprise me. He loses focus real fucking quick sometimes, and I’m sure this is one of those times. He’s probably dangling some guy who bumped into him too hard from a meat hook and running his knife over his skin.

Luca shifts next to me, draping his arm over my shoulders and tugging me into his chest. I take a deep breath of his spiced pear and brandy scent and let it settle me. “Don’t worry about it, baby. We can handle this,” Luca murmurs, just loud enough for me to hear him over the thumping music. His lips brush against my temple as I relax against him further.

We can handle it. I’m not really all that worried, but sometimes these assholes get it in their heads that just because Swift or Maddox aren’t here, they’re being disrespected, and that makes them act out.

I’d really love to get through the night with no bloodshed.

Though even if Swift were here, there’s no guarantee about that.

Especially if Swift were here, there’s no guarantee about that.

I love the guy. He’s one of the alphas in my pack, but he’s a certified psycho and has a problem with impulse control. If he wants to do a thing, he’ll do it. Sometimes that means ordering a three tiered wedding cake, just because he wanted a slice, and sometimes that means stabbing a knife through the hand of a business associate for taking the last cheese danish.

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