Novel & Cerita Beth Bear

“Anita knows too much about me, and I have some self-respect to not get my assistant pregnant. I want a surrogate who does not know much about me. I do not want her to come back for the baby.” Another round of silence came between them. “I will do something for you, Jayden Wells. I will.” “Thank you and goodbye.” And as the doctor left the office, he carried a thin hope in his mind that Jayden Wells would find a reason to stay alive once he set his eye on his child. Jayden was a strong-willed wolf, but what wolf did not find purpose when it took in the scent of its baby and set its eye upon it at birth? It would be a shame to lose such a young Beta in his prime to suicide.

That steadied me more than his hand could have. I looked at Beth, then back to Eleanor. “Beth is not my mouse. She is my friend. Which means she has stood beside me in dressing rooms, hospital waiting areas, cheap kitchens, bad rehearsals, worse auditions, and lately, the kind of nightmare most people in this hallway would turn into charity gossip by breakfast.” Beth’s face changed. I did not stop. “She is funny when I cannot breathe. Brave when nobody asked her to be. Loyal without an audience. And if you think any of that makes her smaller than the women in this room, then your imagination is more limited than your manners.”

Then, not two seconds later, she tripped over her own feet, clutching at me like a child, and insisted, “See? I can walk perfectly. Better than you, Bryan. Much better.” She mumbled once more, eyes half-closed, her words slurred. “Don’t… don’t leave me, Bryan. You’re my husband, forever and ever… don’t leave me for Christiana.” Christiana! That name sent ripples down my spine! Oh heavens! The sound of the name made my heart beat so fast I lost stamina. Bella’s body gave out entirely, bouncing once against the mattress before she let out a ragged snore, all pretense of glamour stripped away in an instant.

And then she got up and ran to her room. Slamming the door shut. Silence filled the room. And Selene sighed deeply. Bethar's shoulders shook slightly as tears poured from his eyes. Wow. Selene glared at him. “How convenient of you to come for your daughter,” she sneered. “You were never in her life.” Bethar whipped his face with the back of his hands. And then he got up and sat down on a chair. “ I deserve everything happening to me. I thought I was doing the right thing,” Bethar said.

He would land on his ass before we could get anything from him. “My goodness Sarah, you have brought quite the entourage,” Beta Steve teases as he walks down the stairs and pulls me in for a hug. Now I know this is for show. He never hugs me. I mind-link Jack this information as Steve releases me. “I cannot say how glad I am to see you folks,” he adds to the group.

“Don’t listen to her. She heard some big hotshot celebrity who she likes will be here. We have been walking around for over two hours, trying to find where the person is at, but haven’t gotten anything yet except sore feet.” A faint chuckle spills from me. “I’m sure you have gotten more than only sore feet. Who are you looking for?” Beth shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders. “I’m not really sure. I can’t remember the name, but Cassandra can tell you all about the person. I think she has everything memorized.” A sparkle shines in Beth’s dark brown eyes as she playfully teases. Her mouth opens as if she has more to say, but one sharp glare from Cassandra has her quickly closing it.

She pushed her rectangle rainbow glasses back up on her nose. “Yes. As a matter of fact, I do,” Katie answered, noticing the healed-over scars on the girl’s thin arms and wrists, pretending she hadn’t. “I’m Bithiah Cotts,” said the petite girl. “You can call me Bee, though. Bee’s for short.” “My name is Katelyn,” said Katie, thinking: Cuts herself. Self-harms. Suicide attempt? “Nice to meet you, Bee.” Bee smiled faintly, glancing up at her. “You’re tall. I hate tall.”

A human that's just at the wrong place at the wrong time. For the first time in years I resent my role of being Beta. I can't hurt my mate! How the f**k am I to do that? And if she is, if we find out she's truly a hunter, come to infiltrate us, I'll have to do much worst than hurt her. I'll have to kill her. My instincts are tuned to protect her, protect her from harm. How am I supposed to protect her from the danger that's now become me?