The Beta Series: The Redeemed Beta

Chapter 17

~Dominic~

As much as I want her to tell me what’s going on, I really can’t blame her for not doing so. I personally think she’s exaggerating, but what would I know? I plan to watch her for a while, but I don’t think I will need to do that for too long.

Watching Danny try to walk away from me has been comical. She has no idea where anything is here or where she’s supposed to be going. I considered rubbing it in, each time she had to stop, but felt that it would be better if I didn’t.

I walk forward, making my way to the pack house. I know she’s following me, even though I haven’t looked back. There are so many ideas running through my mind, but none of them will come to fruition as long as we have this mess hanging over our heads.

I say nothing, letting her stew as she follows me. Goliath is trying to break free from my hold so he can address his mate. Now isn’t the time for that because he’s prone to turn a blind eye to something that could prove dangerous for the pack. I know he disagrees with me, but I have to do what I think is right.

I walk around to the front of the packhouse. I’m not sure how many people would be in the back right now, and I think she would appreciate fewer eyes. Thankfully, not many people go in and out of the place through the front door.

I hold the door open and watch her walk through. I’m not sure that was a good idea because, damn! I can tell that when she gets back to full health, her ass is going to be next level. There are remnants of the masterpiece, so I have a vague idea of what’s to come.

I watch Danny walk through the door and stop in the hallway. “You don’t have interrogation rooms at this pack?” I close the front door and take a few steps toward her. I stop far enough that I can’t reach out and grab her. The bond between us is strong, and is throwing all logic out the window. I want to pull her into my arms and wrap my body around hers. That won’t help any of us right now, so I need to keep my distance.

“Now we need an interrogation room?” Danny scoffs. Can I just say that I don’t like that name? Danny… Daniela… it just isn’t her. I’m not trying to disparage her parents and their choice in name, but it just doesn’t roll off the tongue. That name doesn’t evoke any feelings in me. I know it’s crazy to think that a name would do all of that, but that’s what I’ve heard from those who have found their fated mate. I just want the same experience as everyone else.

“Can we just go?” I swallow the chuckle that wants to break free. I’m not sure that this would be the best time to be light-hearted. I walk past her, making sure to keep a good distance. I walk up the stairs, listening to her footsteps behind me.

I asked for everyone to make themselves invisible until I brought her to my floor. I don’t want her spooked, and I don’t want to have to answer too many questions right now. I have no idea when she will be seen as the Beta female, so keeping everything under wraps right now is key.

The journey upstairs is silent, but that’s for the best. I don’t want to get into an argument right here. My apartment is soundproof, and when we get there, she can pop off all she likes. The only issue I will have is keeping my hands off her.

I open my door and step aside so she can walk inside. Once she clears the doorway, I close the door behind us and slowly circle her. Danny stands in the middle of the living room, looking around the room, lost. “Care to sit down?” I don’t wait for an answer. I sit on my leather couch and get comfortable.

I watch Danny slowly circle the room, looking around. She checks out my shelves and my books. She stops at my pictures, looking at each one. I will admit that I didn’t destroy all my pictures from the past. No matter how things turned out, King was a major part of my life. There were good memories with him that were, besides the horrible ones.

I battled with myself as soon as everything finished. I battled whether I should rid myself of every reminder of King and our past together. Every time I would decide to do that, something would pop up that would make me rethink that. Funny enough, it was Aston who helped me make my decision.

I was drunk one night and feeling all the feels. Aston found me, and we had a long talk. Surprisingly enough, he told me not to delete my past. He said that even though things turned out sourly, it doesn’t make sense to erase those moments that meant the most. The next morning, I decided to keep those memories and delete anything else.

I don’t have a lot of pictures, just a few important ones. I watch Danny pick a frame up from my mantle. She examines it and turns to me. “Who’s this with you and the Alpha?” I swallow the lump forming in my throat. I could lie… I could deflect. I could say a lot of things right now, but I won’t. I told myself I needed to be honest about my path. I decided that if she was going to accept me, she’d have to know everything. If this is the door opening to that conversation, then the only thing I need to do is walk through it.

I clear my throat, ignoring the increase in my heartbeat. “That’s from when we were teens. We were best friends, all of us. He was meant to take over the pack. That was King Jamison.” She puts the frame down and turns to me. I squirm under her attention, but force myself to maintain eye contact.

“You said ‘was.’ What happened to him? How did the pack get a different Alpha?”