44. Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Four

Rourke

I messed up starting that fight with the kid from the restaurant tonight. I let him get to me and I know it. I thought I could let Beth go, that I could protect her from a distance without inserting myself into her life. It's not that easy. My instincts still tell me she's mine.

It doesn't matter if I deserve to have her or not.

I'll always want her. That's never going to go away.

This pack from the restaurant, they're going to try and mess with her.

That's what they do. It's how they work. Packs aren't like couples. They don't share the same values. They're predatory. They disrespect mating bonds, and they hurt the Betas they prey on.

I can't let that happen. I need to find a way to keep Beth safe until she meets the right guy.

So, I move through the back alleys, leaving her alone with the pack's lead Alpha.

I get to the side alley at her sister's apartment building, and I climb onto the top of the dumpsters, just barely reaching the end of the fire escape ladder that leads up to the escape route outside her bedroom window. I tug it down and get climbing.

I reach her window just in time to catch a glimpse of the hallway light going on inside the apartment. A second later, I hear something in the alley, and I look down to catch sight of the Alpha pacing around.

He did this earlier at his place.

Bastard knows I'm onto him.

He doesn't look up. Not once.

When he exits, I turn back to the window, watching and waiting.

Beth doesn't immediately come into the room. I catch sight of her in the hallway, then she comes in without her jacket and purse, cell phone in hand.

She closes the door and flops onto the bed sideways, phone raised while she keeps her eyes on the screen. I don't know what she's doing, but I'd guess she's texting a friend.

I don't think she kept in touch with anyone from back home.

None of those girls left town after graduation.

They stayed where they felt safe.

Beth was the only one with any ambition in that Beta town.

She knew she had to get out of there to make something of herself.

And now here she is in the big, bad city. It's not safe here, and she's already seen that. Despite what she's been through, she hasn't thought about going back home.

I knew the minute I saw her she was a force of nature.

She puts her phone down and rolls onto her back, her shirt shifting to show off a flash of her skin. Closing her eyes she lays back, bending her knees and parting her legs. Her right hand pushes inside her jeans, and her body arches, pushing those perfect breasts into the air.

She's so fucking beautiful. I know I shouldn't watch, but I can't take my eyes off her.

My cock gets harder than it's been since we parted.

I stroke a hand over the front of my jeans.

The memory of what it was like to be inside her makes it impossible to ignore the urge to tug my jeans open and palm my shaft. I need to feel something, and this is better than nothing.

I watch her stroke herself, left hand teasing her nipples through her clothes, and I can barely control myself. Steeling myself against the wall, I tug on my cock until I erupt, cum spilling over onto the ledge of her window and the edge of my hand.

She's done a few slow moments later, and I see her smile as she moves into a curled-up position before she starts to fall asleep.

It hurts how much I want to break in just to lay down beside her.

She wouldn't welcome that. I can't pretend she would.

I push my cock back inside my boxers and my jeans, and I button myself up while I stare out into the night. It's as secluded as alleys get in this city, with boarded up windows in the closed down building next door, and it's gated off at the back.

I glance back at the window, where the soft glow of the light in her room is still illuminating everything inside.

Beth sleeps on top of her bedsheets with her clothes on, phone within arm's reach.

It feels like she's so close to me right now. So fucking close, and yet so damn far away.

Better get used to that feeling.

It's my life now.