Page 5 of Captive Beta
Which I prefer not to remember most of the time.
Mathew always made sure that he was never wearing his gear when we met. He was always in his ‘normal’ clothes —if you can call his expensive suits ‘normal’— or in some cases, waiting for me on his bed in just his underwear, or nothing at all. He always made sure that I never saw the darker side of his job, at least, not him in ‘work’ clothes.
The tight black clothes looked so good on him, but knowing why he was wearing them meant that I couldn’t enjoy it.
The car ride into the city was silent, uncomfortable. My thoughts were all over the place and that made it hard to focus on anything.
Miles is keeping an eye on us tonight. After trying a couple of different people, Miles seemed to work with us the best.
He’s been with Mathew for a long time and he’s been part of his primary security team for most of it. He’s around our age and without a mate or a pack. A rarity for the Alphas on the primary security team, as most of them have found mates by now. But he doesn’t show any signs of even looking for anything like that.
I’m glad that he’s now our main security guy when Derrick can’t be with us. Miles is funny and he’s good at going up into his surroundings, not standing out too much, so we can mostly ignore him, without feeling too awkward about it. Which is the whole purpose of what he does, keep an eye on us and our surroundings without us noticing it.
“When’s the last time you went to the movies on a date?” Vera stops as she adjusts her bag over her shoulder and takes a picture of some roses with her phone. She looks so cute and excited and I’m one lucky guy that I get to spend the whole evening with her alone, which is a rarity.
I think it over for a few moments, forcefully pushing everything else from my mind and focusing on our date. I’m on a date with Vera, that should be the only thing on my mind right now.
“A couple of years ago, I think…”
“With Mathew? Or Riley? Or someone else?” She looks at me, smiling softly.
“With Mathew.” I grin, leaning closer. “Though, it was not the type of movie we’re watching today. We went to see something much more adult.”
“Oh!” Her pheromones flare and she grins back. “Now I know what I want to do for our next date.”
“For our next date? That sounds good.” I give her a soft kiss and her body feels so good in my arms.
I could stand here, holding and kissing her, all evening, and this would be the best night ever. But after a few minutes, she wriggles free from my embrace, her breathing fast, her sweet honey pheromones heavy with desire.
“If we don’t hurry up, we’ll be late for the movie.” She looks at her phone and then points to the next crossing. “We turn right there and then it shouldn’t be too much further.”
“What other date plans do you have?” I glance at her, at the beautiful woman at my side, my mate, my sweet Omega.
Fuck, I’m such a lucky guy…
“Well, I was thinking of maybe going to the beach. Or maybe we can go somewhere none of us have been before?” She smiles at me, all bright and happy. “What about you?”
“I’m much more boring.” I think for a moment. “I like going out for dinner. There’s this place that opened a few months ago that I’ve still not been able to get a reservation at. They had a massive opening and Mathew was invited, but I was away on business, so I could go with him.”
We pass by some restaurants, one of them selling sundaes and other cold sweet treats, the scent light and sweet.
“Hmm, smells good.” Vera’s voice is filled with interest.
“We can eat here after the movie finishes, if they’re still open by then. I could be persuaded to eat ice cream most days of the week. What do you think?” I check my phone. “Would you like to eat here after? I can check if they’ll still be open.”
When I don’t get a reply, I stop walking, looking around, expecting that Vera’s gotten distracted by the menu or something like that.
But the space at my side is empty and I don’t catch sight of her anywhere nearby, even though the dress she’s wearing is hard to overlook.
Where is she?!
My heart feels like it stops for a moment, my breathing tight.
This can’t be happening.
It can’t.
I look around again. “Vera?!” She’s not here.
