Page 72 of Knot His Beast
Then again, you generally have to have friends in order to have parties, so it was sort of a given that there wouldn’t be some bigto doeach time I made another lap around the sun. But Mandy Jones didn’t do fuck all for me, either.
Which is why I don’t care one way or another if my birthday is celebrated or not. Hell, the only reason I even think about it anymore is because the date is pertinent to my driver’s license and filing my taxes.
Do I celebrate Floyd’s birthday? Damn right I do. He’s had a party—just the two of us—and a doggie safe cupcake every single year since I adopted him, and he always gets a few presents out of the deal, even if he can’t see what they are. Will I celebrate Bella’s birthday?
Hell yes. She’s a sweet angel baby and she is going to be so spoiled when she turns one, and every year that follows.
Am I going to celebrate my alpha’s birthday? I want to. But the thought of buying him gifts or filling the loft with balloons or whatever else you do for your partner when they’re another year older is terrifying. I don’t know how to do that or anything like it. There’s a lot of pressure there, a lot of fear in so much unknown, but I will absolutely try for Bentley.
I’ll try really fucking hard, too, because I’m determined to make sure I show him how much I love him with my actions, not just my grunted words of praise and crabby smiles. Or my ability to suck his soul out of his body through his dick. That’s an action neither of us can argue the meaning of, but it can’t be the only way I show Bentley how much he means to me.
My alpha, on the other hand, isall aboutbirthdays and turning them into big deals.
Which is why we’re currently sitting in the parking lot of an upscale Italian restaurant, more dressed up than I’ve ever been, waiting for our reservation time.
Our reservation was officially three minutes ago.
“Bent,” I ask as I turn to my alpha, my eyes moving between him and the clock. “Are we going inside, or would you rather sit here long enough to see if you can bounce your knee up through the steering column?”
Bentley doesn’t stop his anxious bouncing but glances at me before he goes back to staring out the windshield. “We’ll go in a few minutes, baby. I promise.”
“We don’t have to go at all. I’m not sure why this is such a big deal to you, today is just another day, it’s nothing—” My alpha growls in warning and I roll my eyes. “Okay, okay. Sorry. I just don’t want you to feel like wehaveto do this.”
“I don’t feel that way. This is something I want to do, Tav. I want to celebrate, and I have the most perfect present to give you.”
“I thought we agreed on no gifts? Bentley, I don’t like you making a fuss?—”
“There,” he whispers as he throws open his door and bails out of the truck so fast I barely have time to process it. He jogs around the front of the truck to my door, opens it, then practically yanks me out. “Hurry.”
I scowl as my alpha practically drags me across the parking lot, the two of us all but running toward the entrance and when we get there, I about shit.
“Mandy?” I blurt the second my bitch of a mother swings her glassy stare in my direction.
She smiles wide, exposing several missing teeth and wrinkles around her mouth that are so deep she could hold an entire pack of cigarettes in them.
God, she looks like hell.
Her skin is leathery, her face is sunken. She must weigh about ninety pounds soaking wet. And she is dressed like she just rolled off of a busted mattress in the middle of an upscale crackhouse. Pleather mini skirt, obscenely low cut and tight pink blouse, and sky high heels that she’s struggling to stay upright in. Which means the piece of shit is hammered.
I haven’t seen her in years, and I was really hoping I never would again.
Scowl firmly in place, I turn slowly and look at Bentley, my alpha smiling like he won the damn lottery. “What the hell is going on?”
He ignores me, jutting his hand forward so he can grip my mother’s and shake firmly.
“I’m Bentley Walker, Tav’s mate. He’s told me so much about you. I cannot even tell you how glad I am to finally meet you.”
“Bentley,” I grit through clenched teeth. “What are you?—”
“I know we were going to sit down and catch up over dinner, but I have a surprise for Tav’s birthday and I would really love it if you could help me with it.”
That’s it, he’s dead.
I’ve told him everything, every last terrible, traumatic detail, and I can’t fucking believe he’s doing this to me.
I stare at the side of his face as he chats Mandy up, the two of them going back and forth as if they’ve known each other their entire lives, and for some reason, it has me softening just a smidge.
This man has a huge heart, one made of solid gold, and I could absolutely see him throwing this littledinner partytogether just to try to get me to make amends with Mandy, or maybe in order to try to forgive her. For my sake, not the bitch’s, because my mate doesn’t want anything in my life that’s going to hurt me, or make me sad, or any other negative emotion.
