Page 132 of A Second Chance for the Beta

However, both he and Liam fear we might break whatever is inside as well, something I haven’t even considered.

“You can do it,” Livia whispers to Richard, and before he can react, she kisses his cheek.

Richie looks at her through wide eyes while she dashes out of the room, her face red with embarrassment.

“I can do it!” Richie repeats with conviction.

He is clearly whipped, but that’s good for us. Livia’s support pushes him and gives him confidence. It’s exactly what we need now.

It’s like an out-of-body experience, watching how Richard dials a number. It feels like forever. Dread settles inside me when I try to imagine what will happen when we don’t reach anyone. When they won’t buy Richards’s trick.

I try to be strong; I try to be confident; I try to tell myself over and over that we will find her, that nothing happened to her, that she is safe and sane and that we will come in time.

“Hello,” Richard says into the phone.

The voice on the other side reaches my sharp ears. “Who is this?”

“I want to talk to Dylan,” Richard says shortly.

The other man snorts. “Who are you to make demands?”

“I’m the person who has what you want so desperately,” he says shortly. “Tell Dylan it’s Richard. Imogen’s boyfriend. Or rather ex-boyfriend.”

There is silence for a moment, and I halt my breath. But soon I can hear some rustling and then—“You have some nerves, human!”a voice sneers. “Don’t be pathetic, or I will come and free the world of your existence.”

“You can try,” Richard says. “But I doubt you will succeed.”

“Quit the games, human, or I will tell your werewolf girlfriend you went behind her back to call me. Then she can rip your head off your shoulders instead. Or do you think you mean anything to her?”

“That’s going to be difficult for her to do,” Richard says. “From prison.” When Dylan stays silent, he gapes. “Oh, you didn’t know? The bitch got caught. Guess who didn’t get caught? The lousy human.”

“For a pathetic human you sound way too cocky,”Dylan says, but it’s obvious Richard has piqued his interest.

Richard laughs, sounding surprisingly convincing.

“What’s so funny?”Dylan huffs.

“It’s funny that you just said that.” He chuckles. “You know Imogen wasn’t it. So, I had to move on… to something better.”

Dylan is silent before he snorts. “Why would that interest me?”

“So, I assume you don’t need a certain beta she-wolf?” Richard asks innocently.

“Stop the games,”Dylan grumbles. “You are wasting mine and my alpha’s time.”

“So you haven’t heard?” Richard asks. “Man, you have no clue. Your little beta she-wolf was caught by the vampires. Seems like Imogen’s other customer got impatient. But guess what… he was looking for a walking human blood bank.” Richard laughs. “Funny how the tables turn, isn’t it?”

“You’re telling me you are working with the vampires?”

“Of course, my blood is young and fresh, and thanks to Imogen I know quite a lot,” he bluffs.

“Show me proof,”Dylan demands.

We have expected him to ask for proof, which is why I’m in the messed up makeup in the first place. Before our call I had the guys take a photo of me and made sure to wear the necklace. “How about a little picture?” Richard asks lazily before typing something on his phone. Once he is done with sending my picture, he returns to the call. “So?”

It’s silent. “What do you want?”Dylan asks. I can feel the tension inside me growing. He is taking the bait!

“Money,” he says. “A fair share of what you will get.”