Page 72 of A Second Chance for the Beta

He mentioned a girlfriend…

His mate?

I sigh inwardly. Guess we can’t just dip him into silver and make him talk. “What’s your profession?” I ask, pointing at the camera. “Journalist?”

“No,” he mutters nervously. “I’m a barista.”

“What!?” Dante exclaims.

“I… I like coffee,” the young man blurts out, his eyes darting around. “Please don’t kill me!”

Dante hands him his phone. “Call your girlfriend,” he commands.

The guy nods, shakily taking it and using a shortcut to call her. It goes to a dead end instantly. Neither Dante nor I are particularly surprised. Whoever is behind this clearly used this guy and was ready to get rid of him. He just doesn’t understand it yet. I watch him fumbling with his phone, his worry clearly growing as he tries everything to reach his girlfriend. Or rather, the woman who used him.

“Forget it,” I say, taking his phone away. “Let’s go.”

“You are going to kill me, aren’t you!? I was just supposed to take some photos.”

“Why?” Dante asks calmly.

The guy looks confused. “Well… you are part of the werewolf mafia, you should know.”

I let out a frustrated sigh. What an idiot. “There is no werewolf mafia,” I say shortly.

Dante grabs him by his arm and leads him towards the door. “What’s your name?”

“Richard,” he says. “My mom always said: like the king,” he pauses. “Everyone calls me Richie, though.”

“Richie,” Dante says. “As she said, you will follow us.”

At the door, I can see both Lane and Ye-Joon waiting for us. “We saw him following you,” Ye-Joon says.

“Seeing how he is very human and doesn’t look like he knows what he got into, we knew you had it under control, Beta Dante,” Lane says.

“What’s a beta?” the man asks nervously.

I stare at him in confusion. He doesn’t know? He seems aware of wolves; he probably slept with one, and they made sure to hire him… but yet he has no idea who we truly are? It could be that they never let him into their pack; alternatively, it could also be that they don’t have one.

I let Dante and Lane lead him outside while staying behind for a bit to think this through. “I think I need to call Dave,” I say.

“Here,” Ye-Joon hands me his phone. “I have him in my contacts.”

I nod absent-mindedly while calling my friend. Hopefully he and Annie are finished with whatever they are doing.

Dave answers promptly, much to my relief. “El!” he exclaims. “Annie and I wanted to call you and—”

“Dave,” I interrupt him. “We found the guy spying on us.”

“Wait, you did!?”

“Yes,” I hurry to explain. “He is a human. If my first impression is true he was used by a werewolf and has no idea what he has gotten himself into. Is Annie with you?”

“Yes, like I said, we wanted to contact you too right after she feels better. Don’t worry, she is just feeling a bit dizzy.”

“I want to talk to her,” I say.

“Of course.”