Pack Beta (Were Chronicles Book 11) Read Online Free PDF Page B

with the Alpha and Max's clothes and phones. After they’d heard Chase’s message, they’d high-tailed it to the hospital.
    Max had sat with Chase while Shawn had demanded updates from the staff. While his brother had tried to make him feel better by stating that Chase had done his part getting Marcus help, Chase didn’t feel like he had done enough.
    Plus he really wanted answers.
    “Hey.”
    Chase jumped when someone’s hand came down on his shoulder.
    “You okay?” his best friend, Alex Wilson, asked.
    Chase took a deep breath and tried to smile. “Yeah, sorry. I guess I’m a little…”
    “Freaked out?”
    “Yeah,” Chase admitted.
    “It’s all right, man. Here. I brought you coffee from the bakery.”
    Gratefully, Chase accepted the Styrofoam cup from Alex. “Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome.” With a hand on the back of his neck, Alex led him to the row of hard plastic seats. “Now tell me what’s going on. Max called and asked that I come sit here with you but didn’t give me much detail. He said he had to take off for a little bit and didn’t want you here alone.”
    Slowly sinking into the chair, Chase flipped up the top of the drink and inhaled. Had it only been earlier in the morning he’d had coffee with Kurt and Clint in his office?
    It seemed like days had passed since their meeting. Who knew that conversation would lead him into witnessing an attempted murder and he’d wind up in the hospital waiting for something more to happen?
    How had the good news of the Church for Humanity being closed down come to all of this?
    The Pack should be celebrating. They were safe once again. Sure, they still had to watch out for one another, as the world wasn’t as accepting of the shifters as they first thought others would be, but his family was supposed to be okay.
    “Chase?”
    He jerked at the sharpness in Alex’s tone.
    “Are you okay? You didn’t get hit, did you?”
    Pulling himself from his thoughts, he peered over at the other man. “Nah, I’m fine. It’s just a lot to take in.”
    “I bet. Now tell me what happened.”
    He started from the beginning. First, what Kurt and Clint had told him up to the point he’d driven up into the emergency lot.
    “How’s Marcus now?” Alex asked when Chase had finished.
    “Okay. The doctor said he would recover fine. I called Marcus’ daughter and she’s on her way up. I haven’t heard from Max yet.”
    “He’s still looking. They did find where the gunman had been when he’d shot at you guys. So they have his scent. That’s good news.”
    “I just don’t understand what this is all about. Why Marcus? What is going on?”
    “I don’t know. But we will find out. We’ll protect our people.”
    Chase wanted to believe him. “I felt so helpless,” he admitted. “I didn’t know what to do. I should have shifted or something. Gone after the guy myself?”
    “And get yourself killed?”
    Shrugging, Chase lifted his head. “At least I wouldn’t have run away.”
    The shame of his actions was still eating at him. If it hadn’t been for Marcus, he might have been shot himself since he’d frozen. It had taken too long for him to realize what was happening.
    “You didn’t run. You rescued Marcus and got him the medical attention he needed.”
    “If Max had been there, we probably wouldn’t still be searching for this man. Max would have ripped him apart before he saved Marcus.”
    “Hey.” Alex lowered his voice and leaned close. “Where is this coming from? You did the right thing.”
    Closing his eyes, Chase didn’t want the reassurances Alex was offering. He knew he’d fucked up.
    For his entire life, all he’d wanted to do was take care of the Pack. He’d pushed to better himself so that when Shawn took over as Alpha, he could apply for the Beta position.
    As one of the youngest Beta’s in any Pack, Chase was proud of what he’d accomplished. But now he wasn’t sure what he’d done was really best for the Pack.
    So many