Filed to story: The Alpha’s Pen Pal Book
“I want to go with you,” she insisted, interrupting me.
“No, Haven,” I said, gripping her shoulders. “It-it will be violent and bloody and gruesome. I have to be someone you won’t recognize. All three of us do. I don’t want you to see me—to see us—like that.”
Even though I had given my word to Lennox I wouldn’t touch him, I still had to put on that mask. I had to be the brutal, cruel alpha. The vicious lycan.
I didn’t know what Sebastian had up his sleeve for Lennox, but I knew it would be something bloody and bordering on sadistic. I had no idea how Haven would react to gore and violence, and I wasn’t about to find out by having her watch us interrogate that piece of shit.
She crossed her arms and frowned at me. “We’re a team. I’m your luna. That’s what that means, right? Facing challenges together? Leading the pack together? Doing dirty work together?”
My chin dropped to my chest. I had nothing to say in response to that. She was right. But it didn’t make it any easier to agree to her request. My first instinct as her mate and as an alpha was to always protect her. To keep her safe. And bringing her with me went against all those instincts.
Sensing my hesitation and change of heart, she pushed forward with her arguments. “You said I’m strong. Sometimes even stronger than you. And I need this. I need to hear his answers and see him locked up for myself. For closure. I can’t let him win. We can’t let him have that influence on our lives.”
She stepped closer to me, her hands coming to my chest and resting there. My lycan turned to putty like he always did when she touched me that way, practically purring under her touch.
“I need to do this, Wesley,” she continued. “I
need to. Besides, just think about what it will do to him to see us together. What better torture than to show him you have what he so desperately wants?”
Damn. She had a point with that remark. And while I had promised not to touch him, I said nothing about hurting him emotionally or finding other ways to torture him. My mind raced with all the possibilities, all the ways I could assert my dominance over him and my claim on her if she was in the room too.
And I couldn’t deny the thrill that went through me at her words. At the calculating idea she had come up with in only a matter of minutes. How she didn’t shy away from this darker side of my world but instead embraced it and tried to find her own footing within it.
I met Sebastian’s eyes over the top of her head and jerked my chin towards the stairs, ordering him and Nolan away without a word. They both scurried down the steps, leaving Haven and me alone on the landing.
Once their footsteps faded, I turned our bodies and pressed Haven’s back against the wall. My arms caged her in, and my body pressed flush against hers, a low growl vibrating in my chest.
“You will stay right next to me, touching at least my hand the entire time,” I commanded, my voice quiet and my tone leaving no room for argument. “At even the tiniest hint of fear or shock or nervousness from you, I will have Nolan take you out of the room and back to our house,” I continued. “And you will not hide your emotions from me. You will keep your walls down for me. I want to know exactly how you feel the whole time.”
Her big blue eyes stayed locked with mine throughout my speech, and she nodded at the end, understanding it wasn’t something to push me on or something to argue with me about. That it was real and dangerous and that she needed to be safe. That I needed her to be safe.
My face lowered, and my nose brushed against hers, my lips hovering over her mouth as I growled, “You’re mine, Sugar Plum.”
“And you’re mine,” she breathed back, her body arching against mine.
My mouth crashed into hers, and my body pressed against hers as hard as I could without hurting her. Our kisses were usually tender, sensual, and passionate, but at that moment, I needed to claim and possess. My hand wrapped around her throat, and her head tilted up for me without further prompting, eliciting another low growl from me at her minor act of submission.
It didn’t matter to me that Lennox wouldn’t be able to smell her on me or me on her because of the wolfsbane in his system. My brain wasn’t in charge at the moment; my instincts were. I needed as much of my scent on her as possible. Needed to remind everyone who she belonged to and who I belonged to.
The kiss was brutal and hard, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if I’d bruised her lips. But her returning kisses and touches were just as frantic and desperate as mine. It was like she knew how much I needed this, or maybe because some instinctual part of her wanted to stake a claim, too.
I stood up straight and pulled her body with me, keeping her close with my arms wrapped around her in a vise grip. Her hand moved to my face, her fingers scratching through my short beard as we gave each other one last kiss.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked her as I pulled back just enough to breathe.
“I am,” she replied, nodding, her fingers still playing in my beard. “I really need this, Wesley.”
I sighed but nodded, then released her from my arms, keeping one of her hands in mine as we made our way to the cells.
Inside, Levi, Sebastian, and Nolan waited for us as they stared at Lennox through the window. He sat in his chair, still chained, and glared at the center of the mirror, like he was staring right at Seb and Nolan, even though he couldn’t see through it.
All three of them turned to look at us, and as soon as their eyes landed on Haven, a growl let loose from my lips, and I pulled her behind me to keep her from their view. My lycan was very much at the forefront of my mind, ready to let loose and lash out at anyone who threatened our luna.
“Goddess, Wes.” Seb sighed. “I was just going to say hello.”
“Sorry,” I breathed, cracking my neck. “I’m on edge about this whole thing.”
Haven’s hand reached up and rubbed between my shoulder blades. My body relaxed, surprising me with just how tense I’d gotten.
“You’re going to need to control that once we’re in the room,” Nolan warned. “He’s going to taunt you. Try to get a rise out of you. Especially once he sees her.”
My lip curled, but I held in the growl threatening to release. I could do it. I could keep myself under control. My Sugar Plum would be safe, next to me or in my arms the entire time.
“Let’s do this,” I declared, walking towards the door.
“Wait,” Sebastian said, glancing at Haven again. “Haven, what… uh… ” His eyes shifted to me and then back to Haven. “Uh… what are you wearing under your jacket?” he asked, crossing his arms and looking at the floor.
“What the fuck?” I snarled, my nostrils flaring.
“Just trust me!”
“A tank top?” Haven answered, her brow wrinkled. “Why?”
“You should take your jacket off. Let him see you’re not ashamed of your scars, that you’re not trying to hide them from anyone. Let him see that he didn’t break you,” Sebastian said.
Goddess, he was good. I let out a low chuckle and looked at Haven. She shrugged and said, “Okay.” Then proceeded to unzip her lightweight gray hoodie and hand it to Levi.
The white sleeveless top she wore underneath showed off almost the entirety of her scarring running across and down her neck and across her collarbone and chest. The raised lines had already faded from a bright, angry pink to a soft peach color, and soon they would be white.
They’d never disappear completely, but that didn’t matter to me. Like I’d told her, they showed how strong she was, showed she was a fighter and a survivor.
“Let’s go.” She nodded.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?