Filed to story: The Alpha’s Pen Pal Book
“Not at all,” I reply, smiling and wrapping my arm around her waist. “You said something very, very right.”
“Bless you?” she asks, and I nod, my nose brushing her cheek.
“Goddess, I fucking love you.”
“I still don’t understand what’s so funny,” Taryn says as the doorbell rings.
I frown and glance around the kitchen, counting my friends as I point at each of them. Haven. Wes. Sebastian. Nolan.
Yep. Everyone is here.
“Who—“
“It’s for you,” Haven says, squeezing Taryn’s forearm.
Taryn blinks, then looks at me. I shrug, and she furrows her brow and hands me her plate, exiting the kitchen and walking to the front door. I set our plates down and follow her, reaching the entry as the door opens.
As soon as Taryn sees the couple in the doorway, her lip quivers and she bursts into tears, pulling the petite female inside our house and wrapping her in a hug. Guilt crashes over me—Taryn’s guilt—as she clutches Blake and cries.
“Oh Goddess, I am the fucking worst best friend ever!” Taryn sobs, her whole body shaking. “I’m so sorry! I was so focused on myself and everything going on, I didn’t even think to ask about you or find out if you were all right or anything!”
I rub her back as she cries, and Blake laughs, pushing back so she can see Taryn’s face.
“Well, then I guess I’m a terrible friend, too, because I didn’t sneak away to find you or try to contact you or anything either,” Blake says. “You can blame this guy for that,” she adds, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at Dawson.
“You broke your ribs,” Dawson grumbles, closing the door and wiping his feet on the rug. “The doctor said you needed to rest.”
“Rest. Right,” Blake says, smirking at him. “And yet you weren’t worried about me resting when I was—“
Dawson slaps his hand over her mouth, muffling the end of her sentence, his cheeks turning pink. Taryn looks at him, then at Blake, who glares at him, then back at Dawson. Her eyes widen and then she squeals and jumps up and down, her hair bouncing.
“Oh, my Goddess! You two are mates!!” she exclaims.
“Yep,” Blake says, pulling down her collar and Dawson’s, showing off their marks. “Troll and Shrimp, mates for life!”
“Congratulations,” I say, reaching my hand out to shake Dawson’s.
“We’re also Crescent Lake members now,” Dawson says as the four of us walk into the kitchen where my friends are, Taryn and Blake whispering and giggling behind us.
“Really?”
He nods. “Neither of us wanted to stay in Silver Ridge after what Dominic did to Taryn at the wedding. I mean… even before that we’d both had thoughts about leaving, but it would have been difficult for me since I was a ranked member.”
“Right,” I say as Taryn comes to my side, our plates in her hands.
“King Malachi arrived late last night,” Haven says, handing Dawson and Blake each a plate. “After he confirmed that Dawson had no part in the poisoning of the Silver Ridge pack and was not aware of it at all, he helped Dawson break his ties to Silver Ridge so he could become a Crescent Lake member.”
Taryn frowns and looks over at him. “But your title…”
“I’d rather be an unranked member of a strong, united pack that truly cares for its members than a ranked member of a weak one who doesn’t,” he explains, his arm sliding around Blake’s shoulders as she leans against the counter and eats her food.
“We’re happy to have you as pack members,” Wesley says, turning the stove off and grabbing his own plate of food.
“So, King Malachi is here now?” I ask.
Wes nods. “He wants to start the investigation into the rogue attack on Silver Ridge as soon as possible, even though there still isn’t any sign of Dominic,” he says. “We’re driving up there in about an hour.”
He hops up onto the counter, his feet dangling off it, Haven stepping between his knees, his arm coming around her shoulder. “He wants to talk to you, too,” he adds, looking at Taryn and I. “He has some questions about the attack that night. If you’re up for it.”
I swallow and glance at Taryn, who nods. “Of course,” she says. “Whatever we can do to help.”
I smile and kiss her temple. That’s my warrior girl. Already acting like a true beta female, ready to help her pack and her alpha, doing whatever needs to be done.
Blake’s smirk catches my eye, and I look at her, my brow raised.
“Whipped,” she says, coughing into her hand to cover the word.
I pretend to glare and point at her. “Hey! That’s Beta Whipped to you.”
Taryn laughs and I wrap my arm around her, mimicking Dawson’s pose with Blake, enjoying the chatter and laughter exchanged between my friends and Taryn’s, enjoying the small moment of camaraderie and peace before we face the next storm on our horizon.
TARYNWe’re quiet for most of the drive from Crescent Lake to Silver Ridge, my hand in Reid’s as he navigates the roads and switchbacks that bring us higher into the mountains. He squeezes my hand every once in a while, sending comfort and love to me through the bond.
We’ve spent the last few days in a bubble, existing in a world filled with only the two of us as we built up our trust and strengthened our bond before ultimately marking each other. The storm may have put a damper on everything else—the rest of the wedding weekend, Haven and Wes’s honeymoon, and getting to the bottom of everything to do with my old pack—but it gave us what we needed. It gave us time. Time to bond and accept each other, to forgive and mark each other.
But now it’s time to face the real world. And something tells me we’re in for a bumpy ride. Even Blake isn’t her normal chatty self. Instead, she is quiet in the backseat of the SUV, picking up on the solemnity of the situation.
“What happens if we find Dominic, and he’s dead?” I ask, breaking the silence.
“Then he’s dead, and the pack finds a new alpha,” Dawson replies.
Reid catches my eye and I give a half smile, my free hand covering my stomach. “And what if he’s not dead?”
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?