Filed to story: The Alpha’s Pen Pal Book
“We’ll see,” Sebastian sneered, tossing a knife and catching it by the handle. “I’ll keep this nearby. Just in case,” he told her with a wink. “What are your real names?” he asked, stepping up in front of her chair with his arms crossed and the knife visible.
“Melissa and Matthew Blaine,” Melissa told him.
“And what pack are you originally from?”
“Faithful Wolves in Wyoming. Near Yellowstone. But we renounced the pack over twenty years ago.”
Seb glanced over his shoulder at the king. “I know the pack,” he confirmed. “I’ll mindlink Frederick to check their membership records.”
Seb nodded at him, then looked back at Melissa and continued. “Why did you adopt Haven?”
“Lennox’s father made us. He wanted us to raise her so Lennox could mate with her.”
A growl escaped me at that. From me and from my lycan in my head. The thought of someone else claiming what we now knew had always been ours was not something we wanted to think about.
Haven squeezed my hands and rubbed her thumbs on the inside of my wrists, right over my pulses. Her warmth and the tingles reminded me she was still mine, and no one was going to take her from me.
“How was the adoption closed so quickly?” I asked them.
“I don’t know.” Melissa shrugged. “I would guess bribes, or maybe magic, or both. But I honestly don’t know how he managed it.”
I refrained from glaring at my dad through the glass, even though I wanted to. If we had just done the same, used our connections and our money, then maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe Haven would have grown up here, been my friend our whole lives. Been safe and happy.
“Did you really send my letters to Wes?” Haven asked her.
“No,” Melissa admitted.
“What did you do with them?” Haven asked.
“I put them through the shredder.”
Haven’s eyes narrowed, and it was my turn to soothe her. I stepped in closer so my chest brushed against her back every time I breathed. She inhaled and closed her eyes, then exhaled. “Why didn’t you send them?”
“Lennox’s dad made us sign a blood contract.”
“What’s a blood contract?” Haven asked with a wrinkled nose.
“It’s a magical contract created by a witch and signed in blood. It’s what Imogen signed when she learned about what we are. It’s what you would have had to sign if you weren’t my fated mate,” I told her.
“And they’re supposed to be monitored by the thirteen crones. Of course, just like with any group of people, there are good witches, and those with ill intent.” The king sighed, rubbing his temples and shaking his head. “What did this contract bind you to do?”
“We were to raise her and keep her away from any wolves and lycans or other packs except Lennox while she was growing up.”
“Why did he want her to be with Lennox so badly?” I asked.
“He wanted them to be mates.”
I growled again at that. Her face remained blank and her voice flat the entire time we questioned her so far, but it almost felt like she kept repeating that to goad me or rile me up. “But why?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“He told Lennox he would be strong enough to be the alpha of his pack if he could mate with Haven and mark her.”
“He told us that already. But why? Why Haven specifically?” I prodded, trying to see what she would say, how much they knew.
“I don’t know. He never told us why. Just that Lennox and her had to be together.”
The king glanced at me with a raised brow. I looked down at Haven. I wanted it to be her decision whether he commanded them to tell the truth. It was her secret, after all. She met my eyes, sighed, and nodded, and I looked back at the king.
“You will answer the question truthfully,” he ordered.
His aura and power filled the room again, forcing all of us into submission. Haven reacted quickly this time, lowering her head as well to not draw suspicion.
“I told you,” Melissa choked out under the weight of his command. “I don’t know. He never told us, no matter how much I asked him.”
Interesting, I thought to myself. Then again, it would make sense. Just as we were trying to keep it between a small circle of people, it made sense that Lennox’s dad would keep that information away from the Wainwrights—or the Blaines, I suppose. King Malachi pulled his aura back and gestured for us to continue.
“How did you know Lennox’s dad?” Sebastian asked, walking around her chair in slow, methodical steps.
“He visited our pack several times when I was twenty. He was friends with the beta, and we… We had an understanding of sorts. We would share a bed whenever he visited, and I would expect nothing more from him beyond that.”
“What pack was he from? Was he the alpha or alpha heir? Or a second or later born son?” Seb asked as he continued his circle.
“I don’t know. He never told me. I didn’t even realize he was an alpha until—until I—” She pursed her lips together and blew out a breath through her nose.
“Until you what?” Sebastian snarled, stepping closer and twirling the knife as a subtle reminder of what she would face if she didn’t just keep talking.
“Until I became pregnant with his son. With Lennox.”
I blinked and could feel the surprise ripple through the room at her confession.
“Wait. Lennox was your son?” Haven asked, her eyes wide, her hands trembling in mine.
“Yes. His father came to my pack one last time to break things off with me because he’d found his mate, and she was pregnant, too. I had already met Matthew, and we had marked each other, and I had no desire to continue anything with him. But he still accused me of trying to trap him by getting pregnant with his child, of trying to have his heir first.
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?