Filed to story: The Alpha’s Pen Pal Book
“Damn it,” she grumbles after she counts up the tallies and realizes I’m right.
I smile and grab a water bottle out of the gym’s snack bar, which is always stocked with drinks and snacks. I crack it open and take a swig, rolling my eyes again as the doors to the gym open and Alpha Dominic and Beta Dawson stroll in, their massive forms and ranked-wolf auras crowding the large room.
“Shrimp,” Dawson says, winking a brown eye at Blake.
“Troll,” she shoots back, flipping him off, and he laughs, returning the gesture.
Dominic heads straight to me, eyes on me with every step. I chug my water as he approaches, avoiding his gaze for as long as possible.
“What can I do for you, Alpha Dominic?” I ask, twisting the lid back onto my now empty water bottle and tossing it into the recycling, looking at him once I’ve finished.
“I wanted to talk,” he says, crossing his arms, stopping a foot away.
“About what?”
“You know what, Taryn,” he says.
“Want me to punch him?” Blake mindlinks me.
“Won’t help,” I reply. “Plus, you shouldn’t punch the alpha.”
She shrugs.
“Hasn’t stopped me before.”
My lips twitch. “Training doesn’t count.”
“Doesn’t it, though?”
“Taryn.” Dominic sighs, rubbing his face. “Please?”
I shake my head but move a few steps from Dawson and Blake, and he follows. The two of them take verbal shots at the other, but I block them out and focus on Dominic.
“Tare, I—“
“I’m going to stop you right there, Alpha,” I say, holding my palm out to cut him off.
“But sweet—“
“It’s Taryn,” I remind him, crossing my arms, my voice firm. “Not ‘Tare.’ Not ‘sweetheart.’ Just Taryn.”
He blows out a breath but nods. “Right. Sorry. I just—habits die hard, I guess,” he mutters, ruffling his sandy brown hair.
He’s usually put together and confident, but the last few times we’ve spoken he’s been a mess—barely stringing words together and unsure of his actions, his hair roughed up, and his normally neat beard longer and untrimmed.
There is no one to blame but himself, though. He shouldn’t have expected anything other than this outcome.
He rests his hands on his hips, and his chin drops to his chest.
I sigh. “Did you actually need to discuss something with me, or was that an excuse to get me alone? Because, Goddess help me, Dominic, I am not that—“
“I need a date for Alpha Wesley’s wedding,” he rushes out.
I bark out a harsh laugh and shake my head, pressing my fingertips into my forehead. “You have an entire pack of willing females. Ask one of them.”
I turn on my heels and strut away, but he grabs my wrist, stopping me. I whip around and glare at his hand on my arm, my nostrils flaring. He lets me go with the speed of one struck by lightning, but my guard is up. He’s not one to get physical, but he’s been more volatile recently.
“I don’t want to take any of them,” he says. “You’re the only one I want to take.”
“You only want to take me?” I ask, raising a brow.
“Yes.”
“There’s no one else in Silver Ridge you’d want to take?”
“No one,” he says, stepping closer.
“So, you’re telling me you don’t want to take any other female to the wedding, that I’m the only one you want to go with, and yet you can’t commit to me?”
He groans, throwing his arms up in frustration. “That’s not what this is about, Taryn.”
“It is, though, Alpha Dominic,” I say, my volume rising. “I told you what I want. I want commitment, I want a mate, and I want someone who is ready to have a family. And you made it very clear you aren’t willing to be ‘tied down’ yet.”
“Don’t use my words against me.”
“I’m not using them against you. I’m pointing out a fact.”
“But we have fun together, Taryn,” he says, resting his hands on my shoulders. “We’re good together, you and me.”
I press my lips together and close my eyes, avoiding his stare, avoiding those long lashes that should be illegal on a male. He’s not wrong. We’ve had fun over the last year. And he is good. He is so very good.
But that’s all it was for him. Fun. And when I was ready for more, when I confronted him and laid it all out on the line, he shot me down without a thought.
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?