Filed to story: The Alpha’s Pen Pal Book
She presses her face harder into my chest to muffle her cries, and her heels clatter to the floor as she grips into my shirt. I glance around and pop us into an unoccupied observation room, sending a quick mindlink to Wesley to let him know where we are in case he needs us.
My arms stay around Taryn as I relax against the wall, holding her as she lets everything out with her tears and sobs. There is no rush, nowhere for us to be, so I give her all the time she needs. The pain pours out of her, bubbling from deep inside. I stroke her back and press soft, sweet kisses to the top of her head, her shoulders, and her neck, supporting and loving her through her anguish.
She sniffles and looks up at me, eyes swollen and cheeks tear-stained, her every emotion painted across her face in shades of grief. “If I hadn’t stayed home—if I’d been with them—“
“Then you may have died with them,” I say, lowering my forehead to hers.
“But if I hadn’t—“
“You don’t know if your gift would have appeared then, either, Taryn.” I cup her face in my hands and kiss her forehead. “I know it’s easier said than done—you know I know that better than almost anyone—but you can’t dwell on the what-ifs. It will only make you more miserable, only cause you more pain.”
Her lips pinch together and she nods. My thumbs swipe at the tears under her eyes and I kiss each cheek, letting my lips linger against the softness of her skin.
“It hurts,” she says, her throat working overtime as she swallows against the emotions. “I miss them so much.”
“I know,” I say, holding her to me as she breaks into sobs again, my throat tightening as well. I close my eyes, picturing the blue eyes and the warm smile that I miss almost every day, the woman who took a tiny piece of me with her when she left us behind. “I know,” I repeat, resting my cheek against the top of her head and holding her close again, letting my own tears fall as I sway side to side, soothing both of us.
I sink to the floor, my back against the wall and Taryn sideways in my lap, cradled in my arms. We hold each other, letting our emotions ebb and flow like the tides of the ocean. But even with our sadness, even with our broken hearts, there is lingering peace, a promise of love, a promise of a bright future.
A future together, as a family. With our Sour Patch.
The door creaks and we both open our eyes, Taryn scrambling to get to her feet as King Malachi enters the room.
“Please,” he says, shaking his head and holding his hands up. “There is no need for formality. Not right now.”
Taryn relaxes and remains in my lap, her fingers linking with mine. Malachi strolls further into the room, his hands in his pockets as he leans against the opposite wall.
“What did she say?” I ask.
“She regurgitated the same story under my alpha command that she gave Taryn and Luna Haven under the truth potion,” he says. “With some more details that gave better context.”
“Such as?”
“Paul, her second mate, died. Just before she killed Julian. My guess is his death pushed her over the edge she’d been teetering on. And she’d been poisoning the pack since right before Dominic turned twenty-one. She had him take the antidote when Taryn arrived, just to see if they’d be mates.”
“So he’s never found his true mate?” Taryn asks.
“He hasn’t.”
“But why poison the entire pack?” I ask.
“It’s easier to poison the food supply for an entire pack than it is to target one or two members specifically,” Malachi says.
“How was she doing it?”
“Cooking oil. Milk. Ingredients that are used in most every recipe. She’d sneak into the kitchens at night after delivery days to slip the potion into the supplies.”
“So, she was working alone?”
“Other than collaborating with rogues and using Dominic as her puppet, yes. She had him enter the code to the bunker from his phone before he left the wedding with Taryn.”
“What else did she force him to do?” Taryn asks, her hand tightening around mine. “I mean, what was her and what was him?”
Malachi sighs and rubs his hand through his hair, his sleeve riding up and exposing the tattoos that extend up his arm and cover his entire torso. “That is harder to determine, but she says she never manipulated him to be with you or sleep with you. At least, not until she learned you’d called everything off with him. That’s when she made him pursue you, made him take you away from the wedding, made him ask you to be his luna, and try to alpha command you to say yes.” Taryn nods and I pat her hip, leaning my forehead against her cheek. “I know that isn’t reassuring, but she said the same thing under the potion and the alpha command.”
“No, it helps,” she says, giving him a weak smile. “So what will happen to her?”
“Since most of what she did was unmonitored witchcraft as an unregistered hybrid, her punishment will be decided by the thirteen crones. And they will not go easy on her, especially for using the spiritus imperium spell on Dominic.”
“I can’t believe she would do that to her own son,” I say, shaking my head. “And I can’t imagine how he’ll feel when he finds out.”
Malachi’s eyes flick between us, his lip pinched between his teeth. “Actually, that’s why I came in here. He knows everything—he heard the recording from the wires in the centerpieces at the tea party, and he witnessed his mother’s confession in the cell. We told him everything when he woke up after you pushed the spell out the other day, so he’s had… a while to prepare for this while we kept him hidden until everything played out.”
“Oh,” I say, glancing at Taryn, my hand moving to her stomach and my thumb stroking a small circle above our Sour Patch.
“He’s asked to speak with you. Both of you,” he adds.
I tense and grit my teeth, the reaction automatic even though I know the only thing he did to my girl was tell her he wouldn’t commit to her. Which worked out better for her and for me, anyway. I should probably thank him now that I think of it.
“He understands if you do not wish to speak with him after everything that’s happened. But if you do, I am willing to act as a mediator or an extra person in the room if you don’t want to speak with him alone.”
I swallow back my pride and the dark, possessive anger rising inside me and look at my mate. This should be her decision. She’s the one it’s affected the most.
Her beautiful midnight sky eyes meet mine, and I know her decision before she speaks it into existence.
“We’ll hear what he has to say.”
Of course, that’s her choice. She is confident, sassy, and sure of herself, but she is also kind and forgiving, and willing to see the best in most everyone. If she wasn’t that way, she’d never have forgiven me, never accepted me and let me be a part of her life as her mate and the father to her pup.
“He’s in the conference room,” Malachi says, unfolding himself from the wall. “You can join us when you’re ready.”
He exits the room and pulls the door shut with a soft click, leaving us alone. Taryn blows out a breath and rests her head against my chest, her eyes closing.
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?