Filed to story: The Alpha’s Pen Pal Book
“I can see why. He’s very sweet, and he was excellent company while I took my run just now.” I jerk my thumb over my shoulder, and Sebastian’s eyes flick towards the forest line and then slightly higher up the mountain before returning to my face.
“You ran that trail pretty fast,” he says, changing the subject. Cav jumps up, placing his paws on Sebastian’s chest, and he grunts, knocked back a step by the unexpected hug and the kisses the wolf begins to place on his face. But he just rubs his muzzle and scratches his ears again as he continues speaking to me. “Your time was faster than almost all of our female warriors.”
I lift a brow at him. “You timed me?” He nods. “Why?” I ask, cocking my head to the side.
He raises one shoulder and winks at me. “Curiosity.”
I bark out a single sharp laugh. “Right.”
“You should join us for the remainder of the training session,” he says, shoving Cavalier off his shoulders with a gentle push, his hand still patting him on the head as the wolf pants next to him. “You haven’t had a chance to yet, and it’s always good for our warriors to practice with an unknown, unfamiliar opponent.”
I scan the sparring warriors, watching them as they practice their skills, chewing on my lip. It has been a while since I’ve participated in a decent sparring session, and I shouldn’t be letting my skills slide. If something happens where I need to defend myself or Haven, I should be sure I am in top form.
Plus, it may help to work out some of my emotional frustrations.
“Yeah, that would be great, actually,” I say, giving Sebastian a smile and placing my hands on my hips. “Where do you want me?”
He turns and gestures at me to follow him as he makes his way back over to where Reid stands. A tall, dark-skinned pregnant female with her hair in box braids stands with him now, his hand resting in the small of her back, his thumb drawing casual circles, both of them watching a sparring match between Maddie and a blond male I haven’t met yet.
“Mason!” Sebastian yells, his voice booming out over the grounds. The blond sparring with Maddie glances at him for a split second before turning his attention back to their match right as Maddie jabs him in the gut. He grunts and Sebastian chuckles. “Your right hand is getting lazy. Take a break!”
The two immediately back away from each other at Sebastian’s order, tired but self-satisfied smiles on their faces as they high-five each other. The male—Mason—jogs to the side of the sparring ring and then stops to catch his breath.
“Cassandra’s going to sub in for Mason,” Sebastian says to Maddie. “Get a quick drink while she prepares.”
“Cassandra?” the female next to Reid asks. “Nolan’s roommate?”
“The one and only,” I say, keeping the grimace off my face and the snark out of my voice.
“Taryn,” she says, reaching around Reid to shake my hand.
“She’s my mate,” Reid says, his chest puffed up and his eyes shining with pride as they stay glued to her face.
I shake her hand, chuckling to myself at Reid’s obvious obsession with his other half. “Nice to meet you.”
“Normally, I’d have you fight her,” Sebastian says. “But she’s on a hiatus from hand-to-hand combat and patrol duties until Dr. Russo clears her after she gives birth.”
“Are you saying I’m your second choice?” Maddie asks as she returns from her water break, and Sebastian gives her a noncommittal shrug. “Ouch. That hurts.”
“That’s facts,” Sebastian says.
“I’m one of our top warriors!”
Sebastian’s lip twitches as he glances at me from the corner of his eye. “I bet Cassandra can take you down without breaking a sweat,” he says, crossing his arms and widening his stance.
She clutches her chest. “That hurts even more!”
Reid shakes his head at them and points at Maddie in warning. “Don’t take that bet. Learn from my mistakes. Not you,” he adds, turning to Taryn before she can even speak. “You, Sour Patch,
and Gummy Bear are not mistakes. You three are the only good things to come out of a bet with Seb.”
My brows furrow. “Sour Patch? Gummy Bear?”
“Gummy Bear is Reid’s nickname for this little guy,” Taryn says, rubbing her bump and smiling down at it. “Sour Patch was our daughter Savvy’s nickname.”
“Was?” Sebastian scoffs, shaking his head. “Pretty sure everyone still calls her Sour Patch most of the time.”
“You nicknamed both of your kids after candy?” I ask.
Taryn laughs and nods, shrugging one shoulder. “Reid has a bit of a sweet tooth.”
Reid’s eyebrows wag as he looks her up and down. “Damn straight I do.”
“Gross,” Maddie says, gagging. “I know all of you are as horny as rabbits, but I do NOT need to know the specifics of what my family members like to do with their mates.”
“So what do you say?” Sebastian asks, turning his attention back to Maddie. “Loser buys the winner’s gas for two weeks?”
Maddie’s mouth wiggles back and forth as she considers his offer, her hand cupping her jaw while she thinks. She glances at me, sizing me up as I wrap my hands in tape from the bag of supplies near the edge of the ring, then roll my shoulders, loosening out the remaining tension from my overexertion yesterday. I keep my face emotionless and my gaze on my hands, feigning nervousness and inexperience, letting her make assumptions about me based on my stature.
“You’re on, dickhead,” Maddie says, slapping Sebastian’s hand and shaking it once. “No offense,” she adds, peering around him towards me. “I’m not trying to imply I’m better than you or you suck. I just—“
“Don’t actually have enough money to cover my gas for two weeks?” Sebastian says with a laugh, finishing her sentence for her.
“No!” She crosses her arms, and as he turns to me again, she nods at me behind his back and mouths, “Yes!”
I bite back a laugh and shake my arms out, giving Sebastian a high five as I move towards the sparring ring.
“You should probably take that shirt off,” he says, grabbing my arm gently before I can get into position. “It’s loose and easy to grab,” he adds before I can ask him why, his eyes once again flicking to the forest and up the side of the mountain before returning to my face. “And I’m assuming you don’t want it to get ripped.”
I blink at him, and my eyes trace the same path as his, up the mountainside and through the trees, in the area where that overlook sits. To the spot where I know Nolan is. Or was. He may have left already.
My heart skips a beat in my chest as my head whips back around towards Sebastian, who wears a triumphant half smile on his face. He holds his hand out to me. “I’ll hold it for you,” he says, leaning close and keeping his voice low enough so only I hear him.
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?