Filed to story: The Alpha’s Pen Pal Book
After Nolan left, I
spent the rest of my day with Maddie, playing cornhole as her teammate since we did so well together yesterday and sampling food from every stand and truck we came across, until we couldn’t eat another bite.
But it’s now evening, and Maddie has disappeared, running off to join her friends. As pack members light the fire pits, everyone else also splits off into pairs or smaller groupings, gathering around the fires with their friends and family.
I stand on the edge of the event, arms folded to block against the chill in the evening mountain air. Nolan’s friends sit around a fire nearby, laughing and chatting amongst themselves. Reid has a sleeping Savvy draped over his chest, her hands curled under her round cheek against his shoulder. He holds Taryn’s hand, and across from them, Haven sits in Wesley’s lap, his hand resting protectively over her growing belly. They’re cozy and familiar as they enjoy the slow pace of the end of the festival, warming themselves with the flames of the fire and the bonds of their camaraderie, none of them noticing Nolan’s absence.
Or mine.
Loneliness plagues me, and I spiral deeper into confusion and trepidation, a torrent of questions haunting my mind.
Where did he go? Why did he leave in such a panicked rush? Did the mention of Rachel trigger him to rethink everything and need space from me, or was his exit caused by something unrelated?
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what Rachel meant—or means—to him. She’s the one the ring on his dining room table was for. He didn’t need to elaborate when he told me she’s his ex. Not his ex-mate, the one who rejected him, but an ex-girlfriend. Someone he wanted to take as a chosen mate.
What does she have that I don’t?
No. I can’t let myself think that way. Something came up. Someone mindlinked him. He was in a hurry because he was needed elsewhere, which is why he didn’t explain everything to me before he took off. Maybe something happened to his mom or his dad. Maybe Wesley needed him to run an urgent errand.
Even with those attempts to encourage myself, my stomach twists. I spin away from the gathering, blinking against the itching in my eyes. I take my phone from my pocket and dial my mom’s number, not caring what time it is for her. I need to feel that sense of family that the Crescent Lake members are experiencing right now, and I can only get that from her and my dad.
But the phone rings and rings with no answer, until it rolls over into her voicemail. I bite my lip and end the call. In my current state of mind, I’d just leave a blubbering mess of incoherent rambling.
I gaze over the expanse of the shore, once more taking in the groups gathering around the fires. He left me alone to navigate the intricacies of life in his pack, and once again, all my insecurities surrounding my relationship with Nolan come rushing back to the forefront of my mind.
But determination quickly replaces the insecurity. So what if he isn’t here? And who cares if he hasn’t answered his phone or any messages I’ve sent him? I’ll find out where he is and what he’s doing and go to him instead.
Yes. That’s what I’ll do.
I take off towards Nolan’s house, my steps hurried and purposeful. I’ll grab my purse, find someone to drive me into town if I have to, and I’ll hunt Nolan down and make him tell me what’s going on.
Upon entering his house, though, it’s clear he’s here. The lights are all on, and his phone is on the entry table where he sometimes leaves his things when he’s in a hurry. I breathe a small sigh of relief, even though I don’t understand why he didn’t let me know he was back, and I head up the stairs. I stop short, however, when I reach the doorway to his room.
Much like this morning, his back is to me as he sits on the edge of the bed. He’s hunched in concentration, staring at something in his hand.
A small, unopened, black velvet jewelry box.
The same jewelry box that sat on his table the day I arrived. The box with the solitaire square cut yellow diamond ring inside it.
Ice returns to my veins along with every insecurity I worked to banish from my mind. The pain inside me grows into a behemoth tree of agony, rising with every second, twisting itself around my heart and ingraining itself into my soul.
I gave myself too much hope. Looking back, I realize there were signs. I overlooked them, though, preferring to remain optimistic. He claimed me, sexually and verbally, telling me I was “his,” but it was always selfish possessiveness, never love. He never opened up to me beyond the bare minimum. I ignored it all, though. I wanted to be accepted and loved so badly that I let myself pretend the warning signs weren’t there. But in the back of my mind, I knew our time together had an expiration date.
I just didn’t think it would arrive so soon.
I turn to leave, tears pooling in my eyes. Tomorrow I’ll ask Haven to help me move my things out of Nolan’s room and his house. For tonight, I want to be alone with my sorrow and my pain.
But the floorboards creak. I freeze, inhaling, my fists clenching as I face the bedroom again, my stomach tumbling down a mountain and into an endless gaping pit. Nolan rises from the bed, his head whipping towards me, his eyes widening, and his body tensing. “Cassandra! I—“
“Save your breath, Nolan,” I say, pushing my anguish and my tears aside and lacing my voice with firm determination and cool indifference. “I thought we had something special together. Something real. Turns out you were just pretending. I should have realized sooner you were using me as a Band-Aid.”
NOLAN
I rush across the grounds and race up the steps outside and inside the packhouse. The mindlink I received while talking to Rachel’s parents—
we have a problem
—sets the pace and the rhythm of my steps, and I take the stairs two or even three at a time until I reach the top floor of the packhouse.
The door opens before I can knock, and Harrison steps to the side to let me in.
“What’s the problem?” I ask without greeting him, spinning to face him once I’m inside.
“There are two choices. I can’t tell much of a difference between them. You need to look.” He nods towards the kitchen counter, where his laptop sits, open, a photo of two rings side by side pulled up on the screen.
We both walk over to it, staring at the picture. I frown and tilt my head to the left, then to the right, examining the rings. “Are you sure they’re different?”
“Suzanne said they were, but I can’t figure out how,” Harrison says, shrugging. “Maybe it’s easier to tell in person.” His eyes shift to me before continuing. “But if that’s the case, then you have to go yourself. You should be the one to pick. She’s your female and you know her best.”
I grind my teeth together and cross my arms, pinching the bridge of my nose. “What time does the shop close?”
“Suzanne only keeps the showroom open until four p.m.”
“That’s in”—I glance at the time on the laptop—“less than an hour!”
“Yes, but if you don’t go now, there is no guarantee either ring will be there the next time you go to town. And no other jeweler nearby has anything similar to what you said you wanted. Suzanne is the only one, and she’s the best.”
“Goddess fucking damn it,” I mutter.
“I know,” Harrison agrees, putting his hands on his hips.
I stare at the screen again, examining the two rings. There really seems to be no difference between the two. That I can see anyway. But neither calls to me or my wolf. Neither screams, “This is the one!” Neither gives me the gut reaction I want. Not through the screen, anyway.
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?