The Alpha’s Pen Pal (Crescent Lake Book 1)

HAVEN

I sat stiff and rigid in the chair next to Wesley’s hospital bed, his hand held in mine and my thumb stroking his skin in slow, smooth strokes. The bond would help him heal, but it was also helping me not have another massive freak out while I sat with him in the pack’s hospital.

Dr. Russo had patched him up in almost no time, but he had to re-break Wesley’s foot because the bones had started to heal in the wrong position. He’d tried to refuse any sedation, but with the damage to his ribs and lungs, they had to give him general anesthesia in order to repair all of it.

Now he was in the bed, still asleep but healing. Hopefully, he would wake up soon.

I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath. His scent was mixed with the antiseptic and medicinal smells of the hospital, the ones that always sent me into a spiral of depressive thoughts. But his scent was still there, still stronger than those other smells, keeping me in the present and not letting me return to that dark place from twelve years ago.

“Just a week ago, our roles were switched.”

My eyes snapped open, and a whimper of relief escaped me when I saw his brown eyes staring at me—drowsy and blinking but awake.

“Wesley.” I sighed, jumping up from my seat and perching on the edge of the bed.

My hand moved to his face, and with a slow, pained movement, he covered my hand with his, closing his eyes at my touch.

“What happened?” he rasped out, then licked his lips and closed his mouth, fighting against the dryness. “What happened after the fight?” he managed to say.

“Here,” I murmured, reaching for the pitcher of water and the cup the nurses had left on the side table for when he woke up. “Drink this,” I said, handing him the cup.

He took it with a grateful and amused smile and drank several long sips, letting the water fill his mouth and ease his discomfort.

“I know I won, and I remember you running to me, but honestly, everything else is a blur,” he told me, setting the cup down once he’d drank enough.

“It was all chaos. The king was barking orders, and people were running around, but I wasn’t paying much attention to all of that. I just wanted, needed, to be with you and make sure you were all right. Your dad brought you here, and Dr. Russo fixed you up. They let me stay in the room while they operated, and Nolan stood right outside, just in case I had another panic attack.”

“But you didn’t,” he stated, his chest puffing out a smidge.

“I didn’t,” I repeated, my lips twitching at his pride in me. “You were my focus. Wanting you to be safe and healed kept me grounded and out of my head and the past.”

“You’re incredible, you know that?” he said, his hand covering mine on the bed. “Every day, you show me and everyone around you how strong you truly are. You prove to them there is more to you than meets the eye.”

“Save your romantic speeches for when you’re healed, and we’re home,” I teased, my cheeks heating and my eyes watering at his words.

But he shook his head at me, gripping and squeezing my hand. “No. I’ve almost lost you too many times. I won’t ever stop telling you and showing you how I feel, no matter where we are or what the situation is.”

The pink on my cheeks remained, and a small smile threatened to take over my face.

But a knock on the door interrupted us, followed by the king’s voice. “May I come in?” he asked.

I raised my brow at Wes in question, and he nodded.

“Yes,” I replied, turning my head in his direction.

He entered the room, and his commanding aura filled the space. Wesley attempted to sit up, and I lowered my head in deference to him, but he stopped both of us.

“Please,” he said, holding his hands out. “You need to heal,” he told Wesley. “Don’t strain yourself trying to follow protocols. We’re in private, and your health is more important than rank right now.”

He turned his gaze to me, his eyes filled with the same look of wonder and awe Wesley’s family and pack had looked at me with the day I read the story from the book. I refrained from squirming under that weighted gaze, refrained from letting him see how uncomfortable it made me.

“And you,” he said, his voice quiet but clear. “You never need to bow to me. You are above all of us.”

I swallowed and shook my head. “I’m not. I’m nothing special. Selene may be my mother, but I’m just a human. I’m powerless.”

“What could be more special to us than the daughter of our goddess? The daughter she promised she would send?” he countered. “It’s not about whether you have powers or magic. It’s about what you represent to us, what you give us. We have all waited for you for thousands of years, waited and hoped and prayed that you would come and Selene would choose us to protect and cherish you. You are a promise fulfilled and are a piece of the magic that created us. ‘Just human’ or not, you are still her daughter. You are a symbol of hope to all wolfkind.”

Wesley squeezed my hand again at the king’s words.

I sighed and rubbed my sweaty and shaking hands on my thighs. “Not everyone will see it that way. Pierce and Lennox have proved that already,” I reminded him. “They just saw me as an object, a prize, something they could use for personal gain. Something that would make them stronger and more powerful.”

“That isn’t true, though,” he said. “You only give strength to your mate, and that is true for any mated pair—your mate is meant to strengthen you and make you the best version of yourself.”

I chuckled a little at that, remembering what Selene—my mom—had told us about how I had changed Wesley’s path and made him less arrogant and kinder. I could feel Wesley’s amusement as well, and I knew he was remembering the same thing.

“But, as you said, others will not see it that way. They will only see you as Selene’s daughter, as something magical and powerful that will strengthen them, too. That’s why, as a direct descendant of Conan, the first lycan and our first king, I am offering you my protection, as Selene directed us to.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean, I am offering you protection by whatever means needed. I am offering you this because it is the right thing to do. But also because each of us, when we took the throne, has had to take an extra, secret vow. A vow that should Selene’s daughter be born during our reign, we would aid her and her mate in whatever way necessary in order to keep her as safe as possible.”

I glanced at Wesley, and he frowned at the king’s words, but King Malachi continued.

“Not because her mate wouldn’t be able to on his own. But because jealousy and greed are very real, hideous emotions, she knew there would be those who would try to use and take her daughter for themselves. Those who would forget that her daughter could only be marked by her true mate.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, “I-we-we appreciate your offer and your sincerity,” I told him.

“I will sign a blood contract and have everyone who witnessed today’s events sign one as well. To keep your identity a secret. And whatever else you need,” he added, looking towards Wes. “Anything. Anything at all, I will gladly assist in whatever way I can.”

“My luna said it beautifully. We are grateful for your offer,” Wesley said.

He reached out for King Malachi’s hand, and they shook, matching looks of sincerity painted on their faces.

“I will make sure we complete the blood contracts before the thirteen crones leave with their prisoner and before my people and I leave with ours,” he informed us.

“What will happen to them?” Wesley asked. “To the witch and the Wainwrights—Blaines,” he corrected himself.

“The crones are taking Gladys. She will receive what she gave tenfold.”

“Meaning?” I asked.

“They will give her the poison she gave to Jack at ten times the strength he took,” he said. “She posed as a holistic doctor and gave him vitamins that poisoned him and caused his stroke,” he added at my furrowed brow. “She confessed everything to the crones. They are … an intimidating group of witches when they are all convened.”

He shuddered at some picture of them in his mind. “Anyway,” he said, shaking his thoughts away. “She will likely die from that alone, but they have more punishments to dole out to her should she survive.”

“And the Blaines?” I asked again.

“Council prison. We will imprison them and keep them apart for the rest of their lives. The strain on their bond from being unable to see, touch, or speak to each other will be quite painful. They may not reject each other, either, so they will always endure the pain of being close, but never close enough.”

I nodded, my jaw clenched. That sounded horrible, knowing what I knew of the bond, and knowing how it felt between Wesley and me. I couldn’t imagine experiencing that pain, being separated from Wesley like that. But I didn’t care what it did to them or how much they suffered from that forced separation. They were nothing to me, just as I had always been nothing to them.

“What about the drug Pierce used?” Wesley asked.

The king sighed. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that will be the last we see of that drug. He was selling it and the recipe. That’s where he got much of his money from over the last decade or so. It’s something we’ll have to keep eyes and ears out for. It will be a thorn in my side, but that comes with the job,” he added with a halfhearted chuckle.

“We will help in any way we can,” Wesley told him. “It is the least we can do with what you are doing for us.”

“I will reach out at some point. For now, I will let you enjoy some time as a newly mated couple and let you adjust to your roles as alpha and luna when that time comes.” Wesley nodded. “I will leave you to rest and heal,” he said, turning to the door. “Goodbye, Alpha Wesley, Luna Haven.”

I raised my hand in farewell, and he nodded at us with a smile and then left us alone.

“Come here,” Wesley growled as soon as the door clicked shut.

I looked at him; he patted his thighs, his eyes locked on me and filled with passion, heat, and possessiveness. My insides coiled at his growl and that look in his eyes, but he was in no state for any of the ideas that flitted through my mind, for the desires swirling in my blood.

I clenched my thighs together and shook my head at him. “No. You need to rest and heal.”

He frowned and grabbed my hand, yanking me towards him. “I am already healing and I’m not in pain. I want to hold my mate, and I am going to hold you, whether you want me to or not,” he threatened with a wink. “And I know you want me to, so get your cute little ass over here,” he growled.

I sighed out a laugh and moved on top of him, my hands resting on his chest as his arms wound around my waist, holding my body pressed to his. “There was a moment… a moment when I thought I was going to lose,” he whispered, his forehead leaning against mine.

“I know,” I replied. “I felt it. I felt you trying to tell me goodbye through the bond. But I wasn’t going to let that be the end of our story. I wasn’t going to let you lose. ”

“And you call me bossy.” He chuckled.

“I’m not bossy.” I frowned, pulling away from his face.

“You are,” he mumbled, his hand moving to the back of my head and tangling into my hair. “And I love it.”

He pushed me forward with his hand, and our lips met, the tingles and fireworks erupting at every point of contact between us. He kissed me slow and deep, possessing more of my heart and my soul with each meeting of our lips and tongues.

“I thought of a way for you to give me a mark,” Wesley murmured between kisses.

“Oh, really?” I smiled against his mouth. “And how am I going to do that?”

He shook his head and kissed me again. Another deep, slow kiss. “You’ll have to wait until the new moon to find out,” he teased me.

I sighed in exasperation but melted into his warmth and strength, letting my body take control of the moment, giving in to my instincts. I would savor every kiss, every touch, every moment with him, like he said. I would show him my love at every opportunity because we had lost too much time already, and I didn’t want to lose anymore.

I was ready for our forever to begin.