Page 121 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

“No, Luna. I don’t want a mate,” he said, shaking his head like a wet dog.

“Sebastian then,” she said. “He’s an alpha, too, even though he doesn’t lead his own pack.”

“The proposal specifically said ‘the alpha heir of Crescent Lake,’” I told her. “He made sure it could be me and only me. And there’s no way he would have agreed to a beta or a lowly second-born alpha heir. No offense,” I added, looking at Sebastian.

“None taken,” he shrugged. “I know my place. I am but a lowly second-born lycan,” he said, sighing dramatically and pretending to pout. “If only my older brother would have some tragedy befall him so I could take over the pack instead of he, then maybe someone would actually listen to me or love me.”

Reid snorted, and my dad rolled his eyes, rubbing his forehead with a groan.

“Well, if the proposal specifically asked for Wesley, then why did you have Reid and Sebastian in the meeting with you?” my mom asked.

“Yes, why did you ask us to come?” Reid chimed in.

“I called you both in for something unrelated, but then Alpha Pierce showed up, and I needed to deal with him first,” Dad replied. “I called you in for the same reason I called all pack members living off-territory back to the pack.”

“And that is…?” I asked, waiting for whatever bomb he was about to drop on us.

He sighed, then said, “There have been rogues sighted in the area.”

CHAPTER 42

WESLEY

“Rogues?” I asked, blinking. “We haven’t had issues with rogues in years. Haven’t even had any sightings of them in this area.”

“Did they attack?” Reid asked, his body tense and his arms crossed.

Dad grabbed his tablet and pulled up the map of our lands. “No, they crossed onto our territory here,” he said, pointing out a spot at the southern edge of the map.

I breathed out a sigh of relief that they were in the opposite direction from the route Haven would have taken to head back to the city. “They walked along the border for less than half a mile, and then they left the territory.”

“Where are they now?” Sebastian asked, looking at the map over my shoulder.

“Less than a mile from our border,” Dad said.

“What are they doing?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said with a shrug. “They’re just camped out. I’m unsure if they’re scoping out the area, waiting to attack, or maybe just passing through? The scouts I sent out only got close enough to check their location, but I told them not to linger or engage with them.”

“Why’d you need Reid and me then?” Sebastian asked.

“Because I know you will be able to get a better read on them than anyone else in the pack. Be able to discern whether they’re just passing through or if they’re here to do some damage to the packs in this area.”

Sebastian nodded, his eyes glinting for a second at our father’s praise, but he didn’t alter his demeanor at all. My dad was right, though. Seb was the most intuitive and observant pack member we had. He just had a way of reading people and situations that was unmatched by even our most seasoned warriors and trackers.

Reid spoke up then. “And you called me because…?”

“Because I knew Wesley was busy with Haven, and Nolan was probably spending time with Rachel since it’s technically Nolan’s day off.”

“How’d you know I was—uh—busy?” I asked.

“I saw her car in front of your house early this morning when I went for a run,” Dad said, his lips twitching.

“Thanks,” I muttered, running my hand through my hair.

“I could have been with a lady,” Reid pointed out.

“I thought you don’t do sleepovers?” Seb reminded him.

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