Page 123 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

Before I could even think about it, I had him up against a tree, my forearm pressing into his throat. I got right up in his face, my chest heaving and my lycan pushing forward, my lips curling and a growl ripping out of my body.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT HER?” I roared out, releasing my alpha aura into the forest, emphasizing my words with a thrust of my arm against his Adam’s apple.

“I was just—”

“How dare you disrespect her like that!” I exclaimed, slamming him back against the tree again. “She’s not just a fling!”

“I’m sorry!” he cried, tilting his head as best he could to bare his neck to me.

“If all goes well, if she agrees, then she will be your luna!”

“I know, I know! I love Haven!” I growled again, baring my teeth at him. “As a friend! Just as a friend, Wes!”

“Reid, you’re an idiot,” Sebastian grumbled from behind me. His hand touched my shoulder, and I tensed, ready to pounce on him if needed. “Wes, you can’t kill Reid. First of all, I’m sure he didn’t mean to disrespect Haven. And second of all, he’s your beta.”

“I could find another one,” I growled.

“You could,” Seb agreed, “but do you want to?”

I grunted, and stood there with Reid still pushed against the tree trunk, my eyes boring into his and my aura pulsing out of me in waves. He tilted his head even more and averted his eyes.

I leaned forward again and whispered, “I swear to the Goddess, if you EVER disrespect her again, I will not hesitate to do permanent damage to your body.” I lowered my eyes, looking down towards his favorite body part.

“Yes, Alpha,” he murmured, his thighs clenching together.

I growled once more and slammed him against the tree again for good measure, then let him go and kept walking.

“That was really stupid,” Sebastian said to Reid as they fell into step behind me. “Like, really, really stupid,” he repeated.

“I was just happy he finally got laid,” Reid muttered. “I wasn’t trying to insult Haven. Just celebrate that they took the next step. We all knew they both wanted it,” he grumbled.

I turned and shot him a glare, a small snarl on my lips.

“What? We did! It was fucking obvious how bad you wanted to—” He paused and glanced at my unamused face and thought better of whatever he’d been about to say. “Well, anyway, I just meant I’m happy for you,” he said, looking down at the ground.

I turned back to the front and let out the smile I’d been holding in while staring him down. As tactless as his delivery was, he didn’t intend to harm.

And I had to admit, he wasn’t wrong. I had wanted her for a while and knew she’d wanted me too. And it thrilled me things had gone the way they did the night before. I only had to hope that things would continue to work out in my favor.

When we got closer to where the rogues were camped out, we paused in an area where the trees grew closer together to regroup and rehash our plan.

“I’ll sneak up on them,” Sebastian said. “I can get close enough to listen and get a read on them without them noticing me. You two stay here, and I’ll relay what I hear to you both through the link.”

“Ready, break,” Reid said, sticking his hand out into the middle of our huddle.

Seb and I just stared at him as he waited. Then Seb turned and started towards their camp. He ducked behind a tree and almost disappeared from view as he used his tracker and warrior training to find a suitable position to spy on them.

Reid and I stayed where he left us, hunkering down behind our own trees and waiting until he linked us.

Only his link never came.

“What the fuck!” Sebastian exclaimed, and then we heard a loud thud and a “Holy fucking shit!”

Reid and I exchanged a look, and then we both dashed out from our hiding spots to find Sebastian laid out on his back. A smaller, dark-haired she-wolf straddled him with his arms trapped at his side by her legs, a small knife pressed against his throat.

“Hey!” I called out, sprinting forward.

“It’s fine,” Seb linked me. “She’s not hurting me. She just caught me by surprise.” The entire time he linked me, his eyes never left the petite rogue wolf sitting on top of him. “She’s not a rogue, either,” he added.

---