Page 134 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

“What do you mean?” my dad replied.

“I mean,” Tim began, “I mean this alliance? My daughter has her… her mate now and—”

“Dad?” Maddie’s voice interrupted from the hallway. “Dad, what is going on? We’ve all been waiting for five-ever, and I’m bored!” she said as she opened the door and strolled in without a care.

Everyone froze, and every eye in the room moved to her. Mom paled, and Dad stood up slowly, walking towards Maddie.

“Madeleine,” he said in a low voice. “I told you to stay outside.”

She swallowed and glanced at everyone, keeping her sassy mouth shut for once in her life. Reid’s jaw ticked. But he didn’t move from his spot, even though I knew he wanted to get her out of there and away from Alpha Pierce as much as the rest of us did.

“Who is this?” Timothy asked, eyeing Maddie calculatingly, his eyes looking her up and down. “Is this your youngest?” he added, turning to look at Dad.

“Maddie, go back downstairs,” he told her, ignoring Timothy’s question.

“Wait,” Timothy said, holding his hands up, his eyes now holding a slight glint of excitement. “Wait, this could work.”

“What could work?” I asked, my brow furrowing as I watched him look at Ben and then back at Maddie.

“No,” Reid growled, standing up straight from where he leaned against the wall, his arms uncrossing as he clenched his hands into fists at his side.

“You have a daughter, and I have a son,” Timothy continued, ignoring Reid. “There’s no reason to cancel this mating ceremony. We’ll have Maddie and Ben mate instead of Nicole and Wes.”

The growls and roars that filled the room at his words echoed so loudly that it was likely the entire pack heard us from the lawn outside. I saw red, and my lycan snapped and snarled in my head, my claws shooting out without warning.

Timothy just kept talking, his volume rising to be heard over the din. “The contract can still stand! We can still have our alliance, and your daughter will be a luna and still be close—”

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?” Ben roared, his eyes almost bulging, his face as red as his father’s had been earlier. “She is a CHILD!”

“Let’s go, Maddie,” Reid muttered, moving forward and weaving around everyone to reach her.

The volume of the shouts and voices in the room kept rising to where I couldn’t hear what anyone said as everyone spoke at once. Reid grabbed Maddie’s hand and pulled her out of the room. Ben was up in his dad’s face, spittle flying as he continued to say Goddess only knew what to him, my dad holding him back from launching himself onto Timothy.

My lycan paced again, more agitated than ever. Growls and snarls fell out of his mouth, adding to the noise echoing in my head.

I moved forward to help Dad keep Ben at bay when a mindlink came through from Sebastian.

“You need to come help me. Now.”

My response was instant and urgent, my feet moving me through the room before my mind could catch up and before Seb could even respond, before I knew where to find him. My heart thudded against my ribs as I feared the worst.“Why? What’s going on?”

He hesitated for only a moment, then replied, “It’s Haven.”

CHAPTER 46

HAVEN

“Are you sure about this?” I asked Imogen as I stood in front of the full-length mirror in the bathroom of her penthouse apartment.

“About what?” she replied, leaning closer to the mirror to put on her red lipstick.

“All of it?” I answered. “The hair, the outfit, the shoes… it’s just… Well, it’s not reallyme.”

“What are you talking about? You look hot. Own it!” Ramón yelled from where he lounged on Imogen’s bed, sipping a glass of red wine.

“He’s right, you look hot,” Imogen agreed. “Wesley is an idiot,” she added.

My lips twitched halfheartedly, but I said nothing in response to her words.

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