Page 140 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

“My brother’s,” I told her, and she nodded. “She’s coming here with some friends tonight, and he’s—” I fumbled for the right words to explain the idiotic thing my brother was pretending to do. “He’s otherwise engaged.”

Nolan barked out a laugh, and I rolled my eyes. “That pun was not intended,” I mindlinked him.

“But it was a good one!” He chuckled.

“She’s a redhead. She’ll be here soon with a blonde and a vampire,” I told her, ignoring Nolan.

Her brows raised, and I waved her unspoken question away. “He’s harmless. He’s in the ballet company with her. Can you just… try to observe her from down there?” I nodded at the dance floor with my chin. “Or even try to make friends with her or something? We can’t let her know we’re here.”

“Sure,” Sarina shrugged. “Spot me my drinks?” she added, batting her lashes again.

“They’ll be on the house,” I ground out between my teeth.

“Thanks, Pretty Boy,” she grinned. “I’ll see you later.”

She winked and stood from our booth, leaving her drink behind. She smoothed out her red off-the-shoulder dress as she walked away. I forced myself to look back at my drink instead of watching her walk away like I knew she wanted me to.

“She’s fun.” Nolan smirked after she was gone.

“Hmph,” I grunted, frowning and taking a long swig of my drink.

“I heard Reid tried to make a move on her.”

“She said she’s not his type.”

“Reid’s type is female.”

“That’s what Reid said too,” I told him with a wry chuckle.

“Haven’s here,” the bouncer at the door mindlinked Nolan and me, and we both sat up straighter, moving to have a better view of the club while still staying hidden.

We watched as Haven entered, watched as she went to the bar, and had drinks with her friends. We watched Sarina chatting with Haven and watched them dance together in the mass of people on the floor. Our eyes never left them, tracking Haven’s every move as she celebrated her birthday.

“King Malachi, or whoever he sent, is still running late,” Nolan said as he checked his phone while Haven was on the dance floor with Ramón.

“That’s not good,” I grumbled. “They’re going to have to stall.”

“I know.” Nolan sighed, then put his phone back in his pocket. “At least things are going well here.”

I pressed my fingertips into my forehead and sighed. “Why would you say—”

And just like that, the power went out. Screams echoed through the club, and the sound of racing feet and rushing bodies filled my ears. The clubgoers tried using their phones and flashes to help them see, but we didn’t need to with our enhanced sight.

I jumped to my feet, and so did Nolan, both of us on alert.

“Aren’t there backup generators?” he asked through mindlink so I could hear him over the din.

“There are, but they should have kicked on almost immediately. We wouldn’t have even noticed the switch,” I replied.

We moved to the stairs, hopping down them multiple steps at a time. “Do you have eyes on her?” I asked.

“No,” he growled.

“Take the right half. I’ll take the left,” I said, moving to make my sweep before he even replied.

My eyes never stopped scanning the crowd as I moved through it, trying to find Haven and her friends. The panic level in the club made my lycan growl in my mind, even though he’d been quiet all evening like he usually was. That was my first clue that something was off.

“Sarina!” I called as I saw her little red dress moving through the crowd.

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