Page 161 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

“No can do,” Maya said, shaking her head. “Your dad forbade non-ranked pack members from leaving the pack grounds while there are two very pissed-off lycans running around. He doesn’t want anyone leaving until they’re caught and brought in.”

“Or dead,” Reid added. “He said ‘until they’re apprehended or dead.’”

“Fuck,” I muttered, sitting back on my heels. “I’ve been so focused on Haven, I didn’t think about them both still being out there. Have you heard from Seb?”

“No, the last I saw him he was just leaving the grounds with Levi and a few other warriors,” Maya said.

“You?” I asked Reid.

“No, and I’m not looking forward to seeing him.”

“Why?”

“I owe him some money. I lost a bet,” he said, not meeting my eyes.

“You do realize he wins every bet he makes, right? He only bets when he knows he will win,” I pointed out. Reid shrugged. “Do I even want to know what the two of you bet on this time?” I sighed.

“It was an old bet. One of the first we made, actually,” Reid said, rubbing his neck, still avoiding my eyes.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Really? So you were, what, twelve?” He nodded. “Tell me,” I commanded.

“We bet on whether you and Haven would be mates!” Reid rushed out, then covered his mouth with his hands, his eyes wide. “Damn it, Wes!” he mumbled from underneath his hands.

I threw my head back and laughed and heard Maya cracking up along with me. “And you bet against me?” I said, still chuckling.

“Dude, we were twelve! It didn’t seem possible at all. She was a human, from another state, and you were both so young! I never thought you’d meet your mate that young!”

I put my hands on my thighs and shook my head, still laughing at him. “Okay, well, Maya, can you at least tell Reid what he can grab from your place for her?”

“She has a bag of clothes and a few other things that she always keeps by the front door,” Maya muttered. “She never told me what it was for, but I assume it’s a habit from when she lived in foster care and had to be ready to move all the time.”

That comment put us all back into a more somber mood. To think even this many years later, she still kept a bag ready like that. I shook my head again and rubbed my face, hiding my watering eyes from my friends.

“I’ll go get it,” Reid said softly, then he pushed off of the doorway and left.

“And then… then Maya, I’ll give you my laptop and credit card, and you can order her whatever else she needs and have it shipped here,” I said to her.

“She’s going to hate that,” Maya laughed. “She hates when people buy her shit.”

“I’ve noticed.” I chuckled as I stood up and carried the desk pieces into the other bedroom.

“So, why are you moving this stuff to the other room?” she asked as she followed me.

“You’ll see,” I told her with a smile.

**********

I was fixing up the last bit of our dinner in the kitchen when Haven and Nolan walked back into the house. I took in several deep, slow, calming breaths as I waited for them to enter the kitchen, for her to see what I had prepared for us to eat.

I turned to look at her, her eyes traveling over the large pot of tomato soup and the fresh off-the-griddle grilled cheese sandwiches. My heart worked double time as I waited for her to react, to see I’d remembered her favorite food.

Her gaze finally met mine, her face blank and her voice void of emotion. “We had pizza.”

I clenched my fist around the spatula in my hand, glaring at Nolan as Haven looked down at her feet to kick her shoes off by the island. No, wait—Maddie’s shoes. Those were definitely Maddie’s shoes and Maddie’s clothes. And her curls were soft and wild, the way I preferred them, which meant she’d taken a shower.

“Well, I’ll see you later,” Nolan said, lifting his hand in a wave.

“Where are you going?” I asked, walking after him with the spatula still in my hand.

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