Page 167 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

Then I made my way back to the kitchen, following the scent of melted butter. I paused as I passed the small mirror in the hall, and my eyes caught on the scars on my neck, barely visible above the collar of the T-shirt. The scars from when Lennox bit me.

My eyes widened, and my stomach flipped over as I realized I had been bitten. By a werewolf. A lycan.

My heart thudded in my chest, and Wesley’s footsteps echoed the beat as he rushed into the hall.

“Sugar Plum? What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice cautious as he took my face in his hands.

“Lennox bit me,” I muttered.

“Yes, he did. And he will pay for it when I get my hands on him,” Wesley promised with a growl.

I shook my head. “But hebitme,” I repeated. “Am I… will I turn into a werewolf—a lycan—too?”

My voice shook as I asked my question, as I voiced my concern. It would change everything if I did. It could affect everything—my body, my career—I had to know.

Wesley’s eyes widened as he realized what I was asking, and he pressed his lips together. I could feel his amusement through the bond, and I smacked his chest with my hand. “It’s not funny, Wesley!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice strained as he held in his laughter. “I know it’s not funny to you, but it is to me because I know we can’t turn others into lycans or werewolves. Werewolves and lycans are only born, not made. But I realize you wouldn’t know that, and one of us should have made sure we explained that to you. I’m sorry,” he said.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. “Sorry,” I muttered, my cheeks flushing.

“No need to apologize or be embarrassed,” he said, pulling me into his arms so my cheek rested against his bare chest. “It was a valid question that you needed an answer to.” He kissed the top of my head and stepped back. “Now, let’s go eat while the sandwiches are still hot, and you can ask me any other questions you still have.”

I followed him into the kitchen, sorting through all the questions floating through my mind as he dished up our food. There were so many in there, and it seemed as though each answer just gave me more questions.

Wesley took our food to the table, and I followed him, moving to sit in the chair I’d sat in the night he’d made us dinner. But he pulled me into his lap before I could take three steps.

He scooted his chair in, then wrapped his arm around my waist, holding me so I couldn’t move off his lap even if I tried. Not that I wanted to. I was perfectly content sitting there.

“Why do you say ‘goddess’ so much?” I asked, then leaned forward to blow on my spoonful of soup. “I’ve heard you say it several times, and Reid said it that first night by the lake. You said he’d had too many sprinkles.”

Wes chuckled. “Selene—the Greek goddess of the moon—is our creator. She created the wolf warriors, who then became the first werewolves. She created the first alpha lycans, and she created fated mates for us.”

“So you worship her?” I asked, dipping a piece of my sandwich into the soup.

“Sort of?” Wesley answered. “We don’t worship her in the same way some humans worship their God. We don’t pray to her or anything. But we acknowledge that we wouldn’t exist without her, and we hold respect for her.”

“But you believe she’s real?”

“Of course she’s real.”

“But how do you know?”

“I mean… I guess we don’t know for sure. But if I’m real, then she must be real too, right?” he reasoned after he thought for a moment.

I hummed out a noncommittal response and ate my food as I thought of what I wanted to ask next. There were still so many questions rolling around in my brain, but I didn’t want to overwhelm myself. And I was tired from the intensity of everything that had happened.

There was just one question, one thing I wanted to know and discuss before I called it a night.

I set my spoon down in my empty bowl and leaned back into Wesley’s body, turning so I could wrap my arms around his neck. His hand came to rest on my thigh, absentmindedly trailing his fingers along the bare skin there, and I was glad I had only worn his shirt over my underwear. The feel of his skin against mine not only gave me those pleasurable tingles but comforted me and soothed my soul.

“What’s on your mind, Sugar Plum?” Wesley asked, nuzzling his nose into my neck.

“What will you do as alpha?” I asked. “And what would I have to do as the luna?”

“We will lead the pack. Together.”

I nodded and pressed my lips together. “But—”

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