Page 30 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

I picked up the pace again, and he stayed right by my side.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

I grunted and sped up again, and he did, too, but I could see him struggling.

That thing inside me preened with confidence and gave me an extra boost of energy and speed. Sebastian was faster than we realized, but I had trained harder and longer. He could keep up, but he couldn’t maintain the speed for much longer.

I rushed ahead one last time, giving it everything I had, and Seb fell behind, laughing as the sounds of Reid and Nolan cheering and clapping echoed around our training grounds.

I soared around the last corner and finished the straightaway to our dads, where I lifted my arms in victory and spun around in a celebratory dance as Sebastian came in soon after me.

His cheeks were red, and he huffed and panted. But I had never felt more energized and alive. The edginess under my skin no longer felt foreign but integrated into my soul and the very essence of my being.

“Good race,” Sebastian puffed out between his breaths. “I’ll get you next time,” he added, and I rolled my eyes.

“We’ll see.” I chuckled as I walked to the water jugs.

I filled my cup several times, gulping the cool water down my burning throat. Nolan and Reid followed close behind with Seb, the three of them whispering and chuckling to each other about the impromptu race we’d just had.

I smiled to myself as I listened to their bickering and teasing. They were idiots at times, but I was lucky to have them by my side, lucky they would be the three closest to me as we led the pack with our mates when it was our time.

Their voices softened and then stopped altogether, and a chill ran through my body at the sudden silence and tension in the training yard. That sickening feeling in my stomach returned, and that primal thing within my soul sat up straighter, awake and alert to the approaching threat.

I placed my cup on the table, taking care to not crush it or slam it down. I cracked my neck to the right, shaking off the dread settling on my shoulders and my heart. Then I turned around and met the eyes of our parents.

Fiona was in Felix’s arms, her head resting against his chest and her eyes red-rimmed. He buried his face in her hair, and I could just see the outline of his mouth as he comforted her, although I could not hear what he said. My mom and dad watched them, my mom tucked into my dad’s side and his hand stroking her shoulder. Brad stood to the side, watching his friends.

Dad turned his face to me, his eyes locking with mine. His gaze was serious and pained and told me everything I needed to know.

I didn’t want to ask. I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want them to tell me, to confirm what I suspected was true. Their looks, their actions, their emotions were confirmation enough.

But the words left my mouth before I could stop them, spewing out from between my lips without my control.

“What happened?” I asked, but my words were barely audible, not even loud enough to be called a whisper.

My dad heard, though, or saw my lips moving, or both, and he swallowed and looked down at the ground.

“What happened?!” I asked again, louder this time.

The adults all looked at each other the way adults do when they’re deciding if they should let you in on what they know, and I lost it.

“TELL ME!” I demanded, my hands tensing, my fingers curling.

A twinge of pain shot through my body and out through my fingertips, but I ignored it. I focused on my mom instead, on her watery eyes.

“Wesley, you need to take a deep breath and calm down,” she murmured.

“Just tell me, Mom!” I begged. The pain shot through my body again and caused the veins in my neck to pop as I tried to hold it back. “Please,” I added, my voice cracking.

Dad blew out a breath and then looked me straight in the eyes again.

“The adoption agency denied Felix and Fiona’s application,” he said. “They can’t adopt Haven.”

I blinked and then shook my head. I had to have misheard him.

“No, that doesn’t make sense,” I said. “They are good people, wonderful parents. Anyone can see that. Why would they reject them?”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with them as people,” my mom said, glancing at Felix and Fiona with a smile. “In fact, they approved them to adopt in general if they choose to. But they can’t adopt Haven.”

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