Page 36 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

The guys all stiffened and paused, turning to stare at me.

“What?” I mouthed, and they just exchanged looks with each other.

I turned my back on them and leaned against the porch railing so I couldn’t see their faces. They never liked any of the girls I dated. They’d probably hate my mate, too, if I ever found her.

“I’ve been calling you for DAYS!” Lauren screeched into the phone, and I had to move it away from my ear again.

“Sorry, I didn’t see your number coming through,” I said.

“I KNOW!” she exclaimed. “My phone broke because Cheyenne drove off with it on the hood of her car. It flew through the air and landed on the other side of the highway, and then a semi ran over it, and well, I’m sure you can imagine what it looked like after that. I called my dad to tell him what happened, and he won’t let me get another new phone because this is the third one I’ve broken in two months, and…”

I lowered the phone to the railing as I gripped it, my teeth clenching at the grating sound of her voice as she kept rambling through her very long-winded explanation. My lycan winced as, with each sentence, her volume and pitch went higher. Why was I doing this to myself?

And then it hit me. We hadn’t spoken one word to each other for over two days, and I hadn’t even noticed. I wasn’t even worried about her or concerned that something might be wrong. I hadn’t tried to reach out to her either, or her dad or her brother.

I peeked at my friends, and Reid had this “I told you so, dumbass” look on his face.

I brought the phone back to my ear with reluctance and resignation.

“… so I was calling you on Cheyenne’s phone this whole time because I wanted to remind you that—”

“Look, Lauren, I think we need to end this.”

“Oh, ok, well I can call you back later if you’re busy, or—”

“No, Lauren, not this as in this phone call. This as in, us.”

Silence. I shifted my weight between my feet as I waited.

“But,Wessy—”

“Don’t call me that,” I grumbled, rolling my shoulders back.

She’d heard Maddie use it once and latched onto it, thinking it would be a cute pet name. It wasn’t.

“Where is this coming from? We had something good! You said… you said—”

Giant, weepy sobs blasted through the phone, and I winced, and even the guys on my front lawn made faces, covering their ears.

“I know, Lauren,” I soothed. “I know what I said about staying together until one of us found our mate, but… it’s just not working anymore. I need—”

I paused. I didn’t know what I needed, but it wasn’t her. My lycan grumbled in my mind, irritated with my confusion.

“I just think this is best,” I finished.

“Fine,” she sniffled. “Fine! That’s just fine! I don’t need you, anyway!” She grew louder, again, with each declaration. “I have alphas lining up to date me!”

“Great!” I said with a silent laugh. Reid snickered and covered his mouth, but I saw him and shook my head. “I hope that works out for you,” I told her, then I hung up the phone.

Sebastian lifted his arms in the air in a silent cheer, and Reid started singing:

“Another one bites the dust…

Another one bites the dust…

And another one gone, and another one gone

Another one bites the dust…”

---