Page 47 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

WESLEY

I hastened to my truck as fast as I could. I needed to shift, but I couldn’t do that in town. It was necessary for me to get into the forest first. Then I could link Reid and ask him to come get my truck so I could leave it on the shoulder.

My emotions were all over the place. I didn’t know whether to scream or cry or laugh. The whole situation was too much for my lycan to handle. Or me, if I was honest.

As soon as I was far enough away from the town, I pulled over and called Reid, since I was still out of mindlinking range.

“What’s up?”

“I need you to come get my truck,” I grunted.

“Okay,” he replied. “Where is it?”

“I’ll leave my phone in it so you can find it with the GPS tracker.”

“Got it. You okay?”

“No,” I growled, and then I hung up.

I threw my phone onto the passenger seat and ripped my shirt over my head. Then I hopped out of the truck and ran into the trees before taking my pants off and leaving them on the ground as I shifted into my lycan. My claws dug into the dirt, and I had to hold back the howl threatening to break through my mouth.

It hurt that she thought I could hurt her. But even more than that, it hurt to see her hurting. And she was so sure. So firm in her belief that I would do something so horrible as abandon her when she needed me the most.

It gutted me. And I couldn’t even blame her. I’d be mad at me, too, if I was her.

And even though I knew all those years ago there was a chance she’d think I’d abandoned her, to see it come to fruition was something I could never have prepared for. We’d spent over a year trying to find her, to find out her name and where she’d moved to. My dad had hired private investigators and even tried using a witch, but it was all to no avail.

We should have tried harder. I’d always thought we hadn’t done enough, but now I knew for sure. I knew it hadn’t been enough.

Some friend I was.

No. I didn’t even deserve that title. I was just the boy who broke her.

I made it to our pack lands in record time and took a lap around the perimeter, staying under the cover of the trees. About halfway through, a light gray lycan and a rusty-furred wolf flanked me, running with me.

I acknowledged Sebastian and Nolan with a nod, then kept on my path. It was a normal loop for me, one I ran almost every morning before our mandatory training.

My friend and my brother ran with me in silence, not asking me questions or trying to talk to me. They both knew better. Seb might be an asshole, but he was more intuitive than he let on. And Nolan—well, he was just returning the favor.

I finished my first lap and then started in on a second. But unlike that awful day almost twelve years ago, I didn’t try to outrun my companions. I stayed in stride with them, letting their presence calm my rage.

Even though it wasn’t the same as the way a mate could calm me, the bond between the four of us was strong, forged not just because of our parents’ friendship but because of all we’d gone through at each other’s side.

I led us back to my house, glad I had moved out of the family suite in the packhouse a few years ago. I did not want to see my mom or my dad right now.

I slammed my front door open, not even caring how hard it hit the wall in the entry as I stalked through my house, still in my lycan form.

I heard the other two following me and then ducking into one of the spare rooms where they knew I kept extra clothes for them. Their muttering voices as they shifted and changed echoed in the otherwise quiet house, but I tuned them out as I pulled on a pair of gray sweatpants and a black T-shirt.

I exited my bedroom and stormed back out onto the porch. I threw myself onto the porch swing, where I crossed my arms and sat pouting like a toddler. Being outside was a must, though. I couldn’t stay cooped up in the small spaces in my little bungalow.

“So, how did coffee with Haven go?” Sebastian asked as he leaned against the railing.

I growled out in response. Nolan sat down next to me, leaning his forearms on his knees.

“That well, huh?” Nolan said.

“She didn’t show up,” I grumbled.

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