Page 60 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

“But then why tell me that you intentionally didn’t write me back? Why work so hard to convince me you didn’t really care? Why not just say it might have been lost and have me send another? And it wasn’t just one letter. It was a lot. There is no way all of them were lost.”

I swallowed and squeezed her tighter. I had no response to that, no logical explanation to give her. “I don’t know, Haven,” I murmured.

I’m not sure how long we stood there. I lost track of time as the sun disappeared behind the treetops. She kept herself pressed against me, clinging to me, and I didn’t want to let her go. I wanted to stay like this with her for as long as she’d let me.

When she pulled away, her eyes scanned my face before looking down at my chest.

“Oh. Oh no. Shit, I’m sorry! I got tears and snot all over your clothes!” she exclaimed, her hands tucking into her sleeves and rubbing at my shirt.

I tilted my head down to look at the spot she was wiping at, and, sure enough, there was a big wet splotch on my chest from where she’d been resting her head.

I removed one hand from her back and took both of hers in mine to stop her unsuccessful attempts to clean my shirt. “It’s fine,” I told her. “I don’t mind.”

“It’s gross,” she said, scrunching her nose. “And embarrassing.”

“It’s fine,” I reiterated, shaking my head. “Don’t worry about it.”

Inside, my lycan was happy I stopped her, excited her scent would be on us until we returned home. I held back an exasperated sigh and an eye roll from his antics in my head. He was ridiculous.

“It’s not, though,” she continued. “I totally ruined our date.”

I tilted my head and quirked an eyebrow at her as she looked up at me. “I thought this wasn’t a date?”

She blushed and then sighed. “Maybe it’s a little like a date,” she conceded.

I smirked and pulled her closer with her hands. “Well, how about I take you on something that is a lot like a date on Friday?” I asked her, brushing a loose strand of hair away from her face and letting my fingers linger on her skin.

“There you go, being presumptuous again,” she teased, tilting her face up towards mine.

“So I’ll pick you up around six?”

“… Fine,” she muttered, but her smile betrayed her.

Our eyes stayed locked together, our faces close enough that if I wanted to, I could count the dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose. The flowery, fruity scent of her mixed with that of the cool evening air and the trees and the stream nearby, forcing all of my senses to focus on her and her alone.

I thought about closing the distance and giving in to the magnetic pull towards her that grew stronger the longer I was with her. It would be easy to lower my mouth to hers and give her a gentle kiss. Human, human, human, I chanted in my head, reminding myself that they didn’t move as fast as we did in relationships.

Her eyes flitted down to my mouth and then back up, and then she was out of my arms and back at the railing, fidgeting with her coffee cup.

“I should head home,” she said, not meeting my eyes. “Maya is probably getting worried.”

I held in my laugh. Maya wouldn’t be worried. She knew Haven was safe with me. She knew I was more than capable of protecting her, of taking care of her. And even if she did start to worry, she would just mindlink me to ask me what was going on. But Haven didn’t know that. Not yet, anyway.

I almost stumbled in my tracks as we walked. Fuck. I hadn’t thought about how or when I would tell her about that. About what I—what we all—really were.

I would have to make a plan for that. Maybe ask someone for advice. I racked my brain, trying to think who in our pack had a human mate, but I came up blank. I’d have to ask my mom. Which meant telling her about Haven. Which meant my dad would find out.

I nearly groaned as I grabbed her bag out of my truck for her. My dad. He wouldn’t care about her being human or me wanting her as my mate, but he would be mad that I didn’t tell him she was here. It had been almost a week that I had known, and I’d not said one word to them about it.

But I was going to need his help, anyway. I wanted to look into her parents. Find out if there was more to them than met the eye.

Haven stopped in front of her apartment building, and I pulled myself out of my panic so I could say goodbye to her.

“Don’t forget,” I said as I handed the bag to her. “Six o’clock.”

“I’m sure you’ll send me excessive reminder texts,” she joked.

“I won’t have to if you actually show up this time,” I teased back, crossing my arms.

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