Page 69 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

We stared at each other, both of us focusing on releasing our aura into the room. As pissed as I was with him and his ridiculous logic and stupidly high standards, he was still my alpha, and he was still stronger than me.

I looked down, submitting to him, but a growl of displeasure left my chest as I did.

“Did you check the registry?” I asked him through gritted teeth.

“Yes. No record of a Matthew and Melissa Wainwright on the shifter or witch registry.”

“They could be unregistered,” I said.

“They could be,” he agreed. “Or they could be using fake names and covering their tracks very well.”

I looked up at him to make sure I hadn’t misheard. “So you agree? It’s too clean?”

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face. “I don’t know what to think. It’s definitely weird that they lied to her about Jack and about her letters to you. I just don’t know what else to do because—”

“Because you’re still so worried about your reputation,” I finished for him, rolling my eyes.

“Yes,” he stated. “But also, I have my hands full with my investigation into the Amber Forest Pack. The council wants proof of their shady dealings, and I don’t have anything other than my gut instincts. I’m trying to figure out how to get on Alpha Pierce’s good side, get him to slip up because he thinks he can trust me, and I’m running out of options.”

I nodded. He’d been trying to catch Amber Forest’s alpha in his underhanded business deals for a few years now and had come up short on every lead he’d gotten.

I also understood he was making a point—a comparison. Like mine, his gut instincts could only do so much until he had actual proof of any wrongdoing.

“I understand,” I said with reluctance. “Let me know if you need help with any of that,” I added.

“I will,” he told me, then stood up.

I understood that as the unspoken signal it was—our meeting was over.

“I’ll see you later,” I said.

I didn’t even bother to hide the obvious disappointment in my voice. I turned and walked to the door, but his voice stopped me before I could leave.

“Wesley.” I looked at him. “I will look into them again. And I will… consider trying other methods if I don’t find anything this time.”

Hope bloomed within me, but I just nodded and walked out of his office without saying another word. At least he wouldn’t stop trying.

I wandered for a bit with no real direction. I hadn’t left the territory since Dad wanted to meet with me in private, and now I had the rest of the day free pretty much. I could have gone back to my office in my house, but the thought of sitting in front of my laptop all day was not appealing, not when it was still warm outside since it was only early fall. And not when I had this extra energy I hadn’t felt in a while.

Instead, I meandered over to where Reid and Sebastian led the warrior boot camp training. This was a program for any wolves who were vying for a spot in our top squad. We hosted it every fall and announced the results around the holidays.

Reid and Sebastian had been leading it together for the last three boot camps, and to the surprise of everyone, they did a fantastic job. Well, almost everyone. I knew they’d be good at the job.

As much as they could goof around, they both also took their jobs seriously. Reid worked hard learning his responsibilities as future beta and had shouldered more and more of them over the years as he prepared to take over.

And Seb—well, even though he had no drive to be any rank higher than delta, he had the brains, strength, and the skills to lead his own pack if he wanted. But he didn’t, which was why he was taking over as the head warrior, since Delta Sullivan and his mate Christopher never had or adopted any pups.

Reid nodded in greeting as I sauntered over, and I returned the gesture. One warrior called out, “Hey, Wesley!” and Reid growled, whipping his head towards the offender.

“Is that any way to greet your future alpha?” he snapped.

“No, sir!” the chorus of warriors answered.

“Fifty laps! All of you!” There was a collective grumble. “One of us makes a mistake, we all make a mistake, and we all pay for it! FIFTY LAPS!” Reid yelled.

“That was a bit harsh.” I chuckled after the last trainee had passed us by.

Reid grinned. “I know. It’s fun to be the bad guy sometimes. Now I know why your dad made us do laps so much.”

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