Page 17 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

“How’s Haven?” she asked. “I saw the envelope in the stack of mail. I swear I didn’t read it this time,” she added before I could respond.

I just laughed and grabbed a clean spoon from the drawer to taste the sauce with. I leaned towards the giant pot on the stove, but Mom smacked my hand away before I could even attempt to stick my spoon in.

“You’ll ruin all my hard work!” she exclaimed, and I put my spoon down reluctantly, sticking my hands in my pockets and turning to lean back against the counter.

“I want to get her a Christmas gift,” I said, and she tilted her head to the side. “Haven,” I clarified, answering her unspoken question.

“Oh, of course!” She clapped her hands together and began removing her apron. “Now, we need to hurry before the best shop in town closes.”

I furrowed my brows. “Um, Mom? The sauce?”

“Oh, right!” she chuckled. “I’ll mindlink your father.” She rushed out of the kitchen towards the entry, and I stood there, still confused. “Wesley Michael Stone! We are wasting precious time!”

I shook myself out of my stupor and followed her. She was already in her coat, and throwing her purse over her shoulder as she looked at me expectantly.

“I didn’t mean right now?” I replied.

“Better to do it now while we’re thinking about it. Then we can make sure it arrives on time.”

I sighed and nodded, and pulled my coat on. It was just cold enough outside in the early afternoons to need a light coat, even with our extra warmth from being werewolves. Especially for me since I still hadn’t had my first shift.

We hastened to the nearest shop in the town on our pack lands. The jingle of the bell over the door to the shop drew the eyes of every pack member in the store to my mom and me.

My mom smiled and waved at them, and they all returned her smiles with their own and slight nods of respect towards their luna. Our people loved my mom, and I could only hope my mate would be loved even half as much as my mother was.

The customers went back to their browsing, unbothered by their luna in the store. I knew in other packs the alpha and luna ruled by intimidation. But in our pack, my parents took pride in creating a caring, loving, and respectful atmosphere.

Dad told me packs with that kind of culture and atmosphere were the strongest, because they would always be willing to stand up and defend each other against any adversity. Other packs, where the culture was fear and intimidation, ended up turning on each other and becoming weaker.

Not that my dad wasn’t a strong and intimidating alpha. Quite the opposite. He never let his challengers walk away alive, and he has been challenged for his title many times during his time as alpha. Even several times after I was born. But to his own pack members, he was stern but kind, and treated them with respect unless they gave him reason not to.

My mom and I separated, browsing the aisles of the store, both of us keeping an eye out for the perfect gift for Haven. But nothing caught my eye. It needed to be something special, something unique, something perfect. Something she wouldn’t have yet. Something she couldn’t just get from anywhere or anyone. I wanted to show her I’d been paying attention, that I knew her and who she was and what she liked.

I paused in the aisle, closing my eyes as I thought. I rushed into this, and I wished I had thought about what I wanted to get her before I said anything. Then, I could have told her exactly what we should buy for Haven instead of wandering around the store.

The sounds inside of the store were overwhelming—the whispers and giggles of children trying to hide from their mothers, the low murmur of a couple trying to purchase something to announce their pregnancy, my mom chatting with the she-wolf at the register about the school Christmas parties my mom was planning—but over it all, there was a light tinkling of a music box, playing what I could only classify as ballet music.

I followed the sound through the store until I was in the back corner, staring at a shelf filled with music boxes of various shapes and sizes. Some were small enough to fit into my pocket, and some were large enough to hold a decent amount of jewelry or trinkets.

I eyed each of them, opening and examining every detail of the insides and the outsides, looking for the perfect choice. My eyes finally landed on the one I knew was the best option.

As I reached for it, my mom came up next to me, and I glanced at her for approval as I took the music box off the shelf.

She only smiled at me, but I knew what I had chosen was the right gift. But there was still something else I wanted to do for Haven, something I couldn’t do without my mother’s help.

“There’s one other thing I want to give her,” I said. “But I need your help.”

She nodded at me, her hand resting on mine on top of the music box. “Of course, Wesley,” she said with a smile.

CHAPTER 8

HAVEN

The unfamiliar sensations of the woman’s hands massaging my feet kept eliciting uncontrollable giggles from my mouth. My body tensed with each of her ministrations.

Mom insisted we needed a girl’s day filled with every type of girly pampering one can imagine. So far, we’d gone shopping and picked out fancy outfits, had our hair cut and styled, and the last step was getting manicures and pedicures.

I picked out a glittery gold nail polish for both my fingernails and toenails. The color an almost perfect match for the gold accessories I bought to go with my dark purple dress. Mom hadn’t told me why we were going through all this effort, but I guessed she had some exciting surprise planned for us. I needed to be patient, and eventually, she would let me know what was going on.

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