Page 26 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

Your friend,

Wes

DearHaven,

I hope everything is okay. It’s not like you to not write for this long. I hope I didn’t say something to offend you or piss you off.

My dad says a pissed-off woman is the worst kind of woman. That’s probably why he’s so nice and loving to my mom all the time. I don’t blame him. She is scary when she’s mad.

So, if I DID piss you off, then I’m sorry. Was it the summer break thing?

Shit, it was the summer break thing, wasn’t it? You know what, just forget I mentioned it. We can pretend I didn’t, and then we can just go back to how things were before I mentioned it. You know, when you weren’t mad at me and you wrote to me, at least once a week?

Sebastian, Reid, and Nolan are worried too. They don’t say it outright, but they keep asking me if I’ve heard from you, and they get a little sad when I tell them no. They’ll all deny it if you ask them, though, so don’t mention it to them.

Seriously, though, I am really sorry if I said or did something to upset or hurt you. Please, please accept my apology. Please write me back.

Your friend,

Wes

DearHaven,

I’m really worried now. Please… just call this number and tell me you’re all right.

(919) 555-2398

Wes

WESLEY

I stood outside the door to my dad’s home office and took in a deep breath. My insides squirmed, my skin crawled, and my heart raced as I pushed the door open and poked my head inside.

“Dad, I—”

I stopped when I saw my mom sitting on the edge of his desk, facing him, her thumbnail between her teeth as she listened to him. A wrinkle marred her forehead, and her eyes were glassy.

They both quieted and looked at me, and I just knew. I knew right away that something was wrong. Something happened, and they were trying to decide whether or not to tell me.

“Wesley,” my dad said. “What did you need?”

I swallowed and looked between them. Mom’s bottom lip slipped into her mouth, and she stood from her perch, walking to the window to look out of it. She did that whenever she didn’t want us to see she was upset or crying.

I started to walk to her, but she held her hand up, palm out, stopping me.

“Answer your father,” she murmured.

Even though she wasn’t able to see me, I nodded.

“I’m worried about Haven,” I admitted, looking back at my dad. “I haven’t heard from her in weeks. She usually writes me at least once a week, but I haven’t gotten a single letter since March.”

Dad kept his eyes on me as I continued talking, and I tried to ignore the pain and pity I saw there.

“I know I shouldn’t be trying to force a friendship any longer if she doesn’t want one. I do. If she really doesn’t want to be my friend anymore, I will respect that and leave her alone for the rest of her life. But… but I really don’t think that’s the case. I think something else is going on. My gut tells me something else is going on.”

He sighed and leaned forward, folding his hands together on top of his desk. The sick feeling in the pit of my stomach grew stronger, twisting and stabbing into my gut. The crawling under my skin became more pronounced, and something deep inside me stirred. Something strong, feral, and angry.

“Your instincts were correct,” he said. “Her family contacted us earlier today.”

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