Henry
Don’t miss me too much
Or do.
Shit.
I have no game
I giggled.
Westin
Absolutely no game, but that’s ok
A dreamy smile played on my lips when I remembered how Henry had defended me against the alpha in the restaurant—one I’d serviced several times at Cum Dumpster. He hadn’t brought it up afterward, and he didn’t seem to judge me for it. But how long until he found out more about me and did judge me?
I pulled a blanket over my head. I thought I’d be satisfied with one date, but there was already a tightness in my chest that he was going to be gone for two weeks. I wanted to go out with him again, was craving it, but he wanted a pack. My heart had sunk when he’d said that. Any pack would be lucky to have him, and I swallowed around the lump in my throat that he would never be mine.
19
WESTIN
Istood at the mailbox, holding the latest letter in my hands and fighting the urge to crumple it up. I wasn’t sure why I was keeping them, except that they were evidence—evidence of my stalker and that I wasn’t going crazy. I kept feeling like someone was watching me whenever I left the house. Even today at the bakery, I’d felt it—the prickles on my skin, the movement in the shadows.
I was probably being paranoid, but then again, this letter was real.
I chewed my lip, wondering if it was time to go to the police. The thought of talking to them made me sick to my stomach, but the threat in this latest letter was hard to ignore.
I’m tired of waiting
You just won’t open your eyes
Next it’ll be us mating
Together for the rest of our lives
Raindrops fell on me, finally forcing me to move my legs and get inside. Voices echoed from the living room, and I stopped short in the entryway.
Shit.
My uncles were back.
“Westin?” Sean called out. “Come here.” I was pretty sure my uncles were incapable of sayingplease.
I took a deep breath, steeling myself for whatever was to come. I arranged my face into the cool, unbothered expression I’d perfected throughout the years.
“I didn’t realize you were coming back,” I said as I entered the living room, trailing off as I laid my eyes on two large alphas I’d never seen before.
The first one was standing by the fireplace. He had dirty blond hair, an unkempt beard, and wore a black suit that strained over his broad chest. He looked to be about the same age as my uncles, but the way his eyes raked over my body as he licked his lips was anything but familial. The second sat in a wingback chair next to Alex. He was also in a black suit and had black hair with streaks of gray through it.
My nose wrinkled at the blend of scents in the room. My sense of smell wasn’t what it used to be, but the unknown alphas’ scents were acrid and smokey.
“Take a seat, Westin,” Sean said.
“Who is this?” I asked, trying to suppress the growing feeling of discomfort clawing at my insides.
“Sit down,” Alex growled, his tonealmostcarrying a bark. I hid my smile, knowing that even if he did use his bark on me, I wouldn’t be compelled to obey. Last year, a group of us had gotten an injection of a serum that protected omegas against the influence of alpha barks. After having alpha guards use their barks on me at the Designation Academy, and the threat of the device that would have made me helpless against them, havingthis protection allowed me to move through the world much more easily.
