SWNOVELS The Alpha’s Pen Pal: Chapter 5
I already told you in my first letter to you that I forgive you. I know you didn’t mean what you said, and I know you didn’t mean to hurt me or whoever got your letter. I know you’re just a kid.
Shirley, my foster mom, always says it’s not about the mistakes that you make, but whether you learn from those mistakes. It’s about what you do next. That’s what is important. That’s what makes you a good person or not.
I am willing to give you a second chance. I need a friend. Like I told you before, I don’t really have many friends. I’ve moved homes too many times. My social worker says I shut people out too easily to make many friends. So, you’ll be my first one.
All right. Since we’re making this a fresh start, I’ll go first. Starting over. Pretend we’ve never met. Or written.
Hi. I’m Haven Kenway. No middle name. That was the name stitched on the blanket wrapped around me when they found me in front of a fire station when I was only a few days old.
I’ve never met my birth parents. I don’t even know if they are alive anymore, or what their names are, or anything about them. The social workers were never able to find any information about either of them. I’m the most confusing case of an abandoned baby they’ve ever had.
I am a foster child. I’ve lived in nine different homes since I was a baby. The family I live with right now is the best family I’ve been with in my life, and I hope I stay here longer than my current record for staying in one home, which is one and a half years.
I remember in your letter you mentioned a brother, Sebastian. Is he older or younger? Do you have any other siblings? What’s it like to have a brother? Or a sister, if you have one?
I have no siblings. Well, that I know of, anyway. I guess, my foster parents have two children, but they are both grown and moved out of the house. I’ve met them several times, though, and they’re both really nice people.
I guess, also, I’ve had siblings in my previous foster homes, but most of the time they were much younger or much older than me, and with how often I moved families, I never really had much time to form any sort of bond with them.
I’m not telling you this so you’ll feel sorry for me. I know my life is different and maybe even weird to someone who has grown up in one home with a complete family. But this is my normal. This is what I’m used to.
I’ll admit, though, that I really hope I don’t have to leave Jack and Shirley soon. Those are the names of my foster parents, if you couldn’t figure that out. It’s really nice being the only foster kid in their home. This is the first time that’s happened.
Jack and Shirley are really kind people. They take great care of me, and not just by doing the minimum. They definitely go above and beyond with what they do for me. They even told me I could call them “Mom” and “Dad,” but I haven’t done that yet.
I think I’m afraid of doing that and then being taken or sent away to another family. I know they say they don’t want or plan to stop being my foster parents, but nothing is ever set in stone. Anything can change that plan.
All right, that is enough about me and my life. I want to know about you.
When is your birthday? What is your favorite color? Favorite animal? Favorite food? Favorite sport or hobby? Tell me everything, please!
I hope to hear back from you soon.
Your friend,
Haven Kenway
P.S. After I asked my mom for an envelope and a stamp and told her what it was for, she told me I should put a picture of myself in here. Please don’t laugh at my silly school photo. It’s the only one I had that was already printed. You can totally throw it away if you want. I won’t mind. Also, she said it’s fine for you to send your replies to our house from now on, so this address is fine for you to use.
Bye!
Haven
I didn’t check the mail at all that week.
I didn’t obsessively open the mailbox every time I walked by. I didn’t look through the incoming mail basket in our suite, or in my dad’s office, or at the front of the packhouse at every opportunity. I didn’t ask my mom if the mail had come in yet as soon as I walked in the door after school or after training.
I didn’t even give one tiny little thought to whether Haven would respond to my letter, to whether she’d decide to give me a second chance. Not one thought. Not at all.
At least, that was what I’d have told anyone who confronted me about it. Especially my friends. Especially Reid. That jackass would never let me hear the end of it if he knew I was stalking the mailman, waiting for a letter from a nine-year-old human girl whom I had never even met.
I had already gotten enough shit-eating side glances from Sebastian every time he caught me in the act, and my parents just exchanged this knowing look with each other whenever they saw me searching the mail. That was enough nonverbal teasing, in my opinion. If Reid caught wind of it, the teasing would definitely be verbal. Very verbal. Which was why I wouldn’t admit to my mailbox obsession.
It was Saturday—over a week since I sent my apology and begged her to let me have a second chance—and I had yet to hear from her. I was thinking all my waiting and checking and hoping had been for nothing.
Reid, Nolan, Sebastian, and I had training that morning with our dads, and the four of us were eating a small breakfast in the packhouse dining room before going out to the training yard. I sat between Nolan and Reid, and Seb was across from me at the table.
I kept stabbing my fork harder than necessary into my scrambled eggs. I was more than ready to head out and start sparring. The frustration built up inside me throughout the week ate away at me, and I desperately needed to let it all out.
“What did those eggs ever do to you?” Reid asked from my right, just as I shoveled a forkful into my mouth.
I swallowed, forcing more food down than I should have, making my eyes water.
“What?” I choked out once the lump of food moved out of my throat.
“You’re attacking your eggs with your fork as though they were your mortal enemy,” Reid pointed out. “I’m just wondering what great crime the eggs committed for you to be trying to kill them.”
“You should have seen him yesterday when we were doing homework after training,” Nolan chimed in from my other side, my head whipping around to stare at him in surprise. “I thought he was going to end up tearing all the pages out of his book, he was turning them so roughly.”
“I was just trying to finish quickly,” I mumbled, but my words went unheard. They were on a roll, and nothing I said would deter them.
“Oh yeah, and in class the day before, he kept checking the clock every ten or so minutes. I thought he was going to break his neck with how much and how quickly he kept turning to look behind himself at the wall,” Reid continued, talking over me.
“You think that’s bad?” my idiot little brother Sebastian piped up from across the table. “All week he’s been stalking the mailbox, checking it every hour, waiting for—“
I didn’t even let him finish his sentence. I launched myself across the table, tackling him in his chair, sending it and us to the floor. The chair broke apart beneath us as Sebastian wiggled around. He tried to get out from under me, not wanting to let me pin him.
He kneed me in my nuts, and I groaned, my body hunching in on itself to protect my family jewels from a second assault.
Sebastian used this to his advantage, using my body weight against me and rolling me onto my back. He jumped up to his feet in a flash and ran through the large dining room towards the back door that led out to the pack grounds, weaving around the many tables that occupied the space.
I was on my feet and following him in an instant, closing the distance between the two of us with every step, my breakfast forgotten on the table, Nolan and Reid laughing and egging us on from their chairs
One of them rooted for me, and the other for Seb. I couldn’t tell who was rooting for who. My attention was too focused on Sebastian for me to figure out which of my best friends had decided he was going to be a traitor.
Sebastian’s hand was about to grab the doorknob when the door opened, and my dad’s very large and imposing frame was revealed, filling up the entire doorway. Seb froze when he saw our dad, and I tried to stop myself, but my momentum was so great I ran straight into his back, sending him forward into our dad’s massive chest.
Dad’s large hands gripped Sebastian by the shoulders. His critical gaze scanned my brother first, then me, and then the room. His eyes landed on the broken chair, and he switched from Dad to Alpha Harrison Stone by the time his focus turned back to us.
“Wesley! Sebastian!” he grunted, displeased with our early morning horseplay and destruction. “What have I said about roughhousing inside the packhouse?”
“To not do it near the furniture?” Sebastian supplied, trying to keep his face serious.
Dad’s lips twitched, but his face remained stoic and his voice stayed calm.
“Twenty laps around the field!” His arm gestured behind him, his finger pointing us in the direction of the training grounds.
Sebastian and I both groaned exaggeratedly, my head tilting back to look at the ceiling.
“Daaaaad….” Sebastian whined, but Dad cut him off.
“I could make it forty?” Dad asked with a raised brow. “And until training is over, you will address me as Alpha or Alpha Stone or Alpha Harrison or Sir. Understood?” We both grumbled out a response. “I said, understood?!”
“Yes, sir,” I replied, and at the same time Sebastian said, “Yes, Alpha.”
We made our way past him and through the doorway, and Reid snickered behind us.
“Suckers!” he whispered, but of course, since we’re shifters, everyone heard him.
“Reid, you can join them,” Dad ordered without missing a beat.
“Aww, come on, Alpha. I didn’t even do anything!” Reid complained.
But he scooted his chair back, anyway. He knew he’d never get out of it. My dad never let him off the hook for anything.
“It’s only seven in the morning. I’m sure by the end of the day, you’ll have caused some sort of trouble. I’m just saving precious time by disciplining you beforehand instead of waiting for it to happen.” Dad shrugged, his arms crossing over his chest as he waited for the three of us to begin our laps.
“Go on! I don’t have all fu—all day!” He stopped himself from swearing as my mom walked up behind him, coming to check what all the commotion was about.
As we took off at a steady pace, he melted in my mom’s presence, his muscular arms plucking Maddie out of our mom’s arms with ease. He snuggled her against his chest as he talked to my mother.
It surprised me that Madeleine ever learned how to walk with how much my dad carried her around everywhere. Spoiled little pack princess, I thought with a roll of my eyes. Dad would never punish her with twenty laps for breaking a chair.
We continued our steady pace as we ran, and I slowed myself down so Reid and Sebastian could keep up with me. My eyes scanned our surroundings, as my dad had been training me to do.
I already had exceptional senses, and they would only improve when my lycan developed in a year or so. Most shifters had their first shift at around fourteen, but since I was of alpha blood, I would shift for the first time at thirteen.
I could see Nolan working on his drills with my dad and his dad, Felix Shepard, the pack’s gamma. I could smell the border patrol members hidden among the trees and posted at various intervals along the edge of our territory. But someone was missing.
“Where’s your dad?” I asked Reid between breaths, my head turning to glance at him.
His mouth tightened into a thin line, his eyes darkening for a split second before his expression turned back to normal. Most people wouldn’t have caught the change, but I’d learned how to read him over the years, so I did.
He finally looked at me and said, “He’s still asleep.” Then he turned his face forward and sped up, ending our conversation.
I frowned to myself, but I didn’t let Reid see or push the issue with him. He didn’t like people to feel sorry for him or pity him because of what happened.
Even so, I think part of the reason he seemed to get away with his shenanigans so often was because people knew about his situation, so they overlooked his troublemaking.
His mom, Stephanie, died when we were nine, and his dad hadn’t taken it well. He had good days and bad days. The bad days outnumbered the good days most of the time.
In other packs, Brad would have been replaced as beta. But between Gamma Felix and my dad’s delta, Sullivan, the work got covered when needed, and none of them complained or said a word to Brad about it. They just took care of it. Took care of him. Because that’s what best friends did.
It bothered Reid, though, that his dad missed out on so much of his success, even though he said nothing to me about it. He was always scanning the crowd at various school events or at our football games, and there was always a glint of disappointment in his eyes. But he would just steel himself and turn his attention back to the task at hand, pretending everything was fine.
It was a warm day for November, so our twenty laps took much longer than normal. By the end of the run, it felt more like we ran the forty laps my dad threatened us with when Sebastian complained.
We sprinted the last bit to the middle of the field, where my dad, Gamma Felix, Delta Sullivan, and Nolan all waited for us. Nolan sat on the ground with a smirk, doing his cool-down stretches, since he already finished training while the three of us ran.
We all stopped in front of my dad, and my hands went to the top of my head as I took in deep lungfuls of air and focused on slowing my heart rate back down. It didn’t take too long since I was a future alpha and had lycan healing. When I could finally shift, twenty laps would be nothing for me.
My dad just looked at us with an unimpressed stare before he moved into our regular training session and dismissed Nolan for the day. Lucky bastard.
The rest of our training passed without incident, and the three of us trudged up the stairs when we finished, heading to the alpha suite to get cleaned up and have lunch.
I could tell before we even entered the suite something important was about to happen. I opened the door and walked in, and right there, on the entryway table, was a light purple envelope addressed to Wesley Stone and sent from Colorado. My heart fluttered in my chest when I saw it.
She wrote back. She actually wrote back!
I reached my hand out for it, but before I could even touch it, Reid snatched it off the table and ran towards the kitchen with it held in his hand over his head.
“Give it back!” I shouted, but he was already ripping the envelope open, not even attempting to lift the flap like a normal person.
He tore the letter out and unfolded it, moving faster than I’d ever seen him move, his eyes already skimming over the contents of Haven’s letter. Luckily, he didn’t notice the other content of the envelope that fell to the floor in his haste to get the paper out.
I darted forward and grabbed it, tucking it into the pocket of my basketball shorts before he or Sebastian could see it.
I stood there while he read, an sigh escaping my lips as I waited for him to finish the letter. I knew he wouldn’t give it back until he did.
His eyes finally met mine over the top of the paper, but instead of the teasing I expected from him, he gave me this look before handing me the paper and leaving the room. I glanced after him, a bit concerned, but I could hear the door of the guest bathroom close and the shower turn on, so I left it alone, turning my attention to the item in my pocket I saved from the floor.
It was a photo. The tiny ones from school that mothers or grandmothers usually put inside their wallets to show off to their friends, the clerk at the grocery store, or their hairdresser. I assumed the girl in the photo was Haven, since it fell out of the envelope addressed to me.
Her hair was a strawberry blonde or light red color and was a wild mess of curls and waves that fell past her shoulders and ended out of the frame of the photo. She had dark blue eyes, and although she smiled in the picture, it was a forced smile, a fake smile.
It was a smile I had seen on Reid’s face when we won a game and his dad wasn’t there. Her eyes, too, held a sadness that was much too heavy for a nine-year-old.
As soon as I saw her, I felt this instant need to always take care of her, protect her, and keep her safe. It was a peculiar feeling, one I had never felt towards anyone outside of my family before. Well, besides Reid and Nolan, but I knew they could also take care of and protect themselves.
I was barely aware of Seb telling me he was heading to take a shower. I was too engrossed in the photo. I finally tore my gaze away from Haven’s face and went to my room, my eyes not registering my surroundings as I walked through our home.
I turned the shower on in my en suite bathroom and then sat on my bed to read her letter while I waited for the water to heat up.