The Alpha’s Pen Pal (Crescent Lake Book 1)
The Alpha’s Pen Pal: Chapter 70

HAVEN

I floated through a sea of stars, almost weightless, as I descended to the ground below. The fabric of my dress swirled around me as I drifted through the sky, my hand reaching out to touch the stars. I descended in solitude, but in my heart, I felt Wesley’s presence, telling me he was nearby, that I wasn’t truly alone.

The grass beneath my feet, as I landed, was softer than any grass I’d ever felt and greener than any I had ever seen. I spun in place, looking at the surrounding scenery.

In front of where I landed was a dense forest filled with every type of tree and plant imaginable. The colors were vibrant and true, the air clean and clear.

Behind me was an exact copy of the temple we’d been in on the island, only larger and covered with even more jasmine. Through the pillars and floating fabrics of the building, I could just make out a silvery pool on the other side of the temple, shimmering under the light of the stars.

My feet carried me forward to the temple, unable to deny the tug on my soul leading me there. I brushed the fabric out of my way and froze in place, the curtain falling behind me as I stared at the pillars of the temple.

Paintings of two individual girls filled the temple, a portrait of one girl on each pillar, each image depicting a slightly older version of each girl all the way to adulthood. Twenty-one paintings circled from my left, all of a girl with dark black hair, and twenty-one paintings circled from my right, all of a girl with wild red curls, blue eyes, and freckles just across the bridge of her nose.

Me.

I followed the images on my right, watching myself grow up in the paintings that were more realistic than actual photographs. Each one depicted an important moment in my life, and I relived them all as the painted version of me grew older—my first dance recital, the year I danced Clara in The Nutcracker, the day I was offered my apprenticeship—all of them commemorated in these paintings in the temple.

The last one was me—the now me—in front of a moon, in silvery clothing. A crown of golden flowers and leaves adorned my curls, and flowers were strewn throughout the strands that blew in the wind. An otherworldly glow emanated from my skin.

I reached out to touch it, to feel the paint beneath my fingertips and see if I could sense the magic within the image.

“Haven?” Wes’s voice called out as I touched the painting in front of me.

“I’m in here,” I murmured, my voice catching.

It didn’t matter, though. With his hearing and his sense of smell, he could replace me easily. He would always replace me.

His heavy footsteps sounded from behind me, dampened by the grass at first and then louder as they touched the marble floor of the temple. Then his footsteps stopped, and I turned around to replace him frozen in place, just as I had been when I first entered the temple.

He, too, was dressed in the pants he’d worn before we did the ritual. And in this place, in this magical realm on the moon, he somehow appeared stronger, more handsome than on Earth. It was as if being here augmented his already enhanced looks and strength.

His eyes bounced around, taking everything in, examining the paintings. His gaze circled the temple, following the timeline of the little redheaded girl. As if moving on their own, his feet carried him through the temple, and he stopped right behind me, staring up at the newest portrait of me.

“It’s you,” he murmured, reaching to touch the painting just as I had done.

He looked down at me as I nodded, a question in his eyes, but I couldn’t answer it. My thoughts and feelings were jumbled like a spilled bag of Scrabble tiles. I couldn’t sort through it all fast enough.

His arms wrapped around me from behind, cradling me against his chest. His touch said more than words could, showed me he understood the conflicting thoughts in my head. He just held me, just stood with me as we stared at the painting, his chin resting on my head and his warmth and nearness providing more stability than ever.

“It’s me,” I said, closing my eyes and leaning my head more into him.

“I add a new pillar and a new image every year on your birthday. After this year, yours will outnumber your sister’s.”

Both of us turned our heads to the left, where we found an ethereal woman walking towards us. Her silvery hair flowed down her back almost to her ankles, and she wore swaths of white fabric wrapped around her body. Her features were severe yet beautiful, as one might expect from a god or goddess. Not unkind, not malicious, but sharp and keen.

Wesley stood straighter behind me, his body stiffening and his muscles tensing, on alert in the presence of the goddess who had blessed his people.

My blood sang, and my cells vibrated and pulsed in her presence, as if every part of me reached out for her, begged for me to connect with her and know her.

But I didn’t move. I stayed where I was, staring at her as she stopped in front of the pillar of the dark-haired girl.

“Your sister—Asteria—was only twenty-one when she died,” she said, looking towards the painting. “And that is why my warriors replace their mates when they are twenty-one years of age,” she continued, turning back to us.

“So—so I am your daughter?” I asked, still frozen in place in the safe circle of my mate’s arms.

A sad, wistful smile graced her face. “Yes. You are.”

Stories are told of adopted children meeting their birth families for the first time. The tears, happiness, and love they experienced during their reunions were beautiful and filled children with hope.

But I had never had dreams of meeting the woman or people who abandoned me with nothing but a blanket. Nothing but a name. I had no want or desire or need to know the woman in front of me, to forge some sort of relationship with her. I was only here for answers, answers my mate and I needed to move forward with our lives.

We stared at each other, and silence filled the temple as we all waited for someone to speak. Wesley tightened his hold on me, pushing strength and confidence into me through our bond. Giving me just enough to push me to ask what I needed to know more than anything else.

“Why did you give me up?” I asked, my voice shaking more than I wanted it to.

She sighed and looked down at her hands. “I had to. I wasn’t allowed to raise you because you were not the child of two gods.”

“What do you mean?” Wesley asked.

“We used to walk freely among the people, but eventually, we had to remove ourselves. I was already here, in my realm, when Zeus gave the orders, but others were still on Earth, still walking among the humans. When we retreated from Earth, Zeus also decreed that any child not born of two gods would not be allowed in our realms either.”

“So, who is my dad?”

Selene took a deep breath. “When I decided I was ready to have you, I knew your father could not be a god. You had to be raised on earth so you would be put in the path of my people, and if your father had been a god, you would have been stuck in this realm as the rest of us are. I was almost not even allowed to have you, but I was granted permission because I had promised my warriors you would one day be born. So, I came to earth in my human form, and I selected your father from a list of men with specific characteristics and genetics that would combine well with mine and produce a strong, smart, and beautiful daughter.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, my brow furrowing.

“She used a sperm donor,” Wesley answered.

Selene laughed, the sound like bells as it skittered and echoed across the marble floor of the temple. “Yes,” she nodded. “I used sperm donated to a sperm bank to conceive you. I had no romantic connection or relationship with your father.”

“But why not raise me yourself? Why not stay in your human form until I was old enough to meet my mate?”

“I was not permitted that luxury. I told you, I was almost not even allowed to have you at all. I was only given permission to conceive you and birth you. Zeus did not even give me the time to stay with you until I could replace you a caring, loving home. In his eyes, you were just a human. ‘Let the humans figure out what to do with her. Once born, she is no longer your concern,’” she said, her eyes darkening and her voice thick and heavy.

“Couldn’t you have given her to a pack, though?” Wesley asked. “If you knew she would be the mate of a lycan, why not have her raised with us?”

“You know the story of my first daughter, young alpha. You know what those who are jealous are capable of. I did it to protect her as best I could, to keep her safe from those who thought they had a right to her.”

“They found me anyway, though,” I pointed out. “Lennox and his father. Somehow, they knew who I was, and they were able to get to me and almost kept me from ever meeting my mate.”

“Why didn’t you stop them?” Wesley asked her. “Who are they? Where are they?”

“Those are not the questions you came to ask me; therefore, I cannot answer them,” she told us ruefully.

Wesley scowled and growled low in my ear in frustration.

“All I can say is, there are those with darkness in their hearts, and sadly, I have no control over the choices others make. And I cannot intervene in mortal affairs aside from pairing my warriors with their mates. I could foresee none of your life, aside from the mate I would pair you with and how your paths would cross.”

“You knew we’d be pen pals?” I scoffed. “That’s pretty specific.”

She laughed again, shaking her head. “No, my daughter, I did not see it like that. I just knew my human daughter would cross paths with the young lycan when they were children, and she would help him from becoming too arrogant and too self-absorbed.”

She gave Wesley a pointed look, and he cleared his throat, his hand rubbing my upper arm.

“Why me, though?” he asked. “Why did you choose me as her mate specifically? Why not, say, the heir to the throne? Since they are actually descended from Conan.” I turned to glance up at him, my brow raised. “I mean, I am grateful it was me. I love her. I love her more than I ever thought I could love another person, and I wouldn’t change that for anything—I am honestly just curious,” he rushed out, his cheeks heating.

He buried his face in my neck, hiding his embarrassment from his goddess, and breathing deeply. I reached up and stroked his hair as his lips pressed a kiss to my neck.

“Because I knew you would earn her love and her trust. I knew you would prove yourself worthy of her. And the heir’s fate lies with another mate. Another of my warriors who needs a nudge in the proper direction. But that is not your concern or your story,” she replied.

“I am sorry,” he muttered. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

“No reason to apologize,” she reassured him.

“What about marking her?” he asked, lifting his head. “Does her being your daughter change how I do that?”

“You will still need to mark her under the proper moon phase. Her birthday is on October 16th. It was a new moon when she was born, same as her sister.”

“So I am just a human?” I asked.

“Demigod status is no longer granted to those born from mixed parentage. We cannot gift you with any powers or with our lifespan. But the blood of a goddess runs in your veins. You may not have our gifts or our immortality, but you are still more than ‘just’ a human. It is why you always seemed so mature for your age, so much wiser than what you should have been. It is why you possess the grace and natural ability to excel in ballet. It is why you feel so comfortable among my warriors, feel at home in Crescent Lake, and don’t shy away from the violent nature of the wolves. It is why you could feel the magic on our island. Because even without any powers, you are still connected to me by blood, and they created the island for myself and my daughter. Daughters,” she corrected.

Wesley was tense again behind me, his mind whirling as he thought about what she’d said. “Wait—wait, the new moon is tonight. Right now.”

“Last night, actually,” Selene said, grimacing in apology. “It is morning on Earth now.”

“Goddess, damn it!” Wesley cursed, unwrapping his arms from me and pacing the temple floor. “Oh shit, sorry!” he exclaimed, slapping his hand over his mouth when he realized his mistake.

Selene just laughed. “Please, you wolves use my title that way so often I don’t even notice it anymore,” she said, waving him off.

Wesley forced a smile and walked back over to me, taking my hand in his. As he did, our skin shimmered and rippled, and I felt my soul being called back to Earth.

“Your time here is almost over,” Selene said as she looked at our hands. “I hope my answers were enough for you.”

“We got the information we needed,” I told her bluntly. “Thank you.”

I turned away from her and walked the reverse of the path I took when I entered, Wesley at my side. But her cool hand grabbing mine stopped me and forced me to turn and look at her.

“Please, Haven,” she begged, her voice hoarse and her eyes glistening, her pain and sorrow right at the surface. “Please understand. Giving you up was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. Watching you struggle and being unable to do anything about it broke me in more ways than I can describe. It was the worst type of torture, being unable to intervene when things took a turn for the worse for you.”

“But you chose to have me. You knew you’d have to give me up. You chose that. I didn’t. You were selfish and wanted your daughter.”

“I made a promise to my people. I told them you would arrive, that one of them would be given to you as your mate. I couldn’t go back on my word. And do you truly wish I hadn’t had you? Do you truly wish that you’d never met your mate, met Wesley and his friends and family?”

My jaw clenched, and my throat tightened. I tried to swallow past the growing lump there, but I couldn’t. Because she was right. Everything that had happened, everything I’d been through in my life before I met him, and everything we had been through to replace each other again had led us right to this moment. Had led us to be together, to replace love, peace, and strength with each other. Had led me to my true family.

“I understand,” I breathed, my voice as tight as hers. “I understand why you did what you did. But I can’t bring myself to think of you as more than the woman who gave birth to me. Not yet,” I told her. “Maybe someday, but not yet.”

She nodded as Wesley and I faded into hundreds of millions of specks of stardust, our souls flashing back through time and space and other realms of existence to our earthly bodies.