DEAR HAVEN,
I don’t know about you, but I am so ready for Spring Break! One week of no school, no teachers, and no homework? Yes, please!
Do you have any plans for the week off? My family and I are heading to the beach to go camping for a few nights, and Reid is coming with us.
Then, our town has its annual spring festival. We plant trees, and there is usually tons and tons of food, pies, and freshly squeezed lemonade.
Also, I know it’s a ways away, and I know my parents will be talking to your parents about it soon, but this summer, I was hoping we could meet in person? I mean, if you want to. I thought it would be fun. We’ve mentioned meeting in person before, so yeah.
Anyway… read you later! Your friend,
Wes
P.S. Reid says hi
P.P.S. Damn it, I am so sorry! I TOLD him to leave my shit alone!
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DEAR HAVEN,
Hey! It’s been a minute. Usually, you’ve written back by now, but maybe you’re busy? I know you were going to be starting more ballet classes and private lessons, so I’m guessing you’re caught up with that and maybe tired from adjusting to your new schedule. I know when my boxing training gets upped in intensity I get worn out a bit easier for a few days while I adjust!
Have you thought about what I said about this summer? I mean, it’s okay if you don’t want to. I won’t be upset.
Oh! I have another question. Well, actually, it was Nolan’s question. He told me to pretend like it was mine, but it’s really his. He wants to know if you do the type of ballet where you go all the way up on your toes? I don’t know if it has a special name or not.
We watched a video of it when we sent you those Nutcracker tickets, and we all agreed it looks super painful. So, do you do that? Does it hurt? Is it hard??
Hope to hear from you soon! Your friend,
Wes
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DEAR HAVEN,
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
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DEAR HAVEN,
I’m really worried now. Please… just call this number and tell me you’re all right.
(919) 555-2398
Wes
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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.”
“What happened to her?” I snarled, my fists clenching.
“Jack had a stroke. He’s been in the hospital this whole time, and she’s been switching between staying at Scott and Tiffany’s houses, so they didn’t see your letters until today.” His voice was way too calm for my liking.
“Okay?” I said. “Can’t we help? Send them some money, or recommend a doctor? You know people!” I exclaimed, gesturing wildly.
“We did offer that,” he said. “They are… thinking about it.”
“What does any of that have to do with Haven, though?” I asked. “I gave her my number. Why doesn’t she just call me?” Dad glanced at my mom over the top of my head. “What aren’t you telling me?” I demanded.
“Wes—”
“TELL ME!” I growled, and then I flinched back, blinking.
But my dad didn’t react to my outburst. He just looked me straight in the eye and said, “They put her in a new home. With a new family.”
I stared at him. I just stood there in the office and stared at him. There was no way I heard him right.
Why would they take her from them? Just because Jack was in the hospital for a bit? She was happy there—she was thriving there. They wouldn’t just take her from the first place that felt like home to her. Would they?
“What?” I asked.
“They placed her with a new family,” he said again with the patience of a saint.
“But why? Why would they do that? She was healthy and happy and home!”
Dad blew out a breath and tried to speak, but I kept going. “They’ll put her back, though, right? It’s just temporary until Jack gets better? Right? That’s why they called? To let us know that we won’t be able to reach her until Jack gets better and she can come home?”
“No, Wes.” My dad shook his head and ran his hand over his face. “She snuck out of Scott’s house and walked all the way to the hospital one night
to see Jack. Scott didn’t even know she was gone until the cops called him and told him she was at the hospital. Social services felt it was no longer a safe place for her. So they found a new placement.”
My brain and my heart both went a mile a minute. I thought my heart would leap out of my chest with how fast it pounded. But my brain was already working overtime, already working to come up with a solution to this fresh problem in front of me.
“Okay, so what can we do?” I asked. “How can we help them? They’re going to try to get her back, right?”
“They were planning to adopt her before… all this happened,” Mom whispered. “They are still planning to try, but with this most recent incident, and with… other things going on, they likely won’t get approved.”
“But… but we have money and connections, right? We can help them?” “It doesn’t work that way, Wesley. Money can’t fix everything. We can
help them get a lawyer, but we can’t force the system to let them adopt her,” she said as she walked to me and placed her hands on my shoulders.
“Then what good is having all this money if we can’t use it to help her?!
What’s the fucking point of our connections and our money?!”
“Wesley!” my mom scolded, but my dad held his hand out to stop her.
“There has to be something we can do!” I exclaimed, my eyes watering and my voice shaking as I tore myself from her grasp. “I won’t accept that there is nothing we can do.”
“We are doing everything we can. Everything we legally can,” my dad clarified. “And Felix and Fiona are also going to try to adopt her. They’ve always wanted another pup, but Fiona isn’t able to have more.”
“So she’ll be Nolan’s sister?” I asked.
My dad nodded. “If they are able to adopt her, then yes. She’d be Nolan’s sister.”
“But she’s a human?” I pointed out. “How will that work?”
“We’ll have to get approval from the king and the council. Fiona is already on the phone with them.”
“But she’ll know what we are?”
My dad nodded. “Yes. We’d be able to tell her.”
I inhaled and exhaled a few times, calming my heart and my mind. Nolan’s sister. A member of our pack. The knowledge she’d be safe and taken care of and loved soothed the boiling lava in my soul and erased the blackening pit in my heart.
“He better be nice to her, or I’ll have to kick his ass,” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest.
My mom snorted and roughed up my hair, and my dad chuckled and scratched his beard, meeting my mom’s eyes over my head.
“Gamma Felix and Fiona will be here soon to begin the process with us,” Dad said. “I promise you, we will keep you updated on everything that is going on with Haven.”
“Can I talk to her?” I asked him as he stood and walked to his office door to show me out.
He sighed, and his hands rested on his hips.
“Unfortunately, no,” he answered. “We have to do this the right way, and they’re not giving us the information on where she’s staying or anything. And yes, we could hack into the systems or use a witch to find her,” he added before I could protest, “but we have to play this by the rules and be very careful because of what happened. They’re keeping a close eye on the
Franklins, and we don’t want to raise any red flags against ourselves or the Shepards. Okay?”
I nodded. I wanted to push him, wanted to say more, but he was the alpha, and I had to listen to him and respect that this was his last word on the situation for now.
“Wesley!” he called out as I exited the room. “I promise you on my title and our pack that we will do everything we can to help her.”
My throat tightened, and my eyes itched, the watery feeling in them returning as I listened to him make a solemn oath to me. And the primal thing inside me settled back into its place, subdued and appeased for the moment.
