Frozen Alaska (The Juneau Packs Book 2)

by Katherine Rhodes

  “Go, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  I popped up on my toes and kissed him, darting out of the house. I ran full tilt down the few blocks to where Patrick’s house was, and when I went to knock, the door flew open.

  Addi was standing there, red hair flying, green eyes flashing, grin firmly lodged in place.

  We slammed into each other with the fiercest hug I had ever given anyone in my life. Instantly we were both laughing and crying, and twirling each other around.

  With her new strength she lifted me right off my feet and spun me around.

  “Damage report!” I snapped.

  “All systems fully operational, captain. Impulse power was definitely full.”

  I laughed as I stepped back from her. “Show me?”

  She looked around for a moment and made sure we were fully in the house. Dropping her yoga pants off her hips, she popped her leg out and showed me the spot where the gun had ripped a hole in her leg, and let her bleed out.

  There was nothing but tender pink skin.

  I blew out a breath. “Jesus. Garrett said…”

  “After he walked out,” came Patrick’s voice from the kitchen, “Jess and I changed Addi’s position, and Jess thumped on her chest, hard. It did…something.” Possessively, Patrick pulled her pants back up and both Addi and I shared a chuckle. “She took a huge swallow of my blood and it was done.”

  He’d wrapped his arms around her middle and Addi tipped her head back and looked at him.

  They were using the telepathy.

  God, that was so wicked cool.

  Patrick sighed. “Are you angry with Garrett?”

  I wrinkled my nose. “What? Why?”

  “Right of Blood…”

  I waved him off. “Chuck was a sociopathic murder. No one deserved to die more than he did. Even if the rite was called under unclear circumstances. I was just as likely to put a bullet in his head.”

  Patrick nodded. “I heard. Jason was a little afraid you were going to do just that after you shot the engine.”

  Addi laughed. “You shot the engine?”

  I shrugged. “On the white Continental, it was more like putting down an old, injured horse.”

  There were no words for me to explain to Patrick how grateful I was he’d mated her. To lose Addi that way after all she had been through, and all we had done to help her would have been horrible. She was one of my best friends, and I was ecstatic she was still here.

  Two weeks later…

  Watching Delia fold her clothes for the trip home was like ripping my heart from my chest.

  She was sad, and I knew part of it was she was leaving. What the rest was, I was still confused.

  “We can talk, all the time. You know we have amazing cell service here,” I said.

  Her glance shot to mine, and there was a dark anger there, one I’d never thought I’d seen in her eyes. She was mad, but that wasn’t the end of it.

  “Jason, it’s probably better if we just cut it off when I get on that plane tomorrow. You need to be here, and I have studies that I need to get on with. Chatting with you would be too distracting.”

  I tried a new approach. “It’ll only be for a few years. I’ve already got all of next year lined up with the ships, and I have quite a few of the five day adventures ready, right up to December, and starting in March again. I’m thinking about getting Cora involved with running the lower end tours.”

  She zipped the bag with a serious sense of finality. “Jason, stop. I’m going back to Chicago tomorrow morning. I have no intention of ever coming back here. There are too many places to go and see for me to make it back here.”

  “We can travel together—”

  “Stop. Just stop. At some point one of us going to find someone else, and that’s going to be the end of it.”

  I choked back the growl that threatened to erupt. Thinking of Delia with someone else was ripping me limb from limb, and making my wolf want to go on a rampage. No one touched her but me.

  But she was leaving.

  And I was letting her go.

  I couldn’t ask her to stay. The wolves in St. Terese were proud of their ability to give their mates and families anything they ever needed, and I just couldn’t do that. I didn’t have the resources to do that. So no matter how much I loved her—and I did love her—I couldn’t provide for her. I couldn’t keep her.

  She grabbed the small suitcase with all of her stuff in it, and headed for the stairs. I followed a moment later, shuffling, dejected and sad that I couldn’t stop her.

  Delia was everything to me. My mate. My once in a lifetime.

  And she showed up at the wrong time.

  I stood at the bottom of the stairs as she headed to the front door. She opened it, stood for a moment, then looked back at me, far away from her.

  “Goodbye, Jason. I wish things were different.”

  She closed the door before I could answer.

  Who knew how long I stood at the stairs, just zoned out, staring at nothing. The only thing I could feel was my heart breaking, and the utter silence of the house.

  “You let her go?”

  Cora and Addi were standing in the back door.

  I nodded once.

  Cora shook her head and walked into the house, passing me and heading for the coat closet up front. “You’re a fucking idiot, Jason.”

  “What doesn’t anyone understand about this? I can only just keep the roof over our heads with what I make now. How the hell am I going to keep someone like Delia LaPlage happy? There are times when I get to pick and choose between food and bill.”

  Cora ignored me, but Addi was staring at me from the door.

  “You let her go why?”

  “I can’t afford to keep her happy.”

  She broke from her frozen position. “Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me that you just let the woman you love, and who loves you back, and happens to be your true mate, go because you’re worried about keeping her? As in like a kept woman?”

  “No, not like a kept woman. I need to provide for her. House, clothes, food, luxuries,” I said, sitting down at the table. “You don’t get it because you’re part of the Pauler clan now, and they shit money. You’ll always have what you need from Patrick.”

  I saw Addi’s jaw drop as Cora shuffled back in, also with her mouth open.

  “Try this again?” Cora asked.

  “I just got the house back. I’m just able to pay for your school,” I snapped. “How am I supposed to give someone like Delia all that she deserves and needs? Oh, hi honey, do you want to pay the power or the water this month?”

  “You think she needs your money.” Addi exchanged a look with my sister after her statement.

  “She doesn’t need my money, I need money to support her.”

  “Dude, you are a fucking idiot.” Cora tossed the paper towel in the trash. “You are a first-class moron.”

  “She doesn’t need your money, Jason. Not even remotely. She doesn’t want you to support her financially. Do you think that her uncle kidnapped her over a few thousand dollars?”

  I stared at her. I hadn’t thought about how much he’d kidnapped her for—just that he had, and for the money. I stared at Addi, and blinked a few times. “I don’t know. I never thought about it beyond getting her back.”

  Cora pulled out three beers, and opened them, putting one in front of each of us. “Why did you need to get her back?”

  “She’s mine. She my mate. She was in danger.”

  Addi picked up the beer and took a swig before continuing. “Right. She was. But you never asked about the money? You had the right to, you know.”

  “I never ask about money. Ever. Too many people have misconstrued my innocent questions as begging for handouts. And I don’t do that. I’ve made sure that Cora and I were comfortable, and fed, and never asked about money again.”

  “She was willing to sign everything over to save my life. Everything, to a raging sociopath she knew would p
robably try to kill me or her anyway. You don’t sign over a few thousand for that.” Addi tapped her finger on the bottle, watching the rivulets of condensation drip to the table.

  “I don’t like to make things about money.”

  “Hypocrite,” Cora snapped the word off.

  “What?” I stopped the beer halfway to my mouth.

  “You don’t make things about money? When you just let your one and only mate walk out of this house because of money? Specifically, because you don’t feel you have enough?”

  I stared at the bottle in my hand. “I…”

  Damn it.

  Addi put the bottle down with a ‘clink.’ “Look. This isn’t my story to tell, but because you’re being a giant idiot about this, I’m going to tell you. Delia doesn’t need a fucking cent of your money. Ever. If Chuck had gotten that money, no one would have ever seen him again. He would have disappeared under the radar and been gone—because he bought the fucking radar.”

  Christ, how much money did she have?

  “Why do you think she stayed here with you until the bitter end?” Addi cocked her head. “Do you think it was because she just wanted sex? Do you think it was because she wanted a place to crash? Or maybe she was hoping you’d get a fucking clue about what she really needed?”

  “I can’t provide for her needs.”

  “Jesus.” Cora thunked her head on the table. “Men are so damn dense.”

  Addi stared at me. “Did you ever ask her what she needs? I mean out of life, not for lunch.”

  “Well, no.”

  Shaking her head, she took a sip of beer. “Did you ever ask her about her future? If you two had a future?”

  “I knew we didn’t, so no.”

  “Jason. She loves you.”

  “I know that. I love her.”

  Cora leaned forward. “Then why did you let her go? Why did you never ask her what she wanted? Why didn’t you lay all this out on the table for her to decide?”

  “Because I can’t give her what she needs—”

  Addi sliced her hand through the air. “You are what she needs.”

  “What?” My heart stopped. Stupid, traitorous organ. Kept screwing with me.

  Cora sighed. “It’s what she was trying to get you to see. She didn’t care if we lived in a cardboard box, as long as we were together.”

  “Delia grew up wretchedly poor. The kind of poor you can’t even imagine, buying eggs out of date because they were half price. Milk that was nearly spoiled. Meat that was barely consumable by animals,” Addi explained. “She doesn’t care about money. That’s why Chuck went after her. He knew that her family was stronger than anything and her sense of loyalty and responsibility would force her to give up the money. She wouldn’t let him kill me for the money. Even if she lived in a flop house for the rest of her life.”

  “You let her go over something you never talked about,” Cora said. “Something you just assumed she needed or wanted. But she didn’t.”

  “All she needed was you.”

  “What the hell were you thinking?” Cora asked.

  “I’d let her go. And when everything settled here, seek her out.”

  “How long would that be?” Addi’s question was honest. “How long until you were really ready for her to be your mate?”

  “Well, if things were going the way I planned, about twelve, fifteen years.”

  “In fifteen years, she’d be thirty-eight. Married. With children. With a life,” Cora said. “Do you think she’d really give up all that for a fling you had with her one summer too long ago for a tired wife and mother to even think about?”

  I growled at the very thought of someone else touching Delia. She was mine, and mine alone.

  And I was about to lose her at eight in the morning when she got on that flight back to Chicago. I dropped my head into my hands.

  “I screwed up.”

  “Don’t tell us!” Cora snapped. “Tell her!”

  16

  My bags were packed.

  I was ready to go.

  Goddamn earworm. Now I was going hum that infuriating song all the way back to Chicago.

  I knew I wouldn’t be back. Ever. I couldn’t bear it. My best friends were all mated, getting married, to the people they were in love with. So much had happened, and I was the one leaving alone.

  I hadn’t thought leaving everyone would hurt this much.

  I spun the rolling case around in front of me, absentmindedly. It wasn’t like there was a lot to do in Juneau International airport with five gates and two permanent airline counters. I could see the waters of the fjords stretching out, and the mist was rising and grabbing hold. The beautiful, bright blue days of summer were going to be over soon, and that was autumn’s first warning.

  I wanted it to be over, and I wanted it to never end.

  Was there any chance that I was ever going to forget Jason? That I’d find someone I could love half as much as him? I didn’t want to think about things like that, but a girl could only drink so much coffee before a long flight, and entertain herself just so long before all that crawled in again.

  “Will Madeline LaPlage please report to the customer service desk at Delta?”

  Ugh, and here I had finally stretched myself into the most comfortable position in an hour. I grabbed my rolling case and purse and headed for the desk. I’d have to go through the damn security again, but hey! I had nothing else to do.

  I walked to the Delta desk, and had to move a massive vase of flowers to get to the woman behind the counter. “Hi, I’m Madeline LaPlage.”

  “Ah, hi! Those are for you.”

  I looked around. “What are for me?”

  “The flowers.”

  Eyeballing the vase suspiciously, I stepped back. And realized the damn thing was filled with all the flowers that Jason and I had come across in the field the first day I met him, along with dahlias and roses.

  “Oh, my God.”

  The desk clerk smiled. “Who are they from?”

  I plucked the card out of the massive arrangement and was almost afraid to open it.

  Delia—

  I screwed up. Please give me a chance to apologize. If you still want to leave, I won’t stop you. There’s a car waiting for you. The driver knows where to go. If he calls me from the garage, I’ll know your answer.

  —Jason

  The clerk smiled at me. “Sounds like someone realized what they were letting fly out today.”

  I didn’t know what to do. Was he going to give me some lame excuse about letting me go? What was this all about? Turning, I glanced outside and there was a black Towne Car waiting for me.

  Whatever the case, he was serious if he spent the money on the flowers and the car.

  “Can you get my luggage off?” I asked the desk clerk.

  “Your plane hasn’t even landed yet. I’ll get the baggage guys to see what they can do.” She held up a scanner. “Let me mark you as having refused boarding so we can get that going. We’ll hold it for you.”

  After she scanned my ticket, I approached the Towne Car and the driver pulled the door open. “Miss LaPlage?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mister McGarrigal has given me directions. May I take your bag?”

  He helped me in and stored the bag in the trunk. I pulled out my phone and texted Jess.

  Deels: Did you talk to Jason?

  Jesssss: No, Why?

  Deels: Did anyone talk to Jason?

  Jesssss: We’ve all been talking to him. More specific?

  Deels: Flowers, car.

  Jesssss: Oh, he figured it out.

  Deels: Figured what?

  But Jess wasn’t answering. I swore at her and the car eased away from the curb. The driver didn’t have anything to say, but he took the main road north out away from the city, toward the compound.

  I watched the trees as I had so many other times, and sun glancing off the water. I loved this place. It had wormed it’s way into my soul and I didn’t want
to go, but if Jason was here, I couldn’t stay.

  The car drove for a few minutes and then found the same turn off that Jason had taken weeks ago on our second date. The fancy car bumped down the road a bit and finally pulled to stop.

  “I simply can’t take the car any further, miss, without wrecking my suspension.”

  “No, this is good. It’s fine.” We were only about a hundred yards from the turn-out to the field. “I’ll walk from here.”

  The driver opened my door and helped me out and grabbed my rolling case from the back. He offered it to me and smiled. “May not do you any good to roll it if you’re going further down.”

  I nodded, and reached into my purse for a tip, but he held up his hand. “No, miss. I was already tipped well. Have a good day. And good luck.”

  With expert skill, he backed down the road and disappeared from sight. I grabbed the rolling case and carried it down the road. I felt a bit like Dorothy trying to run away from Aunt Em and Uncle Henry.

  The road turned and the field was now filled with late summer foliage, and some of the trees—not many, as pines dominated the landscape—were getting their fall colors.

  Jason’s truck was in the middle of the field, and he was sitting on the top of the cab, facing the water. He turned when my feet started crunching through the dried grass.

  A smile like none I had ever seen lit his face. He threw his legs around, slid down the windshield, off the top of the hood, and bounced down to the ground. He was over to me in a moment, and grabbed the suitcase.

  Before I could get a word in edgewise, he had wrapped his hand around my neck and pulled me in tight for a kiss.

  My toes curled. It was a hell of a kiss, and every part of my body was tingling when he was done.

  “I never want you to doubt what I feel for you.”

  I could feel tears in my eyes and tried to blink them back. “I never have.”

  “Good.” He wiped away the one that had escaped.

  Taking my hand, he led me over to the truck and paused only to toss my case in front seat. He walked me around the back of the truck and hopped up, then offered me a hand up.

  I grabbed it and Jason pulled me up easily.