Exploring Alaska (The Juneau Packs Book 3)

by Katherine Rhodes

  “Oh, you mean the miscarriage of the child I shouldn’t have been pregnant with? The one I wasn’t ready for? The one I thought my cheating fiancé wanted, because I thought that keeping him happy instead of me was more important. The fiancé who tricked me into getting pregnant? The fiancé I found dick-deep in Lily when I got home from the D-and-C I had to have? Yeah, you did a great job, Zanna. Just wonderful.”

  Well, there went the truce. I put a hand on my head.

  “Did I miss something?” Delia asked quietly.

  “You’ve missed everything!” Zanna roared. “You’re never there. You come, you cook, you leave!”

  She spun on me. “You’re never here either. And if you are, Patrick is either banging on the walls or banging you on the walls.”

  Then, it was Jess’s turn. “You’ve just moved out with your fuck toy.” She threw her hands in the air. “So you can all suck on your ‘everything is fine!’ dinner. This was supposed to be a summer for us. To drink, to relax, and to just be girls. And you know what it is now? The Brandy and Zanna show!”

  The three of us started in, “Zanna—”

  “Can it!” She mocked us with her tone. “Zanna, this is more complicated than that. Well, I don’t care. I don’t. Not even a little. You’ve left me and Brandy in a cabin alone with those psychotic coyotes that can get into the house. Of course who knows? Jess was the only one there, so maybe she lied because she left the door open.”

  “Patrick—”

  “Don’t care. Do. Not. Unsubscribe.” She balled up her napkin and threw it on the table. “There’s a bar down the street. I’m going to get shitfaced. Maybe fuck a rando. Have fun. Don’t follow me.”

  She walked out of the restaurant, and the four of us just sat, staring at each other.

  Delia blinked a few times. “What…what just happened?”

  “Well, Zanna’s pissed.” I grabbed my spoon and stirred the coffee.

  “Thank you, Captian Obvious,” Jess mumbled. “Where did that come from? I didn’t realize you all were shacking up with your men all this time. I thought it was just me.”

  Delia and I just looked at each other.

  “It’s my fault,” Brandy said, grabbing the small pitcher of creamer. She swirled the coffee with a spoon, then stared at the rim of the mug, not saying a thing.

  Jess gasped. “Brandy. You didn’t.”

  “I didn’t mean for it to happen. I was good with unrequited. And, I’d go back if she’d quit being such a goddamn bitch to me.”

  “How is any of that”—I flapped my hand in the air—“your fault?”

  “She ran out of books to read the one day the Internet went out and I lent her my fav lesbian romance. She started asking real questions, and when she asked what it was like to kiss another woman…” She shrugged.

  Delia sucked her teeth, and Jess and I put our hands to our head.

  “You kissed her.” Jess was shaking her head.

  “Oh, it was more than that,” Brandy said, running her finger on the lip of the mug. “And the next morning she was like this. I want to ring her fucking neck.” Her finger stabbed the table top. “At any point she could have said no. She could have said stop.”

  “She didn’t?” I asked.

  Brandy made a sour face. “There were a whole lot of yeses while my head was in her—”

  “Gotcha,” Delia bit off, holding up her hand.

  Brandy’s head dropped onto her fist, clearly exhausted. “I need her to stop making this so absolutely uncomfortable for both of us. I need her away from me for just a little while a week. So we can both cool off, I can collect myself and go back to unrequited status, and just get on with my life.”

  Jess looked terribly guilty. “I just kind of abandoned you all…”

  “I did too,” Delia said. “This trip has been nothing like we planned.”

  “Not even close,” I grumbled.

  Jess peered over at Delia. “Where have you been, D? We all know I’m with Garrett, and Addi’s been working on therapy with Patrick.”

  I scratched my nose with my middle finger.

  “It’s a dude.” Brandy sighed.

  “It’s a dude,” Delia agreed. “The guide who took me hiking. There was a lot to see at the top of the trail. A. Lot. He’s amazing.”

  “I’ll have to check out that trail.” I snickered.

  “There’s this one spot, at the top with a rock. After the sun’s been up for like ten hours, your butt is actually warm—”

  “Got it,” Brandy said, mocking her with her a hand raise.

  “Look, Brandy, I’m sorry we abandoned you. We all know you’ve held a torch for Zanna forever, and it was stupid not to have that bumper.”

  “Wait, you all knew I was hot for her?” Brandy looked around.

  “Please,” Delia said. “The sexual tension in the air when the two of you were close was so thick I could cut it with a knife.”

  “Did she know?”

  “She’d’ve been dead not to,” I answered with a shrug.

  “Damn. I thought I was hiding it.”

  Jess clapped her on the back. “You’ll find someone who loves you back, Bran. Just give it time.”

  Brandy ran her eyes up and down Jess. “You interested?”

  “Oh, I am in way too deep with one of the opposite sex. You don’t want to get tangled in that mess.”

  “No, you’re right. I just want to get tangled in the sheets.”

  There was a silent moment and then we all burst out laughing. There was no way we could keep that in. After we all settled a minute, Jess turned to me.

  “And you, how are you doing?”

  “I’m…fine?” I was suspicious.

  She waggled her finger at me. “No, no. How are you doing? We all know I caught you buffing the wall the other day with Patrick. How are you handling that?”

  A smirk crept onto my lips. “Really well, actually. He’s very patient with me. I flipped out twice and he was totally a gentleman and backed off, letting me center myself. He doesn’t push, he always waits for me to give him the okay. It’s just…”

  Delia grunted. “She looks all dreamy and sexually satisfied.”

  “Because I am?”

  “Gag.”

  Jess laughed. “D, don’t think it’s all sunshine and roses. I caught her pants down against the wall, Patrick having his way with her. I just want to make sure he’s not overstepping.”

  “Not at all. Not even close. I feel…”

  What did I feel? Happy? Content? Loved? All of them?

  “Complete,” Delia whispered.

  I glanced at her and I saw that same feeling on her face as well. She was complete, with her new-found man. And we all knew Jess was doing just fine with hers.

  Which left Brandy. We needed to find her some fine women to choose from. Not the kind who got pissed and went to the bar after having sex with her.

  Jess seemed to read my mind and pulled out her phone. She tapped on a few moments and grunted. “You’re in luck. There are two girl bars in walking distance, and one more just driving.” She turned the screen around to show Brandy. “Interested?”

  Brandy looked at each of us. “Do you think any of them are into the exotic mocha-skinned beauty I can bring to their bed?”

  “Hell yes!” Delia cawed, and then slapped her hand over her mouth to tune herself down. “Sorry. Hell yes. Of course, yes. You’re gorgeous, girl, and I am sure there is a fine woman out there who will appreciate the sexual queen you are.”

  She leaned down and grabbed her purse. “You can all fit in the Range Rover, right?”

  “There’s three of us. We could take the Subbie if you want the Rover,” I offered.

  “Nope. Subaru is the perfect size.” She swung her purse up and smiled at us. “See you ladies later.”

  “A lot later, hopefully,” Jess said, waving her fingers at her. Brandy sashayed out of the restaurant.

  “Good move, Jess. That was the way to go,” Delia said
.

  “I know. She really does need to start finding her way away from Zanna. Zanna doesn’t know what the hell to do with herself, and maybe I need to have a talk with her.”

  “Maybe we all should. Better from the three of us than one of us. That way she can’t hate us all.” I looked between them. “Can she?”

  Chapter Eleven

  She could.

  She totally could. I never saw Zanna as pissed as she was when she went tearing out the front door the next afternoon.

  “That could have gone better.” I sighed.

  “That’s probably an understatement,” Jess agreed.

  “Are you guys doing anything this weekend?” Delia asked.

  Jess, Brandy, and I turned and stared at her.

  “What?” She was confused. “Honest question.”

  “You’re not disturbed by the fact that one of your best friends just called all of us motherfucking, cocksucking, twatwaffled assholes?” Jess blinked a few times.

  “Not really. She’s pissed and when she’s pissed she swears like a sailor. Whatever, she’ll come back. She’s pissed because she knows we’re right.” She glanced at each of us. “So? Are you busy? Jason wants to take us all kayaking and it seems like a perfect chance.”

  “Are you inviting Zanna?” Brandy asked.

  “Of course. I’ll text her later.”

  I shrugged. “I’m not busy. Patrick has some class he has to teach on Saturday, so I’m free most of the day.”

  “I’m good, too,” Brandy said. “None of my booty calls have called, so that’s that.”

  “Garrett has some stuff he and his father have to take care of with regards to the compound and his being the Al—chief, so I don’t think I’m invited to that. I’ll be there.”

  “Good, cool,” Delia said. “I’ll tell him we need five kayaks for the whole day.”

  “Won’t that take away from his income?”

  “Nope.” She shook her head. “He doesn’t have a lot of weekend business in the summer. He runs a lot of the cruise ship stuff. Plus, I can always write Cora a check.”

  “Cora?” I asked.

  “His sister. She’s cool. I like her. Hey.” She cocked her head. “Why don’t we ask her along?”

  “Well, we could ask Tati along too,” Jess said. “It could be a cool girls’ day out, but with a guide.” She stuck her finger out at Delia. “No sneaking off for a quickie behind a tree.”

  “Ruin my fun,” Delia huffed. “Deal, though. Let’s do it.”

  “Perfect,” I agreed.

  “I do need to get back down the hill,” Jess said. “There’s a dinner tonight and I need to be there.”

  Well, shit. So did I.

  Delia scratched her head.

  “Brandy, you gonna be okay if we all head down to St. Terese?” Jess asked. “I don’t want to necessarily abandon you here…”

  “Nah, I’m good. I got books and bad movies. And you’re right. Zanna will be back as soon as she cools off. I’m fine.”

  She really seemed to be okay, from what I could tell of her. I didn’t feel too bad leaving the cabin.

  “Lock the doors,” Jess called.

  “And hope they don’t have blasters,” Delia added.

  “You ass.” I laughed. “Don’t let the big bad wolves in, how about that?” I pulled the door closed.

  “Yeah, because you wouldn’t swing that fucker right the hell open for your big bad wolf,” Delia grumbled teasingly under her breath.

  I fell down the stairs. The whole four stairs of the porch to the ground. “What did you say?”

  Delia and Jess jumped down the stairs to help me to my feet. “Are you okay?” was the best I could make out of their flurry of questions.

  “I’m fine,” I snapped, brushing off my jeans.

  “What did you say?” Jess asked her.

  “Don’t let the big bad wolf in. You know? He’ll huff and he’ll puff and you’ll pull your pants down.”

  I couldn’t stop laughing. I couldn’t be 100 percent sure, but I was pretty confident Delia had just told us that she knew Patrick and Garrett were wolves, and I should have been pissed, but all I was doing was laughing my ass off.

  God, I loved that woman.

  She dropped us off at the Paulers’ house for dinner and drove off to Jason’s house. I was glad Delia had found someone as well. Of all of us, she had the best and happiest home life and I was thrilled to see her still happy.

  Garrett walked up to Jess and wrapped his arms around her, giving her the biggest hug and kiss to welcome her. She was glowing.

  Patrick walked up to me and touched his shoes to mine. He smiled and leaned in for a quick little kiss. He’d started that because he didn’t want to intimidate me, but I really liked the little peck so he could gauge my mood. “Hello, my baby.”

  “Hello, my honey.” I laughed. “Do I need a top hat and cane for the rest of this?”

  “We can do the song and dance later.” His grin was infectious.

  I was in so much trouble with this guy.

  The phone rang in his pocket and he glanced at his smartwatch. Looking confused, he pulled the phone out and answered it.

  “Hello. Whoa! Slow down—what?” His eyes snapped to steel pools of fear and anger. “No. Yes. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

  He cut the call off and took a deep breath. “I gotta go to Vancouver. Right now.”

  “Right now?” I asked, while Olga plowed over his words. “You were just there this weekend.”

  “Right now. I have to file an emergency flight plan and get down there. I’m sorry, this can’t wait.” Patrick stepped around me and walked straight into his father.

  Martin wasn’t playing. He had his arms crossed and stared down his son. “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why are you going to Vancouver in the middle of the week? This isn’t normal, and you look like the dead right now. Cold, clammy…”

  “Dad, I—”

  “Do not make me use my Alpha on my own son.” I could feel the Alpha power was hovering in the air, waiting to be snatched in by Martin. He was serious about using it on Patrick. He stared at his son. “Every other weekend for years, and I mean years, Patrick, and now you’re running down there on a whim in the middle of the week. What’s going on?”

  “I don’t have time for this.”

  “Make it,” Garrett snapped.

  He stared directly at me, and I could see the apology all over his face. “My daughter was in an accident. She’s comatose and has a broken leg.”

  * * *

  I had fucked up.

  It was the biggest fuck-up in the history of fuck-ups.

  I could see, just see, Addi closing up as the words came out of my mouth. The ice in the room filled every corner, and it wasn’t just her.

  Garrett, Dad, Mom, Tatianna all added their cold hate to the room.

  I had to go. Cassie was in the hospital and had nearly shifted in the ambulance on the way there. Her first shift after Leighann and I had been so sure she had been moonborn.

  There were not enough swear words in the world in any language to properly encompass what I was feeling.

  “Martin, would you be so kind as to drive me to the cabin?” Addi asked, not breaking her stare at me.

  “Let me get my keys.” His voice sliced the cold.

  “I’ll be outside in the car.”

  She turned on her heel and marched out of the house. I wanted to run after her, but I had to go. I grabbed my messenger bag with all my flight gear in it and headed to the back of the house to avoid the whole mess.

  “I’m coming with you,” Tati snapped, grabbing her purse.

  “You’re not.”

  “Oh, yes, I fucking am. Make no mistake about that. You’re going to deal with your daughter’s accident and one, no one knew you even had a kid, two, you’re not going to be in the right frame of mind, and three, you’re not going to lie to us about this anymore. I’m going with you.”<
br />
  “She’s going with you,” our father snapped as he walked out the door and slammed it behind himself.

  Fuck.

  “You’re done, dude,” Tati whispered and walked out the back door. “We’ll take my car to the airport.” She slammed the door behind her.

  “Patrick.” My mother’s voice froze me in the kitchen on the way out. She walked in and I knew how much I had screwed up without a word from her. “Tell me, quickly. You do have to go.”

  “Her name is Cassandra Pauler. She’s twelve. She lives with her mother Leighann and stepfather Uriah outside Vancouver in Langley.”

  “She’s twelve?”

  “She is.”

  “You’ve kept her hidden for twelve years?”

  I didn’t say a word.

  “Go. She needs you.”

  And with that simple dismissal, I knew I had broken all of their trust, lost their love, their support, and damned near everything that mattered to me.

  * * *

  Tati and I were in the plane less than twenty minutes later. She’d driven at breakneck speed down the highway to the parking lot at the airport.

  We went through the check list in less than ten minutes between the two of us and were filed and approved in just five more minutes after that.

  I was grateful for the drone of the plane as we flew at the limit of the single engine plane. It would still take nearly ninety minutes to get from Juneau to Vancouver, but I also knew I could land right on the Fraser River near Leighann’s house.

  Tatianna cleared her throat. “Did you get the name of the hospital?”

  “Langley Memorial. It’s Canada. They aren’t necessarily inventive at this end of the country.”

  “It works.” She pulled out her phone. “How are we getting there?”

  “Taxi, Uber, Lyft, whatever I can get fast.”

  She picked at the front of the phone. “I have an Uber waiting for us at the dock.”

  “Thanks, Sis.”

  “Don’t ‘thanks, Sis’ me, you lying knob.”

  “I’m not lying.”

  “How old is my niece that I didn’t know about until just over an hour ago?”

  I glanced over, and she was giving me the patented ‘don’t bullshit me’ look. I sighed. “She’s twelve. Her name is Cassandra Amelia Pauler.”