Frozen Alaska (The Juneau Packs Book 2)

by Katherine Rhodes

  I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t even mildly freaked out.

  I’d seen him shift in midair after the four coyotes had jumped up to bite him. He’d instantly been a wolf, landing on all fours, and immediately going after the mutts. He’d been fearless and massive, and I had been terrified of what had just happened.

  But when I saw the leader of the coyotes trying to sneak up on him, I had to do something. I jerked open the tool box and found the long-handled sledgehammer. I swung without really considering what I was doing.

  Sitting there, I was glad I had done it. I hoped I broke the fucker’s ribs.

  “So, your wolf thinks I’m your one and only?”

  “My wolf knows you’re my mate. But I didn’t want to go there yet. Not right now. I’m still trying to build up my life and business.”

  “So, you don’t want me.”

  “No, no that’s not it at all. I want you. God, the way I want you is like a pain in my heart. But I’m not financially ready for that. I’m not set enough to be able to take care of you the way you deserve. It’s one thing the St. Terese pack prides itself on. We take good care of our mates.”

  I wanted to chuckle. No man I married would ever want for money. I held that thought in—maybe we were fated to be together—and, Sweet Baby Jesus, did it ever feel like that—but that didn’t mean I knew him enough to tell him that.

  Studying him a little more, I saw a soft amber glow in his brown eyes now.

  I shook my head. “I’m not afraid of you. Of this. I think I should be? But the connection between us is…shocking. I’ve felt it as much as you and I’m as magical as a stump.”

  Jason grinned. “Stumps can be quite magical.”

  The laugh slipped out, but I had no desire to stop it. “So, I’m a magical stump.”

  “Well, maybe a magical log.” I chuckled as he grabbed my knuckles and ran his thumb over them. “You’re really not scared?”

  “I was scared of that coyote hurting you. But of this wolf thing? No. Not really. I’m not going to rule out the possibility that I’m going to freak out tomorrow or later this weekend, but I think that I’m okay. For now.”

  Plucking at the mattress, I quirked an eyebrow. “So, I can’t tell anyone, can I?”

  “Your friends don’t know. If they find out, you can talk to them about this, but otherwise, no. These are pack secrets, and I’m obligated to them. As it is, I’m probably going to get reprimanded by the Alpha for letting you in on it.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He snapped his head up. “I’m not. Not at all. The desire to protect a mate can overwhelm the senses and the sensibilities.”

  “Probably why I just played sledgehammer polo with a coyote?”

  He snorted. “Probably.”

  Once again, I wasn’t sure what exactly happened, but we were tangled with each other, and the kiss was hot and dangerous.

  At this point, I didn’t care about propriety. The adrenaline was still there, pumping through my veins, and I was ready to go again.

  I grabbed the button on his pants and yanked him down and open. Jason was also ready to go again.

  I pushed him back on the mattress, and straddled him, yanking my leg back out of the pants I had just redressed in. Didn’t care.

  Fisting his cock, I slid down on him, and pressed him all the way inside me. I was still wet and slick from our last round and sliding over him was perfect.

  “Holy shit,” he managed, grabbing my hips. “You’re not kidding around.”

  “You wanted another round, don’t lie.” I glided my pussy over him, drawing him out, pushing him back in. I ground his erection over my clit, wringing my own pleasure out of him.

  His hips popped up to bounce against me, and added more friction to our joining and I let out a delighted grunt.

  “I want as many rounds as you’ll give me,” he said, his hand sliding up under my shirt. Nimble finger found my nipples and pinched.

  Breathing out, I hiss a, “yes” to his attention.

  “Faster, baby. No other goal than just fucking to come,” he commanded.

  I could do that. I wasn’t ready to deny myself anything the way the adrenaline was pushing me. His hand dropped away from my breasts, and with ease found my clit with his thumb.

  Neither of us were long for this. And because of the connection, we knew we weren’t going to try and make it. The utter freedom of knowing that we didn’t have to impress each other, just wring a magnificent climax out of each other, was something I never dreamed of.

  “Go, baby. God, damn, go. Come, please!” His words were strangled, and his finger was relentless.

  I shifted my hips just the tiniest bit and the cock inside me hit the soft, magical spot deep down. I came apart, screaming his name—and less than a second later, I felt the hot splash of his cum coating me again. It was so intense and consuming I could barely breathe.

  His arms came around me and pulled me back down to the nest of the mattress and sheets, just holding me there, cradling me against him while the last of his erection throbbed inside me.

  “Mine to hold, mine to protect,” he whispered against my lips.

  “Don’t get too possessive on me,” I whispered, kissing his nose.

  “Too late, baby. Too late.” He sighed, contented.

  I couldn’t help feeling like I was settling in here. It should have probably scared me. But it didn’t. Not even a little.

  And that scared me.

  8

  Coffee.

  I could smell it drifting through the house, and I opened my eyes to see where I could find a cup of the magical brew.

  I was in a warm bed, that was definitely not the cabin up the hill.

  The bed was more than comfortable and taking a deep breath I reached back to the night before, to another date night—

  Jason. He’d brought me back to his house, and we’d spent a few hours going at it like rabbits. I could smell him on the sheets that surrounded me, both his cool summer scent and the smell of our repeated sex trysts.

  Wow.

  Holding the sheet, I sat up and couldn’t find him anywhere. I hoped he was the source of the coffee.

  I tossed the covers back and saw a pair of athletic pants and a giant sweatshirt, and a note tented over it.

  D—

  Had to run into the city for a few things. BBS. Your clothes are in the dryer, and I’m sure Cora’s made coffee. You can wear this meanwhile.

  <3,

  —J

  The heart was a sweet touch. I knew where he was going with that—not yet time to utter the ‘L’ word, but that little heart said a whole lot.

  I ducked into the bathroom I saw through the door and took a quick shower, enjoying the scent of his soap and shampoo. It was nice to be surrounded by him.

  Jason. A shifter. A wolf.

  Really amazing in bed. And in a truck bed.

  And my mate, if I were interested in such a position.

  I smirked. Hell of a vacation.

  The clothes he left out for me were nearly perfect. The pants were the right size, and sweatshirt was comfy—if large in the shoulders. I inhaled, and smell Jason again.

  I padded down the stairs and looked around.

  “In the kitchen,” came a woman’s voice.

  That didn’t sound like a little sister. I headed in the direction she’d called from, and the massive kitchen appeared. I padded in, a little trepedatious, but really wanting the coffee.

  This had the potential to be super awkward, as Jason had brought me home for the first time in our three weeks of seeing each other while his sister was there, and there’s no question what we were doing last night. I braced myself.

  Standing by the sink was a woman who appeared to be my age. She had hands wrapped around a mug and was inhaling the fresh aroma of the coffee inside it. She let out a sigh and opened her eyes.

  “Hi.”

  I smiled. “Hi. I’m Delia.”

  She smirked. “I heard.” />
  The heat of a full body blush of embarrassment raced through me, and she chuckled.

  “Don’t worry, I don’t care. I just had to bust you for it. I’m Cora. And I made coffee. Would you like some?”

  “Please,” I answered, desperately trying to calm my heart rate.

  Putting her own mug of the dark elixir on the counter she set about getting mine. “I’m glad Jason finally decided to bring you home. Three weeks and I was starting to wonder if you were just a figment of his imagination.”

  “I’m real.” I grinned. Three weeks we’d been at this relationship. I was kind of surprised, but at the same time, we’d really been busy with each other and the refurb on the cabin.

  Cora grinned at me again. “I had to bust you for the screaming sex. It’s not really a problem here in the compound. Since the majority of the people who live here are pack or alliances, we have a different view of sex. We share our lives with an animal, and they have two drives: food and fucking. We turn into absolute horn dogs, pun intended, as soon as we come into our maturity.”

  She held out the mug and I accepted it with a grateful nod.

  “Sugar in the bowl, milk in the fridge.”

  I found some plain milk in the fridge and colored my coffee with it. “When do you come into your maturity?”

  “About twenty, twenty-two. We’re later than humans because we live so long, and it would be really, really bad to have a thirteen-year-old dealing with that shocking rush of potent desire to have sex.” She shuttered.

  “Women too?”

  “All of us. We all have the beast inside.” Cora paused and stared into her mug. “And you should see us eat.”

  I started laughing. I couldn’t stop. It was just one of those things that struck the right chord in my mind and let me relax and laugh my ass off. It felt really good.

  Cora chuckled along with me. “Good. I’m glad he told you, by the way. Jason is a good man. A great brother. He worries too much though.”

  “Those coyotes…” I shivered at the thought of them over the past few days.

  “The Turner Lake Exiles. There’s a pack of coyotes that live south of Juneau. There was an…incident years ago and the old alpha just kicked them out instead of executing them as he should have.”

  “Execute…”

  “First thing you have to know is that we go by Pack Law on pack lands. We’re autonomous here because our ancestors were Tlingit, but our laws have to be different because of what we are. Most of us can bust out of jails and holding areas without a second thought. When someone, or someones, commits a crime, it’s usually far worse than you imagine.”

  “Which is what happened with the exiles?”

  “Yes. They…well, they wiped out a whole clan of shifters. The last clan of those shifters. There are no more raven shivers. Everyone agreed, both the coyote pack and the council, that they should have been executed for such a heinous crime. But the old alpha exiled them, and not far enough. It was the beginning of the end of his reign as alpha. Fergus, his nephew, is alpha now.”

  I could hear her cut herself off. “But?”

  “But. He’s going to have mete out the justice that wasn’t before. At some point soon, he’s going to have haul the exiles back and finish this.” Cora took a sip of her coffee. “Especially since they are haunting your friend’s cabin now.”

  “Oh, shit,” I gasped, and dove for my purse. “I forgot to call them last night!”

  I could hear her laughing as I desperately dialed Jess’s phone. She answered with a grunt after four rings, “What?”

  “I’m so sorry! I didn’t come home last night. I…”

  Her words were mumbled through sleep. “Why do you assume I did?”

  “Christ, we have to get better at letting each other know where we are. Where are you?”

  “Garrett’s place.” There was a pause. “Wait, where are you?”

  “Jason’s place.”

  “Where the hell is everyone else?”

  “Addi’s at Patrick’s.”

  “Of course.” I laughed. “And the other two?”

  There was silence between us on the phone as the realization of what we’d done blossomed.

  Jess spoke first, “Oh, shit. This isn’t good.”

  “We’ve been too wrapped up in us. Crap, crap.”

  “We have to apologize to them at the dinner tonight.” Jess was quiet. “Do you think…Oh, God, why did we leave them alone together?”

  “Because we’ve each found guys we really like and got wrapped up in that. Damn.” I put a hand on my forehead.

  The front door pushed open, and Jason walked in, smiling. He put me at ease just being there. I took a deep breath. “Look, Jess, we’ll deal with all of this tonight. Hopefully there’s nothing wrong and we can all just put this behind us and see how the rest of this summer is going to work.”

  “Agreed.” She yawned. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  “Tonight,” I agreed and tapped the screen to end the call. “You have amazing cell service for the middle of nowhere.”

  Jason chuckled. “That’s because the various packs around have insisted on it. It’s the state capital anyway, so it’s important.” He wrapped his arms around me. “Good morning, babe. Met Cora?”

  “I was coffee’d by her. It was wonderful.”

  Cora laughed hard in the kitchen.

  I sat up straight in the chair on the back porch and looked around. Something was tickling my brain and I didn’t like it. It wasn’t a nice feeling.

  Mitchell. It hit me. It had been so calm between us lately that I’d forgotten to call him. And this turbulence was not good.

  I grabbed the phone and walked away from Cora and Jason sitting there bickering like a brother and sister. I dialed Mitchell’s phone, and waited for it to connect before it rang four times.

  “M.”

  God, it was like a balm on my soul that I didn’t even realized I needed. “M.” I smiled back. “What’s going on? I’m so sorry I didn’t call…”

  “Do not apologize,” he chided me. “I’ve felt nothing but happiness from you, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

  “You know you’re the one person who would never interrupt me, no matter what.”

  The sardonic smile came through the phone in his words. “Yeah, I can think of something you’d bite my head off for.”

  “Hush.” My tone was teasing but firm. “What’s going on? Please answer the question.”

  A deep, resigned sigh floated through the phone. “She’s gone.”

  “What? Genesee…”

  “Left. She’s gone. She’s done with our relationship. I took her to the Seychelles and was going to propose here in Kenya on the photo safari. She had her ticket home changed on her own dime and caught a connection without me.”

  Rage boiled up in me. “She—”

  “Used me. Totally used me. She just wanted to live a good life with me for a few years and then find something—someone else to do. I wasn’t in her plans.”

  “Oh, Mitch. I’m sorry. She left you there in Kenya?”

  “Yeah. I’ve been sitting in the airport for about eight hours. I cancelled the safari, but…I don’t know where I’m going to go. I don’t know what to do. I have a four-carat engagement ring that means nothing to anyone now and I’m…”

  “Come visit me. Come here. I’m sure we can find room for you at the house, or at Garrett’s place. Somewhere. It’s great here, and you can just relax and do what you want, no pressure. I’ll be here if you want to talk.”

  “Maybe. Where are you?”

  “Alaska.”

  There was silence on the phone. “What?”

  “Alaska. Juneau. Come on, you can hang with me and the—”

  “What. The fuck. Are you doing. In Alaska.”

  A shot of fear and panic raced through him slamming through our connection. I almost stumbled from it. “It’s a summer vacation. Brandy bought a house and we all—”

 
“Did you never listen to Mom and Dad?”

  “Mitchell. What the fuck are you talking about? It’s Alaska. I’ve always wanted to come here and I’m glad I did.”

  “Do Mom and Dad know you’re there?”

  “I’m twenty-three, Mitch. I don’t report to them anymore.”

  “Dad will have the plane at the airport in twenty-fours to get you out of there. You have to leave. God, damn it, Madeline. Didn’t you listen? Didn’t you hear what they said when we were home? Never, ever Alaska.”

  Scrunching up my face I stared at the ground. “What are you talking about? They never forbade me from going anywhere. Ever. They gave me the talks about being safe, and being careful who I made friends, but they never, ever told me not to go somewhere.”

  The click of his shoes on cool tile sounded in the phone. Mitchell was pacing. “They never told you that Alaska was off limits?”

  “No, they never told me that.”

  “Hold on.”

  The line went quiet, ‘hold’ button quiet. What was going on? Why was he suddenly freaking out that I was in Alaska? What had Mom and told him about this place that he thought Dad would have the plane here in twenty-four hours for me?

  The line clicked live again and there was ringing, once, twice, and my father’s voice answered with a hearty hello.

  “Dad. It’s both of us,” Mitchell said.

  “Both of my offspring!” Holy crap it was good to hear my father’s voice too.

  “Dad, Maddie’s in Alaska.”

  The accusation in my brother’s voice along with the tone he put in my childhood nickname was like a shot to my gut. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I wanted to see Alaska. I wanted to see the frozen lands and glaciers before they were gone, and before I was too old to climb a mountain and scale a rock face.

  “I don’t understand what Michelle is pissing on about. You never put limits on where we could travel.” I shot back, using the cruel schoolyard name he’d been christened with in Baltimore. Before everything changed.

  There was silence on the phone again. I was becoming unnerved by all this quiet.

  “Someone tell me what the hell is going on.”

  The line clicked again and I knew my mother was listening now, probably by my father’s goading.