Twice Tempted: Between Two Alphas (Mia and Cameron) novel Chapter 101

Chapter One Hundred and One

Soon after, signs for Coldfoot get more frequent. The miles tick down and then we’re there. I give Eric directions past the tiny downtown, away from the visitor center and ranger stations, right to the base of the mountains.

The old packhorse is tucked into the Brooks Range foothills, just inside the Arctic Circle. The few hikers who do pass it rarely stop, and the Coldfoot locals give it a wide berth.

My pack keeps a presence here, but it’s low profile. I’m half expecting it to be empty when we get out of the truck. But as soon as my feet touch the ground, the front door opens and a familiar face pokes out.

“Ashley McNally? What the hell are you doing here?”

“Hi Lorelei. Long time no see,” I say.

Lorelei is a childhood friend.

At least, I thought she was a friend. Her greeting isn’t exactly warm and friendly. The last time she saw me, though, we’d been preparing for a wedding that never happened…or rather a wedding that happened days ago, instead of years ago.

Lorelei’s face twitches slightly, and then she frowns.

The bruise inside me pulses. She must have tried to speak to Isis.

“Is it really you?” she asks. “I didn’t expect you after…You look…different.”

I look like garbage. After weeks in a coma and years of neglecting myself for the sake of vengeance, I know what she sees. I’m too thin, my skin stretched uncomfortably over my ribs and spine. The dark circles under my eyes seem permanent, and the weight of my grief for Merilee and the terror I’ve been living under can’t help matters.

Lorelei is just too polite to say it outright.

“I haven’t had the easiest time lately,” I admit. “It was a long journey to get here, and we’re tired and hungry.”

Her gaze shifts over my head to where Eric is standing behind me.

“There’s plenty of food in the kitchen,” she says, pushing the door wider to make space for us to come in. “It’s just me and my parents here right now. Most of the pack is in Denali this time of year, so there are plenty of rooms here, too.”

“Good,” I say following her in. “We’re expecting more company. My daughter and my…her father. And his mate.”

Lorelei’s eyes widen in surprise. “So your friend here is not your daughter’s father?”

“No, he’s…this is Eric MacPhearson. My husband,” I answer.

I can’t quite make myself say the word “mate.” It feels wrong, since we haven’t marked each other yet. Plus I used the term so often with Cam when the whole relationship was built on my deceit. I’m not sure I deserve to use the word, let alone have one.

It’s his name, more than his relationship to me, that catches Lorelei’s attention though.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re doing, Ashley, but I hope you’ve thought it through,” she mutters.

Standing in it with a husband who loathes me and a friend who mistrusts me is agony. I feel the absence of everyone I’ve ever loved as if each loss were fresh.

Lorelei heads into the alcove to rummage around for snacks, but I’m rooted to the spot, the good memories stinging as much as the bad ones.

This is my punishment, I think.

This is the consequence I have to face for the way I’ve betrayed everyone around me.

It’s what I deserve for tricking Cam into mating me, and casting Mia out.

It’s penance for killing Adriana and leading the wraiths right to Eric’s sister.

“They’re here,” Eric says quietly, startling me.

I whirl around to the doorway as Cameron walks in. Alone.

I peer past him, but there’s no one behind him. Mia is nowhere in sight—and neither is my daughter.

“Where is she?” I ask, frantic. “Cameron, where the fuck is Merilee?”