Page 30 of Cold Foot King

King watched him saunter down the hallway. A huge part of him wanted to ignore the asshole, knock on the door, and crash on the floor inside so he would leave him alone. But Wreck was the reason he was here. He’d still be rotting in that prison if it wasn’t for him and his people.

He kicked out of the covers, folded them, opened the door as quietly as he could and placed his bedding just inside, then clicked it closed again.

He didn’t have his jacket or beanie, so the freezing wind that hit his face was miserable. Outside, there was a truck warming up. If it was the dead of winter here, he would’ve had to keep this truck running through the night or risk it not starting this morning, but colder weather was just beginning to kick off here in Alaska. In another couple weeks, there wouldn’t be daylight at all. Already the days were short and the nights very long and it messed with his sense of time. Wreck was climbing behind the wheel, so King got in on the passenger’s side.

Wreck didn’t talk as he drove, but King’s instincts were starting to churn his gut. “I don’t want to get too far from Kat,” he said, his voice grittier than he’d intended.

“Mmm. You can bring her coffee back. Tell your animal it’s a chore to make her happy. I’ve found that helps.”

King glanced over at him, but Wreck didn’t seem to be insulting him or teasing. He cleared his throat, rested his elbow on the windowsill, and placed two fingers on the oh-shit handle. “Have you been mated for long?”

“A few months. Married last month. Things move fast for shifters. She was human in the beginning, so it was intense.”

King nodded. Wreck was interesting. A phoenix falling for a human. That was wild. She’s lucky she was still surviving him. “Are you ever scared you’re going to hurt her?”

“Every day. She says that fear will ease up over time.”

Huh. The Alpha was admitting to fear. Interesting.

“You know, they serve coffee at that convenience store by the hotel,” he said, feeling uneasy about how far they were driving.

The landscape was covered in white from the first-of-the-season snowfall. Wreck pulled to a stop at a sign that told them how far away the town of Coldfoot was. The Prison was past the town, out in the wilderness, but still close enough.

“Are you taking me back to the prison?” King wondered out loud.

“Debating,” Wreck murmured, staring at the sign.

King tensed and swallowed a growl down. “Why?”

“Because our seer doesn’t see you in my Crew. And she’s been right about…well, everything. I watched the footage of you with Katrina though, and you have some good in you. Clearly. But then you did what you did. You did the unforgivable.”

“Unforgivable to you. You should know I don’t lose an ounce of sleep at night. Now ask me if I would do it all over again.”

Wreck just kept looking at the Coldfoot sign, and didn’t say anything.

“Ask me,” King said softer. “Ask me if I would kill my brother and his two dipshit friends again.”

“I already know the answer just from the tone in your voice.” He swung his gaze to King. “Why?”

King scratched the back of his head and looked out the window at a moose that was pawing at the ground on the tree line, beside the road. “The why doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me.”

King didn’t want to revisit it. Didn’t want to talk about this ever again. “I found out my brother hurt a woman in our family group. His friends were there. They didn’t stop it. They thought it was funny. They video taped it and cheered him on. I just happened to find out when we were in town, and the humans saw my reaction.”

“Mmm. Did you know the woman?”

“Yes.”

“Who was she?”

“She was the one my family group wanted me to choose as a mate. She was supposed to be mine.”

“Do you know what happened to her?”

“How would I know that?” King asked somberly. “I went to prison. Why don’t you tell me what happened to her? I bet you already knew all these answers before you asked. You’re a clever one, so why don’t you tell me what happened to Mariah?”

Wreck gripped the steering wheel tighter. “She’s fine. Found a new family group. Found a mate. Had a little baby girl last year.”