Althena Book 2

94. Snow

After the plane takes off, I take a nap. That boy wore me out.

"It's time for dinner, baby." Mike rubs my back.

"What happened to lunch?"

"You didn't get on the plane until 2. I don't know what happened to lunch. It's 7 now."

I giggle and pretend to be innocent.

"I heard you slammed your head on the table."

"Yea, I was trying to be sexy."

He smiles and rubs my head. "You are sexy, babygirl."

"Not when I slam my head on the table."

He lays down beside me and pulls me against him. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes. I can't wait to marry you. I love you more than anything."

He relaxes and kisses the back of my neck.

"Get out of bed. You were supposed to wake her up. Not go to bed." Conner points at the door. "You assholes complain about us. You're worse."

Mike shakes his head and helps me up.

I eat dinner with everyone and do a head count. We have my boys, me, Monte, granny, Mary, Clayton, Akmae, and Chris. I guess Cyrus's brothers stayed home. I'm sure they'll be back soon anyway.

After dinner, a bunch of us play poker. I'm exhausted by 11.

I get up at 9, and we're still in the air. We should be landing soon. I grab a muffin and some milk. Then I sit by Monte. We have lunch and look at Evo. Then I pass out with my feet in the window again. I don't even know how I do that.

I open my eyes and can barely move. Monte flips me around so I'm sitting right. "What time is it?"

"Almost 3."

"I thought we left at 2?"

"We did."

"How are we still flying?"

"They're going to signal for the landing any minute. We're almost there."

He's not wrong. Not even 10 minutes later the pilot tells everyone to buckle up for landing. I buckle in and Conner hands me my shoes as he walks by.

We land without issue and people leave the plane. Monte gets out right before I do. Then I get slammed with cold. Not fall breezy air. f*****g cold cold. Winter smacks me in the face. The runway is clear, but there is snow everywhere. "What happened?"

Monte laughs. "You told him you would marry him in the snow, woman."

"Where the hell are we, Monte?"

"On our way to Woodland. I really need a freaking coat." He grabs me. Then he carries me into a building quickly.

"Why the hell is it so cold?" Clayton hugs himself.

"Welcome to winter in Crystal Falls. Spring starts anytime but I got lucky." Mike takes me from Monte. I shiver against him instead.

"You took my heater, asshole."

"Buy a coat."

"I'm gonna need a f*****g full winter suit. 5 inch thick boots and shit."

"How the hell do people live like this?" Clayton finds a heat vent and stands by it.

Akmae runs over to him. "What is happening? Why is everything frozen?"

Drogon pulls Mike. "I want to see where she lived."

"We're waiting for another plane. Go get a coat for her at that shop."

Drogon pulls me instead. "If you need winter clothes, come with me."

Nearly everyone runs after us. An hour later, we're bundled up and happy. We have snow pants and coats. Boots and gloves. We find Mike, Cyrus, Conner, and Chris sitting by the door.

Chris shakes his head. "It's not even that cold."

"That was an abrupt temperature shift." Dacious smirks and joins us.

"Where did you come from?"

"We rode with my parents. More room on the plane that way. They wanted to see the wedding too."

"Mike, how?"

"My mom, Chris, and Lila, babygirl. We got it figured out. Will you marry me tomorrow?"

I sit on his lap and cuddle him. "Yes."

"Can we go now?"

"1 more plane, Drogon. Go outside and see the snow."

I grab Drogon and drag him out the door. Then I hit him in the head with a snowball. "Snow."

We have a snowball fight for 3 minutes, then we have to go in so he can warm up.

"You Darkburn people are not very fun in the snow."

Akmae shakes his head at me. "I'm surprised people can survive this."

The boys standing at the window crack up laughing. Then Monte goes out onto the runway. He comes in a few minutes later carrying Lila. She will not put her feet down. Clayton growls but won't leave the heater vent.

She gets down after a few minutes. "Why do people live where the air outside can kill them?"

Conner motions for her. "Come on, Lila. We'll get you some winter stuff."

Once the shopping is over, we pile into a few limos and go to Woodland Pack.

I dive out of the car first and run into the house. I give Millie the biggest hug.

"I'm glad you're here, sweetie. We missed you. I'll let Max and Miles know everyone is here."

I run to Mike's room and strip. I put my rings in his bedside table. Then I turn into my wolf. Miles sees me in the hallway. -Poof- He's a wolf too. Clothing shreds land around him.

We tear down the stairs and out the front door. I find Conner and bark at him. "Give me a minute."

Drogon throws the box he's carrying. Then strips. -Poof- He's a wolf.

Chris shakes his head. "I'm not getting naked out here. Wait a second."

I dive in the puffy snow somebody shoveled. Drogon dives in after me. Then Clayton tackles us. He jumps up covered in snow and barks.

I look around. Atlas, me, Conner, Drogon, Clayton, Miles, Cyrus, Akmae, and Chris are wolves. It's perfect this way. It's not even cold. Mike and Monte walk over to us. Mike rubs my ears. "Lila wants to play too. She hasn't done much with her wolf though. You're going to have to be easy."

Clayton and I nod.

Monte crosses his arms. "Well, that changes things."

Clayton shivers so hard the snow flies off him. Then he takes 3 steps before Mike steps in front of him. "No. She told you she's not ready. You have to respect that."

Monte nods. "She is white enough to be a queen."

Mike winks at Clayton. "Protect her from a distance for now. When she's ready, we'll have Glinda test you to be sure. I know it sucks, but that's what you have to do. I had to do it for years. It won't take her that long to be ready. Be happy about that."

Monte chuckles. "Keep your balls in the snow for now."

"We'll have to take some home for him."

Clayton grumbles and they laugh.

I run over to Lila. She's standing on the porch staring at the steps. She does have a lot of white on her. I put a paw on the first step, and she does it too. We get about half way and she jumps. That was easy enough. Clayton sits up tall. He's so proud. I think they are mates. But it's their journey. Not mine. They'll come together eventually.

I get headbutted right into a snow drift by Conner. I pounce at him and he takes off running. All of us chase each other around. We eat snow and roll around in it. Lila picks up running with no problem. Clayton does exactly what Mike told him to do. He keeps an eye on her. I jump on all the downed trees I see. I love being a wolf. The snow adds to it. I could do this forever.

Millie stands on the porch. "TIME TO EAT. GET IN HERE AND PUT CLOTHES ON."

I run to Mike's room and put my pajamas back on. Then I scratch my hair all over. I am looking pretty rough.

Mike comes in and combs my hair. "Clothes are in the suitcase, baby."

"Thank you. I was starting to wonder what I was gonna do. I've been wearing these for quite a while now."

He opens the bag. "Clean clothes. I did think about it, but we haven't had much time to slow down."

I jump and wrap around him. "I'm going to marry you tomorrow."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"FOOD, PEOPLE."

"We better get down there." I drop to my feet. I find a t-shirt and stretchy pants. That's good enough. I get my rings on, then we go to the dining room.

Millie made cheesy potatoes, ham, cottage cheese salad, and chocolate cake. I eat until I'm stuffed, then sit on the couch between Conner and Monte. They're both complaining about being stuffed as much as I am.

Conner puts his feet on the coffee table. "Woman, I need laid."

I lean over him. "I do too. I got a knot in my neck from the flight."

"I'll work that out for you."

Monte laughs. "You're gonna have to get up for that."

"She can ride me here."

I roll my eyes. "I'm not doing the work."

"We'll digest first."

"Good plan."

"Cyrus said you slammed your head on the table."

"Yea, I learned how to do a lap dance."

"That sounds fun. I could get into that."

"Oh, I learned something else too."

"What's that, babygirl?"

I giggle and lean to his ear. Then I whisper. "Get some lube, and I'll show you."

He jumps up and then sits back down. "I have a raging hard on. Are you serious?"

Monte stares at him. "What?"

"What the hell?" Drogon crosses his arms. "All I heard was you have a raging hard on."

"She... Do you know what she does?"

Drogon laughs. "Yea, but be easy. She bled a lot the first time."

"I'm going to buy lube. Where the hell's the store?"

"You have to ask Mike. I have no idea. Probably 3 hours away." Drogon pulls me up. "Will you show me where you grew up, babygirl? Conner's going to be busy for a few hours once he can stand up."

"Of course. Wolves or... feet?"

"Feet, baby. I want to actually see it."

Clayton plops down. "What we doing?"

"Going to see where she grew up."

"I want to see that too."

"Dress warm."

Me, Drogon, and Monte put our winter stuff on. Clayton joins us as a wolf.

We get to the house. The rocking chair sits on the porch. I freeze and stare at it. "This is where I grew up. Mostly."

Drogon takes my hand, and we go up the steps. I sit in the chair and Clayton lays his head on my knee.

I rub his ears. "Life was different here."

Mike, Cyrus, and Conner come up on the porch. "You're going to put him to sleep, babygirl."

"Sorry." I pull my hand back. "I wasn't paying attention."

I open the door and step into the home I haven't been into in years. The beat-up old couch and coffee table are in the small living room. The kitchen is exactly how I remember it. I open the cupboard and two cups, two plates, and two bowls look back at me. Nothing matches. But they are still here. One pan is under the old stove. I'd be surprised if it works anymore.

I show them my bedroom. The mattress lies on the floor. It's made though. My warm blankets. I remember those. A book sits in the corner of the room. I don't remember what I was reading. This whole place is like a time capsule of happiness. It's not much, but it's everything at the same time.

The boys don't say anything. They look around and try to understand. I don't think they can.

I peek into momma's room. Her robe is folded on the dresser. I try to smell it, but it smells like dust. Her clothes hang in the closet. The clothes she made. Brown and baggy. Boring but extremely efficient. All a person would ever need.

Granny comes in and hugs me. Then we walk to her grave. I haven't been there much, but I could never forget exactly where it is.

The boys follow silently.

I brush the snow off her stone with my hand. "Hi, momma."