Chapter 7
Watching Alexa drift off to sleep, Max tried to reconcile what he had done to her. He had turned her without first gaining her consent. It wasn’t the same as when Asher had turned Nicole. Nicole had been unconscious and dying. Max had simply given in to his more primal instincts and claimed Alexa as his fated mate. She had been in no danger, except perhaps from him. But it was done now, and there was no going back.
Leaving Alexa to rest, Max headed into the main room and picked up the phone to call Asher.
“If you want to hang up and never speak to me again, I’ll understand,” said Max without preliminaries.
“You bit her, didn’t you,” said Asher.
“I didn’t plan on it…”
Asher chuckled. “I don’t know that most wolves plan to turn their mates without talking it through. I’m going to assume it was done in the midst of passion. Oftentimes our wolves take advantage of that kind of thing to claim what they believe is rightfully ours. I’m sure you had it all planned out—how to tell her about our kind, how she will benefit as a she-wolf, your love and devotion, et cetera…”
“You don’t sound very upset with me.”
“If you hadn’t told me she was your fated mate or I didn’t know you to be an honorable man, I might feel differently, but you did, and I do. Are you worried about the transition?”
“Shouldn’t I be?”
“Most likely she will be fine.”
“But I don’t live up in Mystic River. Any of the doctors I know down here in Kodiak are human.”
“True enough, but Lara Dixon is up in Otter Cove, and she’s learned to fly—specifically float planes. I imagine she could get to you quickly if Autumn Miller couldn’t.”
“She’s a human and a vet, not a doctor.”
“True, but she’s Tess Grayson’s sister. And she’s been working with Doc Hadley as well as the doctors in the Resistance so she could better help care for their people. Is there a reason you’re concerned?”
“Not really. Weren’t you?”
“My circumstances with Nicole were different. If I hadn’t bitten her, she would have died. I had no choice. She’ll probably be fine, but if it’ll make you feel better, contact Autumn or Lara or Doc, for that matter. Just let her rest. Make her take it easy for a few days and watch over her. If she shows any signs of difficulty, call for help. And Max?”
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. You might have done it better if you’d talked to her first, but I suspect if you knew she was your fated mate, then she felt something, as well.”
“How do you figure that?”
“You bit her when you were making love to her.”
Max chuckled. “Well, there is that.”
“There is indeed. Keep that in mind, and give yourself a break. I have every confidence that it’ll all work out.”
“Thanks, Asher.”
“It’s not a problem. Neither of you is in this alone. If she wants to talk to Nic, let one of us know.”
“Will do.”
Max ended the call, feeling better about what had happened. Asher was right and as Max had told Alexa, they were inevitable.
For the next few days, Max kept a close eye on Alexa. She didn’t seem to be ill in any way, but was incredibly fatigued. They put the mystery of the box on hold so that Alexa could catch up with her notes and begin writing her article. At night, she was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow and Max found he was content just to hold her close. His wolf wasn’t quite on the same page, but his wolf was the one who’d gotten them into this mess.
After a few days, Alexa seemed more like herself. The color in her face had returned, as had her libido. He’d awakened to the feel of her tongue running over the head of his dick. Arousal had surged, bringing him and his cock to full attention and wakefulness. One hand had fisted in her hair, the other hand curled into a fist around the bedclothes. It was all he could do not to force her to swallow him down whole.
Instead of trying to control her actions, he watched her. He grinned when she looked up at him, and seeing him awake, moved her hair to one side so he would have a better view. She used her tongue to stroke him from the root of his cock to the tip and back again, sliding it along the prominent vein on the underside before blowing kisses on his balls. Alexa sat up, grasping his length and gently stroking it while she sucked the head past her lips and used the tip of her tongue to taste the precum she found there.
The sensual wet heat of her mouth was like nothing he’d ever felt before. The only thing that had felt better had been when he’d thrust into her pussy. And that, he knew, would be exceeded only by forcing his knot deep inside her and tying her to him. But that would have to wait. In fact, he couldn’t allow himself to enjoy all the pleasure she was giving him. He had to maintain control or he’d have her on her back, allowing the knot to form and taking her in a way only a male alpha wolf could.
She moaned as he rubbed her scalp, the vibrations from the sound humming along his cock. Her ability to make him forget there were still things she needed to know forced him to tug her hair. “Enough, Alexa. You haven’t been feeling good; I don’t want you to overdo.”
She sat up, looking disappointed. Not so much disappointed, he thought, as pouting—as if he’d taken away her favorite toy, and in many ways, he supposed he had.
“Do I need a doctor’s note in order to get you to fuck me again?”
“No. I think I can help you with that,” he chuckled, dragging her up his body so that he could kiss her.
His mouth covered hers, hungry for what only she could give him. He held her close and loved the way her breasts felt nestled against his chest, her mouth surrendering to his so he could kiss her like the starving man he was. As he suspected, it didn’t take long for her energy to flag.
“Why don’t I make us some breakfast? You can pull something on, and we’ll eat at the island.”
She nodded. “We can spread out the things we found in the box. Maybe we can start making some sense out of them. I think if we have them all out, we can see if there’s a pattern and maybe put together a better picture.”
“You think it’s something big, don’t you?”
“I do. I don’t think anyone would gather all those things, seal them up, and then bury them if it wasn’t. The last couple of days while I’ve been so out of it, I keep feeling like they represent something significant—a story of love, loss, and secrets long hidden.”
After breakfast, Max and Alexa spread the contents of the tin box across the kitchen island. The old photographs and letters provided glimpses into a past that Max had never been fully aware of. Oh, he’d had glimpses into his family’s history and heard stories, but it had only been shortly before he came to Kodiak that he realized his great aunt had been banished from the pack for loving a human. It seemed that history was about to repeat itself. They had eradicated Evelyn from the pack’s records. No trace of her had remained—none save the memories of a little boy with whom she used to bake cookies. These things must be the few mementos Evelyn must have brought with her. As they carefully examined each item, a clearer picture of his family”s past began to take shape.
One of the letters, written in elegant, flowing script, caught Alexa”s attention. She picked it up and began to read aloud:
My dearest Evelyn,
I hope this letter finds you well. It has been so long since we last saw each other, and I find myself longing for the days we spent together on Kodiak Island. The beauty of this place has stayed with me, a constant reminder of the love we shared.
I wanted to honor your request to allow you to return to your family, but I know now, I will never love another. Even though my family has a long connection to the island—one that goes back generations—I would leave it all to be reunited with you. There are things at my family’s homestead—secrets and treasures—that are buried here.
I pray that one day we will be reunited and you will return to Kodiak. Perhaps we can discover all there is to find and create a legacy of our own. Until then, know that my love for you remains as strong as ever.
Yours always,
Nathaniel
Alexa looked up at Max, her heart pounding. ”This letter... it sounds like your family has a deep connection to Kodiak Island. Maybe that”s why you were drawn here. Do you know either of these people?”
Max”s expression was a mixture of shock and curiosity. ”I never knew. My parents never talked about our family history. They always seemed so focused on the present, on moving forward.”
”Maybe they were trying to protect you,” Alexa suggested. ”But now that we”ve found this, we can start to uncover the truth.”
They spent the next few hours poring over the letters and photographs. The more they uncovered, the more it became clear that Max”s family had a deep and complicated history on and with Kodiak Island.
As night fell, they sat in front of the fire, the tin box between them. Max stared into the flames, his mind racing with the revelations of the day.
”Thank you, Alexa,” he said quietly. ”For helping me with this. I’m not sure I would have found any of this without you.”
Alexa reached out and took his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. ”You”re not alone, Max. We”re in this together.”
Max nodded.
Alexa smiled, feeling a warmth spread through her. ”I don’t know, Max, maybe it”s fate. Maybe we were meant to find each other.”
Max knew she had no idea how close she was to the truth. Their journey together was just beginning. There were still so many questions left unanswered, so many mysteries waiting to be uncovered, so many things he had to tell her to make her understand.
But he knew one thing for certain: whatever lay ahead, they would face it together.
* * *
In the days that followed, Alexa and Max continued to delve into the history of his family and their connection to Kodiak Island. They spent hours in the small, auxiliary library on the outskirts of town that specialized in the history of the island and its people as well as on the internet, poring over old records and documents, searching for any clues that might shed light on the secrets they had uncovered.
One afternoon, as they were combing through a stack of old newspapers, Alexa found an article that caught her attention. ”Max, look at this,” she said, pointing to a headline that read, ”Mysterious Disappearance on Kodiak Island.”
Max leaned over to read the article, his brow furrowing in concentration. ”This is from more than a quarter of a century ago,” he said. ”It talks about a woman named Evelyn Renner who disappeared while exploring the island. That’s my great aunt. The article said they never found her.”
”Why would she disappear?” asked Alexa. “What do you think happened to her?”
“No idea. All I know is one day she was gone and my family acted like she’d never existed.”
Alexa”s mind raced with possibilities. ”Maybe she was looking for something. Or someone. The letter mentioned treasures and secrets. Maybe she and this Nathaniel were looking for them.”
Max nodded, his expression determined. ”I need to find out what happened to her. If they were looking for something, it might still be out there.”
They spent the next week trying to trace Evelyn’s last movements, visiting the places mentioned in the letters and the article. They hiked through dense forests, explored hidden coves, and searched for any clues that might lead them to the answers they sought.
One evening, as they were exploring a remote part of the shoreline, Alexa noticed something sticking up out of the sand in the fading light. She crouched down, brushing sand and rock away to uncover a small packet of oiled leather wrapped around a box tied with twine. When she removed the leather and opened the box, she discovered a small, rusted key.
”Max, look at this,” she called out, holding up the key. It looks old, like it could have belonged to Evelyn.”
Max nodded. ”Obviously it has to unlock something. Maybe it”s the key to whatever it was they were trying to uncover.”
“Secrets seem to be kind of a thing in your family,” she said, regretting the words the minute they left her lips. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
He smiled wryly. “Yes, you did, and you have every right to feel that way. We need to talk. There are things I have to tell you, things you need to know…”
“Just answer me one question.” She took his hands in hers. “Do you love me?”
“From the very first moment I saw you and every moment since.”
“Then that’s all I really need to know.”
“But it isn’t…”
“It is until you want to tell me the rest. I love you, Max. I wonder now if I ever loved my ex. If I did, it was nothing compared to what I feel for you. So, knowing you feel the same way is all I need to know for now.”
He shook his head. “I believe you’re right about destiny bringing us together. We’ll figure this whole thing about my family history out, you can write your article, and then…”
“We’ll live happily ever after,” she said, reaching forward to kiss him.
They spent the next few days searching for anything that the key might fit, exploring old, deserted dwellings and hidden caves. Finally, they came across a rickety, abandoned cabin deep in the woods. The door was locked, but the key fit perfectly into the rusty lock. They exchanged a look of excitement as Max turned the key. With a creak, the door swung open, revealing a dusty, dimly lit interior. Alexa took Max’s hand as they stepped inside, their hearts pounding with anticipation.
Inside, they found a treasure trove of old documents, photographs, and journals.
“Max, look, some of these are in Evelyn’s handwriting.”
It was clear that Evelyn and Nathaniel had been using the cabin as a base for their search, but the exact nature of what they were looking for and why remained a mystery. As they sifted through the documents, they found detailed notes about a hidden treasure that was said to be buried somewhere on the island. It appeared they’d narrowed it down to somewhere close to the lake.
Max looked at Alexa, his eyes filled with determination. ”We need to find the treasure.”
“Do you think it will tell you why your family turned on her?
“Unknown, but it sure wouldn’t hurt to have it,” he said, laughing.
Alexa nodded, feeling a thrill of excitement. ”I’m game if you are.”
Gathering all the things they’d found and putting them in an ancient rucksack, Max took her hand in his, kissing her fingers. “Then let’s get to it.”