Chapter 3
Creek
My heart is thundering so hard that I’m actually certain it’s going to break through my rib cage, falling at Juniper Henley’s feet like it’s been dying to get to her in the eight years she’s been missing. I mean, I’d let it go gladly. I’d wrap it in her shaking hands and beg her to take the damned thing at this rate, but the shock painting her delicate features screams that’s probably not the best route to take.
Eight years.
Eight long, miserable, lonely fucking years without her. And here she is, purple haired and just as beautiful, if not more, as the last day I set my eyes on her. She’s changed a whole fucking lot, but not enough that I wouldn’t recognize the girl I’ve been pining for over the past eight years. Her hair is shorter, eggplant colored, wavy strands only just dusting her shoulders. Pale, sky-blue eyes peer up at me, blinking rapidly like she’s trying to make sense of the thoughts scrambling her head, of the sight she’s seeing, and her dainty hands grip tightly the shirt covering my waist. It’s as though she hasn’t heard me, haunted eyes gazing at me as though I’m nothing but a mirage in the desert, her thirst-muddled brain conjuring images that don’t actually exist. I can fucking relate, my shock at seeing the girl I thought I’d always end up with still riding me hard enough that my chest physically aches.
But I do. I’m here. She’s fucking here .
“Juno, what the fuck?” I breathe, right before I haul her skinny ass into a hug so tight that I almost worry when I hear bones creak and joints crackle like that weird crispy cereal she used to like.
The moment she’s in my arms, bundled up against me, I press my nose into her hair. I’m met with the faintest scent of pineapples, creamy coconut, and a dull shot of sugary vanilla the moment I inhale, her scent far fainter than it used to be, but no less familiar and addictive. I could breathe her in every hour of the day and never tire of it.
Sadly, it’s that moment that she seems to come to her senses, the once feisty girl I used to know scrambling out of my hold like she can’t get away from me fast enough. I can’t lie and say that doesn’t hurt, but I guess I can understand it. Years have passed since I saw her last, so it’s no wonder she’d be leery of getting close.
“Creek?” she croaks, her voice raspier than it used to be, but no less alluring. In fact, the smoky hue to her words almost has me stepping closer, despite her rigid stance and wary gaze. It’s a fucking miracle I manage to keep my feet planted where they are, my body actually aching to be near her now that she’s standing right there, only a foot of space separating us.
“Yeah, honey. It’s me,” I damn near whisper, my voice escaping me, leaving only the deepest instinct to draw her near, to wrap her in my arms, and never let her go again.
A plan that poofs to dust the moment Juniper wrenches her arms out of my hold, her leather-covered back colliding with the side of a truck that might have seen better days. Unblinking eyes peer up at me like a baby deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, and I watch with deep concern as her entire body starts trembling. I watch with pain as her head starts shaking in denial, like she doesn’t want to believe what she’s seeing. And I can do nothing but watch with heartache and a bone-deep desperation to reach out to her as she practically dives into the cabin of her truck, turns on the ignition, and floors it from me, taking my heart with her a second time .
Only this time, I’m not a helpless thirteen-year-old kid. And I’ll be fucking damned if I let that woman get away again.
Like a lit fire has appeared under my ass, I’m moving. All rational thought disappears as I literally dive into the car, thankful I just so happened to park directly next to her, and I’m shredding my tires to pull out and follow behind the truck with a few rust spots in the faded black paint.
It takes me a moment to find her through the morning traffic, but when I do, I blurt, “Fuck yes. Gotcha.”
For the next twenty or so minutes, I hang back as I follow Juniper weaving through traffic carefully, taking turns and bends with care. It’s when we’re only about five minutes away from North U that I almost lose her, a red light halting my progress. Thankfully, fate is on my side, and I catch up just in time to watch her park in the student lot for the university. Wait, the school? Does… Juno goes to North U?
Opting to remain in the car instead of vaulting over several that separates me from the only girl I’ve ever loved, I watch with a thundering heart as Juno tries to pull herself together. Her forehead rests on the steering wheel, head shaking side to side as she keeps a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel like it’s the only thing keeping her grounded. An irrational niggle of envy for the fucking thing worms under my skin. There was a time when she held me like that, my touch, my hold, grounding her.
I’m fisting my own steering wheel a moment later, the plastic groaning in strain. It’s the only thing keeping me in the car. That, and the shuddering breath I watch Juno take, right before a single tear drop scales her pale cheek before dropping out of sight. It makes my stomach turn, my chest aching something fierce, and that desperate need to scoop her up and cradle her in my arms comes back with a vengeance.
Watching he swipe her hands against the cheek roughly, I can’t tear my eyes away as Juno takes a steadying breath, mutters something to herself, and rolls her shoulders back. She’s climbing out of the truck a moment later, hauling out several bags filled to almost bursting, before she’s heading into the dorm building. Longing tugs at my chest, and I can’t seem to drive away, even when she’s long out of sight. It’s like I’m paralyzed in my spot, terrified that she’ll disappear overnight again if I so much as take my eyes off the building she vanished into.
It takes me a while to finally bring myself to head home, the drive taking less than ten minutes. But during that time, I make a mental plan that will have me seeing Juno again. And again. And again, until she realizes that running from me will only make me chase her that much fucking harder.
Parking my car in the drive, the drive that includes two other cars, a Wrangler, and a killer motorbike, I head into the house our parents bought for our stay at North U. It’s over the top, stupid fancy, and isn’t lacking in all of the lavish amenities one would find is a rich kid’s house. I tried to argue with each pack that makes up all of our parents, but it’s like talking to a brick wall when they have more than enough money to spend, and they get a weird thrill spending it on their kids. So, the five of us were gifted a fancy house to live in while we go through a fancy college to get fancy degrees and all that shit.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful. More than grateful. I know I’m privileged, in more ways than one, and the guys all know it, too. But it all seems hollow, has felt hollow for eight years, since Juno disappeared from our lives. It’s as though all the money and pretty things seem worthless without her .
I’m lost in my head as I move to the open plan kitchen, ditching my keys on the counter, then I sit at the marble island that separates the huge living room from the kitchen and dining room. My hands are in my hair and I’m staring down at the lines of the dark marble, trying to figure out how I can see Juno again without her bolting to her car and gunning away from me as fast as she can. I do my best to scrub the fear I saw in her eyes after the shock wavered enough, try to bite back the low growl bubbling in my chest at the thought of her running from me. From us. Again.
“You look like you’re trying to plot ways to make that counter pay for whatever wrongdoings it’s done to you,” Geo notes as he steps into the kitchen, drawing me out of my thoughts with a jolt of my body.
Snorting, I nod slowly, thoughts still firmly on Juniper fucking Henley.
“Alright. What gives?” he presses, nudging me with a cold bottle clasped in his hand.
My jaw clenches and I wonder how the hell I’m supposed to break the news that Juno, the girl we all thought would be ours before she vanished on the night of our picnic eight years ago, has just reappeared. Pretty sure there’s no easy way to do it so, like an idiot, I blurt, “I found her.”
Geo’s happy expression freezes, already knowing exactly who I’m talking about without me having to utter her name, and he shakes his head. “What—? I don’t— How?”
Ending my staring competition with the countertop, I look up at the muscular beta, lips flattening when I find the same stunned expression plastered over his face that I’m sure was on mine the moment I realized just who it was that collided with me in the parking lot.
“She was—” I start, only to be interrupted by several other voices, the twins and Evron entering the kitchen a second later.
“Oh, hey, man. Did you manage to get that projector?” Ev wonders, heading straight to the fridge, pulling out a tub of strawberries before he goes hunting for the ice cream in the freezer.
I don’t answer, taking a deep breath as I eye them all, and I find myself subconsciously rubbing at the ache still plaguing my chest.
It’s Lowie that breaks the silence that stretches between us, the question left unanswered. “What’s wrong?”
When I can’t get my voice box to work normally again, that suppressed growl finally breaking through to the surface, Geo is forced to clear his throat and rasp, “Creek found Juniper. ”
I feel their eyes fall on me the moment the words register, and I try to swallow the growl still rumbling in my chest, my alpha instincts riding my ass hard. I have to fight the urge to head straight back to the dorms, to scour each floor for the faint scent I’d recognize anywhere, looking for the room I’ll know is hers the moment I find it. But the battle rages on, the biggest war coming from the need to drag her away from the dorms and bring her here, with us, where she should have always fucking been from the start.
“Where is she?” Leylan wonders quietly, clasping the back of his brother's neck in an attempt to tamper the anger coiling through him. An anger I understand. An anger at everyone who failed Juno when she needed it, anger at the fucking pack that hurt her, and anger at Juno for just vanishing on us without so much as a heads up. Although, that anger might be a little misplaced, since the last we heard from her was through a phone call only twenty minutes after the twins’ dad dropped her off at that shit hole. A phone call where we heard her rasp Lowie’s name before wet coughs broke through the call and everything went quiet shortly after. That phone call has haunted me for the past eight fucking years.
Wiping my hands over my face, I hear Geo answer, “Dunno. I was about to find out before you guys came in.”
Then silence follows, and I know I have to tell them. So, dropping my hands to the counter, I look at each of my pack and tell them, “She’s here, at North Five. Followed her all the way from the city after she literally bumped into me in the parking lot of the mall. She’s staying at the dorms on campus.”
Evron blows out a shaky breath, shaking his head in disbelief. Geo reaches out for the counter, gripping it tight enough that I worry for its integrity, his head hanging while he tries to process my words. Leylan’s hand hides his mouth, shock plastered over his visible features, while his brother crosses his arms, his face turning blank and unreadable.
That is, before he nods once and walks away, heading for the front door. I watch as he picks his keys up, looks back to us all still congregated in the kitchen, and asks, “What the fuck are we waiting for, then? Let’s go get her.”
I sigh, some of the tension leaving my shoulders, and explain, “I don’t know what room is hers, no matter how desperately I want to go in there and bring her home. You didn’t see her, man. She recognized me and ran. She looked terrified, Low. Scared shitless. She didn’t stick around for a conversation or anything. All I got out of her was a horrified whisper of my name before she bolted.”
Lowie frowns, a deep pinch of his brows, and he snaps, “We wouldn’t fucking hurt her.”
“I don’t think that’s why she was scared,” Leylan softly confirms, echoing my thoughts. Because he’s right. Juno knows we would never hurt her, not in a million years. So, why did she skitter like a terrified kitten, running before I could utter a single word? Who the fuck is she running from? “We should call Dad. Hear what happened that night again. Get some insight or something.”
Slowly, Lowie returns to the kitchen, keys still clutched tightly in his hand, and he nods jerkily before fishing his cell out and dialing Kaleb and placing the call on speakerphone.
“Eey, there’s my boy. Or one of ‘em, at least. I was just talking to your mother about how we haven’t heard from you guys all week. How’re you doing, kiddo?” Kaleb greets, causing my lips to twitch as he bypasses any kind of hello.
And bypassing any kind of answer, Lowie jumps straight into the hard shit without hesitation. “Dad, what happened with Juno after she ended up in the hospital when we were kids?”
Silence answers, and I almost wonder if Kaleb will answer, until he sighs heavily from the other end. “That’s not the conversation I was expecting, kiddo.”
“We need to know,” Lowie responds, staring at the phone like it holds all of the answers to the questions surrounding us.
Blowing out another breath, I hear Kaleb grunt, likely taking a seat in his study before he says, “Alright. What do you want to know? ”
“Everything, Dad,” Leylan answers, stepping up beside his brother, drawing the cell toward him. “She called us, the line went dead, and then you disappeared. Only to come home with blood on you, tears in your eyes, and told us Juno was in the hospital. I know we were kids, and we didn’t push other than the occasional request to see Juniper, but you need to tell us what happened. We need to know.”
“Is there a reason why you’re bringing it up now?” Kaleb grunts, sounding bone tired and wary. “I’ll tell you everything, but there’s got to be a reason you’re only now wanting to know now.”
Clearing my throat, I explain, “I saw Juno today. She’s here, at North U.”
“She’s there?” Kaleb blurts suddenly, shock clear in his tone. Then his voice turns hoarse with emotion as he repeats, “You saw Juni-bear? How was she?”
“Terrified. Ran before I could even hug her properly,” I answer lowly, another growl forming in my chest.
“Fucking hell,” Kaleb groans. “Alright. I’ll tell you everything. Should have told you all long before now, I just never thought she’d… Anyway, the night after I left her and you got the phone call, I went straight back for her. I got to the park and there was loud music blasting from her trailer. I didn’t even hesitate to burst through the door. The pack was wasted, lounging around shooting it up or swigging beers without a care in the world. It was Hershal’s blood I had on my knuckles, because that fucker sneered and told me to get the fuck out. That I wasn’t welcome. He tried to stop me from going to Juno’s room, so I clocked him. Headed straight for Juno’s room as soon as he was out of it, the others shouting at me as I went. I found Juni-bear seconds later, phone in her little hand while she was sprawled unconscious on the floor. They beat her. They beat her so bad there was blood falling out of her fucking mouth.”
Kaleb stops, a sniffle and a choked sob slipping through the phone, and I have to work so fucking hard to unclench my jaw and hands, my heart physically aching for the girl we never got to see again.
Clearing his throat, Kaleb continues. “The rest of the blood I came home with was from her. Don’t know what the hell they used, but she was cut up real bad. I didn’t hesitate to pick her up and take her to the hospital. Told me there was internal bleeding, and that she was in critical condition. Me and the others spent the next two weeks visiting her, sitting with her, in rotation. She was never alone, always one of us with her.”
“That explains where my mom and dad kept disappearing to,” Evron murmurs quietly, running a hand through his slightly longer hair.
“Yeah, buddy. We didn’t want her to wake up in a strange, sterile place alone. So, we took turns looking after her, until one day they told us she’d been moved. It happened when Crane went to get something to drink, only to come back with one of those shitty hospital coffees and an empty room,” Kaleb continues, having heard the hushed words Evron uttered. “Wouldn’t tell us where she was, only that social services were finally involved and that she’d be taken care of. I started chasing social services up, offered to take her into our care, but they told us they were investigating and that they’d let us know where she’d be until she was fit to go into care. Last I heard, she was in the foster system, staying with a family three hours away. We haven’t seen her since, but I kept checking. Every fucking week, I was calling anyone and everyone, looking for her. Wanting to know how she was. That shit pack of hers were arrested, and the last update I had of them was from last year when William and Calvin died of an overdose, Terry and Shawn were in the wind, and Tori and Hershal were still in prison. That’s all I know, boys. I wish I had more to give you.”
“Shit,” Geo breathes, shaking his head as he turns away, rubbing his hands over his face. I’ll bet he’s crying and doesn’t want us to see, not that we’d mock him. Fuck, I’m pretty sure I’m on the brink of a goddamn breakdown. Juno was hurt, really fucking hurt, and we didn’t know. We just knew she was in the hospital. If I’d known she was close to death, I would have nagged to see her. I would have begged until I was breathless.
Kaleb sighs from the other end of the call, before he gently asks, “How was she? She look okay?”
The others look at me, and I shrug as I answer. “She looked good, man. Skinny, but good. Cut her hair, dyed it purple. She’s grown up, K.”
The twins’ dad is quiet for a long moment before he finally confesses, “I thought she was gone. That’s why I never elaborated on what happened that night. Thought that was why I was given the run around with everyone in the fucking social system. I thought she didn’t make it, but no one wanted to tell me. I’m sorry I never told you all. I couldn’t hurt you like that unless I knew for certain that she was gone. I just never knew.”
That’s like a punch to the gut, and I can’t find any anger towards Kaleb for keeping it to himself. I’m not sure how I would have reacted in his position, but knowing what kind of burden he’s been carrying around with him makes the anger dissipate like it was never there, leaving a hollow ache that lingers in my chest.
“She’s here now, though,” Evron blurts. “We can bring her home, make sure she never disappears again.”
Kaleb huffs a laugh before he groans and says, “You be careful with that girl. If she ran away scared, there’s a reason for it. We don’t know what she’s been through, what life has been like for her. I’d hoped that, if she survived, she’d be with a pack that would look after her like she was their own. Give her the life she always should have wanted. I’m not stupid enough to think hoping on shit would work, but if she’s scared and running, then ask yourselves why. Proceed with caution, boys. Don’t spook the girl.”
We all mutter agreements, my mind mulling over his words, and finding the depth of their truth. We don’t know what she’s been through. Only knew the bare minimum of what she was going through at home, by the looks of things. But there’s one thing I do know, and that is the simple fact that Juniper is here, and I won’t be letting her go again.
“I have to go let Mama Bear know what’s going on, but I’ll call you in a few days. Maybe we’ll come for a visit during your next break,” Kaleb says, and I realize then that he’s probably as desperate to see Juno as the rest of us. After all, each of our parents thought the world of Juniper, always bringing her into the fold. They cared for her. We weren’t the only ones to lose her when she was gone.
“Sounds good, Dad,” Leylan softly confirms.
“Alright. Talk to you kids soon. Love you,” comes from the phone a moment later, the rest of us muttering our goodbyes before the call ends, leaving a strained atmosphere that I daren’t break by even breathing. I feel like one hiccupped breath is all it would take to send us all into a fucking tailspin, and I can’t bring myself to risk it.
Evron has no such qualms, dropping his hands to the counter as he demands, “Alright. So, how are we getting our girl back, then? Anyone got a plan in mind?”
I can’t help but snort, shaking my head at him, but then my mind starts turning over ideas. Of plans that don’t involve kidnapping and locking her away in a nest, safe and protected. Though, that’s not a bad idea. We have a nest here, after all. One that I think we all subconsciously made with our girl in mind.
It’s that thought that has me standing, rapping my knuckles against the marble, drawing everyone’s attention as I finally tell them, “I’ve got a plan.”