34. Juliette
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
juliette
I’m tired and pleasantly sore—the reminder of last night alive in every twinge of my muscles. The guys kept me up until we couldn’t keep our eyes open any longer, then we crashed together in my nest.
Gah! I have a nest!
I’m still a little in awe, to be honest. I’ve been throwing things on my Pinterest board all morning while the guys watched with amusement. I can’t wait to get started.
The fact that they took the time to do something so special for me reinforces this feeling of rightness that’s been burning in my blood.
It’s one thing for your instincts to try to push you in one direction, but when your heart is along for the ride as well?
Damn, does it feel incredible. It makes me excited for my own surprise.
The guys don’t know it yet, but with some help from Mama and Gran, I’ve already taken our ideas for the primary bedroom and gotten some plans in place to make it happen. Let’s just hope Gran and Ollie can keep the Amazon purchases under wraps for a couple weeks.
Beck and Wyatt walk into the kitchen, and the Beta takes one look at me and whistles.
I grin. I’m in a pair of simple black leggings and a red tank top, but I decided on my boots instead of a pair of sneakers. My hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and I skipped makeup, leaving my freckles on full display. He thinks I haven’t noticed he’s got a thing for them.
“You can take the girl outta the country, but not the country outta the girl.” He looks me up and down, biting his bottom lip. “This the comfy travelwear you mentioned? Cuz I’ll be damned if you don’t look sexy as fuck like this. It says country soccer mama, and I’m livin’ for it.”
Beck crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t even think about trying to sneak off and fuck her right now.
You need to drive Jules over to the Callahans’ to get her truck and pick up Charlotte.
I’ve got a shift at the station, and Kash is meeting with Mason and Hudson to go over some plans for the updates. ”
Wyatt’s sigh is loud.
The Alpha chuckles. “Called it, didn’t I?”
“Smug son of a bitch! You had her in the shower this morning. Don’t even try to lie.”
“Conserved water. That’s all.”
Wyatt punches him in the shoulder, and I can’t help but laugh.
“You’re just lucky I love you and don’t mind giving you some extra time with her because of how fucking miserable you were for all those years.”
Beck rolls his eyes. “Why thank you, dearest brother.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”
Kash walks in, takes one look at me, and stops in his tracks.
“You don’t get to fuck her either,” Wyatt mutters, earning himself a withering glare from his packmate.
“I wasn’t planning on it, but now that you mention it…”
“Horny fuckers,” Beck mutters.
Kash just grins before his face takes on a serious expression that has us all on edge.
“Just got off the phone with Jack’s assistant.
She confirmed that Jack purchased a plane ticket five days ago, from Phoenix to Houston.
She hasn’t seen him in Austin yet, but thinks he may have swung by their other office to handle some business there. ”
It’s the first good news we’ve had all week, especially since I’m set to drive down to the Valley for my girl’s weekend with Elliott today.
“So that means we’re in the clear, right? I’m okay to leave?” I ask, unable to keep the hopeful tone out of my voice.
Wyatt gives me his biggest puppy dog eyes. “You sure you don’t want to cancel your trip and spend the entire weekend here with us? Think of all the surfaces we’ve yet to christen…”
“I second that option,” Kash quips.
Planting my hands on my hips, I give each of them a stern look. “Nice try. We’ve got our whole lives to fuck in every room of this house. One teensy little girls’ weekend isn’t going to kill any of you.”
“Speak for yourself,” the Alpha mutters.
I roll my eyes. “I can, actually. I spent four years dryer than laundry hangin’ on the line. Can you say the same?”
“Do not answer that,” Beck says with a smile, grabbing me and tugging me into his chest. “No fighting before our girl gets in a car and drives a couple hundred miles away from us.”
He nuzzles my jaw, marking me with his scent, then tips my chin back and kisses me nice and slow like.
“Need you to be careful, you hear me?” he breathes against my lips. “No stops. Call the second you get there.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve shared my location with all of you, and Elliott too. You can follow my progress, though I’ll warn you, there are a couple of spots through the mountains where service gets a little spotty and the connection can lag.”
Kash closes the distance between us, stepping up to my back. “Stay off your phone, pay attention to the road, and just make sure you get back to us safely, okay, June Bug?”
“Trust me, knowing I have the three of you and Charlotte to come home to is the world’s biggest incentive to be extra cautious.” Going up on my tiptoes to softly kiss Beck, I then tilt my chin over my shoulder and meet Kash’s waiting mouth.
When the Alphas have taken their fill, my eyes meet Wyatt’s. He answers my unspoken command and steps into me. “Be good without me.”
His hand slides along my jaw, cupping the back of my neck. His kiss is slow and sweet, saying everything I know he’s feeling right now.
“Let’s go before I change my mind and decide to keep you here.” He pulls back, pressing one last kiss on my forehead. “We have a fun-filled weekend planned, so you don’t worry about a thing. Just try to enjoy yourself.”
He leads me out of the room, and out of the corner of my eye, I notice Beck and Kash sharing worried looks that make my belly flip.
Maybe it’s selfish of me to want this weekend with my friend, but after everything that’s happened over the last few weeks, I just need a little bit of time to get my head back on straight.
I’ve waited what feels like a lifetime for them, and a few more days isn’t going to change that. They’re mine. Period.
We make the short drive over to Gran’s, Wyatt’s energy palpable from the seat beside me.
“You know…” he begins, eyes darting sideways. “We could always hop in the backseat for a quickie before you leave me for three days.”
His pout is legendary, and I’m half tempted to give in, but when we pull up, Charlotte is already waiting on the front porch with her overnight bag and a huge smile on her face when she sees Wyatt.
I chuckle. “Better luck next time, pretty boy.”
He huffs, but he’s all smiles as we get out of the car.
“Daddio!” she shouts, waving her finger guns wildly. “We’re gonna have so much fun this weekend. I’ve got nail polish and face masks too.”
He lifts her into his arms, blowing raspberries on her neck. Her giggle is one of my favorite sounds.
“I can’t wait! Why don’t you tell Mama goodbye, then we’ll head over and get the party started.”
He sets her down, and she runs over to me. Lifting her up, I give her a loud smacking kiss.
“I’ll miss you, sweet pea. Be good for your daddies, okay?”
“Yes, Mama. Tell Auntie Elle I said hello.”
“I will.”
Wyatt takes her, giving me one last warning to be good and a kiss on the cheek before he loads her into the backseat.
Waving as he pulls down the drive, I take a deep breath and exhale.
Excited energy is pooling in my belly. It’s been ages since I was able to leave home and do something as simple as stay at my friend’s house, drink more sangria than is healthy, and eat a ton of food that will leave me as full as a tick.
My duffle is over by the truck, and I grab it and throw it over my shoulder.
Pulling my keys out of the pocket, I open my truck door, toss the bag onto the passenger seat, and head around the front to the driver’s side, but something catches my eye.
My front driver’s tire is damned near flat, and a spare isn’t going to cut it all the way down the mountain to the Valley.
Am I really gonna let a flat tire ruin all of my carefully laid plans?
“Never catch me saying can’t, because can’t never could.”
Stalking back up the porch, I walk through the door and find Gran in the kitchen with Hudson. “Gran, my truck has a flat tire. Is there any way I could borrow your car for the weekend?”
“Of course. We don’t have any plans, and your mama and daddy are staying through Tuesday before they jet off to Lord knows where next. Plenty of people to give me a ride if I need one.”
She grabs her purse from the counter, digs out her keys, and hands them to me. Leaning in, I place a smacking kiss on her cheek.
“Love you guys! See you on Sunday.”
“Love you too, dear. Have fun and tell Elliott we say hello.”
“Will do!” I call out, already walking through the front door and toward the drive where Gran’s car is parked.
It’s newer than my truck, with a ton of bells and whistles that I can’t even begin to understand how to use, but it rides like a dream.
Excited for a whole new reason, I grab my bag from the truck and toss it onto the passenger seat of Gran’s car as I climb in.
I shoot a text off to Elliott, letting her know I’m on my way, connect my bluetooth and travel playlist, then I’m pulling out and hitting the road that will lead me through Darling and onto the main interstate.
Upbeat girl-power anthems play, one after another, until “Miles On It” by Kane Brown begins.
I sing my heart out as the mile markers fly by.
The beat shifts, a Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood song starting to blare through the speakers.
The first bars of “Somethin’ Bad” sing through the interior, and I start to question my choice of tunes for a road trip.
I’m probably only about thirty-five minutes outside of town, along a stretch of the interstate that starts to wind through mountains, when I catch sight of a vehicle behind me.
There’s something that just sits wrong in my gut, so I start doing what Kash asked of me. I start to pay closer attention.
“Probably nothin’, Jules,” I say to myself, eyes darting up the rearview. “Guys just made you paranoid, is all.”
We drive for another five minutes, and the car stays right behind me, even when I slow down. Deciding to test my theory, I change lanes, passing a car in front of me, then return to the right lane. The black sedan behind me does the same maneuver.
“Coincidence,” I whisper, my eyes cutting back and forth from the road to the rearview.
The car we just passed exits at the next off ramp, leaving only the two of us on the portion of road that cuts between two large mountain cliffs, sheer walls of rock looming tall on both sides of the highway.
Glancing at my phone, I consider giving the guys a call, just in case, but I notice I’m in SOS mode with service temporarily hindered by the mountain.
“Fuck my life.” My fingers tighten on the wheel, but I do my best to stay calm. “It’s nothing. It’s nothing .”
Just as I finish that last word, the car rapidly approaches from behind at a break-neck speed.
“Oh my god, it’s not nothing.”
He’s almost on me when the thought that he’s not going to stop rushes through my head.
His car hits my bumper, but I somehow manage to correct the wheel just in time.
The mountain gives way to stretches of forested land, with a rugged decline that leads into the dense trees.
Thankfully, the steep drop-offs won’t appear for another few miles down the road.
“What the fuck, dude?” I growl, seeing him already recovering and speeding back up.
Checking my screen, I still don’t have any signal. It’s probably at least another mile before it starts to come back online.
He rams me again, this time a little harder, and the car swerves before I get it back between the lines.
My heart is racing because I have no idea what to do to get this man off my ass.
There’s still no one else in sight, no one to flag down to help me.
Finally, I catch sight of the little bars in the corner of my phone screen, but I don’t have time to grab it.
In the rearview, I already see him barreling back toward me, so I do the only thing I can.
Brace myself . I hear the loud rev of his engine, see his lights getting closer, and scream as he cuts to the side, hitting the back corner of Gran’s car.
The impact is so hard, my face careens into the steering wheel, my vision going black for a split-second before I blink out of it.
The car is in a full-on spin like every pit maneuver I’ve ever seen cops execute on television.
It careens off the roadway and down the rocky embankment, narrowly missing hitting trees along the way.
A large boulder finally stops its momentum, jerking me against the seatbelt and sending my face crashing into the deployed airbag.
For a second, I can’t breathe. My head is pounding, and I’m seeing double.
I’m not sure how long I sit there, dazed and trying to drag air into my lungs, but it’s enough time for the airbags to deflate.
I know I need to get out of this car and get help, even if it’s the last thing my body wants to do.
I try to unlatch my belt, but it won’t budge.
Then I look for my phone but can’t find it.
I’m not sure where the other driver is. He could still be coming after me, for all I know.
Trying the seatbelt again, I finally manage to yank it free, the metal buckle tinking against the driver window.
With a tug on the handle, the door opens, thank God, so I get out, only to have the world spin around me.
I can already feel myself losing my grip on consciousness, but I know I need to make it back to the road.
There were no other cars visible, which means no one saw the accident. I need to get help.
Stumbling a few feet in the direction I think the road is in, I trip over a large piece of wood and crash to my knees. My palms break my fall, rocks and twigs cutting against my skin.
“Juliette, get your ass up and get the hell out of here,” I mutter, attempting to get myself back on my feet, but it’s no use.
I barely make it to my knees before my vision starts to tunnel, my entire world going dark before I fall face first onto the rocky ground.