Page 181 of Unravel Me

But after he got out, he changed his life.

He left Florida and headed in the opposite direction, toward a completely different climate, all the way up to Alaska, near the Arctic Circle.

Now, he owns a small transportation company there, has snow-removal equipment and rents out snowmobiles. He lives in a small town of a few thousand people called Kotzebue, just a few degrees from the Arctic Circle.

It’s interesting that he ran away from his old ways, his friends, cut himself off from everything, and left his dark life behind… It gives me hope. It makes a tentative belief flicker inside me that he and I… might have a chance.

Soon, I’m in for a brutal shock.

The rickety little plane shudders, landing so roughly that I wonder how the wind doesn’t simply tip the tiny thing over. Everything inside it rattles and creaks.

When I step out of the plane onto the cold tarmac of the small airport, the icy wind hits me like shards of glass.

It’s December. I’ve gone from Florida’s climate to 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit, and even the short walk from the plane to the airport building is enough to freeze me to the bone.

The thick jacket that was almost too much in Florida is practically transparent here.

Chattering my teeth, I make my way toward the entrance to the airport terminal, following a small group of people dressed appropriately for the occasion. They must surely be looking at me with pity as I tremble like a loose rope whipping in the wind.

The tiny information booth that I find inside is plastered with postcards and flyers advertising a geothermal pool, snowmobile excursions, wildlife-viewing tours, and a beach where visitors can photograph seals.

The employee watches me with mild amusement as I struggle to keep my shivering under control, then I give him the name of Donatelli’s company. Well, I guess everyone knows everyone around here, because the man nods and politely suggests that a taxi can take me there. It’s only one mile away.

With sympathy in his eyes, he calls a taxi for me himself and kindly points me toward where I can catch it.

Soon I am on my way, thankfully riding inside the heated cabin of a taxi van, and I arrive very quickly.

The driver, a friendly beta of Inupiaq descent, drops me off at the steps leading to a building beside a sizable hangar, with a row of snowmobiles parked in front of it.

There must be rental equipment inside, along with snowplows and other snow-removal machinery.

But of course, as soon as I get out of the taxi, the shivering comes back, with the wind showing no mercy, as I walk up to the door, above which hangs a small hand-painted sign: Donatelli Snow Rentals & Services.

There is a strip of glass set into the door, and a pale yellow beam of light falls through it, coloring the snow on the steps.

Feeling hesitant, I stop and tentatively peek inside. I can see a small office, a single desk, a couple of armchairs, a little table with an electric kettle, and three people sitting in the chairs, talking.

I stare at them.

One of them immediately catches my attention because he is… a freak, a mutant? The alpha’s skin is pale blue, and he looks massive. The second is a beta, around forty, with Inupiaq heritage, who is explaining something while pointing at a paper map. The third one is…

I swallow because I already know.

So this is him.

Roberto.

My True Mate.

The only man who can save me.

According to what Mauro told me, Roberto is thirty-three, so officially two years older than me, although that is relative, considering I have only existed for three months.

He has short, black hair, and his face… wow.

I freeze. There is a scar on his cheek, in exactly the same place where my ‘evil’ version has his.

Wow, speaking of Fate’s choice…