Icescrape

***Standalone Romance***

Bookish librarians are totally capable of finding missing people in the Alaskan wilderness. Said no one. Ever. So why is Grace Tumbler jetting off to do just that? She doesn’t know. All she has are books and a somewhat positive attitude that she can survive her first-ever trip away from home. That is, until her plane crashes…

Sawyer Agnor, snow fox alpha shifter and mayor of Winterland, has one wish. Meet his mate. He knows she will be just as adventurous as him. Together, they’ll hike active volcanoes and make love in the rainforest. At least, that’s what he thought until Grace literally fell out of the sky. Fate sent him the wrong mate at exactly the wrong time.

With Winterland in danger, Grace will have to decide if she’ll spend the rest of her life living through her books or if she’ll join in the fight. Sawyer soon realizes that having a bookish mate might have been a hell of a lot better for his sanity. Because of Grace’s new and sudden adventurous streak? He hates it as much as he loves it. These fated mates are in for a bumpy ride on their way to each other.

Chapter 1

Grace

This is fine.

No, really.

This is absolutely fucking fantastic. It is totally okay.

Grace repeated the words over and over. Maybe if she kept saying them, they would magically become true. Because in reality, nothing would ever be right again. 

All because her best friend, Park Ranger Piper Flammia, had gone missing. They hadn’t added presumed dead, but they might as well have. The Rangers couldn't find her. She had completely vanished. Poof. And there was very little chance she would be found alive. 

As soon as Grace had heard the news, she knew something was wrong. There was no way on God’s green earth that Piper could get lost. There was no one more competent and badass out in nature in the whole damn world. 

Grace had to prove them wrong. She didn’t know how she would do it yet, but she had loads of research and books on her side. She would figure it out, or she would dip even farther into her funds and hire a guide and search the whole freaking frozen wilderness. Or something.

She kicked her suitcase, mumbling to herself. She didn’t even feel the impact of it through her thick winter boots. Boots she had paid a mint for in her panicked tear to leave New York. Her bank account would be mad at her for decades after this. It had seriously taken a shit-kicking. It would mean buying fewer books.

Obviously, it was worth it, but focusing on her budget was a lot easier than acknowledging where she was and why she was there. 

Anchorage, Alaska.

The Anchorage airport wasn’t very big, and the hangar she stood in wasn’t confidence-inspiring. The cold Alaskan wind blew against the thin tin walls, shaking as it went. She was already freezing, despite her layers of clothing. She had barely spent any time outside, but she was certain she would never be warm again, especially with Piper gone from her life.

She spent most of her life listening to Piper’s adventures. While Piper went camping with her parents, Grace and her parents went to a museum or did a read-a-thon. When Piper learned how to make fires and gut a fish, Grace learned how to use the Dewey Decimal System. Piper could survive in the woods; Grace could speak three languages. They each had their own set of interests and strengths, but they were so different, everyone marveled that they had stayed best friends their whole lives.

For Grace, it wasn’t a mystery.

She lived vicariously through Piper. Grace did that with books, too, but when Piper talked about her adventures, it was different. It made Grace feel like she was part of it. She was one degree away from being a fun adventurer. Just that much closer to experiencing life instead of merely reading about it.

When Piper had decided to move to Alaska, Grace was crushed. She never told anyone, but she had looked into job openings at the Anchorage Library to be close to Piper. 

Grace would've never gone through with it.

She never thought she would leave Hawkins. She couldn’t even imagine living away from her hometown. The very fact that she had left to find Piper was… Well, Grace didn’t know what it meant yet. Her parents had tried to caution her away from her quest, but in the end, Grace had to go to Point Hope to search for her best friend.

“I could die, though,” she said to her suitcase. “I might actually die because of this. Why didn’t you just stay at home where it’s warm and safe? Nooo! You just had to get on a fucking plane. On a series of planes. Now, this is how you will die, and you’ve got only yourself to blame.”

If this were one of her books, she’d rage at the heroine for getting on that first plane. Why would you leave the comfort of your house, where there is an endless supply of tea? Where it is warm, and the air doesn’t attack your face with frozen licks. Where the only danger is a papercut from turning a page too fast. 

No.

Stop.

Deep breath.

What would Piper do?

“She’d stop complaining and get shit done,” she spoke to her suitcase again.

The ancient-looking pilot, a crotchety old man who didn’t like Grace one bit, stared at her as she kicked her luggage, speaking to it like it could respond. His beady eyes were judging her. She could feel it. Silently, he was asking her who she thought she was.

And he was right to ask.

This was entirely out of the norm for her. 

Grace Tumbler didn’t do adventures. She didn’t take risks. Gallivanting through the country’s airports to get to Alaska as quickly as possible? Way out of character.

Before her little trip across the United States, Grace had never ridden on a plane. Now, she had been on four, and the fifth one, the bush plane made of paper, would be her coffin. Grace had read one too many books about tragic plane crashes to think it would be safe. 

With her legs trembling and her heart beating in the back of her throat, Grace nodded at Burl.

“This is really our plane?”

He grunted his response.

“And it can make it to Point Hope?”

He nodded. “Come on, girly. There’s a storm rolling in. We gotta beat it.”

“Umm, excuse me, but shouldn’t we wait then? Let the storm pass?”

“No. I gotta be in Point Hope on business. If you don’t come with me now, I don’t know when I’ll be back. You either get on, or you can forget Point Hope.”

Grace took a slow breath and closed her eyes. 

For Piper. Because she is in trouble and obviously has been kidnapped and brainwashed by some kind of Alaskan cult. Bookish librarians are totally capable of finding missing people in the Alaskan wilderness. Said no one. Ever.

If this were a story, Grace would have a badass mother or sister to emulate. If she was going to be inspired by anyone, it would have to be Piper. And maybe a few book heroines that would totally march up to a bush plane and head off into the frozen and wintery Alaska to look for a missing friend.

Her mind flipped through all of her extensive knowledge, and she nodded. “Right.” She would be like Piper and Jacinda St. James-Winter. The heroine of her favorite series was a scientist who had discovered an ancient civilization of people living in the ocean, only to fall in love with their prince. Jacinda and Piper would get on the plane in a heartbeat. No problem.

Hell, Jacinda’s name ended with Winter, which was basically synonymous with Alaska.

That had to be fate or destiny or some other thing like that.

Right?

Grace followed Burl into the plane and took her seat, tucking her suitcase at her feet. While Burl prepared to take off, she squeezed her eyes shut. She kept them tightly closed when they took to the air.

There was so much turbulence. Grace didn’t know if it was normal. The other planes had been bigger. This one could fit in the library back home. There was something really wrong about a plane that could fit in a tiny library. 

Surely, a strong wind would make it weave through the air in a terrifying fashion. She wanted to ask Burl, but she was too scared she would puke on him. If she did that, she was pretty sure the grumpy pilot would push her off his aircraft.

This is really okay. Totally normal.

Bumps and lurches continued to make the plane — and her stomach — shake violently. When she found Piper, she was going to strangle her for getting herself lost. If it wasn’t for that, Grace would be sipping tea with Agnes while discussing the latest Jacinda St. James-Winter book.

“We’re going down,” Burl said, calm as could be while the controls of his shitty plane screeched through the windy sky.

“What?” Grace squeaked. “We are there already?” 

“No. We’re going to crash.”