“What are you doing? I need to see that we’re not crashing.” I scrambled to move his hand, but he blocked me, all his heat and scent tumbling over me as he crowded into my space.
His free hand scooped up mine, and I had another weird internal hiccup.
“Commercial flights never crash, during takeoff—or anytime,” he said softly.
The man was like a damn hypnotist. Eight simple words and my heart rate slowed, breathing settling despite the butterflies in my stomach as we spiraled higher into the air.
I didn’t answer him. All I could manage was holding his hand like a lifeline. Whatever he was doing, it worked.
The pilot was mumbling something about avoiding a winter storm and turbulence as Rhett murmured, “How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That I’m a wolf.”
A shiver ran down my spine. Holy shit, he could actually turn into a wolf. Did I just make a dumb mistake? Was I going to get eaten when we landed?
Those bright eyes flared, studying me with wild intensity. They should look out of place on a man’s face, but somehow, they suited him. Added to his features and made him sharper, more breathtaking.
I shrugged. “Wolf shifters are the only shifters I ever hear about. I figured you were the most common.”
“We’re just the most willing to integrate into human society.”
Human society? It hadn’t even occurred to me that they had their own society, away from ours.
“Is your mom a wolf too? Does she live in the woods? Why am I picturing her like some Red Riding Hood villain waiting for me in her nightgown?”
“Do you always ask so many questions?”
His tone was serious, eyes flinty as they returned to their regular brown color.
A cold feeling wrapped around my throat, trickling down into my chest and numbing me. I shuttered my expression, freeing my hand from his to rifle through my purse. The chewable motion sickness tablets smelled like cheap orange candy as I popped them into my mouth.
“You don’t have to worry about me and my yapping,babe. I’ll be out like a baby in ten minutes, and you can enjoy your silent flight.”
It wasn’t really fair to take that out on him, but I didn’t care. For a minute there, I actually felt like things were going to be okay.
But they weren’t because I was the problem, and this trip wasn’t going to fix me.
I twisted in my seat, resting my head against the closed window and tucking my legs into my lap. I was cold, inside and out, as I squeezed my eyes shut and willed the Dramamine drowsiness to take me away.
Chapter 2
Rhett
Theroaroftheplane was uncomfortable to my sensitive hearing, but it was nothing compared to the roar of my pulse as I stared at the woman curled against me. Her head was on my shoulder, her arm stretching to rest in my lap.
The muscles in my legs twitched. I wanted to lift her until she was tucked against me. I wanted to hold my breath, so I didn’t risk waking her and ending this moment.
In my pack, the elders constantly reminded young shifters of one painful truth: fated mates were becoming rare. So rare that some packs had gone an entire generation without seeing a fated mate pairing.
And mine walked right up to me at the airport and announced herself.
I lifted my free hand to rub my jaw, making sure it was still on my face and not left on the floor at the airport.
Usually, my wolf was quiet during air travel. He hated small spaces, and he hated the stink of fragrance that permeated every human space. Today, I could hardly keep him under my skin.Suddenly I needed Angie seated beside me to keep me from shifting and racing half-mad up and down the aisle of the plane.
I upset her when we boarded. Her displeasure was obvious. But it took every ounce of my willpower to act natural, to make the words coming out of my mouth sound coherent instead of drooling all over her like a lovesick puppy.
