Page 14

Chapter 14

Airplane

VANESSA

“P retzels, please,” I say, reaching for the snack.

“And for Mr. Wolven-North?”

I glance at Keenan. “He’ll have the cookies.”

The attendant hands me a package of cookies and moves away.

I munch on my snack, my worried gaze on Keenan. “Why don’t you come out from under there and have a cookie?” A feeling like I’m talking to a toddler hits me and I have to swallow my giggle.

“I can hear your thoughts,” he reminds me in a mumble from under the jacket he’s wearing on his head.

“It’s a little funny,” I say. “In the time we’ve spent together, you haven’t shown a single second of fear.”

“I’m not afraid,” he protests. “This is madness. Mortals are insane to think they should be shooting themselves through the sky at breakneck speed in a metal tube with nothing but air between them and the ground. I have always believed humans have a death wish, but this confirms it.”

It had actually been Keenan’s idea to fly to Wolf-Haven, the King having recently installed an airport outside the city. Keenan told me his preferred method of travel is via a portal created by his powerful witch sister-in-law, but apparently, she’s spending time with her mentor in a place called the Shadow Realm. I can’t wait to meet her. A person who can portal themselves anywhere in the world, any time they want, has to be a blast to hang out with. Bali for New Year’s? Yes, please!

Keenan’s second idea was for us to run to Wolf-Haven. Of course, I balked. First, I don’t run. Second, if I were to run, not saying it’ll ever happen, but if it were, it would either be for a million-dollar role or a Bloomingdale’s Black Friday sale. And third, Wesselman could call me back to set any day. We don’t have time to run to Wolf-Haven and back.

“First,” Keenan says from under his protective jacket. “You wouldn’t have done any running. I would be carrying you on my back. Second, I’m faster than you think. We would’ve been there in no time and we wouldn’t have to deal with this flying bullshit.” He growls toward the wing of the plane.

“Unless you can run as fast as this plane, it would’ve taken too much time.” Though I’m intrigued by the idea of riding on his back.

For my part, I’m very much enjoying the flight. I’ve flown plenty in my life, usually to wherever my mom was planning her next heist. But we always flew budget economy, which is a far cry from King Lock’s private jet with its cream leather seats, attentive staff and impressive entertainment center.

“What are you so afraid of?” I ask, trying once more to coax him out. “If the plane goes down, at least we’ll die together, right?”

I can feel his frown through the jacket. “That’s stupid.” He moves it aside, but still looks green as he glances at the window, then jams his eyes shut and shudders.

The flight attendant smiles kindly as she approaches with a can of Gingerale. “Your brother and sister-in-law had some issues on their first few flights too. King Lock paced up and down the plane while Queen Sarina shifted into her wolf and howled at the engines.” She hands him the drink. “This might help.”

“Thanks,” I say, hoping she’s right. “What’s your name?”

“Olivia Timberwolf,” she replies.

“Are you part wolf, too?” Realizing my curiosity might come across as rude, I add, “You don’t have to say if you don’t want to.”

She smiles at me. “I am indeed a wolf shifter. I was already employed as a flight attendant with a human airline when the new king took over. I jumped at the chance to fly on the very first dedicated shifter plane.”

Keenan looks at her. “You smell human. I didn’t peg you for a shifter.” His gaze seeks mine. “Like Rachel.”

She nods. “A lot of us who live and work among humans choose to mask our scent so we can minimize the possibility of exposure.”

Frowning, I ask, “Did you run into shifter prejudice?”

She shrugs. “Sure, sometimes. Same as you’ll get in Wolf-Haven among some of the human hating shifters. Speciesism is everywhere, right? Anyway, I should get back to work, we’ll be landing soon.”

“Thank you for chatting with us,” I say. “Come find me in Wolf-Haven and we’ll have coffee. I’d love to hear more about your life among humans.”

“It’s a date.” She winks, then adds. “I’ll look you up at the castle.”

After she leaves, Keenan growls, sinking lower into his chair with his Gingerale, “You’re not dating anyone but me.”

I look out the window with anticipation, hoping for my first glimpse of Wolf-Haven as the plane descends through the clouds. “It’s an expression, Keenan. She doesn’t want to date me, she wants to be friends.”

“No, you want to be friends, she wants a fuck.”

I turn my frown on him. “You be nice to my new friend, grumpy wolf.” Glancing back out the window, I point at the city as we fly closer. “Look, you can see the castle from here!”

Keenan leans over to look, groans and collapses back in his chair, screwing his eyes shut. “We’re not going to survive this.”

“The city is so big! I had no idea. It looks a bit like L.A. but…” I drift off.

Keenan finishes the thought for me. “But more like if L.A. existed in the dark ages.”

I note the cobblestone roads and brick buildings as the plane flies lower. There’s construction everywhere. Entire blocks are covered in scaffolding while tractors and cranes dot work sites.

“We’ve been working on bringing Wolf-Haven into the 21 st century. It’s slow going, but we’re making progress.”

“You’re involved too?” I’d asked him once what he did for work and he’d given me a vague answer about helping the shifters of Wolf-Haven and beyond, but now that I’m seeing it with my own eyes, I can see there’s a whole lot more to what he does than simply making sure people get fed.

“Food is the most important thing,” he mutters, leaning over, taking his head in his hands. “But yes, there’s a lot to being an advisor to Wolf-Haven.”

I rub his back, attempting to soothe him as the plane continues descending. “How on earth did you find the time to come see me with everything going on here?” I realize my presence in his life has torn him away from a very important job. Then another thought strikes me and my anxiety rises. “It’s too important to be left for long. You’ll have to go back eventually.” Which means he can’t stay with me forever.

Despite his illness, Keenan turns to me, gripping my hands. “If you want forever, I will happily give you forever. Just say the word.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to beg him to stay with me, but another glance out the window shows a city under construction. A duty my shifter can’t simply abandon. Not for me.

“Vanessa,” he growls, cupping my cheeks and forcing me to look at him. “Wolf-Haven is not your concern. You will focus on us alone, not a vague worry over the future.”

I nod my agreement and do my best to shield my thoughts from him. He’s been teaching me how. I’m bad at it, but I can muddy them enough that he can’t grasp onto anything concrete to argue with. Wolf-Haven is a daunting enough prospect when visiting as a rather soft human but add in that my boyfriend is a wolf prince with duties to the kingdom and it’s hard to imagine a way for us to be together long term.

“We’ll be landing in a few minutes,” Olivia tells us as she sits in the seat across from ours and buckles her seatbelt.

Keenan hides under the jacket while I watch from the window as we land.

“Look, Keenan!” I say, squirming in my seat. “I think your brothers are here to meet the plane. There’s a woman next to them with the most beautiful hair I’ve ever seen. It’s white with a black streak!”

“Sarina,” he grumbles. “Watch out for her. She bites.” Moving the jacket aside, he unbuckles his seatbelt and glances out the window. “Rush is here too. They’re probably curious about you.”

“Me?” Flattered his family would show up just to meet me, I fling my seatbelt off and rush to the washroom to fluff my hair and check my makeup.

Keenan walks in behind me and I take in his pale features and messy hair. I turn and wrap my arms around him, pressing my head to his chest. “You’ll be okay once we get some food in you.”

“I never want to fly again.”

“Except for the flight home?”

A rumbling growl starts in his chest and I giggle, pushing away from him. “Let’s go meet the fam.” Taking his hand, I pull him from the washroom.

The flight attendant is opening the door and soon we’re descending to the tarmac.

One of the brothers grabs Keenan by the shoulders and pulls him in for a bear hug. “It’s good to see you again, brother.”

“Go easy, Lock,” Keenan replies, his face drawn. “Flying doesn’t agree with me.”

Sarina makes a clucking sound. “Lock insists on using this contraption when he leaves. I prefer to stay on the ground with our children.”

“You won’t catch me in one,” says the other brother, his gaze sizing up the plane as though he wants to attack it.

Keenan places his hand at my back, urging me forward. “I would like you to meet Vanessa.” He turns to me. “Vanessa, this is Lock, the King.”

I smile shyly, extremely conscious that I’m surrounded by four shifters, three off them well over six feet in height. Sarina stares hard at me, then steps toward me, too close for comfort. Gripping my shoulders, she leans into my neck and inhales deeply.

I try to bend away from her without appearing rude, my gaze seeking Keenan who looks amused. He told me she bites, but he doesn’t look overly concerned for my safety.

The beautiful white-haired woman holds me at arm’s length, glaring at me. She swivels her head toward Keenan. “You haven’t mated her yet. Why not?”