by Lori Drake
“Yeah. The surviving spouse doesn’t usually make it long.” Joey’s head throbbed harder, and she rubbed it again. Losing her father wasn’t something she wanted to contemplate. “Maybe he’ll beat the odds.”
“Maybe.”
Joey sensed him studying her and let her hand drop into her lap again.
“What about you?” Ben asked. “How are you doing?”
“Peachy.” Joey blew out a breath and chewed the inside of her lip. “I’m not ready for this.”
“None of us are, girl. But we’ll figure it out.” He turned his hand over and laced his fingers with hers. “Why’s Chris on the other side of the plane? Figured you two would be inseparable right about now.”
Joey’s fingers twitched, itching to rub her head again, but she kept them lowered and leaned forward slightly, glancing across the aisle. Chris sat there with headphones on and eyes closed. She doubted he was sleeping. When he’d come back from the desert with Dean and Roger’s can, he hadn’t had much to say beyond assurances that the Eric situation was handled.
“I’m not sure,” Joey said. “I think he just needs some space. He’s been through a lot, and we’ve got a lot to deal with when we get home.”
Ben studied her, a shrewdness in his eyes that made her shift uncomfortably in her seat. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.
Sighing, Joey let her head drop back against the plush chair’s pillowy headrest. “Quit looking at me like I’m supposed to have all the answers. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to help him. Hell, right now, I don’t know how to help myself. All I see ahead of me is an ocean of unknown, and if I stop swimming, I’ll die.”
“Now who’s being dramatic?” Ben murmured, but he squeezed her hand. “Just keep kicking, little sister. That’s all any of us can do.”
Chris was drifting on the edge of sleep when the music stopped flowing into his headphones. He opened his eyes and found Jessica sitting across from him. She twirled the plug at the other end of his headphones and eyed him. The image of her wolf ripping Rob’s throat out was burned into his brain. Then again, so was the image of Rob setting Colt—among other things—on fire. He’d seen a lot of things that night that’d haunt him.
Chris pushed himself a little more upright. “What’s up?”
“You owe me an apology.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. She was right, after all.
Jessica blinked, as if that was the last response she expected. “Wow, that was easy. Wait.” Her eyes narrowed. “Do you even know what you’re apologizing for?”
Chris yawned and scratched at his bearded jaw. “For leaving you in charge and skipping town without telling you what was really going on.”
“Daaaamn. You’re good.” She flopped back in her seat and crossed her legs.
“Thanks. Can I have my cord back?”
“I haven’t accepted your apology yet.”
Chris sighed and rubbed his face. “Okay, how can I facilitate that? Because I’d really like a nap before we land.” He hadn’t meant to sound snappish, but he’d barely gotten any sleep in the last forty-eight hours. Between the guilt and the grief, he was barely holding his shit together at this point.
She twirled the plug through the air a bit more. “Well, promising not to do it again would be a good start.”
“I promise not to do it again.” He tugged on the cord, yanking it from her hand.
She made no move to grab it again. “Jeez, this is too easy. You’re taking all the fun out of it.” Jessica huffed and folded her arms, looking out the window.
Chris reeled the cord in and fumbled with the headphone jack, trying to slide it into the outlet on the chair’s arm. He felt Jessica’s eyes on him again, even before she spoke.
“You okay, boss?”
“Honestly? Not really.” Abandoning the plug for now, he stripped the headphones off and tossed them into the seat beside him. As he did, his eyes shifted across the aisle to where Joey sat with Ben.
“Want to talk about it?” Jessica asked.
Chris returned his focus forward and sighed, leaning against the cabin’s slightly curved wall. “Not really.”
“Guess I’ll fuck off, then.” She uncrossed her legs and stood.
“Jess, wait. Thank you. For looking after things while I was gone, and for coming out to help. I appreciate it.”
Jessica nodded and started to turn, but paused and leaned over the table between them. “Don’t push her away, jackass.”
“I’m not—” He frowned. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
She snorted softly. “Yeah, you wouldn’t. But it’s all of our business now, like it or not. Let me tell you something about alpha females. We’re tough as nails, not because we want to be but because we have to be. We can’t afford to show weakness. Every wolf on this plane is waiting to see who crosses that aisle first, whether they know it or not, and it’s not going to be her.” She slipped away without waiting for a response and headed back to her seat.
Still frowning, Chris straightened and looked around, noticing for the first time how Joey’s pack was all on one side of the plane while his was on the other. Joey’s pack. His pack. What were they going to do? Their situation had been complicated before, and back then, Joey was only the heir presumptive. Now Adelaide was gone, and—
The persistent ache in his chest that’d lingered since he’d witnessed his mother’s death intensified, making everything else seem inconsequential. He looked across the aisle again. This time, Joey was looking back at him. Their eyes met and held. His wolf emitted a low whine, and the next thing Chris knew, he was across the aisle, standing there with his eyes still locked with hers. The air between them practically vibrated with magnetic energy.
“Hey, bro. I’ll, uh, just… Excuse me.” Ben slipped out of his seat and around Chris to get out of the way.
Chris slid into the still-warm seat and took Joey’s hand. The instant their fingers touched, his wolf settled down. He kissed her hand, then tucked it between both of his.
“Mind if I nap here?” he asked.
Joey pushed the armrest between them up and scooted closer, tucking her legs under her. He relinquished her hand and slid his arms around her instead.
“I love you,” she whispered against his shoulder.
He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled. “I love you too.”
In the end, that was what mattered. They’d beaten worse odds before.
Chris & Joey’s story continues in Fall 2018.
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Acknowledgements
Would you believe I’ve been sitting on this manuscript for months, waiting in the queue for a cover? Thanks to the awesome Christian Bentulan for working through illness and being well worth the wait.
Also, thanks to Pauline Holman for helping to keep me sane while I waited (or at least what passes for it in my world) and putting up with my histrionics whenever I have to do something with my website.
Thank you Amy McKenna & Kimberly Hyatt, for being completely awesome critique partners. Seriously, you girls have no idea how much better this book is because of you, not to mention how much less work for my editors.
Speaking of editing, my editors are also brilliant, and their contributions should not be overlooked. Arran McNicol & Steve Statham, you guys are terrific! Thanks for working so hard to make me look good.
Last, but not least, I’d like to give a huge thank you to Zach Bohannan, who has been an amazing mentor as I orchestrated the book release from hell (ha!). Seriously, Zach. From the bottom of my heart.
About the Author
Disenchanted with her mundane human existence, Lori loves spinning tales of magic and creatures of myth & legend existing in the modern world. When not indulging in these flights of fancy, she enjoys cooking, crafting, gaming, and (of
course) reading. She’s also a bit of a weather geek and would like to go storm chasing one day.
Lori lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and two adorable kitties that don’t understand why mommy doesn’t like them climbing on her laptop and batting at the screen.
The kitties, that is. It’d be really strange if her husband did that.
www.loridrakeauthor.com
[email protected]
Also by Lori Drake
Grant Wolves Series
Early Grave
Shallow Grave
Grave Threat
