Barely Winging It

by Tigertalez

  “Oh. Wait, something just occurred to me. You said they live longer than humans, but I’m human. And you said you have to be born one, not turned, so once we mate, I’ll die long before you?”

  Nix shook his head. “No, when our fluids mix when we mate, it changes a part of your chemistry to allow you to heal faster, and your aging will slow to match mine.”

  “Oh, so how long do shifters live? How old are you?”

  “Shifters live about five hundred years, and I’m sixty-seven.”

  Bronya thought about that for a minute. “Wow, that’s a long time. That means I’ll outlive my parents.”

  “Hopefully.” She looked curiously at Nix, confused by his response. He saw her look and explained. “Every parent wants their child to outlive them, sweetheart.”

  “Right, sorry, that makes sense. It just shocked me. Sorry.”

  “I’ll understand if you want to wait.” Nix looked and sounded slightly dejected.

  “Of course I don’t want to wait. Have faith in fate.” She couldn’t help but encourage Nix with her father’s own words he used to preach to her.

  The relief on his face gave her a little bit of pride that she’d put it there. The doctor’s words pushed into her thoughts just then. “Things happen pretty fast in the paranormal world,” he had said. Fast indeed. I just met the man … er … shifter yesterday. She thought about what Nix had just said. “Shifters fall in love fast … giving our full heart over to our mate is pretty instant.”

  How fast would he really want to move? “Uh, so mating is the equivalent to marriage?”

  “Well, more so, why?” he cautiously asked.

  “You said things happened fast, and giving your heart is instant, so does that mean you’ll want to move in together?”

  “As soon as you’re comfortable, I want you with me always.”

  In for a penny? “When did you want to do that?”

  Nix’s chest released a heavy breath, and he wrapped a hand around the back of her head and brought their foreheads together. “Oh my Dove, thank you. You won’t regret it.”

  Her trepidation must have shown through on her face. Or maybe he can smell it? Because his own face took on a look of concern and he pulled back a bit. “What is wrong?”

  Bronya looked at him, slightly apologetic. “I like everyone there, but it’s a lot of people all of the time. And what about flying? I love to fly.”

  “That field you landed in is where we planned on building my home. You think you could tolerate living in the house long enough to get it built?” he asked.

  “Ok, but what about my job? I live for flying, Nix. You of all people should be able to understand that. And my father needs me right now.”

  Gale spoke up. “Hey, we could use a pilot when we buy the plane, one that knows about paranormals. If you could be that pilot, then you can still fly. And the pack will pay you.”

  “And what are your problems are now my concerns,” Nix added. “Being alive as long as I have been, I have quite a bit saved up. I can help with your finances. I know you love to fly. I do, too, so I would never ask you to stop doing it. I would feel much better knowing you won’t need to go on any more repos.”

  Bronya gave a breathy laugh. “Yes, I can see how you’d be worried about it. It’s a dangerous job. And since I’m not thinking for just me anymore, I’ll think about it. It’s a lot of money we owe. But the commission my dad’s company will get from you guys buying a plane from him is a big deal to him and the company. He usually sells the much smaller planes. It will go a long ways to paying off the debt.”

  Alphy tilted his head back a little. “What debt are you talking about?”

  Nix answered him. “Her family had a series of medical issues added on her college debt.”

  “Well from what I hear from Enzo, your parents are good people, and I trust his judgment. Add that you are their daughter, which makes them a bit of an extended family. If you or your parents need anything, let me know and we can work something out.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled her gratitude to him through the review mirror.

  Gale looked back at Nix. “I have another idea. You said she was able to land in that field you love so much, where you want to put your house? Why not turn that into a private airstrip? We are going to have a hospital anyways, and will probably eventually get a lot of incoming paranormals. It would be seriously risky to have them arrive at a more public place with cameras and stuff. Can we do that?”

  “That’s a really good idea,” Alphy said almost excitedly. “Nix, what do you think? I know you love the flowers, but it’s a great idea to have our own private strip.”

  “I don’t know. It would be ideal to have our own strip. Some of the paranormals that come in may be shifted or their injuries would definitely cause questions. What do you think, Bronya?”

  Bronya’s heart beat warmly in her chest with being included in this discussion. “I think you’ll need a bigger airstrip. What you’re planning on buying is a jet, not a little plane like I had the day I landed in the field. You’ll have to, like, double it I think. I don’t know—that would be costly depending on the amenities you would want. For instance, the runway itself, what do you want it made out of? Packed earth, gravel, asphalt or concrete? The cost of each of those varies greatly added in the maintenance for each one varies in methods and cost. Also, you may want a hangar complete with tools to maintain the plane. Oh, and something or a place you could use to refuel.”

  “Could you, maybe, write down a plan for each cost level? I don’t know what we can and can’t afford until I see what is involved. We have building equipment and builders, and will be getting more soon. I don’t see those as big obstacles, but I did grant that strip of land to Nix, so that is what concerns me the most. Maybe we can find another place on the property to place the strip.”

  Nix shook his head. “I’ve flown the entire property many times. I think it’s the best spot for the strip. It’s the flattest surface. It’s small to start, but if we clear some trees, we can make it larger.”

  Bronya was staring at the window when she heard Gale’s question. “So that just leaves the question, what kind of house are you going to have. Now that you have your mate, Nix, she should be involved in it.”

  “A tree-house.” Bronya answered without thinking. She’d always loved trees. They were so connected to birds that she loved so much which was connected to flying, which she loved even more. Up high was where she was happiest, so she’d always wanted a tree-house, but she always lived where there weren’t any trees to build one.

  “Oh, that sounds so cool,” Gale commented. “You should have that specialist in Washington come up and do it!”

  “I know who you’re talking about. Would that be wise? He’s human, isn’t he?” Bronya asked.

  “As far as I know, probably. But he’s the best,” Gale responded. “What do you think, Nix?”

  “I love the idea of a tree-house. I love being off the ground. It would also prevent us from taking down any more trees than we have to. I can think of many pros to the idea. You really want a tree-house, Bronya?”

  Nix looked slightly excited when she turned to answer him. She felt a flutter fill her belly, and a smile pulled up on her lips. “I’ve always wanted a tree-house. I’ve never thought about actually living in one, but I’d like to look into it more. It would also be great for near the airfield. You think we can even have a lookout tower?”

  “I don’t know. I imagine we could.” His smile lit up the small space.

  Gale was unmistakably excited about the idea. “I saw that tree-house builder make them several different stories, and even ones with lookouts. I bet you could absolutely have yourself a lookout or control tower, as part of your own home even, if that is what you wanted. And since they do most of their construction at their shop, building goes up pretty fast. I bet we could have something before Christmas.”

  Alphy’s voice sounded official. “These are some great ideas
. I’m officially placing you two on the team in charge of planning the build for a private airstrip. If you’d like, I’ll have Ryker pull up any information you need, including that tree-house expert.”

  There was quiet for a while as it seemed everyone was thinking over everything they just discussed. It was a companionable silence that helped Bronya further assimilate the massive info dump she had to sort through. However, one thing was clear—her entire future was going to have this man sitting beside her in it.

  Alphy pulled up to the office building her father worked from. Even though it was Saturday, she wasn’t surprised he was working. They hadn’t built up the company enough when all their misfortunes had brought them down. Now her parents worked whenever they could to keep it running. They prided themselves in keeping their bills and staff paid, even at their own expense. And no doubt, with as important as this deal was to them and the company, they were probably all too happy to come down on a weekend.

  ****

  Saturday morning

  Nix hated being woken, but he loved that he woke wrapped around his mate’s soft, warm body. After introducing his mate to Gale and Connie, he grudgingly made his way to the meeting. Stepping into the room, everyone was quietly drinking their coffee and looking over different sections in a major newspaper. Alphy was reading news, while Enzo was reading the sports sections. Matteo looked like he had the financials and Slate the health section. And Kace was reading the comics. Of course. “Where’s Ryker?”

  Alphy looked up from his paper. “He was checking out some of the surveillance equipment. They weren’t working correctly. But we can start without him.”

  With that announcement, everyone put down their papers. “Kace!” Alphy growled.

  Nix hid his smirk in his coffee. Kace was slow in putting down the comics. “Aw, man, I was just about to read Stone Soup.”

  “Then you should have read it before Garfield.” Slate chuckled.

  Kace inhaled dramatically. “Gasp, sacrilege. I love Odie. He’s my hero.”

  “And Marmaduke,” Slate teased.

  “Hey, I’ll have you know they are both very respectable K9s to look up to.”

  Enzo let out a derisive snort. “Odie?”

  “Yes, Odie. He’s brilliant, and he’s always happy no matter what Garfield does to him.”

  Everyone laughed then sobered up when Alphy signaled to them to. “Let’s get started. Seamus wanted me to report to everyone that he got the results from the autopsy done on Slate’s father. He was addicted to some kind of unidentified drug.”

  “That would explain a lot about what Elise said about how he had gotten worse the last couple of years.” Slate said.

  “Yes, well the doctor is still investigating the drug and will continue to keep us updated. Now, pertaining to the blood spilt last night, I have reports that it ruined the carpet and some bedding. Luckily they didn’t find any blood on anything else that couldn’t be cleaned. Kace and I have discussed it and decided we should rent the room long term. During that time, we can discreetly replace the bedding and even carpet. It could also help when others arrive and need a place to stay until a more permanent place can be bought or rented. Does anyone have anything else to add to that?”

  Slate raised his hand slightly, earning their attention. “We haven’t had time to interrogate the prisoner we took last night. I wanted permission for Matteo and me to march him further into a more secluded spot on the property and start questioning him.”

  Alphy nodded. “Good idea. Take him out as soon as we’re done here. No need doing that around here close to the girls and cubs. That brings up a point of security.” Everyone looked up at Ryker as he entered the room, but Alphy kept talking and everyone continued to listen. “We should find a place to build holding cells somewhere away from the house. Kace, add that to our plan-to-do list. Welcome back, Ryker. What did you find out?”

  “The wires connecting the cameras were faulty. I need to run to town today to get some. They’ll be down until I get new wires, and connect them to the cameras.”

  “Do you need any help with that?” Alphy asked.

  “Uh, a little. I would like to ask Gale’s dad, Tom, to help.”

  “That will be fine.”

  A bit of a ruckus sounded from the kitchen. Kace stood up. “Sounds like my crew. Permission to go out and say a few words to them, sir?”

  “Granted.” As Kace slipped from the room, Alphy turned to look at Nix. “I got a call from Bronya’s parents just before the meeting. He let me know of a plane we might be interested in, and we made an appointment for today. While on the phone with him, I also let them know we had to move Bronya because of an attack but that she suffered no damage. I told him we would bring Bronya. That puts Nix in to accompany us.”

  The meeting continued on, mixing the discussions from planes to interrogation techniques to use on the prisoner. They were all surprised to hear the doorbell ring. The room went silent. They heard Havana shout that she got it. “Damn it, Ryker, do what you gotta do to get those damn cams up.”

  “Will do, alpha.”

  Everyone looked at Havana when she opened the door. “Enzo, some guy with flowers is here for you.”

  Everyone seemed to have the same shocked look that displayed over Enzo’s face. They all followed him, crowding the entryway, and watched Enzo open the door. A nervous delivery man fidgeted but quickly turned his attention to the open doorway.

  “Can I help you?” Enzo sounded doubtful.

  “Uh, are you Mister Enzo Boyce? I have a delivery for him.”

  “I’m Enzo Boyce, but I didn’t order any flowers.”

  The young man’s cheeks colored slightly. “No, someone else did, for you. These are chrysanthemums. The person who ordered them sure knows their flowers.”

  Nix looked around at the guys and saw they were all fighting just as hard to suppress their snickers as he was. Enzo’s shock was just so funny, and the dumbstruck awkwardness he had holding the flowers nearly did Nix in.

  Enzo’s tone sounded as if he was lost when he asked, “I’m sorry, I don’t. What are chrysanthemums?”

  “Uh, these are.” The man briefly looked puzzled, but then obviously comprehended what Enzo really meant.“Oh, yeah, they mean secret admirer. Uh,” clearing his throat with a light cough, he said, “there’s a card.” He pointed to a tiny envelope sticking in between the fragrant blooms.

  By the look on Enzo’s face, he didn’t know what to do or say. Gale and Havana were giggling, but Connie took charge. “Seriously, men, you would think it was a three headed horse. Give them to me, and I’ll quickly put them in a vase while you tip the kind delivery man.”

  While the girls laughed harder, some of the guys joined in, unable to hold back their snickers any longer while a stunned Enzo handed over his bundle. After witnessing him hand the driver a twenty dollar bill, at which the driver was understandably shocked, before closing the door, Nix couldn’t hold his laughter in any longer.

  The arrival of the flowers was the end to their meeting. Everyone headed to their assigned task. He briefly saw Slate and Matteo heading out as he ascended the stairs to wake his napping mate for the long trip to the city. He hated waking her. Even though he needed sleep just as much as she did, he felt driven to take care of her, putting her needs before his own.

  The talk in the car sent him on a serious rollercoaster ride of emotions, but by the time they reached her father’s airfield, he couldn’t have been happier with the outcome.

  After getting out of the car, Nix held his mate’s hand as they headed into the building. He couldn’t stop the hard-on from the mass of butterflies that took over his body as he internally celebrated his mate’s acceptance. As mates went, he’d lucked out big time. Thank. You. Fate!

  He noticed her face light up as they approached Zeke at the desk, who looked up at their approach and returned her smile. “Hi, Zeke. You know you don’t have to let my dad slave ya like this.”

  The flamboyant tw
ink winked at her. Nix quelled his falcon’s protests at the flirtatiousness. Zeke eyed Alphy and Nix. “But I can’t find good looking hunks like this anywhere else. It’s truly my pleasure.” He nodded his head at her hand secured in Nix’s and winked at her again. Picking up the phone and pressing a button, he spoke into it. “Mister Webber, your two o’clock is here with a glowing Miss Webber. Yes, sir.” Zeke hung the phone back on the receiver “Give me just a minute to lock the door and I’ll escort you to the conference room.”

  Zeke pulled his lanyard off as he made his way to the door and locked them. Pulling them back over his head, he grabbed some files off the top of his station and indicated the hallway he wanted them to venture.

  “Why did you lock the doors?” Alphy asked.

  “Oh, we are only open today to work your case. Now that you’re here, we can close everyone else out. Don’t want any unwanted visitors during the meeting.”

  “Zeke, did Gates call or come by again?” Bronya asked. Nix tensed as he was concerned about the same thing. It made him sick to see his new family have to take so many precautions because of some sick prick. He couldn’t help squeezing her hand just a little tighter in slight worry for her safety.

  “No, and we aren’t taking any chances.”

  “Is Mom here?”

  “Yes, but I offered to come in and help with the paperwork. She was having problems with that new program again.”

  “Oh that was sweet of you. Thank you.” Bronya smiled at the smaller man. Nix tugged lightly on her hand, which had her slightly stumbling into his side. He wrapped his arm around her as they continued through the building. She glanced up at him and teased, “Jealous much?”

  Nix nuzzled her ear, his hot breath heating her skin as it puffed over her skin as he whispered, “Sorry, Dove, I really can’t stop it.” He brushed his lips over her cheek before he pulled back into a more comfortable position for walking. Feeling the shiver run through her body, he mentally fist pumped the air. He loved the effect he had on her body.