Chapter 4
4
CONNOR
"Oops?" Ben frowned and a blush spread across his face as he noticed the high split in my dress shirt. Being big and tall sucked sometimes but getting that reaction out of my fated mate was priceless.
I tugged him, bag and all, into the stall he'd just vacated. "I accidentally shifted," I said. "I'll run to the lost and found to see if they have a pair of pants that isn't ripped to shreds."
"Shifted?" He stared at me like I was crazy.
"I'm a wolf shifter." I did a partial shift, sprouting hair on my chest and neck, pointed wolf ears, and paws tipped with giant claws.
"That's some weird fucking trick," he whispered.
"We're the reason humans have alphas and omegas." I'd met oblivious humans before, and each time it made me wonder what they taught human alphas and omegas in school.
He frowned. "You can go completely furry, like on all fours?"
"Yes, and I just did." I'd had enough warning to unbutton my shirt, but my pants were a total loss, shredded to bits along with my underwear.
"Here." Ben handed me his coat. "Wrap that around your waist. I won't need it until Denver, anyway." He sighed. "I'll rinse my sweater."
I didn't even see the thief coming. Even with my wolf senses, he'd caught me off guard. I was so wrapped up in Ben, I lost my competitive edge.
I swallowed hard, remembering I didn't really have an edge. I didn't even have a pack. I was the worst wolf ever.
"Yes, that's the man." The thief stood at the restroom exit with a short woman in a security guard uniform who looked like she wanted to be anywhere else.
"Go," Ben whispered. "I've got this." He turned to the pair blocking the doorway. "Thank you so much," he gushed to the guard. "You caught the man who tried to steal my sweater."
As much as my wolf wanted to stick around and protect my mate (and his smelly sweater), I had only a half-hour to grab some clothes and return to the plane.
The circular restroom made it easy to run out the opposite way, side-stepping the men coming in. Once in the crowded hallway, I scurried to the nearest information desk and gestured to my missing pants. "Accident, and my clothes are on their way to Arizona without me."
"You can check at each terminal," the service rep said, "but we won't have much that fits you, besides shorts. And this puffer coat. Someone left it here on their way to Mexico."
I hadn't thought to bring a coat. I always ran hotter than a human, but Denver could be cold this time of year. I took it and the two pairs of shorts that looked big enough around the waist, though they were far shorter than the board shorts I liked.
"There's a Wolf Brothers store in terminal E," he said.
The big and tall shifter clothing store would be perfect in a pinch. I was currently in terminal C. It was a ways, but doable. I thanked him and ran.
The next fifteen minutes felt like a comedy of errors as I raced around travelers, hopped over walkway rails, and made a complete spectacle of myself while trying to keep my two-coat skirt in place around my waist. I'd tied the bulky coat in the front to cover my ass, and draped Ben's little coat over the knotted arms like a loincloth to hide my private bits from view. I still got whistles and cat calls, but I no longer needed to stop and sniff them all to see if they were my mate.
I knew where my mate was! In theory. I hoped he wasn't still holding off airport security for something I had done.
I shouldn't have shifted, but that guy had stolen my mate's sweater! Why anyone thought they needed to steal clothes when they could just as easily hit up the lost and found was beyond me. Sometimes shifters, especially youngsters, couldn't control their shifts, so most places who knew about us kept a box of extra clothes.
I added to our box in Phoenix with washed, unused clothes whenever I returned home from a trip. I often packed extra clothing for that purpose. This time, I'd be leaving a few items at Orange County instead. No big deal.
I couldn't stop thinking about how lucky I was. I found my mate! That was huge! As I ran, I wondered what he wanted me to wear.
When I asked the salesperson at Wolf Brothers to show me the pants in my size, they led me to a picked-over table and sighed. "Sorry, Sir. It's brown corduroy pants or the white groom's suit on the display model."
A groom's suit, the perfect way to tell Ben he was my mate! I balked at the price, though. Even with my corporate card, I couldn't afford it.
I made Hank pay for the corduroy pants, instead. They were cargo pants with pockets on top of pockets. I loved pockets. And they were soft. Not soft enough to sleep in, but too soft to be sitting beside my omega on a plane thinking dirty thoughts.
The counter was littered with medium-sized stuffed wolf toys. "How much for one of these?" I asked.
"Free with purchase of," the sales clerk pointed to the sign I'd missed on the counter. The toy would have been free, if I'd just bought the suit.
"Take one." They shrugged. "The last person didn't have kids and said we could give it to charity. No offense, but you look like you could use a little charity right now."
I gave them my best smile. "Want to buy an NFT?"
Their kind and open face turned sour. "No."
"Had to ask for work." I took the toy away before the clerk could shove it in a plastic bag. I avoided them when possible.
Some friendliness returned. "Your job sucks worse than mine."
I held up the wolf and shook it, and they frowned as though they wanted it back. "Thanks. You've been great."
The trip back to Terminal C and onto the plane was much faster now that I wasn't walking against the flow of traffic. When I arrived at my seat, I found someone else in Ben's place.
"Who are you?"
"Mr. McKeeler, a word?" The kind flight attendant who had been with us since New York pulled me into the service area between the cockpit and cabin. "There's been a mix-up with your seat. We'll refund you the cost of the first-class ticket for the rest of your flights. Only the flight from New York had an available seat."
"I bought two," I reminded him.
"You did, but they're both full on this flight, and your flight from Denver to Orange County doesn't even have first class."
I didn't realize the plane would be that small. "So where am I supposed to sit?" I asked.
"There's an aisle seat in coach."
I sighed. I didn't mind coach, but I wanted to be close to my omega. I could still smell him on board, though. That would have to be enough.
He led me to the middle of the plane. "Thank you for understanding."
I still didn't understand, but the aisle seat looked like the best one in the house because I could sit down and take a load off after running through the airport for the last half-hour.
I sank into the seat with a deep sigh, and the woman beside me yanked her arm out from under mine.
"Oh, sorry," I said. "You made a nice armrest. I was supposed to be in first class, but something happened with my ticket."
"I don't care." She turned up the music in her headphones to what had to be an uncomfortable decibel level for her human ears.
I turned toward the aisle and froze. Ben glared at me from the seat directly across. "How did I still get stuck with you?"
"Want your stuff back?" I stood up and untied both coats from around my waist. He held my suit coat and fanny pack over the aisle like they were the most disgusting trash he'd ever seen. I knew that look. I'd seen it often enough from my pack before they'd finally had enough of me and sent me on my own.
We exchanged, and I tucked my suit jacket and fanny pack under the seat with my new bulky coat and wolf toy. The dark gray of the jacket caught my attention. It would clash with my brown corduroys, but that was the least of my worries. Ben was pissed, and at me for some reason.
"Thanks," I said, not sure how we'd gotten so far off track. I thought we were clicking in the restroom, but now …
"I grabbed it from first class when they kicked me out."
"I really appreciate you letting me borrow your coat?—"
"Where did you get that wolf?" He pointed.
"Wolf Brothers. They didn't have pants that would fit me at the lost and found."
"You weren't kidding? You walked all the way to the lost and found?"
"I did." I'd gone all the way to Terminal E, but that was beside the point.
"You didn't lose that coat," he said. "What makes you think you should claim it?"
"They gave it to me when I asked. It was one of the few things that would fit me. It's not like people really come back for their lost items."
"So, you just raid the lost and found whenever you feel like it?"
"Only when I need to."
Now was not the time to remind him I had been naked before, including no underwear. The shorts beneath these pants were a little tight, but at least I wasn't going commando.
"I contribute to them, too," I said.
He turned his attention to a small reading tablet in his lap, ignoring me.
After we took off, he sniffled a few times. He had a full-on sneezing fit when the flight attendant stopped by our row to ask if we wanted something to drink.
I had some liquid Benadryl in my pack. I poured a few drops into his lemon-lime soda when he wasn't looking. Too easy, since he did everything in his power to avoid looking in my general direction. His drink sat unattended in the cup holder on his tray until he finally drained it in one gulp.
I might have felt a teensy bit bad about it when his head fell back against his seat and he started snoring a few minutes later.