31. Rikkart
RIKKART
The ride to the airport was silent after Viv fell asleep, healing from her wounds.
I felt my wolf bristle at the sight of her blood everywhere on the backseat—including on me.
How had such a perfect night turned into such a shitshow?
Now, here we were, on the run to a future that we didn’t get to prepare Viv for.
I know all of us agreed with the elders of Kursar, but leaving out the magnitude of Viv’s role in this world was killing me.
I didn’t want her to think that I’d lied to her when she found out.
When we reached the airport, we parked the Humvee and exited slowly, everyone battered from the sneak attack. Darius led the way to a jet that had the ramp down and waiting for us. The pilot stepped out and nodded his head to him.
“We are ready to take off as soon as you’re boarded,” the pilot assured us.
“Did we get everything clear to land?” Tavas asked, joining us now that he was dressed.
“Yes, but we had to divulge your status in order to get them to lift the no-flight restriction,” the pilot said, bowing his head submissively.
Unable to wait for us, Koit bounded up the steps, tail wagging.
“Shift already,” I yelled, following after him. “Darius will be pissed with your black fur getting everywhere.”
Once on the plane, I suppressed a grimace, but I shouldn’t have been surprised.
I knew Darius only owned the best, and this fit in that category.
The first set of chairs sat facing each other with a small table in between.
Beyond them were two rows of three chairs facing each other with a coffee table in the middle, like a living room setup.
There was a wall with an opening that a curtain would block when closed, showing another set of couches that could also be laid on to sleep.
Tavas and Darius boarded the plane, and Darius walked over to Viv, carrying a bundle. “I had these brought for you if you wanted to shift back into skin.”
He walked back to the front of the plane and chatted with the pilot, still in high-alert mode.
Viv padded into the back room, and I closed the curtain for her, giving her a moment.
Once dressed, she walked back into the plane and took a seat in between Tavas and Koit, who was also back in skin and dressed.
I sat across from them, while Darius remained up front, working on a laptop.
“How are your wounds?” Koit asked as he ran his eyes over Viv, looking for any signs of discomfort.
“It’s amazing, they’ve already closed and just look like angry scars. Fastest I’ve ever healed in my life,” she said, giving him a gentle smile. “So, this is my first time on a private plane. Will we get the speech about safety and what to do in case of an emergency?”
Tavas chuckled. “No, we must go without such pleasures.”
“Prepare for takeoff. Please stay seated until cruising altitude is reached,” the pilot’s voice said over the speaker in the cabin.
“Not a total loss,” Koit said, shoving her gently with his elbow.
Viv and Koit chatted more about the plane as we took off.
I watched her carefully to see how she was handling the attack.
I shouldn’t have been surprised that she was dealing with it well, but I worried she was hiding it from us out of habit.
I wanted to say something, but then she curled up with her head on Tav’s lap and went back to sleep.
I knew as she grew in strength, her healing wouldn’t take so much out of her.
She did heal faster than most werewolves, but I figured it was due to her genetic engineering.
I was just thankful we’d all made it out with minimal injury, even if just by the hair on our tails.
Koit moved to sit next to me and leaned in. “How do you think she’ll handle Kursar?”
“I think she was born for it,” I answered with a smirk and saw his eye roll. “I think she’ll be overwhelmed and doubt her ability, but she has her mates to support her.”
Koit frowned at me. “Rik, you know you’re her mate too—marked or not, makes no difference.”
“You’re wrong. It makes all the difference in the world. For her, I’m willing to show up just as a mate prospect to stay by her side, but it doesn’t make it easy.” I looked over at Viv sleeping in Tav’s lap and felt my wolf’s protective nature calm as we looked at our mate being cared for.
If I had to share her with any other wolves, I couldn’t have picked three better.
They would all keep her safe, even if Darius was an ass, unwilling to admit to himself what she was to him.
I did wonder about Koit, though—most alpha females never took a beta, but then again, Koit wasn’t your average beta.
Tav and Darius made sense as mates; they were some of the elite werewolves of our time.
Especially since Tav had started owning his wolf side, he was one to watch out for.
My thoughts drifted to Kursar and what I remembered about the island.
Truthfully, it was like going to visit a living time capsule.
I was thankful that even though I hadn’t managed them as alpha, they still respected me as their guardian.
I wasn’t sure what the response would be to all of us alphas showing up at their proverbial doorstep, but once I told them we were all mate prospects—and from what the pilot said, they now knew some of us were full mates—their tune had changed.
We had followed their one request—letting them present the conditions of staying on the island to Viv. Now we had to wait and see what she would do. Would she step up and take on her role as alpha female? Or would she get back on the plane and run away?
~ The End ~