40. Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Xane
Sitting idly in the cockpit, wondering how the hell Kian made me agree to this crazy plan of his, sweating from the desert heat and weary, I make the decision to go into the cabin and mix a sedative for Riley to take once he’s calmed down enough to see sense and come back in here.
Or even if he never sees sense, I’ll find a way to get him to take it, and we can drag him onboard once he’s out cold.
The bag is under Trick’s usual seat, and there’s a small amount of water in the bottle I pull out after I get the bag onto the table. I guess that’s the one he drank from earlier. It takes a lot longer to find the box of pills inside a secret pocket of the duffle bag.
I look at the box for a second before I put it into my back pocket.
My memory flashes back to seeing that bottle of suppressants.
That’s a bigger deal than I let her think it was.
We have an Omega here with us.
The thought makes my guts twist into knots.
What she’s doing is fucking crazy.
It’s not safe for any Omega to try to live like a Beta.
Every single day that she steps out into the world is one big risk she’s taking.
She’s gambling with her life, and the thought makes me so fucking angry.
I told her that bottle was none of my business, but I’m not so sure about that.
Calm the fuck down, she’s safe here with you and your pack brothers.
Yeah, sure, and what happens when we fly back to the real world?
I don’t have an answer for that one.
I shove the bag back under Trick’s seat.
Then I pick up the bottle containing the laced water, and I take it into the bathroom, uncapping it and tipping the contents into the sink.
No one’s accidentally getting drugged on my watch.
Once was enough, though that was hardly accidental.
I crush the empty bottle in my hand when I think about that night.
If Riley wasn’t so afraid to fly, I wouldn’t allow any drugs, legal or not, anywhere near us.
These sedatives were prescribed by his doctor, but so were the drugs that piece of shit Larry gave to that teenager. She was too young to drink, so she never should have been there, but that asshole snuck her in, and he shot her up with enough prescription medication to take down a horse.
She’s lucky we stopped him when we did, but it never should have gotten the chance to happen in the first place. I don’t want to deal with anything like that ever again.
I push the crushed-up bottle into the trash can under the sink.
I leave the bathroom and close the door.
There’s nothing else left to do, but I can’t stand the thought of going back into the cockpit.
It was stifling in there. The air is even warmer inside the jet than it is outside. We’re in a kind of shaded area, sure, but it’s still a tin-can death-trap, as Riley would say.
The cabin is cooler, but it’s not a lot bigger than the cockpit.
I never would have said I was claustrophobic.
The heat makes a difference, so maybe I have a mild case of situational claustrophobia.
I can’t handle the thought of going into the cockpit to sit around and do nothing for even a second longer.
So, I leave the jet, stepping back out into the jungle with a sigh.
Jesus. It’s just as stifling out here as it is inside.
I strip out of my sweat soaked T-shirt, balling it up in one hand while I try to just breathe without feeling like I might pass out.
I move around in a circle slowly, looking up through the gaps in the trees to the clear blue sky beyond. About five seconds into this, the wind is knocked from my body with force, and I look back down as I gasp in, only to find the reporter pushing against my body.
I wrap my arms around her on reflex, just barely catching my balance and keeping us both from falling to the forest floor. She gasps out a sharp breath as she goes still.
“Careful,” I murmur, holding her close.
Her heart is racing, and her whole body is trembling.
When she looks up at me, she can’t hide her tears.
They fill up her eyes and spill down her cheeks like they’re never gonna stop.
“You’re okay. I’ve got you,” I reassure her.
I don’t know what’s wrong, but I want to help make her feel better.
It’s been so long since I had a woman in my arms like this, and she isn’t just any woman.
For one thing, she’s an Omega, and for another, she might be fated to our pack.
“I’m okay,” she whispers. “You can let go.”
I loosen my hold, moving my hands to her arms while I study her face.
She’s really upset.
Who the hell did this to her?
I flash back to the night with that piece of shit Larry, and I start to clench my jaw so hard it fucking hurts my face. It takes a few seconds to release that tension enough to speak.
She sighs softly, but the tears don’t stop.
“You’re not okay. What happened?”
She shakes her head. “It’s nothing. I’m … I’m fine.”
“If this has anything to do with your suppressants …”
Her eyes widen as she looks up at me.
Shit. Yeah. I know what her pills were, and now she knows I know.
What a fucking mess.
I let her go gently, realizing I dropped my T-shirt to the ground at some point after she knocked the breath from my body. I let it lie where it fell. It’s too hot out here to care.
She steps back, slightly shaky on her feet.
It takes every bit of my willpower not to grab her back into my arms.
Sighing, she straightens, and she wipes her face with both hands to dry her cheeks.
“It’s not … It’s not my pills. It’s nothing.”
“Your name isn’t Sapphire, either, is it?” I ask, while I’m already revealing things.
There’s a spark of anger in her eyes now as she swipes at another falling tear.
“Damn it!” she mutters, pressing her lips together.
So, I guess I was right. That second discovery I made was important, too. I don’t see how it matters, but clearly it does, to her. Must be some kind of secret.
“Look, it makes no difference to me what your name is. I’m not gonna tell anyone. I just … I need to know why you’re upset. Okay?” I ask carefully, trying not to give off the vibes of a rabid animal ready to strike as soon as she tells me who to aim at.
Whoever upset her has some serious explaining to do.
“I’m fine now,” she protests, sounding weary. “I was … I was only upset because we’re stuck here. It just hit me weird, okay? Why do you need to know anyway? It’s not your problem.”
I need to know so I can fix it.
I need to see you smile.
You don’t deserve to be in pain.
She stares at me like she’s daring me to give her an answer, and I don’t have one I can give her.
We’re strangers trapped here together.
She’s not my business.
So, I stay quiet.
And she sighs one last time before she says, “Yeah, that’s what I thought. I’m taking a break in there. I’d appreciate it if no one bothered me.”
She gestures to the jet before she climbs the steps and disappears into the cabin.
Her feet were bare, and she wasn’t carrying anything.
Yeah, someone upset her, and when I get my hands on who did it, they’re going to regret it.