“Ian, these were the wolves who went after your wife. They went after my mate, and I watched both attacks. I fought them both times, and they were in it for the kill. They aren’t my family.” Link looked around at each of them. “You are. Kill them all.”
“Okay, we’re doing this,” Tobias said, grabbing his warm layers from the coat rack and handing Vera hers. “Ian, get the kill orders, get whatever information Clayton has on their whereabouts, where they hang out, who they steal from, where they bunker down. When we get back, we’re going on a wolf hunt.”
“I’m coming, too,” Nicole said, cradling her hurt arm.
“You should,” Link murmured. “This affects you, too.”
Nicole scrunched up her nose. “Okay, I know this is probably a silly question, but for those of us who don’t speak shifter talk, what exactly are we going to do near Kodiak?”
Link shrugged into his coat and leveled her with a look. “I’m going to get us a better pack.”
Chapter Sixteen
“I’m scared of flying. And dying.” There. She’d said it, and it was out there. Now when Nicole screamed a lot and peed her pants, it wouldn’t be so awkward because she’d warned everyone.
Vera pulled on a headset and twisted around as best as her seatbelt allowed. “Tobias is a pro-pilot and has never had a crash landing.”
Tobias was busy talking low into his own headset and flipping on a bunch of switches Nicole had no guess at.
“Just so you know, this is only my second time in a tiny plane. My first pilot was named Bert, and he smelled like burnt popcorn.”
“It’s not a tiny plane. It’s a bush plane,” Tobias corrected, not missing a step in talking into his little microphone.
“He’s checking the weather out near Kodiak,” Vera explained. “Looks choppy here. Hopefully it’ll be clearer once we get out of this weather cell.”
“Choppy?” Nicole’s voice came out a squeak.
“Don’t worry, Nicole. You can just cuddle onto your uuuh…” She groaned with a frown as she looked at Link, who was currently snarling and pressed up against the wall of the plane, his leg shaking constantly as he glared at Vera. “Never mind. Just…close your eyes for a while.”
“We don’t like cages.”
Tobias swatted the back of his neck in irritation and turned around. “Cut that shit out, Link.”
“We can’t. We can feel them. The pack is linked. Link. Stupid fate. My dad gave me this fucking name. Couldn’t ever really escape them. Fucking McCalls.” Link slapped the side of his head and slammed his back against the seat.
Nicole rested her hand carefully on Link’s tensed leg, and when he didn’t bite her, she rubbed it soothingly. “Just a little while longer, baby. We’re going to get through this. Me and you, okay? Look at me.” Link slid her a helpless look, and she repeated low, “Me and you.”
With a slight nod, he slid his hand over hers and squeezed. “Your arm.”
“Feels okay. Vera gave me good pain meds. Hey,” she whispered as he began shaking his leg again. “I love you. I love both of you. You’re good, Link. Good. Hold onto that.”
The sound in his throat died long enough for him to murmur, “I love you, too.”
She smiled as warmth bloomed in her chest. “I like when you say that to me.”
“Feels good. Good to say that. We love you.” His words came out chopped up and harsh, and he looked so apologetic she brought his knuckles to her lips to show him it was okay. Everything was okay.
The take-off was scary, but once they were in the air, other than a little turbulence, it wasn’t bad. And eventually, Nicole even built up enough courage to take her eyes off Link and look at the snowscape far below. If she pretended this wasn’t really happening, and that she wasn’t really catapulting a million miles an hour in a tiny death machine, the Alaskan scenery was breathtakingly beautiful. Over near Silver Summit Outfitters, though, the weather wasn’t as fair. Snow was falling, the wind was up, and the landing skis skidded sideways at the end of the runway. They all came to a stop pale-faced, except for Tobias, who ripped off his headset and acted like landing lopsided was just another Tuesday.
“What?” he asked as they all stared at him with bugged-out eyes. “We didn’t crash.”
Blinking hard, Nicole got out of the plane after Vera and waited for Link. Tobias was leaned into the plane, forehead against Link’s, looking him in the eyes as he gripped the back of his neck and said something too low to hear over the whipping wind on the runway.
“He can do this,” Vera said, squeezing Nicole’s hand.
“And what if he doesn’t take the Dawson pack?”
Vera shook her head slowly. “That isn’t an option now. He has to, injured or not.”
“Injured? No, he’s fine. He won the fight with the McCalls.”
Vera frowned slightly. “Yeah,” she said without conviction, “he’s fine.”