Page 58 of In Plain Sight

"Gage said they'd worked four back-to-back jobs and should be home at least a month, so you'll get plenty of time to catch up with Clara."

I sat back in my seat and linked my arm with his as I leaned in and rested my head on his shoulder. "I love that he called you. I love that you fit in so well with my family."

He turned and kissed the top of my head as I closed my eyes.

The early morning must have been weighing heavily on me, because my eyes refused to open again as the adrenaline fled my body and I was suddenly very tired.

I could hear Bran talking and laughing with the other men as I slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Sweetheart, wake up. We're here," Bran said as he gently shook me.

"Already?" I asked as I yawned and stretched.

"Hmm, keep that up, and we aren't leaving this plane," he threatened in a deep, sexy voice.

I slowly opened my eyes and beamed up at my mate. His lips crashed down on mine in a possessive, all-consuming kiss. I pulled back and sighed.

"Come on, we should go," I said.

"We don't have to. We could just stay right here, Head back home. No one is expecting us back for four whole days. We wouldn't even have to leave the bed."

"That does sound glorious, but since we're here, let's go."

There was a hesitation. I was certain I felt it this time, but he recovered quickly and nodded with a solemn look on his face. I couldn't fathom what was going on or why he was acting so weird, but I knew something was bothering him.

Our suitcases were already waiting on the tarmac, so I grabbed his hand and we rose to exit the plane. Also, there was a car already waiting for us, and the second my feet hit the pavement I was tackled with little arms wrapping around my waist.

"Aunt Ruby! You're here," Oscar exclaimed with excitement.

I looked around until I saw Maddie and Liam standing off to the side. She passed the baby to her mate and started walking towards us. She looked strong and confident, not like the girl that had arrived in Collier last year with a family of her own and a bit sheltered by Lily and Liam.

I met her halfway and hugged my sister tightly.

"You look so good, Maddie," I gushed.

"Me? Look at you. You're practically beaming."

After we'd learned everything Maddie had been through, I'd looked at her as a victim. I had been wrong. This beautiful, strong, confident woman before me wasn't a victim, she was a survivor. It was probably there before, I'd just been too stubborn, too hurt, too pigheaded to notice. I would be forever grateful to my pup for giving me back Maddie, and to Shelby for pushing me to make that call, though I would never in a million years admit that to Shelbs.

"Come on, Liam has the car waiting," she said, as she led us away from the waiting SUV.

Bran and I shared a look in confusion as Wyatt waved, and then shut the door to the SUV just before it took off.

"Uh, guess that wasn't for us," I mumbled.

Maddie laughed. “Of course not. Patrick runs things a bit like a military base at times with new people. They will be taken straight to headquarters and cleared before they let them head into town. You guys are family. There's no need for all of that."

"That's crazy," I said. "I thought y'all got a lot of tourists and such up this way. How does he stop that?"

"Oh, he doesn't," Liam said as he took the suitcases from Bran, then shook his hand with a nod. "He just does the best he can. They monitor new cars by license plates and facial recognition to watch for anything concerning, but they don't actually stop and check or interrogate people. It's all done very low-key. Still, this is different, because they're visiting shifters, here for the first time."

"They've never visited here before?" Bran asked.

"It's not normal for wolf shifters to enter another Pack's territory, Bran," Liam went on. "We have a certain leniency between Collier and Westin just because of our families. I mean, with Maddie and Lizzy mating into Westin, and Lily mating into Collier, it's brought the two packs uniquely close, but even still, it's only higher ranked pack members or family that typically cross the pack lines."

"So why are they here? It was never said," Bran asked.

"Thomas sent them to help out on some project or another," I said. "Kyle needed a few extra hands. I tuned out the why and was just excited that it meant we could tag along."

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