Page 14 of Fur-Ever Home

"Oh, no, no, no."My mate's nostrils flared when he was angry. It was cute. "You haven't heard a word I've said. I'm not mate material."

"But you are. You're my fated mate."

He looked even cuter when his face scrunched around his nose in a frown. "I don't believe in fate, or people who can turn into wolves, or any of this."

"Well, my pants didn't rip themselves," I said.

"Your suit wasn't exactly high quality." He crossed his arms, elbowing me in the ribs.

"Thanks for noticing." I'd been setting aside most of my paychecks for a down payment on a house. Hank kept me on the road so often, I lived in hotels or crashed on friends' couches. Now that I didn't have a job, I had nothing to offer Ben.

That didn't change the fact that I wanted him by my side forever. He was my fated mate. If only I could convince him of that fact, too.

Ben yawned.

"You should get some more sleep," I said. "I'll keep you safe." I tucked him against my chest and held him loosely in my arms.

He sniffed along my neck again, the way he had when he'd first woken up. "You smell so good," he mumbled.

"That's a fated mates thing," I whispered in his ear.

"Too bad I don't believe in fated mates." He snuggled closer against me, and I was in heaven.

I did my best to ignore the bangs and clangs coming from the rear of the plane. Lack of sleep only made me more jumpy, not less. Each loud noise alerted my wolf to protect Ben at all costs.

Ben didn't seem bothered. He probably couldn't hear the commotion with his human hearing.

Finally, Shen climbed into the cockpit and slammed the door. Ben only curled more tightly against me, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his feet on the side of the plane beside my seat. The cockpit had only one door, thankfully, though Shen glared at him. For a moment, I thought he would scold me about letting Ben put his feet up on his shitty ancient plane interior.

"What are you doing with him, again?" he asked instead.

"He's my mate."

Shen shrugged. "If you say so. Seems a little too fragile for you."

"He's human, but he isn't fragile." I'd already seen him confront a thief, airport security, and me when we got booted back to coach. I hoped our flight to Orange County would go smoothly for my next plan to work. I would get on my knees in the airport and beg him to let me crash on his couch for one night. And then I would find a way to show him we were fated mates before he made me leave.

I hated takeoffs and landings. They always made me tense. Takeoffs in Shen's plane were the worst because we never knew if the plane would clear the mountains. In the dark, it was even more terrifying. He jerked back the plane controls, and we rose too slowly. The wall of rock got closer. I thought we were goingto hit the wall and die, but then we flew through a slightly lighter wall of clouds and continued to climb.

"Woo-hoo!" Shen shouted, easing off his death grip on the controls. "California, here we come!"

We continued to climb, but it wasn't as steep as our departure angle. Confident Shen would take us in the right direction, I nestled my nose behind Ben's ear and tugged him closer, reveling in his sweet scent and the way he clung to me in his sleep.

"Shit, shit."

Shen's grumbling woke me.

"Shit-fuck-shit."

He tapped at a dial on the plane's main console. "Fuck!"

"What's happening?" I whisper-shouted. Ben had just fallen asleep, and I didn't want to wake him.

"We're losing her. I think …" he trailed off, staring out the window at the quickly approaching mountain.

"You think?"

"… I forgot to refuel." He shifted the wheel, and we narrowly avoided the mountain peak. With my wolf eyes, I could see four more dark peaks closing in fast.

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