Page 15 of Fur-Ever Home

"Harness time?" I asked.

"It's only made for one. You know that."

"I'm not leaving him." I bared my teeth in a snarl.

Shen raised both his hands to soothe me, and the plane took a steep dive, alarming me even more.

"I'm just saying," he said as he leveled us out again, "it might fail, and you both could die."

"But if we stay in this plane …"

"Yeah, you'll probably die. Harness it is." He gestured for me to hold the controls in place while he got up and rummaged around in the back. He tossed me a tangled mess of leather. "Strap him to you and leave the big strap free."

It took precious seconds for me to stare at the ball of leather in the dark. Finally, I figured out which big strap he meant. There were larger holes for our legs and smaller ones for our arms, with a cross strap to go around our waists. I secured the arm straps and waist strap around both of us but left my legs free in case I needed to shift again.

Fuck. I would probably need to shift again. I hastily removed the straps and peeled off my new pants. I tucked them into Ben's carry-on, where he'd already stowed the rest of my things. I unbuckled my fanny pack and added it to the mix. Dragon landings could be rough, and I didn't want it to tear on the way down.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Shen asked.

"I don't want to ruin them when I shift."

"You'd better not shift in midair. I can't carry a fucking wolf."

I didn't know what he was bitching about. He was a fucking dragon, the biggest shifters of all. In my shifted form, I could carry Ben on my back, no problem.

I couldn't fly in either of my forms, though, which was apparent when Shen told me to grab the control yoke again. The plane hit something hard, bouncing us into the air, and then the nose of the plane dipped too far forward.

"Lost the controls. It's now or never." Shen stomped to the back of the plane and threw open the cargo bay door. He motioned for me to join him.

I secured the waist belt through the handle of Ben's suitcase and nestled it between our legs. It would feel weird as fuck, but Shen's back was too big for us to straddle, anyway. I hoped it would keep us from hurting ourselves.

I hated heights on a good day, but this was another level. We'd even practiced this jump once with Hank manning the plane. I could do this. All I had to do was take about ten steps to the gaping exit.

I felt Ben's body tense against me. "What's happening?"

"We're going skydiving." Shen's smile looked about as friendly as my earlier snarl.

But I can't—what is this?" He asked. "Where are the parachutes?"

"We don't have parachutes," I whispered.

"Big mountain!" Shen pointed. Then, as from a scene of one of my worst nightmares, he turned and jumped out of the plane.

"He's not wearing a parachute! Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, we're going to die, aren't we?"

I ran the remaining steps, Ben's suitcase banging between my legs, and launched myself off the ramp into the open air.

"You're fucking crazy!" Ben shouted, the long "E" continuing until something roared beneath us.

"What was that?" he whispered.

"Our parachute."

A moment later, I felt Shen take up the slack in the large strap and work it over his head as he flew. I landed hard on my back, on Shen's back.

Ben landed on me, knocking the breath from both of us. He coughed a few times and choked out, "What the fuck is going on?"

"Slight miscalculation in the straps," I said. "I think I put the harness on backward."

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