Page 7 of Billionaire Wolf Needs a Pilot
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.On our own.Story of my life.
“Mr.Roberts,” Felicity called back in a controlled voice without turning around.“If you have anything valuable or important, secure it now.”
Well, fuck, that sounded ominous.I patted my jacket pocket where my father’s last letter sat unopened.The final words of a man I’d spent most of my life hating.“Everything’s secure.”
Another violent jolt sent a loose briefcase sliding across the floor.The documents inside detailed the environmental cleanup plan I’d never get to implement now.Twenty-five years avoiding Angel Spring, only to die trying to get back there.My father would appreciate the cosmic joke.
“Captain, altimeter’s dropping fast,” Bryce reported, his voice rising to a high pitch.
“I see it.”Felicity’s hands moved over the controls with practiced precision.“We need to counter this spin before we hit the mountains.”
The plane tilted at a sickening angle, and I caught glimpses of jagged, snow-covered peaks through breaks in the clouds.Too close.My wolf howled silently, hating the confinement, the helplessness.
“Can you at least aim for somewhere flat?”I asked, unable to keep the edge from my voice.
“That’s exactly what I’m—” Felicity started, but her words cut off as she executed a series of maneuvers that sent us lurching sideways.
For a moment, the spinning sensation lessened.I felt a flicker of hope as the plane seemed to respond to her commands.Then another gust hit us broadside.
“Damnit!”Felicity fought the controls, muscles straining visibly.“Bryce, full power to port engine, reduce starboard to seventy percent!”
“Full port, seventy starboard, aye!”The co-pilot’s hands flew over the controls.
The asymmetrical thrust created a counterforce to our spin.Slowly, for several agonizing moments, the world outside the window began to stabilize.My stomach lurched as we continued to lose altitude, but at least we weren’t corkscrewing toward the ground anymore.
“That’s it,” Felicity murmured.“Hold it steady, Bryce.”
“Holding,” he confirmed.
I exhaled slowly, realizing I’d been holding my breath.“Nice work.”
She let out a long breath.“Don’t celebrate yet.We’re still in trouble.”
The plane continued to descend through the blizzard, but now it was a more gradual descent.Through breaks in the clouds, I could make out the mountainous landscape below, endless white peaks with dense forests in the valleys.Angel Spring lay somewhere beyond those mountains.The town I’d abandoned, the memories I’d run from, the legacy I’d rejected until duty dragged me back.
“Can we make it to Angel Spring?”I asked, already knowing the answer.
Felicity’s laugh was short and humorless.“We’ll be lucky to put down anywhere that’s not a cliff face, Mr.Roberts.”
“Tanner,” I corrected automatically.“If we’re going to die together, you might as well use my first name.”
“Nobody’s dying today,” she replied with surprising fierceness.Her hand briefly touched her neck where her pendant rested.“I’ve never lost a passenger, and I don’t intend to start now.Even ones as determined to be miserable as you, Mr.Roberts.”
The comment should have irritated me.Instead, I found the corner of my mouth twitching upward against my will.Her fearlessness was refreshing.Most people sensed the predator beneath my skin and kept their distance.Either she was exceptionally brave or exceptionally foolish.Possibly both.
Despite myself, I felt a grudging respect for her stubborn optimism.It reminded me of my mother’s strength when she’d walked away from my father’s fortune, choosing freedom over security and dignity over wealth.
The plane lurched again, dropping at a frightening speed.My ears popped painfully as the cabin pressure changed.Warnings blared from the instrument panel.
“We’re losing hydraulic pressure,” Bryce called out, his voice cracking.“Flaps responding at minimal capacity!”
Through the windshield, I glimpsed a wall of white.This time it wasn’t clouds, but a massive wall of snow and ice rushing toward us.The mountainside loomed, impossibly close.
“Brace!”Felicity shouted, yanking hard on the controls.
The plane banked sharply, engines screaming in protest.My stomach lurched into my throat as we narrowly missed the rocky outcropping, but the sudden maneuver sent us into another violent spin.The aircraft shuddered around us, metal groaning under forces it was never designed to withstand.
“Not today,” Felicity muttered, wrestling with the controls as the world outside became a dizzying blur of white and gray.
