My mind strayed as Oliver drove us to the small, private airport on the other side of town. Samantha sat in the backseat brimming with excitement, her brown eyes wide with wonder and infectious joy. I had spent too much time here, my people needed me. I needed to leave…at the same time, j wanted to stay. I risked a glance at Oliver as he navigated the roads, and thought absently to myself if he would consider coming back to my pack with me, and as soon as the thought entered my head, I banished it. He wouldn’t. He had a life here, a lot of things going for him.
“We’re here,” he announced as he pulled into the empty airport.
Samantha shrieked and was the first one out of the vehicle, I couldn’t help but laugh at her excitement. I hadn’t known how to feel about Samantha when I first met her, except that she was my lover’s betrothed. And when she had attempted our lives, I hated her. But now, I regarded her in a different light, the light of someone who just wanted to be free, someone who just wanted to live life on her terms.
I alighted the vehicle, carrying with me Samantha’s bag as we headed inside. Our feet echoed on the marble floors and for a second, I wondered if this place was functional.
“How did you find this place?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s been in my family for years.”
“And your father doesn’t know about this place?” I asked.
Oliver shrugged. “He handed it over to me more than a decade ago. He never liked this place. I use it. To travel, move my paintings…things like that.”
As we walked across the tarmac, a man stood in front of a small plane. Halfway through, the hairs at the back of my neck stood on end, and my wolf growled in my head. I stopped and turned to survey the tarmac, and then my eyes finally rested on the man in front of the plane. His eyes met mine and he immediately looked away. I could feel eyes on us, but I couldn’t see who or where they were.
“What’s wrong?” Oliver asked. Samantha had also stopped to stare at me.
“Something’s wrong,” I stated. “I think we should leave.”
Samantha shrieked. “What?!! We can’t do that!!”
“It’s not safe…” I started.
“No!” She replied, her face turning red from anger.
My wolf growled in the back of my head, temporarily distracting me from Samantha’s tantrum. I looked around again, growing increasingly frustrated at not seeing anything. I could feel the danger, I just couldn’t see it. There was something lurking around. Something…someone…
Oliver placed his hand on my shoulder, providing temporary calm to the storm that was in my mind.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
I shook my head. “I can’t say…this place…”
“It’s nothing,” he said reassuringly.
“How well do you know him?” I asked, nodding towards the middle-aged man staring at us intently.
Oliver chuckled. “Very well. I grew up around him. He wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust him.”
I wasn’t placated, the more I looked at the man, the more I was convinced that he was up to no good. As though sensing my thoughts, he tipped his fez cap at me and smirked.
“Come on…” Oliver said, wrapping his hand around mine and pulling me towards the plane. “Let’s get a move on.”
Samantha jumped excitedly and shook the man’s hand. While Oliver and this strange man spoke.
“Gabriel, this is Steve. He’ll fly Samantha out to Mexico where she would take her flight.”
Steve nodded in my direction. “Hello.”
“Who are the people you brought with you?” I asked.
The question was a shot in the dark but the way Steve froze and his eyes widened temporarily told me that my shot had hit its target.
“I don’t know what you…”
Before the words were out of his mouth, I grabbed him by the neck and threw him across the tarmac.
“Gabriel!!!”
“He knows something…” I said and advanced on Steve.
His eyes widened even more as he struggled to his feet, behind me I could hear Samantha screaming. Oliver stepped between me and Steve just as I reached him.
“What are you doing?”
“Oliver…”
“Stop this minute!!!”
His voice was firm and anger brewed in his gaze. He turned to Steve and helped him to his feet, and without sparing me one more glance, walked past me to the plane. I stood in the middle of the tarmac and watched as Samantha’s bag was loaded into the plane and she said her goodbyes to Oliver. Oliver came to stand beside me as we watched the small place taxi the runway and take off.
“What was that?” Oliver asked me as soon as the plane was out of sight.
I shook my head. “I thought there was danger…my wolf…”
“Well, it would seem that your wolf was wrong,” he said and pointed to the skies. “She’s fine. She’s gone. There was no need for that.”
I opened my mouth to argue but closed it and nodded. She was gone. There was no more danger. I sighed and shrugged. “I’m sorry. I was just worried, I guess.”
Oliver smiled endearingly, “It’s fine. I love that you care for Samantha’s well-being regardless of everything that has happened between us.”
I nodded and smiled. “She’s just a victim of circumstance. I have a feeling that we would have been best friends if we had met under different circumstances.”
Oliver’s smile widened. “I love that you think that. However, I would go through all this again if it meant having to meet you and have you in my life.”
Oliver leaned in and kissed me, and at that moment nothing else mattered. Not Samantha, not Steve, not the mysterious eyes that I could still feel on us. They all disappeared, now it was just us. When we finally parted, gasping for air and passion burning in our eyes, I knew that we would make it. I took Oliver’s hand as we left the airport, lost in a euphoria that was familiar to me and yet still felt new. It didn’t matter that I would soon have to burst this beautiful bubble we had built by going back to my pack. For now, I could enjoy this.
So lost was I that I didn’t notice the black SUV that was conveniently packed opposite the entrance to the airport.