Dangerous Mating (A.L.F.A., #3)(50)

And she’d do the same here, except it was her versus a jet.

As it turned out, Billy had a broken arm and wasn’t allowed to ride his banged-up bike anymore. So unless he walked, he wouldn’t be coming down their street much. And Billy wasn’t much for walking or anything else that required a bit of exertion.

Her biggest hurt came when she tripped over the curb and skinned her knees. She was used to that, so no biggie.

Now, she stood on top of a car instead of bicycle telling the bully where to go—back to the garages. Once she put four bullets into the windshield, the pilots were happy to accommodate her signal to go back. This plane was not taking off.

As the plane started moving in the right direction, she was yanked off the hood of the car, the gun taken from her hand. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Bryon hollered.

Sheldon joined her love in shouting at her. “Shooting at a plane is a federal offense, you know.”

“Good thing we’re in Cloustien, then,” she replied as Bryon held her in his arms. Sheldon harrumphed and got into the rental. As he slid into the front seat, his knees slammed into the steering column.

“Careful, I moved the seat up. I got short legs,” she said.

Sheldon looked to grumble under his breath, but she heard every word. A thought hit her. “Bryon, when you bit me, you said it was to claim me as yours forever.” He nodded and kissed her head.

“Yes, and now I’m going to kill you for that stunt,” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, but listen. Did your bite do more than just claim me?” she asked.

His brows rose high. “You’re gonna blame me for you suddenly going crazy and facing down a plane?”

She huffed. “No. Let’s get back to the tarmac and arrest these guys.” Riding back to the main building, she thought about the sudden and dramatic change in her thoughts, trust in herself, and physical prowess. Not only had Bryon made her his mate, but he had enabled to her to be a better person inside and out. She wondered if she’d be able to shift. She’d have to ask when they were alone.

The plane came to a stop in the same place it was when she and the guys had arrived. The man driving the company truck they were in parked next to the metal building housing the jets. Bryon put his hand over an ear with the headphone, pressing the speaker closer to his head.

“Damn. Not good,” he said.

“What?” The plane had powered down and they were rolling the portable stairs to the door. What could possibly go wrong? They had them.

“I was afraid of this,” he said. “The man on board is threatening to kill the women if they don’t get another jet for takeoff.”

“What?” She wanted to kick herself. Why hadn’t she thought of that before? Duh. Must be the lack of water, food, the vomiting, battling a demon, solving puzzles to save their lives, and turning into a superhuman that made her a little tired.

She dropped her head into her hands and groaned. This wasn’t how it played out in the movie she had made in her head. It was supposed to be an HEA—happily ever after—ending. The bad guys would be arrested, the hostages set free, and the heroine got the guy.

Sheldon knocked on the passenger side window of the truck, scaring the bejesus out of her. By the frown on his face, he’d heard the news, too. Bryon opened the door.

“You heard,” her mate asked.

“Yeah, one of the managers told me he was to prep the other plane. They are giving in to the traffickers’ demands.”

“No!” she cried. “They can’t do that. Don’t they see these women are in danger already?”

“I doubt they know anything about the crime ring,” Sheldon answered. “By the casualness of the employee who told us they were on the plane, it seems like it might be a normal thing to have a lot of women fly out together.”

Her heart squeezed. So many more women and children were out there, praying to be found and released. Or simply wanting to die to end their misery. Bryon put an arm around her and scooted her closer to him.

“Hey, now. You’ve done all you can to help these people. I haven’t heard from the military commander yet, but they should have the warehouse surrounded and be arresting the men involved. You’ve saved hundreds there alone.”

She glanced up from her hands. “We saved them. I never would’ve gotten through that damn wall if you hadn’t yanked me out. By the way, with all the walking and lack of food, I think I’ve dropped ten pounds.”

“That’s okay. We’ll get those back on you in no time and I can pound, suck, and lick, every inch of you.”

That sounded great to her. They needed to get home ASAP.

“Okay, guys.” Sheldon still stood outside the truck. “It’s getting a little too mushy for me. We still have a problem to take care of before you two go off and mate like rabbits.” Sheldon sighed. “We don’t need twenty dead women on our hands.”

While she talked naughty with her new lover, her brain churned in the background. Now, she trusted herself to come up with solutions that didn’t have numbers involved. She let herself relax and let both sides of her brain mesh and do their thing. If she could’ve done this in the water trap and the rocks, maybe they would’ve gotten out of it much sooner.

“No, we don’t need any dead people,” she said. “Sheldon, what color is your wolf?”