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From this distance, Bloodstone Island looked like paradise. The horrors that lurked there were invisible. Like most things, its true nature was hidden until you were right upon it.
Much like people. From far away, a person might appear to be smiling, but once you stood next to them, you saw the smile was actually a hungry grin. That the gleam in their eyes was really madness.
Chapter 14
Wyatt
Once we’d leveled off and were far enough away from the island, Kolton joined us. “You guys can take off your seatbelts and move around if you want. We have about a few hundred miles to the coast, where we’ll need to refuel, and then another couple hundred miles or so to our pack lands.”
The survivors mostly stayed put, but several others unsnapped their seatbelts and stretched their legs, enjoying their new freedom. Kira stood and walked closer to one of the viewports out the side. Joining her at the window, I stood behind her, watching the ocean zip by beneath us.
Finally, I leaned forward, lips close to her ear. “It took longer than I wanted, but I’m happy I got you off that damned island.”
“Yougot me off the island?” Kira said, turning and giving me a knowing smile. “Um, pretty sure it was actually my brother and your buddy who got us off the island. Or did I miss a step somewhere?”
“You know what I mean,” I said, poking her in the stomach.
Kira scrunched up her face. “I could say the same thing, you know. MaybeIshould be gladyougot off that island. I seem to remember trying to get you sent home. Then you had to be alltough and stay. The macho martyr, right? Or were you trying to impress me or something?”
I flicked her nose. “Are you still holding that over my head? You’ve got to let that go.”
“I don’t know,” Kira said, running a finger down my chest. “It’s gonna take me a while to get over how dumb that was of you.”
A retort was already forming on my lips, something to keep the banter going, but I noticed Kolton from the corner of my eyes. He was leaning against the wall of the helicopter, arms crossed. The cargo area had been enchanted in some way to keep the roar of the propellers from drowning out the conversation inside. He’d been listening to our whole flirtatious conversation.
Despite myself, heat rose to my cheeks.
Kira noticed him as well and quickly pulled her hands away from me, tucking them behind her back. We looked like a couple of teenagers who’d been caught humping in the back of a car. Would Kolton be pissed? I still remembered the goofy wrestling match we’d gotten into back in Fangmore for the mega-fans event.
Kolton’s laugh spluttered out of him. “Relax,” he said to me. “You don’t have to hide that stuff anymore. The show is over, right? Hell, Kiki confessed her love for you on live television.”
“So, uh, we’re all good?” I asked hesitantly.
“Here’s the deal,” Kolton said. “I suspected long before that confession. I think the whole world could see what was happening in every episode.” He cocked his eyebrow. “I still want to slug you in the nose for good measure, but only because that’s what brothers are supposed to do. I’m happy for you guys. Like, seriously.” He laughed and slapped me on the shoulder. “Now my best friend is gonna be my brother-in-law.”
Brother-in-law? His assumption that Kira and I would mate and marry surprised the hell out of me. I wanted to be with Kira,but somethingthatimportant needed to be discussed between us. We’d been too busy surviving that anything beyond getting to the next day alive seemed like something too far away to even contemplate.
Kira gaped at her brother. “Would you shut up? We arenottalking about this right now. There’s a war happening back home. Can we look at the big picture, please?” Her cheeks were an adorable shade of red.
It was all I could do not to laugh. Ninety percent of the time, she was the biggest badass in the room, but once you started talking about feelings and things, she got all freaked out. It was cute and funny, mostly because it was so out of character for her.
Deciding to throw her a lifeline, I changed the subject. “How are my people doing? The unofficial pack?”
Kolton’s grin faded, and he nodded for us to follow him. “You should talk to August.” He led us to the cockpit. “August, your buddy here wants to know how your pack is doing.”
August glanced away from the windscreen and grinned at me. “The pack is kicking ass and taking names, bro. Most of these otherofficialpacks talk a big fucking game, but when the shit hits the fan, it’s the loners like us who know what’s up. Some of these official packs are on the verge of collapse, already splintering, and those wolves are shitting themselves. Us? We’re cruising.”
Kira squeezed my arm so tightly, I thought she would cut off the blood flow. “Wait,” I said. “Did you say the packs are collapsing?”
Kolton nodded. “Several of the packs have already splintered into smaller packs. It’s absolute chaos. The few that haven’t splintered, like ours… let’s just say there’s a ton of tension.” He looked at Kira. “Several elders are pissed that August and the rest of Wyatt’s pack are still on our land, even though they’re theonlyreason we haven’t been overrun. It’s the same oldprejudices. It’s fucking stupid. Dad’s held us together through the tension, better than almost any of the other packs. It’s pretty impressive, honestly.”
Kira glanced over her shoulder at Gavin. He sat, head back against his seat with his eyes closed. The steady rise and fall of his chest indicated that he was asleep.
“What about the Ninth Pack?” Kira asked, turning back around.
Kolton and August grimaced. “Those guys are the biggest assholes we’ve had to deal with,” August said. “They want the Eleventh Pack lands.Bad.”
Kolton nodded and patted August on the shoulder. “These guys have been a godsend. Like I said, without them, the Ninth Pack would have invaded and very likely eviscerated us.” Kolton chewed the inside of his cheek as he turned back to Kira. “Jayson and his pack elders have accused our pack of orchestrating the assassination of Jayson’s father. They’re trying to push into our territories to kill off as many of our pack members they can get a hold of. We’re already one of the smallest packs. We can’t afford to lose more members.”
