Barely Winging It (12 page)

“Is that why Havana reacted like she did this morning
simply because I knew
Dultyn
?”

“Yep.
A mate really can’t control their jealousy until they’re claimed, and even then
it can be intense at times, even for a human like me.”

Alphy
turned his head and looked at Gale.
“Really?”

“Really,” she answered.

Nix looked confused when he looked at
Bronya
.
“Really?”
She resisted the
urge to roll her eyes, but she couldn’t stop her brow from rising up on her
forehead. That was exactly how she felt for Nix.
“Yes,
really.”

Nix’s voice came out breathy. “W-would you let me
claim you?”

Bronya
could see the hope in his eyes, and she didn’t need long to think about it.
Everything that she learned about shifters these last several hours all made
sense to her. What she had experienced in the several hours wasn’t too far off of
what she was raised around, that her parents believed. She had seen how
Alphy
was with Gale, and Tom was with Connie. She saw they
had the same thing she had only seen her parents have. She had always wanted
that same thing, and she completely believed them when they said that is what
she would have with Nix.

Bronya’s
core heated, and her channel had a mini seizure. “Yes.” She saw his nose flare
right before he reached out and threaded his fingers through her hair, pulling
her into their first kiss. She only had just enough time to think about that
before she was lost in its heated passion. The whirring sound of the windows
being lowered didn’t register until she felt the heavy wind blowing against the
side of her head. Nix eased up on his suction, lightly nibbling her lips before
he pulled away.

Gale giggled as
Alphy
rumbled, “All right, you two, this is a small space. Nix, I would appreciate
you wait until you can find some place with a door, other than the car.”

Nix gave a pained growl.
“Yes, sir.”

“Wait,”
Bronya
asked
confused. “You said you guys walk around naked, so why would you have a problem
with us kissing?”

Gale laughed. “They have super senses, so they can
smell arousal. Oh, and don’t ever lie, ever. They can scent it. Most shifters
never lie because they are raised and conditioned that you can’t get away with
it, so it’s actually not a natural act for them. Only when they are talking to
humans do they sometimes need to.”

“Oh. Wait, something just occurred to me. You said
they live longer than humans, but I’m human. And you said you have to be born
one, not turned, so once we mate, I’ll die long before you?”

Nix shook his head. “No, when our fluids mix when we
mate, it changes a part of your chemistry to allow you to heal faster, and
your
aging will slow to match mine.”

“Oh, so how long do shifters live? How old are you?”

“Shifters live about five hundred years, and I’m
sixty-seven.”

Bronya
thought about that for a minute. “Wow, that’s a long time. That means I’ll
outlive my parents.”

“Hopefully.”
She looked curiously at Nix, confused by his
response. He saw her look and explained. “Every parent wants their child to
outlive them, sweetheart.”

“Right, sorry, that makes sense. It just shocked me.
Sorry.”

“I’ll understand if you want to wait.” Nix looked and
sounded slightly dejected.

“Of course I don’t want to wait. Have faith in fate.”
She couldn’t help but encourage Nix with her father’s own words he used to
preach to her.

The relief on his face gave her a little bit of pride
that she’d put it there. The doctor’s words pushed into her thoughts just then.
“
Things happen pretty fast in the
paranormal world,
” he had said.
Fast
indeed. I just met the man …
er
… shifter yesterday.
She thought about what Nix had just said.
“Shifters
fall in love fast …
giving our full
heart over to our mate is pretty instant.”

How fast would he really
want to move?
“Uh, so mating is the
equivalent to marriage?”

“Well, more so, why?” he cautiously asked.

“You said things happened fast, and giving your heart
is instant, so does that mean you’ll want to move in together?”

“As soon as you’re comfortable, I want you with me
always.”

In
for a penny?
“When did you want to do
that?”

Nix’s chest released a heavy breath, and he wrapped a
hand around the back of her head and brought their foreheads together.
“Oh my Dove, thank you.
You won’t regret it.”

Her trepidation must have shown through on her face.
Or maybe he can smell it?
Because his
own face took on a look of concern and he pulled back a bit. “What is wrong?”

Bronya
looked at him, slightly apologetic. “I like everyone there, but it’s a lot of
people all of the time. And what about flying? I love to fly.”

“That field you landed in is where we planned on
building my home. You think you could tolerate living in the house long enough
to get it built?” he asked.

“Ok, but what about my job? I live for flying, Nix.
You of all people should be able to understand that. And my father needs me
right now.”

Gale spoke up. “Hey, we could use a pilot when we buy
the plane, one that knows about
paranormals
. If you
could be that pilot, then you can still fly. And the pack will pay you.”

“And what are your problems are now my concerns,” Nix
added. “Being alive as long as I have been, I have quite a bit saved up. I can
help with your finances. I know you love to fly. I do, too, so I would never
ask you to stop doing it. I would feel much better knowing you won’t need to go
on any more repos.”

Bronya
gave a breathy laugh. “Yes, I can see how you’d be worried about it. It’s a
dangerous job. And since I’m not thinking for just me anymore, I’ll think about
it. It’s a lot of money we owe. But the commission my dad’s company will get
from you guys buying a plane from him is a big deal to him and the company. He
usually sells the much smaller planes. It will go a long ways to paying off the
debt.”

Alphy
tilted his head back a little. “What debt are you talking about?”

Nix answered him. “Her family had a series of medical
issues added on her college debt.”

“Well from what I hear from Enzo, your parents are
good people, and I trust his judgment. Add that you are their daughter, which
makes them a bit of an extended family. If you or your parents need anything,
let me know and we can work something out.”

“Thank you.” She smiled her gratitude to him through
the review mirror.

Gale looked back at Nix. “I have another idea. You
said she was able to land in that field you love so much, where you want to put
your house? Why not turn that into a private airstrip? We are going to have a
hospital anyways, and will probably eventually get a lot of incoming
paranormals
. It would be seriously risky to have them
arrive at a more public place with cameras and stuff. Can we do that?”

“That’s a really good idea,”
Alphy
said almost excitedly. “Nix, what do you think? I know you love the flowers,
but it’s a great idea to have our own private strip.”

“I don’t know. It
would
be ideal to have our own strip. Some of the
paranormals
that come in may be shifted or their injuries would definitely cause questions.
What do you think,
Bronya
?”

Bronya’s
heart beat warmly in her chest with being included in this discussion. “I think
you’ll need a bigger airstrip. What you’re planning on buying is a jet, not a
little plane like I had the day I landed in the field. You’ll have to, like,
double it I think. I don’t know—that would be costly depending on the amenities
you would want. For instance, the runway itself, what do you want it made out
of? Packed earth, gravel, asphalt or concrete? The cost of each of those varies
greatly added in the maintenance for each one varies in methods and cost. Also,
you may want a hangar complete with tools to maintain the plane. Oh, and
something or a place you could use to refuel.”

“Could you, maybe, write down a plan for each cost
level? I don’t know what we can and can’t afford until I see what is involved.
We have building equipment and builders, and will be getting more soon. I don’t
see those as big obstacles, but I did grant that strip of land to Nix, so that
is what concerns me the most. Maybe we can find another place on the property to
place the strip.”

Nix shook his head. “I’ve flown the entire property
many times. I think it’s the best spot for the strip. It’s the flattest surface.
It’s small to start, but if we clear some trees, we can make it larger.”

Bronya
was staring at the window when she heard Gale’s question. “So that just leaves
the question, what kind of house are you going to
have.
Now that you have your mate, Nix, she should be involved in it.”

“A tree-house.”
Bronya
answered without
thinking. She’d always loved trees. They were so connected to birds that she
loved so much which was connected to flying, which she loved even more. Up high
was where she was happiest, so she’d always wanted a tree-house, but she always
lived where there weren’t any trees to build one.

“Oh, that sounds so cool,” Gale commented. “You should
have that specialist in Washington come up and do it!”

“I know who you’re talking about. Would that be wise?
He’s human, isn’t he?”
Bronya
asked.

“As far as I know, probably.
But he’s the best,” Gale responded. “What do you
think, Nix?”

“I love the idea of a tree-house. I love being off the
ground. It would also prevent us from taking down any more trees than we have
to. I can think of many pros to the idea. You really want a tree-house,
Bronya
?”

Nix looked slightly excited when she turned to answer
him. She felt a flutter fill her belly, and a smile pulled up on her lips.
“I’ve always wanted a tree-house. I’ve never thought about actually living in
one, but I’d like to look into it more. It would also be great for near the
airfield. You think we can even have a lookout tower?”

“I don’t know. I imagine we could.” His smile lit up
the small space.

Gale was unmistakably excited about the idea. “I saw that
tree-house builder make them several different stories, and even ones with
lookouts. I bet you could absolutely have yourself a lookout or control tower,
as part of your own home even, if that is what you wanted. And since they do
most of their construction at their shop, building goes up pretty fast. I bet
we could have something before Christmas.”

Alphy’s
voice sounded official. “These are some great ideas. I’m officially placing you
two on the team in charge of planning the build for a private airstrip. If
you’d like, I’ll have Ryker pull up any information you need, including that
tree-house expert.”

There was quiet for a while as it seemed everyone was
thinking over everything they just discussed. It was a companionable silence
that helped
Bronya
further
assimilate
the massive info dump she had to sort through. However, one thing was clear—her
entire future was going to have this man sitting beside her in it.

Alphy
pulled up to the office building her father worked from. Even though it was
Saturday, she wasn’t surprised he was working. They hadn’t built up the company
enough when all their misfortunes had brought them down. Now her parents worked
whenever they could to keep it running. They prided themselves in keeping their
bills and staff paid, even at their own expense. And no doubt, with as
important as this deal was to them and the company, they were probably all too
happy to come down on a weekend.

****

Saturday morning

Nix hated being woken, but he loved that he woke
wrapped around his mate’s soft, warm body. After introducing his mate to Gale
and Connie, he grudgingly made his way to the meeting. Stepping into the room,
everyone was quietly drinking their coffee and looking over different sections
in a major newspaper.
Alphy
was reading news, while
Enzo was reading the sports sections. Matteo looked like he had the financials
and Slate the health section. And
Kace
was reading
the comics.
Of course.
“Where’s Ryker?”

Alphy
looked up from his paper. “He was checking out some of the surveillance
equipment. They weren’t working correctly. But we can start without him.”