Chapter 286

When I returned to my seat with Nicholas in tow, I found Elva still excitedly looking out the window. She had her hands on either side of it, her nose pressed up against the glass.

“Elva,” I said, lightly scolding her. If there was any turbulence, she was likely to bump her head against the glass and hurt herself.

“Sorry, Mommy,” Elva said as she turned. When she saw Nicholas with me, her eyes went wide. “Nick-lass!”

“Hi, Princess,” Nicholas said. Elva beamed. Nicholas glanced at me. “May I sit beside Elva for the rest of the flight?”

The rows were six seats wide with an aisle down the middle. This put three seats on either side of the aisle. If Nicholas took the seat beside Elva, that would have me sitting in the third seat, the one nearest the aisle and farthest from the window.

That sounded like the perfect spot for me. Or, at least, as perfect as I was likely to get in this shaky box a mile up in the sky. So I nodded, quickly agreeing.

Elva cheered.

Nicholas slid into the seats and sat down in the middle. I took the seat on the end and immediately fastened my seatbelt. Like this, if I kept my eyes forward, I could convince myself I was riding the bus or the subway. Modes of transportation I was much more comfortable with.

As the flight progressed, things seemed much calmer. Elva would point out things through the window. Nicholas would look and tell her what they were.

I was glad that Elva could have this experience. I imagined the world looked very different from all the way up here. Elva might not ever be able to see things from this perspective again, once this trip was done.

I wished I could offer her a life of better experiences. Once we would return home, our life would go back to the way it was. Long hours working. Elva watching too much TV. Buses and subways and smog. Underpaid people crammed into overpriced apartments, with only enough extra money to feed ourselves.

I couldn’t imagine us ever traveling on an airplane again. And who knew if Elva would ever get to the beach again? Let alone a private island.

But those things were happening now. She was having those experiences here, and that gave me comfort. More it even made me happy.

Though that likely wasn’t just because of the experience of this trip.

Having Nicholas here, sitting between my daughter and me, was making my wolf very satisfied. Its pack was here. Its family. My family.

If only it could last.

Suddenly, the plane began to tremble and shake, like it was driving over a bumpy road. But there were no bumpy roads in the air! Was this the turbulence I had heard about?

Elva lifted her arms and cheered. That could, it seemed, wasn’t afraid of anything. Maybe she just didn’t understand that she should be afraid. We never really talked about riding airplanes before. I’m not sure she even understood that they could crash.

I clawed at the armrests, holding on for dear life. I wished I had Elva’s innocence. I wished I didn’t know as much as I did about crashing planes and fear.

Nicholas placed his hand over mine. Carefully, he pried my fingers from the cushion of the armrest, and slid his palm beneath mine, facing up. Our fingers laced together with ease, so that now I was holding onto his hand for dear life instead of the cushion.

“Just a little turbulence,” he said, to me or to Elva, I didn’t know. Maybe both. “It never lasts long.”

Was he telling the truth? Was he lying to make me feel better?

I squeezed his hand so tightly, it must have hurt. But he withstood it without as much as a wince.

Then, the plane shook even harder. I slammed my eyes closed. I grit my teeth. I was going to die. This was the end for sure. After everything I had faced, to die here and now, on this royal plane on a way to a luxury vacation island, seemed like some kind of cruel joke by fate.

How unfair. How unkind. At least let me enjoy the beach first!

“More turbulence,” Nicholas whispered.

This time he was right up against my ear. I could feel the warm puffs of his breath against my skin, rustling my hair. With my eyes closed so tightly, my other senses heightened. I could feel the warmth of him, leaning so close to me. I could practically feel his words, rather than just hear them.

“Nothing to worry about,” Nicholas continued. His words were so comforting. Was he putting some Alpha command to them, to help me relax? Or was it simply his closeness that was adding to my calm? My wolf was practically purring, turned to putty in the warmth of his presence.

His closeness like this wasn’t sexual, I felt no need to suddenly jump him. But it was… intimate. Like this, I felt his words whisper down deep inside of me, practically into my very soul. Something weaved between us. It was electric yet soothing at the same time.

Instinctively I leaned into him, searching for more. He didn’t move an inch away, allowing my closeness and offering all the comfort he could muster in return.

It was in this state, that I endured the rest of the plane ride. And when it was done, I barely noticed the landing. Nicholas stayed close to me and I stayed lost to him.

Until Elva called for me, after the plane had finally stopped moving. “Mommy, look!”

“It’s okay,” Nicholas whispered, when I hesitated. The thought of looking at that window gave me a jolt of fear. Yet with Nicholas’s encouragement and Elva’s excitement, I peeked open my eye to see.

The view stole my breath away.

Beyond the tarmac and the runway, was the bluest crystal waters I had ever seen in my life. Gentle waves seemed to sparkle under the light of the late afternoon.

“So much water!” Elva said.

“That’s our southern ocean,” Nicholas explained. “That’s where the merfolk live.”

The landing strip was private and part of the royal island, so it didn’t take long after we left the plane to find our way to the mansion we would be staying in. It was miniscule compared to the palace, though still so much larger than anything I had been used to from my regular life.

It was two stories tall, concrete and painted plaster with a tin roof. Storm shutters were open above every window. Along the entire perimeter were palm trees and plants with large leaves and brightly colored flowers.

I felt as though I had walked into some kind of greenhouse filled with strange, far away flowers and plants. It was unusual to me, but no less beautiful. A wooden deck fully encircled the mansion, with the largest part in the back of the house, where steps led down to the wind sand of the beach.

We went there now, as a group, without even stepping inside. Several staff waved and greeted us as we walked. We were assured our luggage was being transported inside.

“Before we show you your rooms,” said lead housekeeper, a woman named Selma with a tan and sun-kissed brown hair. “Please make yourself comfortable in our open-air lounge area. Our bartenders and wait staff are ready to serve you.”

With her direction, we moved onto the deck.

I stood there a moment with Elva, our hands intertwined, staring at the beach and the ocean, and the sun slowly lowering behind it all.

“Is this what heaven looks like, Mommy?” Elva asked.

As Nicholas came to stand on my other side, I knew the answer.

“Yes.”