Matteo

How this absolutely stupid plan was working was beyond me. I'd thought through several scenarios and possible outcomes to Barron's stupid proposal, and only about six of them made it this far.

The one that I deemed most likely was that I would have just been ambushed at the border. This entire time Barron had been actually plotting against me, and this whole thing was just one big set up. I would show up at Vindicta's border with my nine pack members just to be greeted by an army of Vindicta and Uirium members that would kill me on the spot. In that scenario, I would accept the stupidity and naivety of my own actions and welcome defeat. I would have no other option. I could simply just pray that Kaia didn't decide to suddenly want to play hero and come to avenge me.

Because no matter how my fate decided to pan out, as long as Kaia played her part, she would be safe.

As I walked aimlessly with Hayden, it became clear to me where a lot of Kaia's crude humor came from. He cracked a few jokes that I was sure I had heard Kaia make once or twice. It made a dark pit swell in my chest just thinking about my girl. I wasn't aware of much about Hayden beyond what Barron had told me. He and Kaia were close to one another when they were stuck together in Vindicta's prison, both physically and emotionally. Being in the cell adjacent to her's, he had come to be a mediator and a friend to my slightly psychotic mate.

Whereas I knew that Barron was sending over Hayden, I had no clue he was sending over Taylor when he had. When I came to realize who Taylor was, I questioned her myself as to why Barron was sending over his own pack members if he was only an alliance. Alliances in pack issues only tend to intervene if and when the packs at war decide to attack. Otherwise, actions like sending in Taylor to cause a scene would be means of starting a war with Uirium, as well, which was beyond senseless. Alliances in circumstances like these serve more as a form of backup rather than a true enemy, not on the same team but not actively fighting them.

Taylor quickly admitted Barron's plan. His intentions would have worked beautifully if I was an idiotic, lenient Alpha. Unfortunately, the chances of me ever trusting Taylor enough to let her walk freely around my mate without knowing she wasn't an actual threat was absolutely ethereal. I didn't reach out to Barron after speaking with Taylor. I asked Farrah. She wasn't one to stoop to whatever nonsense that Barron or Adrian would be feeding her, so I trusted what she had to say over Barron's big mouth. Her story matched up with Taylor's and kind of confirmed that Barron wasn't a total prick. Therefore, I got in touch with Barron who asked, "Do you really think I want to help that brick-brained idiot?" before filling me in on his deceitful little plan to undermine Vindicta and help my mate. I suppose she somehow wormed her way into his heart. If I wasn't so relieved that I didn't have to worry about Barron's pack any longer, I'd be drilling my elbow into his temple for taking any sort of liking towards what is mine.

He alerted me that he would be sending Hayden over. At first, I thought it was beyond foolish and unnecessary. It was also just putting the plan in jeopardy by revealing the truth to Kaia that we had been hiding for weeks. Originally, we both agreed that Kaia was a bit of a hellion. We couldn't positively decide how she would react with the information that her forbidden bestie was actually putting his own life and pack at risk to help her. Kaia also had a tendency to not be the best decision maker and secret keeper, so it terrified both of us that she might slip up and do or say something dumb. The entire endeavor was far too risky, so we deemed telling Kaia as a minor problem to worry about later.

It was when Barron proposed the hypothetical situation that Kaia might not agree to go with Taylor unless she had a feeling she could be trusted that we realized Kaia would need to be made aware of the plan. I wanted to tell her, but we both knew that Kaia would have tried putting a stop to me risking my own life to save her's if she knew the entire thing. She would try to think of a million and one other ways to go about it that meant me not leaving her side and leaving her alone. So, Barron sent Hayden, someone she trusted, to relay only the bits and pieces of the plan that she needed to know: Barron was our ally, and Taylor was here to help her.

That earned him a point or two in my book. Hayden had the opportunity to run, never even come in to Caedes territory, and never be seen again, but he didn't. He followed through with the plan and returned to Barron when it was all over. It was something I could never imagine Kaia doing. She'd throw up a peace sign at the border, spit, and then laugh as she booked it.

"I've got other things to deal with right now. Love you, bye," Barron's voice floated to my ears followed by the small ring signaling the end of a call. I scrunched my nose up in disgust but was happy that he and Farrah seemed to be making progress. They may be the worst mate pairing I'd ever seen. "It's about time you guys got here," he called out as we eventually came into his line of sight. I rolled my eyes.

"You couldn't have picked a more remote area of the woods if you tried," I noted, surveying the thick covering of trees around us. Taking in a deep breath, Barron smiled proudly.

"I know. It's the densest part of the forest." His eyes connected with mine. The cocky smile still plastered to his lips from the last time I saw him. "Patrols only come out here when there's suspicious activity in the northern part of the territory. What a f--king idiot." I nodded, agreeing that Adrian Rache did tend to have a little too much faith in the safety of his land. Luckily, they would be too tied up with the commotion we had caused in the southeast area of the territory to worry about the north.

"How much time do we have to get this over with?" I asked, my arms crossing over my chest as Barron continued to mentally praise himself. I could only handle so much time with him. He was a good Alpha, and he knew it. He was not, however, a humble Alpha, and that made it practically impossible for me to stomach him as a human being. If I didn't die from him or Adrian first, I might end up taking my own life from sheer annoyance.

"Eh, not much," he said, seemingly unphased. "I told blockhead that I saw you making your way towards the southern part of the territory, so I sent seven of my own to run around aimlessly to confuse his stupid mutts." By the way he was laughing, this was clearly all very entertaining for him.

"He is an Alpha, you know," I acknowledged, noticing his heavy use of nicknames.

He scoffed, looking me dead in the eyes, and said, "His other half was human. He is no Alpha."

Kaia

I could practically feel the bile in my stomach sloshing around and heaving upwards as Taylor dragged me through the airport. The car ride was a horrendous activity full of unanswered questions and vomit-breaks. I prayed to the Moon Goddess to make it stop. She didn't. I prayed to God to magically put my motion-sickness medication in my hands. He didn't. I prayed to the Devil to kill me. Clearly, that went unanswered, as well. I was moments away from reaching out to Zeus.

Luckily, we arrived at the airport. It was a familiar experience because only a few months ago did Matteo and I have to fly home from Canada. However, the weird, high-intensity feeling like I was the main character in an action movie who was being hunted down was a new addition to being in the airport that did not make my stomach react calmly. In fact, I threw up right in the middle of the floor, and I thought Taylor was going to beat me over the head. All she kept saying was, 'is this how you people lay low?'

Boarding the plane was a different situation. As I walked down the isle, I read each seat number until I finally found the one that matched my ticket. I could feel Taylor's impatience radiating off of her in waves, but they couldn't fly the plane until I was seated, so I was going to take my time. My stomach still wasn't entirely settled, and I kind of wanted to ask if we could pop open a window for me to dry heave out of for a second.

My eyes widened as they finally found the matching number. However, my face quickly fell as I realized where the seat was located. I stopped in my tracks causing Taylor to smack into me.

"Ow!" She hissed.

"Uh, I'm not sitting there," I said, pointing at the seat like there was a dead body sitting in it.

"Yes, you are. That's your seat. Now, get in," she pushed. I kept my feet grounded as the grumbles of other people trying to board the plane met my ears.

"No! I can't sit by the window," I argued, turning around to look at Taylor. I was glad that it was Taylor who was transporting me like luggage to who know's where because she wouldn't tell me. First of all, Taylor was short, so I got to look down at her. It made me feel better arguing with her because I felt like I was fighting with a child. Taylor was also not nearly as aggressive as Dani. I'm sure Daniella would have just thrown me in the chair the minute I stopped moving. Perhaps, I'll have Matteo consider making Taylor my new babysitter.

"Dude, it's a window! Go!"

"No!" By now, the people around us were getting to Daniella's level of aggressive. I could hear some little old lady call me a brat, and I shot my gaze around trying to find the saggy-titty witch. I was interrupted by another shove.

"Sit down," Taylor grunted, effectively managing to push me down into the seat. A few people muttered 'finally' as the line started moving forward again.

"Taylor, I can't do this. Really." I tried standing up, but Taylor pushed me back down with a stern look. She was going to be one of those short, angry moms when she was older. I could feel it. Jack's poor kids.

"Sit," she ordered. I gawked at her and debated asking if she was even allowed telling me what to do. "Here." She reached inside of the bag and pulled out a pill bottle, tossing it to me. I eyed the bottle in confusion as she jammed the bag in the overhead compartment.

"What are these?" I asked. I didn't recognize them. They definitely weren't the pills that Matteo bought me, and I'd never been much of a pill popper.

"Some medication that he put in there for you," she answered as she got comfortable in her seat. "He just said to give you those as soon as we got on the plane."

"But what for?"

"God, I don't know. Probably because he knows you get carsick."

"Awe," I mumbled, trying to read the label on the canister. I couldn't, but it was the thought that counts. It was stupid and simple, but my heart felt warm that even when he was trying to ship me away like an animal, he was still worried about me getting sick.

"Yeah, real romantic. Just take them," she chided boredly, leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes. Sighing, I popped open the bottle, asked Taylor how many I was supposed to take, and then swallowed two of them dry.

The rest of the plane boarding was uneventful. It was about another half an hour of people who smelled weird walking too close to Taylor. Everytime someone would touch her, she would flinch away and lean towards me. Ha, I thought, karma. I was beginning to feel okay again, but then the plane started. It felt like someone set off an atomic bomb in my stomach. My attention snapped to the window. I placed a hand on the glass and tried pressing on it lightly. It didn't budge.

"How do I open the window?" I asked to no one in general.

"You don't," Taylor responded. I frowned, and felt fear ball up in my chest. I twisted around in my seat to see how far away the bathroom was. I gulped, realizing that if worst came to worst I would either be sprinting or throwing up in Taylor's lap.

I returned to my regular seating position. The plane started moving forward, and the unsettling weight in my chest intensified. I quickly slammed down the blind in front of the window so that I couldn't see the world moving around us. Taylor was unphased. Her head was tipped back, eyes closed. I assumed this was a regular way of travel for her because she was far too comfortable.

As the plane lifted from the track, I dug my nails into the arm rests. Unable to stop myself, my claws came out for a moment, damaging the fabric. I grimaced. Matteo so would have given me that disapproving parental look if he saw me do that. I couldn't stop the grimace from morphing into a frown. This would be easier with Matteo. His hand holding mine was always enough to help my nerves to calm themselves. He wouldn't have yelled at me for throwing up in the middle of the airport, either. He would have rubbed my back and told everyone staring at me to mind their business. The plane ride wouldn't feel like blasting into a terrifying voyage into the unknown depths of space. It would have been bearable. But, sadly, all I had was my midget warrior, and she's about as much help as she was tall.

"Taylor," I said softly. I knew we were flying now, although I couldn't see it. I should have felt more fearful, but the heaviness of my eyelids lead me to focus on that instead. Wow, I'm tired.

"Hm?"

"Why won't you just tell me what's going on?" Her eyes popped open to look over at me, and they narrowed.

"Because we aren't there yet."

"Where?"

"Nice try," she mused. I sighed, crossing my arms like a child. They felt so heavy. I was moving in slow motion. Taylor's head rolled on her shoulders as she looked back at me as I pouted. She shook her head, and closed her eyes, leaning back. "There are ears everywhere, Elyse."

I wanted to argue and tell her not to call me that, that it was an ugly name, but the tired feeling swaddled me like it was a weighted blanket. My blinking slowed until I could no longer keep my lids from parting.

I had a feeling that the medication was more of a sedative than a cure for motion sickness.