Page 18 of Luna Trials

Yet I’d promised to help Trenton through the Alpha Games if we even made it that far.

Seriously? What did I get myself in to?

“Trenton,” I addressed him directly, testing the waters, “do you have a plan or an angle to work to get through the season? I want to help.”

See? I could be the bigger person.

Stef looked up from her phone and glanced out the window, pretending she wasn’t interested in the conversation. Jareth’s eyes met mine in the rearview mirror again with a worried expression.

Trenton was silent–no shocker there–as he worked his jaw.

I let out a frustrated sigh. “Never–”

“You two just focus on not embarrassing us during the Luna Trials,” he grumbled in that gravelly tone that had most of the unmated females in Nuva Pack turning tits up and belly exposed, but made my wolf wince as if nails were running down a chalkboard.

Trenton turned to look out the window. “I don’t need help from anyone, especially not you.”

Lovely. We were off to a wonderful start.

*

Screw the Luna Trials.

The plane was what would kill me.

Nuva Pack was backwoods enough that I’d never seen a plane up close. I wasn’t ignorant, I’d watched TV and knew how planes worked. But the roaring beasts overhead as we pulled into the traffic outside the airport had my wolf pacing frantically and me breaking out in a cold sweat.

“Have either of you flown before?” My voice did not come out as calm and collected as I intended.

Stef laughed, sensing my weakness like the predator she was. “Scared of a little plane ride?”

First of all, those were big freaking planes.

And second, I knew for a fact that she hadn’t been anywhere further than Junction City like me. We were on the outskirts just past the freeway and I’d only been here once in high school when we took a trip to the planetarium as part of the government mandated shifter/human school integration program.

“You’ll be alright.” Jareth offered me a slight nod like he was some sort of world traveler. “Alpha Derek said they paid for first class.”

Well, I guess that sounded fancy.

Jareth pulled the van to the curb.

“They better have gotten us first class.” Stef was checking her reflection and applying lip gloss while holding up the front facing camera on her cellphone.

Too late I figured out why.

“Stay behind me,” Trenton barked, swinging open the passenger side door.

Stef pushed up her cleavage in the low-cut pink shirt she was wearing and blew herself a kiss before stepping outside the van.

Sweat was pooling in my armpits because I’d worn my warmest sweater like an idiot and my heart was still beating too fast. My hair was plastered to my face. My cheeks were bright red. I was going to trip and fall and embarrass myself…

“Come on,” Stefanie hissed at me.

I took a steadying breath and tried to smile. It probably looked like more of a grimace as I stepped onto the sidewalk while the cameras flashed and a group of people clustered outside a roped off section to the terminal.

Two burly men in black jeans and tops who smelled like humans but looked like shifters stood next to Trenton at the back of the van. He unloaded suitcases, handing them to a third guy who placed them on a cart. Stef was waving at the cameras like she was some sort of celebrity.

The chaos had my wolf growling. I hurried to the back of the van and grabbed my stuff, not sure what else to do with myself. The men were speaking into headsets, acting as a security detail, and more of them stood by the ropes.

---