Chapter 24 Ch 24

Within a matter of hours, the enormous stone mansion and rolling vineyards were fading behind into the vast French countryside. We flew on a small cargo jet that had been used for transporting racehorses, according to Tandan. The cargo space was necessary because Basileus refused to shift for Matt just to fly home. He didn't listen when I complained about his pettiness.

"Granola?" Lee asked, offering a bag to me. She sat on the metal bench directly across from my seat.

"Sure." I reached over to take the bag from her.

Basileus growled irritably from where he lay on the floor of the jet. His glowing eyes pierced me from where his enormous head nestled atop his clawed hands.

"He doesn't like how the plane adjusts when we move," explained Lee. "He's apparently really sensitive to the cabin pressure. He almost killed Tandan on the flight over to rescue you because he wouldn't stop squirming."

Tandan glared at her. He was pretending to study an outdated fashion magazine while slipping in and out of a doze.

Chuckling, I poured some of the granola in my palm and devoured it. I had just eaten breakfast with Basileus not that long ago, but I was ravenous again.

"I do not appreciate the feeling of being in the air." Basileus growled over his claws. "I am a land animal."

Lee smirked as she took her granola back. "We could put some wings on you and change that. I have an angel costume from a few Halloween's ago that would go great with your fur."

We all watched Basileus for his reaction but he grumpily turned his head away and ignored her. She and I laughed.

The flight dragged for a miserable eight hours. We all passed in and out of sleep, surviving off the water bottles Tandan had brought and Lee's meager granola. Basileus grew increasingly cranky. It would have been much more fun to have Matt around, though he and Tandan got along like bitty old women. We all stirred when the copilot came through the cockpit door with a tired smile. He was one of Basileus' wolves, too.

"We'll be landing in twenty minutes," he said. "Thank you all for your patience."

"Thank you for keeping us alive," Lee murmured.

I gave him a thumbs up. The poor guy glanced at Basileus for affirmation, but the beast just growled and closed his eyes. Once the copilot retreated to his realm of many buttons, Lee patted my knee.

"I'm so excited for you to come to Bloomberg," she told me. "It's kind of like home for all of us. It's where we all met and were united."

"I'm excited too." I meant it. I wanted a place to call home.

After we landed and Basileus bolted off the jet, we headed towards a black Infinity. Basileus kept close to me and I strummed my fingers through the fur on his back. Lee and Tandan walked ahead of us. Their hands brushed but they didn't touch each other. A memory pulled to the forefront of my mind. Back at the mansion, I had eavesdropped on Lee talking to Matt. Tandan hadn't marked her. Thinking about how insanely horny I had been since stepping into life with a wolf spirit, I didn't get how that was possible. How were they not all over each other? They clearly had chemistry, even if there was some bad history involved.

"You know you're going to have to shift," Lee told Basileus when we reached the vehicle. "Your big ass isn't fitting in this little car."

Basileus rose up to his full height and crossed his arms. "I will run. I will not be shifting back until we reach Tandan's house."

"You can't be seen running around." She gave him a deadpan look.

"I will stick to the forest."

Her exasperated gaze fell on me. "Help me out, will you?"

"When have I ever been able to force him to do anything?" I asked with a hard look at our staggering monster. He snorted at me. "He's been all pent up anyway. I think we should let him do what he wants."

"I am the King," he reminded us. "I will do what I want, yes."

Lee patted his furry arm. "Okay. We'll let you believe what you want."

Though she was only teasing, he growled at her. She swiped at him and then grabbed my hand. Tandan held the backseat door open for us.

"See you over there then, big guy." She stuffed me in the backseat and slid in beside me.

Tandan slid into the driver seat and started the engine. "You're in a rare mood, Lee," he remarked.

"What? I'm happy to be home."

"It's refreshing," I said. "Everything has been so dark and depressing lately."

"True. I could use a drink right about now."

I nodded. "I can't remember what I used to drink. Isn't that weird? This memory thing is fucked up."

The car lurched into motion and Basileus bolted off to the forest. I watched his body move so swiftly, so languidly. Only then did I recognize a slow itch in my bones. My body craved to shift and run like a wolf. It was a startling sensation to feel.

"So what exactly do you remember?" Tandan asked.

"Well . . . I remember bits and pieces. Some things are hazy, but it's enough to know the general timeline of my life. I think. But the little things are harder to remember. I can't remember my favorite drink or my phone number but I remember the combination to my apartment in Savannah."

A perplexed look shadowed Lee's face. "That's so weird. I mean, it's a miracle you remember as much as you do. It's not like wolf spirits are just handed out to humans every day. We're really lucky it worked."

"Hmm," I speculated, tapping my nails on my knees, "that's true. Why don't we hand out more wolf spirits, though? I'm sure wolves are dying every day from age or sickness. Why not transfer their spirits into humans? Basileus is so bent on growing his kingdom anyway."

"Probably because losing your wolf spirit is like discrediting you as a wolf," Tandan told me. "It's stripping your identity away. We aren't part wolf. We are wolves. If we did that to every dying wolf, Basileus would look like a monster to his own kind."

"Oh. That makes sense."

My throat felt tight. I forgot that, aside from basic instinct, I had so much to learn about being one of them now. Not to mention, all of the fear and loathing I had for wolves had dissipated. I was one of those wolves now. The ones who had killed and taken away so much from me and humankind would still be at the top of my shit list, but I couldn't hate them in the same way I had. At least I had the power to stop Basileus from ordering any kind of killings.

The car slowed and Tandan whispered to himself, "Home sweet home."

I glanced out of the window. Basileus sat in the overgrown front yard with his tongue hanging from his jaw. It was the most he had ever looked like a canine to me, and I had to stifle a chuckle. My loins blazed up. As soon as I got him alone, I would put my inner seductress to use.

"Let's go, people!" Lee cheered.