What She Deserved

CHAPTER NINE

ROSE

Even though I was with my friends, we were all oddly silent. With every mile we passed, I felt my bond stiffen like it was a tightrope. My heart was clenched together, my wolf was howling to be with her mate. It won’t be long; I told my wolf and she growled at me.

He should have come with us, I rolled my eyes, sometimes our wolves thought the world spun around their existence. They could be a pain in the a*s if they didn’t get something their way.

He has other duties, remember he’s the Duke, I urged back, and my wolf only huffed at me. I sighed and turned to look at my friends. Apparently, they were all having the same internal discussion with their wolves, we all had that same look on our faces when we talked to our wolves.

“We should play a game,” Callie suggested minutes later. She was trying to keep our minds away from our home.

“Like what?” I asked supportively since I could tell Helena wasn’t going to say anything.

“How about…” Callie looked around her, her eyes moving to every corner of the plane, “maybe we could play charades?”

Instantly, I laughed but nodded my head. It had been a very long time since I had played charades. Both of us turned to look at Helena who was staring at us like we had lost our minds. “Please, Helena?” I said sweetly.

Helena rolled her eyes as she sighed and finally nodded her head, “alright, alright.” Even though she was trying to look bored and natural, I saw a hint of a smile on her face and Callie did too.

…

“You’re a pizza guy throwing the pizza at a customer!” Callie cried out.

“No! You’re throwing it at a bird! No? Then you are the bird!” I called out excitedly.

Helena was moving her hand up and down and then standing straight, holding something in her hand. She was looking at us with a desperate look on her face, time was almost up, and Callie and I were only screaming random things at her. Even Michelle had joined in, but she was still shy around us even though we were already in the fourth round.

The sound of the alarm made us cry out in protest and Helena rolled her eyes. “I was a very mad customer at a restaurant, yelling at the waiter.”

“Oh!” I said while Callie exclaimed: “what?!” We had been way off.

Helena laughed and took her seat. It was now my turn.

I got up from my seat, pondering a possible thing I could imitate. Finally, an idea popped into my mind. I started moving my hands, imitating what I thought people did in pizza parlors. I moved the imaginary flour mix in my hands and threw it above me before catching it again.

I sneaked a peek at the group, but all seemed clueless.

“You are… throwing confetti into the air?” Helena said unsurely.

“No, you’re happy, that’s why you’re throwing your arms in the air,” Callie said, more confidently.

“Rose is always happy, that doesn’t count as something,” Helena said as she glared at Callie.

“Not always, for instance, the last month,” Callie said with a shrug.

While they were bickering, I kept moving my arms in the air, throwing and catching the pizza but they still didn’t get it. I didn’t know how else to make it easier for them and there were only 15 seconds left on the timer.

Quickly, I pretended to put the pizza and I placed it in my mouth.

“You’re a worker in a pizza parlor,” Michelle said shyly, and Helena and Callie turned to look at her, then back at me to confirm it.

I jumped up and down and nodded my head, waving my hands excitedly.

“Now that’s Rose happy,” Helena said, pointing her thumb at me while looking at Callie.

“Touché,” Callie said with a shrug. She turned to Michelle and gave her a bright smile. ‘Great job Michelle.” The young woman smiled sheepishly.

I gave her a thumbs-up as well and went back to my seat. Callie got up in a hurry to start her turn. As soon as she turned around she was already moving her hands, imitating moving something with her hands. I watched carefully and I was almost too concentrated that I didn’t realize I was having a vision until it was almost too late.

I heard thunder surrounding me and then the sick feeling in my stomach of falling. I returned back to reality and looked at my friends. “Guys, put your seatbelts now!” I yelled and as soon as the words left my lips, the plane started shaking and moving up and down. I gripped the seat with my hands as hard as I could, if I didn’t, I feared I would spin around the compartment, out of control.

Callie cried out as she stumbled and landed on her knees. “Passengers please put on your seatbelts, we’re experiencing some unexpected turbulence,” the captain said through the speaker. His voice was calm but I knew this couldn’t be just turbulence, something was happening.

“Callie!” Helena cried as she reached for our friend. Callie tried to grab hold of her hand, but another turbulence pushed the plane, and Callie was thrown to the other side of the plane, next to her seat.

“Get on your seat!” Michelle cried out, her eyes wide.

Callie tried to get up without falling or losing her grip on the end of a seat she had managed to grab. Through all the vibrations and shakes, I saw her eyes light up and she cried out as she lunged at the seat, managing to sit. Her hands were grabbing the edges of the seat so tight her knuckles were beginning to turn white, just like mine.

Suddenly, the engines started to let out an interrupted sound and the plane jumped once more before it began to fall. My stomach churned instantly, and I could feel the pressure of falling lifting me up from my seat, my hands were holding me in place.

The air masks fell from the top of our seats and Helena and Michelle quickly put theirs on. Michelle was sitting next to me and she quickly reached out and strapped the seatbelt around me. “You can let go now! Put on your mask,” the woman said, and I quickly did what she indicated.

My whole body was trembling and from the corner of my eye, I saw Helena mimic the move with Callie. “Rose! What the hell is going on?!” I heard my mate ask in my mind, but I couldn’t respond, I was still falling, and my body was beginning to enter a state of shock.

I tried letting him into my memories and the only thing I managed to respond was ‘falling.”

I didn’t know if what I felt was my mate’s desperation or my own, maybe it was a combination of both, but I couldn’t move, just scream.

I heard an alarm go off in the cabin, its sound getting louder and more repetitive as we lost altitude. We are going to die, I thought to myself.

Just as the alarm was beeping ferociously, the captain managed to control the plane and he quickly pulled us up into the sky. I was still hyperventilating; my whole body was tingly and shaking. That was so close, I whispered.

“What the hell was that?!” Helena cried out as soon as the plane had stabilized, and we were back in course.

Michelle shook her head, “I don’t know. I had never felt turbulence like that one.”

“I don’t think something wants us to leave,” Callie whispered, her eyes staring into nothing. She was still in shock.

Helena nodded her head, “I really hope we’re not dealing with a witch.”

No, for some reason I think this that is different, more difficult to find, I thought in my head but didn’t say anything.

…

I tried sleeping on the plane, we all did, but due to the near to death experience, we couldn’t keep our eyes close for long. I sighed and shook my head, trying to clear my mind. We had also tried eating but our stomachs felt too closed up to even bear to look at food.

After the scary turbulence, we all had made sure to explain to our mates what had happened. Of course, none of them liked it and Evan was furious. He had told me he would come and find me as soon as he was done with whatever he was doing.

“Don’t. We’re fine, just in shock. Once we land, we’ll find Morgana and when we have reached our full potential, we’ll tell her to open up a portal for us,” I said trying to keep my voice soothing and soft. Evan had been adamant about coming but he finally gave in.

I had rolled my eyes; male wolves were so overprotective sometimes.

“We are nearing our destination. Please fasten your seatbelts and get ready for the landing,” the captain said over the speakers after what felt like an eternity later.

We quickly did what we were told, and I held onto my seat. Even though we were landing gracefully on the ground, the falling sensation was still too present in my mind and it was almost unbearable.

As soon as the wheels of the small plane touched the ground, I let go of the breath I didn’t know I had been holding and got up to my feet. My legs felt sore and my wolf was anxious to get out of this small space. We each took our belongings and got out of the plane. “We’re sorry for the inconvenience, Your Majesty. I don’t know what to say,” the captain was saying to Callie when I reached them.

Callie nodded her head in understanding, “what is important is that everyone is alright. You did a great job saving us there, captain.” The older man looked surprised, he had probably been expecting Callie to scold him or to take it out on him. But Callie wasn’t like that, she preferred to see the positive side to every bad situation, even if it had been a near-death experience.

The three of us said farewell and began walking to the small building next to where we had landed. All of our belongings were with us so we directed ourselves to the nearest road we could find. I was too immersed in the scene in front of me, it was all green, everywhere you looked, every patch of grass, was vividly green. It was beautiful. I hadn’t heard what Callie and Helena were discussing until they looked at me.

“What?” I asked slowly.

Helena rolled her eyes, “sweetie, it’s beautiful, we get it. But we’re not here as tourists and we don’t know if we’re safe yet. Let’s get to Morgana’s before we get lost in the landscapes.” Helena knew how much I hated that she talked to me as a pup, but she enjoyed making me squirm.

Callie covered her mouth to keep from laughing and coughed to make sure she didn’t laugh. “I was telling Helena that I don’t see the point of traveling by land. I think we should shift and get to Morgana’s.”

Helena rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her. “And as your Royal Guardian, I think that’s a stupid idea. We could be exposing ourselves. It’s safer by land.”

“It’s also longer and our wolves are restless, they want to stretch their legs,” Callie said with a shrug and both of them turned to look at me.

My eyes widened as I realized I had the deciding vote. “I think… we should go on wolf form.”

Callie cheered and Helena only sighed but nodded. She took out a map and quickly scanned it as we made our way into the woods.

“Okay, so we’re here which means we’ll need to go a couple of miles north, maybe 20. There’s no civilization there so I am guessing the first house we see must be Morgana’s,” Helena said as she put her map away.

“Sounds good,” Callie said and disappeared behind a tree, she was already throwing her clothes back into her backpack.

Moments later, a huge white wolf with blue eyes was staring at us impatiently. Helena and I shifted quickly and the three of us grabbed our backpacks between our jaws and headed north.

My wolf felt excited, free, and glad to be back on land. She was jumping over rocks and sticks as if it were a game and I let her. I thought we were pretty safe.

We played while we covered a lot of ground, my wolf kept on nipping at Callie’s and Helena’s tail which only made them growl and push me playfully.

By the time we had covered 20 miles, the sun was starting to set. We shifted behind the cover of trees and walked out with our normal clothes.

The sight of a small cottage caught my attention, “guys, I think that’s the place.” The others shrugged, we had to start somewhere, and we walked towards the small building.

When we reached it, Callie was the one to knock. The music that had been playing softly inside stopped and moments later, steps headed our way. The lock on the door turned and when the door opened Morgana was staring at us. Her short pixie hair was still the same and her eyes were still wild, not that I had expected something different.

“Dear Goddess, not you again,” she said and for a moment, I wasn’t sure if she was joking or if she was seriously frustrated.