Page 30 of Broken

Chapter 13

Cole insisted that he and Ireland travel back to the Ridge on Thanatos’ private plane, not the troop transport. He could feel the pack’s hostility towards Ireland because of this unknown bond, and she was already scared. Being trapped in a plane with that many ‘creatures of the Dark Fae’ in one place might be too much for her.

He didn’t want her freaking out—or wolfing out—in the middle of a plane full of other shifters. It could cause an all-out brawl—not a thing you wanted to have happen at thirty thousand feet.

Thanatos boarded first and went immediately to his private cabin in the back. He’d left Sugar, his lieutenant, dealing with the cleanup of the battle near the safe house. And figuring out what the hell to tell local law enforcement.

Not to mention what to tell Brandon Fierro, who was going to be pissed about his safe house drawing that much attention. He was probably going to have to move it now.

Not Cole’s problem. Which was a good thing, because he had enough on his hands with his wild-ass Fae wolf.

No one else—not even Gunn—had seemed to sense that she was a shifter. Hopefully her magic would continue to mask it until he had a chance to talk to her alone.

In the meantime, he had to take care of her somehow. Keep her calm and human-shaped. Her emotions were like an itch under his skin, and he was starting to twitch.

Problem was, calming and comforting people had never been Cole’s strong suit.

The cabin of the luxurious jet had a small conference table, a couch, and a bunch of fancy reclining leather seats in pairs facing each other. Gunn was on board, with his mate Michelangela, who’d been there with the strike team. Also Dobe, Gunn’s other lieutenant, Rex, and the three Sanchez cousins—who normally didn’t rate riding in the fancy plane, but who’d detailed themselves as security.

And Boomer, who’d muscled his way onto the plane and looked around with a glare that dared anyone to kick him off.

No one tried.

Cole co-opted the couch for Ireland, his own fuck-you glare keeping the rest of the guys at the front of the cabin. He found a blanket in the storage area and tried tucking it around her, but she shrugged him away. He could feel that she was now angry as well as scared, and he wasn’t sure exactly why.

She took the blanket, though, so that was good, right? But she was just sitting there, not saying anything, staring out the window the same way she’d done in the limo on the way here.

Was that okay? He felt like she must need something more. Food. That was it. Food was important, and she hadn’t eaten anything since the battle. She must be starving—and thirsty.

He was an idiot. He should have thought of that before.

The pilot was still preparing for takeoff, so Cole headed for the galley. What would be good for her? Water? Juice? Maybe something hot. Tea. There was already hot water ready, so he poured some into a cup put a teabag in it, putting a lid on top.

But wait. What if she didn’t like tea? He grabbed a couple of bottles of juice and put them in his jacket pockets.

Boomer came into the galley, getting a beer out of the cooler. Cole said, “You’re not going to punch me again, are you?”

“Thinking about it.”

“I said I was sorry.”

“Mmm,” Boomer said. He took a swig of beer. “What’s with the girl?”

“Nothing,” Cole said. “She’s a rescue. She’s scared.”

“She trapped you with a magic bracelet you can’t get off.”

“She didn’t do it on purpose!” For fuck’s sake. “She’s in trouble, and she needs help. That’s what we do.”

Boomer was studying him, an odd look on his face. “What?” Cole asked.

“You like her,” Boomer said. “You like her a lot.”

“Don’t be stupid. There’s nothing going on there. I don’t fall for troublemaking strangers and get myself all tangled up with them. This is a job.”

Boomer got a little grin in the corner of his mouth. “Yeah. That’s what the rest of us said.” He clapped Cole on the shoulder and went back to his seat.

Now what the fuck was that all about? Cole started to go back down the aisle, and stopped. Shit. He’d almost forgotten the food.