Lena's POV

Hayden and Jade watched as I took out the last carry on bag from the taxi trunk. James grabbed it from my arms slinging it over his shoulder. Jade pulled me into one last hug squeezing the life out of me. I rubbed her back finally escaping her tight hold.

"I couldn't be more grateful. Feel free to use whatever you need at the house, I left an extra pair of car keys in the drawer by the fridge. Here are the house keys," She places a silver key into my hand, "We love you guys. See you in a week,"

I put the key in my back pocket as Hayden opened the taxi door for his wife, before getting in himself. I grasped onto James' hand watching as they drove away. James pulled out the two plane tickets reading how much time we had left. Unlike any other person who would show up hours before, James and I only had,

"15 minutes! Shit, we need to go like, now!" James screeched.

"Babe-" I started.

I grabbed my carry on while he grabbed his own. We rushed inside hand in hand preparing to go to the terminal we were meant to be in. James halted when he saw where we were supposed to be. He pointed to the flight attendant with grey hair. She aged beautifully with smile wrinkles covering her red cheeks.

"Over there!"

He rushed us towards her stopping when we made it. The flight attendant had a frightened look on her face when James shoved the tickets all up in her business. I could tell he'd never done this before. In my opinion, we had more than enough time to make it on the plane, I wondered why he was in such a hurry.

"Hi, Uhm," The attendant cleared her throat from the awkward situation, "Mr. Stadley,"

She glimpsed at the tickets and referred to James by his last name. I giggled at his surprised look.

"Honey, I've got this," I whispered to him.

The flight attendant gave me a small smile checking the ticket numbers to see where we were seated. She handed them to me pointing to the doors that led into the airplane.

"Mr. Stadley will be seated in seat 34 on row B. Ms..." She waited for me to finish her sentence.

"Mrs. Stadley. I'm assuming I'll be seated next to him?" I gave her my ticket again.

She shook her head handing back my ticket. I read it to myself noticing that I was two rows away from my mate. I let out a small scoff in denial at the idea. There was no way I was going to sit all alone without James by my side on a damn plane.

"This has got to be some joke. Is there any way I can be seated next to my ma-Husband?" I caught myself before exposing our secret.

"I'm sorry Miss, These are the seats you've paid for. If there is anyone on the plane willing to switch I would ask them, but for now you are seated in 29D."

It took a few minutes of arguing before finally, I accepted the fact I wasn't sitting next to him. We entered the plane with our eyes grazing the numbers. James stopped in front of me causing me to crash into his back. He tossed his bag up on the racks turning around to face me.

"I found mine. I wonder where you are seated."

I looked around, my eyes landing on the middle seat two rows away from James. It wasn't the best place to sit, but I had to remind myself that the plane ride was only a couple of hours. I nudged my head to my seat, giving James a small hug.

"I'll be right over there if you need me, at least I can still see you." I smiled.

He nodded, pecking my lips before taking a seat. I headed over to mine taking a seat with a small sigh. The time flew by as we gave each other small glances of comfort. James had a window seat which made me slightly jealous, along with being seated by a five-year-old on one side with his mother next to him. I, on the other hand, was unlucky. The heavy cologne of the man next to me made my nose hairs shrivel up, he wore headphones that still had muffled music which could be heard from them. To my left, another man sat there with a suit and tie tapping away on his phone.

I exhaled slowly watching as the flight attendant who helped us moments ago standing in the front. She explained the emergency procedures while telling us to shut off all electronics, along with showing us how to put on our seatbelts. James let out a small gulp, I could feel his thoughts arising in my head.

I buckled in my seatbelt, noticing two pairs of eyes on me. My orbs met with James, seeing a slight pang of anxiety in them. I decided to mind-link him to see if he was alright.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head with face turning red from embarrassment, "Nothing, I just...I have never been on a plane before."

His answer made my face drop in sadness, I felt terrible that he was going to experience this without me by his side.

"It's not as bad as you think. I'm right here, just keep your eyes on me. It'll be okay,"

The plane began to move and soon enough we were in the air, I peered over the teen with strong cologne watching the clouds in amazement.

"Whatcha doing there, cutie?" He spoke.

My eyes flickered to him in discomfort, snorting at his attempts of flirting. He gave me a small smirk, leaning forward in his seat. I back away, turning my head to see James watching the boy's every move with anger. His jaw was tightened, hands gripping the arms of his seat.

'It's okay,' I mouthed to him.

I turned my attention back to the teenage boy, rolling my eyes when his hungry gaze was all over my body. I folded my arms scooting away from him closer to the man in the suit. The five-year-old boy began speaking loudly.

"Woah! Mom, look! Clouds!" He said with excitement. She laughed agreeing with him, pointing at the white puffs in the air. James cleared his throat shutting his eyes to maintain calm with all the noise. Unlike the others, he wasn't used to this much noise in one setting, and even if he was, I'm sure he had PTSD from all of the wars he's been in.

It didn't make this any easier. The intercom rang a small bell before the flight attendant began to speak, her calm voice made me feel comforted when she spoke about our times of arrival and such.

"Good morning everyone, my name is Jasmine and I am your flight attendant. I wanted to begin by saying that all phones and electronics may now be in use. All seatbelts may now be removed for purposes such as using the bathroom located by the front or to grab items from your personal carry on. We highly encourage keeping them on for most of the trip, we hope you have a wonderful ride."

I felt something touch my thigh causing me to jolt at the feeling.

"I'm Ashton, you?"

His breath reeked of strong mint-like he chewed a full pack of gum. I shoved his hand away feeling uncomfortable next to him.

"Please, stop," I asked as nice as possible.

He clicked his tongue removing the large headphones away from his ears. Ashton placed a finger into my brown hair, twirling a strand of hair.

"Honey, stop kicking the poor man,"

My attention turned to James watching him give an awkward smile to the little boy who apologized to him. We both hated the seating arrangements. Ashton slid his hand up my thigh further. I took his hand twisting a finger backward until there was a small snap. He let out a string of cries as his finger was now broken in front of him.

"I said. Stop." My teeth were gritted.

There was a tap on my shoulder on my left indicating the businessman now wanted to speak with me.

"What?" I snapped at him.

His eyes widened but he remained calm, "Nothing, I was just wondering if he was bothering you. I don't mind switching seats if that is the case."

My facial expressions softened at his nice offer, feeling a bit guilty for my harshness towards him. He seemed to notice my guilty state reassuring me that everything was fine.

"I'm sorry-" I started,

"No, don't be. So, want to switch?" He asked,

I observed him for a moment, seeing his golden hair match the color of his eyes. His skin was bright like a tomato as if he was sunburnt. I felt a queasy feeling in my stomach flickering my gaze behind the man in the suit to see James turning red from fury. His jealousy was getting the best of him. The man in the suit waited patiently for my answer.

"Actually-" I began to speak, "My husband is right over there and I would really love it if we could be together. Is there any chance you would be willing to switch with him?" I asked.

It was a lot to ask, but I couldn't handle sitting with the pervert next to me without being taught a lesson. I pointed to where my mate was, seeing his expression turn from anger to murderous in a millisecond.

"That man...is your husband? He looks a little, I don't know...unstable. Are you sure?" He wanted my confirmation.

I laughed at his thoughts on James nodding my head to let him know that it was okay. The man in the suit took his seatbelt off, standing up to speak with James. As they were conversing, Ashton started to talk with me. I really wanted the bastard to leave me alone. He rubbed his now aching finger,

"Damn, a woman who can handle herself? I wonder what else you can handle, it definitely won't be my d-"

"I f*cking dare you to finish that sentence," I heard from behind me.

James stood with his strong arms folded against his built chest. I smirked at Ashton folding my arms over my chest as well, "Yeah, Ashton. Come on, finish the sentence." I taunted.

I removed my own seatbelt scooting a seat away from Ashton, allowing James to sit in between us. As soon as James sat down, I snuggled into his side, propping my legs up onto his left thigh, watching him glare towards Ashton not once removing eye contact with him.

"Aww, is someone too shy to say something now?" I pouted, making crying gestures.

Ashton scoffed muttering a not so nice word under his breath, "Bitch,"

Ouch. Luckily for me, my mate had super hearing senses, meaning the no-no word was obviously heard clearly. James growled towards him, holding onto my hand with a tight grip, I rolled my eyes at his reaction.

"Don't do anything. As much as I would love to see you kick his ass, we are on a plane filled with people. It wouldn't do us much good."

My mind-link seemed to fly above his head, instead, he punched Ashton in the nose leaving him to have eyes watering from the painful sensation. I hissed at his actions, knowing exactly how it felt to get punched in the face.

"Oooh, that's gonna leave a bruise," I whispered.

Ashton wiped the blood off of the tip of his nose, "What the hell?"

"Keep talking, I'd love to do it again," James snarled out.

I rubbed his bicep attempting to calm him down, I didn't need him to shift in front of these people. I gripped onto his hand a bit tighter, "James," I whispered in his ear.

He turned around to face me, eyes beginning to shift into a darker shade, I could hear his breathing become shaky as those white teeth grew into sharp canines. Shit, not good.

"James, I need you to listen to me. You are shifting. I need you to calm down," I muttered quietly.

I rested my head on his shoulder, letting him inhale my scent. The flight attendant, Jasmine, arrived at our seats with a small trolley full of snacks. I moved my head back to James to see him squeezing his eyes shut trying his best to calm down.

One thing about werewolves, they were very short-tempered. Even the smallest problem would send them through the roof. I rubbed the back of his hand with my thumb, giving her a small smile. She returned the favor.

"Hi there, would you like a small snack?" She asked.

"Sure, what do you have?" I asked her.

"Peanuts, lays, and saltine crackers. As for drinks, I have water, sprite, and dr. pepper,"

I requested some sprite with crackers, getting the same for James. He thanked me quietly with a small kiss on the forehead opening up the small wrapper to shove a cracker in his mouth in one bite. He cracked open the sprite can, gulping it down.

"And what can I get for you-oh dear! Sir, are you alright?" She screeched when she saw Ashton's poor appearance.

He scoffed, glaring at me, "Just f*cking dandy."

I snorted, snuggling more into James' warmth shutting my eyes. This was going to be one hell of a plane ride.