We are in air. Tears well in my eyes from the pressure of air. Floating. The wind around us forces us apart. I am trying to hold onto Aiden but am failing at it.

However, just as I get used to the increased pressure and the hum of wind in my ears, my senses pick up, and I see two to three weres falling in the air above us. They must have been sucked into the sky just like us.

I see them trying to balance themselves before they let out growls of irritation, and their eyes focus on us.

Well, I think they are focused on us as their necks are angled towards us.

Shit. We are the only ones with a parachute. Earlier, when we were in the plan, it was a fight for greed of money, but now it has become a fight for survival.

"Aiden!" I shout.

This is such an inconvenient time to have your mind link blocked. Communication would have been easier.

"What!!!" Aiden shouts even though he is with me. The sound of the wind drowns out almost all of our voices.

"Three weres are in the air above us."

I feel Aiden stiffen in my arms a bit before he let's out a rumble that vibrates both of our bodies due to the proximity. I feel him trying to angle his neck above us to see them before he lets out a loud growl.

I see them trying to flip around in the Air before making a diving stance that allows them to move towards us.

"We won't be able to hold onto each other when we fight and aim for the kill. If they are alive they will try to snatch the parachute from us!" He shouts over the sound of the wind.

I nod at him.

"We will have to let go of each other till we finish them off. The moment we lose contact, you will blow away, but you need to find your balance and fly towards me. You need to come to me and I'll do the same." Aiden shouts at me.

I nod, and he releases my hand. Just as he releases, the distance between us increases just the way he said it would. I try to keep my gaze fixed on him through my now squinting eyes but am distracted by the other weres who seem to close in on Aiden.

I bring my arms and legs together and try to flip in the air, I want my arms to direct me. Like in water. Well, air is a fluid technically.

My strategy works and I am falling towards Aiden. Just as I am close to him, I try to balance my weight on my stomach and move towards the were who is approaching Aiden from the back.

Aiden can handle the other two. He gains speed on Aiden and has almost reached Aiden's backpack while Aiden is busy with the other two .

I do not giving the chance and flip in the air again and by some luck, my knees hit his nose and he is blown a bit away. However, he recovers and comes towards me.

I try to shift partially and my claws elongate. I see his claws are also out. It comes down to reaction time. The one who acts fast will stay alive.

He flails his right hand at me and I expect him to do that so, I tuck my chin and aim arm up like a left hook, the only difference being my claws are out.

He misses me but I don't manage to claw him either. We try and flail our claws at each other. So far he has managed to duck from my attacks.

By some stroke of luck I managed to claw him.He doesn't see it coming and my claws are in his neck. Blood flows out of his neck drenching my hand before I pull out my claws out of his neck. Life has been drained out of his body.

My hand is red with his blood and I wipe it off on my thighs as much as possible.

I would have liked a more tortuous kill for his betrayal but this will have to do given the current situations. I try to move around on my stomach and see how Aiden is doing when I feel arms tugging my waist.

I stiffen in alarm before my shoulders drop in relief as I hear Aiden say, "Relax it's me."

I make my body as limp as possible and let him align my body to his. I try to turn around in his arms clutching at his hands so that I can gather my arms around his neck. Otherwise I will be blown away again when he opens the parachute and I won't have a chance to catch up with him due to our different velocities.

It's like we are hugging tightly but miles above the earth in the air. We are falling fast.

"I am pulling the parachute open."

I feel him taking an arm off my waist before he pulls at a string. Thankfully this time we face no difficulty as the chute spreads open above us and velocity decreases gradually.

"Whoah."

I let out an audible sigh of relief and feel tension drain out of Aiden's shoulders too.

"Yes, we are safe for now. Landing is another thing altogether."

But then I remember about the jet.

"Aiden. Won't they follow us?"

He laughs and says, "No."

"What? but how?"

They know where we dropped. It won't take much time to locate us.

"We were travelling by royal aircraft. The king's personal jet. Only one parachute is available in case of emergencies. Just in case a hijack occurs. I didn't like it, thinking it was too far-fetched and other lives were important too. But now, I see it's actually a good thing." He now holds me to him, his arms snake around me, clutching me tight.

"How are the others not in air except for the ones we took down?"

"Maybe they were able to hold onto something, and weres do have higher strength compared to an average human. However, it doesn't matter as the plane would explode in a few minutes."

"What?"I shout.

"Oucch Aurelia. Don't shout too loud. Remember, your mouth is too close to my ear. And yes, it's one of the other royal protocols. I had pressed the button for explosion. Not many know it. Well, none except for me and Adrian, as he's the beta." He explains.

"But then won't the shattered plane pierces cut over chute."

"No, the moment I pressed it, it went into autopilot mode that can't be overridden without my biometrics. It'll travel some distance and will explode. It's wreckage probably won't reach us. Well, I at least hope so."

I roll my eyes at him. We are still in midair, and it's long. We must be approaching ground now.

"We are getting close to the ground. We can't land together. You need to be agile. I'll give you the count of three when we are a few feet above the ground. You will have to release me and jump."

"Ok." Just as those words leave my mouth, I see the horizon and trees fast approaching. It's a few moments after that and Aiden starts the countdown.

"One...Two...Three"

I release him and jump to the side, rolling on my back and clutching my head so that it doesn't take much impact. I don't break the momentum though. I keep running for a bit, coming to a slow stop.

I then kneel on the ground, catching breath. The events from earlier must have spiked my adrenaline, as I feel tired now.

Simultaneously, I feel Aiden landing and then look at him. He's a few feet away. He gets rid of the chute.

He turns to look at me and runs towards me, hugging me tight, my feet lifting off the ground.

"Whoah Aiden. It's fine, I'm ok."

He then releases me and places his forehead on mine. His hands grip my biceps, not letting me go. "I thought we were going to die."

He looks into my eyes, and our proximity makes my cheeks go warm. I clear my throat and step back, feeling awkward yet shy for some reason.

Aiden on the other hand keeps staring at me. His gaze is intense, like he's trying to capture me.

I look at him and see the cuffs of his jacket are drenched in blood.

"Are you fine?" I ask, worry overwhelming me. He took down two weres on his own.

He nods at me and reassures me, "I am fine."

I feel tension leaving my body as I register our surroundings.

I look around and it dawns upon me that we are in the middle of nowhere.

"Uhh Aiden. Where are we?"

This causes his eyes to widen, and he whips his head to the left and to the right, rotating his body to scan the surroundings.

"I don't know but somewhere south of red deer. It wasn't long after our departure that the plane was hijacked."

"Yes, that I can deduce myself but where exactly are we? I didn't see any towns nearby while we were landing. Did you?" I am now looking up at him, seriously, my expression hard, lips pursed and hands on my lips.

"Umm No." His tone is full of regret.

"You don't need to feel sorry. It's not your fault." I say, trying to cheer him up.

"It might not be but I'm the king and my kingdom is full of traitors. Everybody looks up to me and I'm a failure." His words echo the hurt he must be feeling. I feel so sad for him.

He keeps looking at his feet, his eyes downcast, and suddenly his legs give up as he falls down to his knees. His palms are in his lap. A sign of defeat.

I have seen him angry. I have seen him in his king mode when he was emmitting so much pure alpha energy that the hijackers fell to their knees. I have seen him protective.

I have seen him banter with Adrian. Laughing with Nana, but he was always strong. I think he needs support and with Adrian in coma, who was his best friend, he must be feeling awful.

I walk to him and sit beside him, crossing my legs on the grass underneath me. It pricks me, but I don't care. Aiden needs some emotional support. I try to offer him nonverbal support. Sometimes being there for a person is enough.

I have craved for that. I have Nana, but right now, I don't think he has anyone else. Sometimes words don't matter.

I lean my head on his shoulder and lace my fingers through his right hand, caressing his forearms with my right hand. He looks at me in surprise but then sits and leans his head on mine. We keep sitting like that for a few moments.

I don't know how long we keep sitting like that as Aiden shakes me, waking up. I jerk awake and lean back, looking at him in surprise, seeing him so close to me, and then look around. The events rush back to me.

"Oh sorry. I didn't know I fell asleep."

"Well. We did have an exciting day." He tries to joke, a small smile gracing his lips.

My gaze searches his face for any signs of distress, but I don't find him tense. He looks like his usual broody self. I nod to myself and get up, stretching my feet.

I look at the sky. its beautiful; all shades of orange, red, and purple mix together, making a breathtaking view. The sun sets in the mountains and the forest is just a few feet away from us. We were lucky to have landed in the grass and not the trees, or we would have been scratched.

"What is the time?"

He looks at his wristwatch and says, "Six PM."

"I think we need to find water. and hopefully some food, like fruits or something. It's almost time for night. We don't have much daylight left."

He looks at the sky following my words and then nods at me.

"Maybe I can search faster as a werewolf. I will shift and scout the area." He says, looking at me.

Oh, how I wish I could shift and run in this forest. My beast, who usually gives her input once in a while, just stirs and doesn't respond. Something's wrong with her.

I am so engrossed in thinking that I don't realise that Aiden is undressing.

I am pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of rustling of clothes and my eyes widen as I see Aiden remove his shirt. I let out a yelp and turn, my back facing him

I hear him chuckling at me. "Nakedness is a natural part of Were life. Especially when out in the nature."

"I object. We may be part wolf but we are still part humans too and we should maintain some privacy."

He lets out a full-blown laughter, the sounds of his laughter echoing around me. But soon he calms down, and I hear the bones cracking. In a few moments, his wolf is beside me.

His wolf lets out a yip and licks my cheek.

"Eeewww Aiden." I let out a whine but then reached up to scratch behind his ear. He let's out his tongue and enjoys my touch and then barks at me once, before whining and running into the forest behind me.

I look down and see his clothes near my foot. He must have carried them here in his jaws after he shifted. I lie down now, stretching my legs out in the direction Aiden left, and looking at the sky.

This time I stay awake though. Why is the blood Mafia involved in this? Why are they after my research? I feel horrible hiding my secret from Aiden. He's saved my life multiple times in the past few days. Rescued me. Protected me.

But then I start to think of the way he takes care of me. When I woke up in the hospital, he was by my side. Then this morning he was cooking my favourite dishes. I let out a chuckle at the memory of him covered in flour.

And today was out of my mind. The way his power made all the other weres fall to their knees was so awesome. But then, why didn't I fall? I am confused by this.

Well, whatever the reason was, we are here in the forest. Away from the blood mafia for a while at least. I try to link but fail.

Wait, my uncle will be worried if I don't link soon. I said I'd link him every once in an hour after I get down in Chicago. I think I am safe from his wrath for a few more hours.

I hear the sounds of paws. It must be either Aiden or some wild animal. I get up and stand straight, now alert, assessing my surroundings. Aiden's wolf bursts out of the forest, and I drop my guard.

He comes to a stop in front of me and let's out a bark before jerking hsi wolf head towards the clothes. I turn around and give him some privacy. I hear the sounds of bones cracking again, followed by clothes rustling.

"You can turn around now."

My eyes are downcast as I slowly turn around, and then when I am facing Aiden, I fully jerk my eyes up and look to his left and right to avoid looking at him.

It's almost night; darkness is spreading fast. I then look at Aiden to find him already staring at me. When he sees me averting my eyes, he grins at me and rolls his eyes.

"I am decent. Come on, follow me. I was able to find a lake. About a mile away. We will have to run a bit."

He then goes into a jog in the direction that he'd come from, and I follow him. He keeps his pace slow for me. I catch up with him and soon overtake him too.

It's easy to follow his trail. His scent stands out in the forest. Distinct. Now he's the one who overtakes me; his speed increased, but still every now and then he turns and makes sure I'm following him.

Why is he looking at me though? In the silence of the forest, my footsteps are the only odd sound. He doesn't need to look out for me.

I quicken my pace to match his now. He looks at me and smiles before turning back and focusing on the path in front of him. We are running now, jumping over fallen tree branches, shrubs, and other vegetation.

We are near the lake. The gaps between trees give me the first view of the lake and the scent of fresh water reaches my nose. The wind is blowing heavily here.

We break out of the trees and come to a stop gradually. Upon closer inspection, the lake appears clean enough. I wish we had a pot so that we could heat the water and drink it, but there is no such option. We have to drink it directly. We don't have the option to filter it either.

"I will go and see if I can find animals to hunt. At the most, we can at least barbecue it with some fire. you go and gather some dry wood to start the fire." Aiden says to me.

He is standing beside me and looking at the lake; he is most probably thinking of the same things as I am.

"Ok."

What more can I say?

We have no other option. He then runs inside the forest and out of my view fast, no matter to shift and save me from the embarrassment. It is going to be a long night. I feel my beast stirring at my words again but she still remains silent.

I am now anxious about what is wrong with her. Hopefully, everything is fine, and it is only the effect of the spiked juice.

Word Count: 2876

One of my long chapters. How was it?

Was it exciting enough?

Just brace yourselves for the upcoming chapters!! Things are going to get more exciting around here!

The next part of my Author's note is for my readers from Guyana!

Isn't it beautiful? It's St. George's Cathedral in Georgetown, Guyana.

It's a wonderful piece of architecture, and the fact that it is white only makes it more beautiful.

Just look at those high windows and doors. Just wow!!

Thanks for reading my book!!

That's it for now!!

Toodles!!!