Hoping for a smooth landing

I was silent, unable to speak past the lump in my throat.

The intercom crackled to life, shattering our suspended moment.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking." The voice was tense, professional panic barely contained. "We have a situation. A private aircraft is pursuing our flight path and has ignored multiple warnings from air traffic control. Please remain calm and return to your seats immediately."

Murmurs of alarm rippled through the sparse cabin. The few other passengers exchanged worried glances, reaching for their seat belts.

Orion's expression darkened, his jaw clenching.

My blood ran cold. "Valentin Volkov!" I said, the name a curse on my lips.

I turned to look at Orion who seemed wide alert.

In an instant, the powerful Alpha persona I remembered so well snapped into place. Orion straightened to his full, imposing height and addressed the anxious cabin.

"Everyone remain calm," he announced, his voice carrying a natural authority that silenced the growing panic. "I'll handle this situation, whatever this is—"

A flight attendant rushed forward. "Sir, please return to your seat and fasten—"

"That won't be necessary," Orion said smoothly. "Trust me when I say I'm the only one who can resolve this."

Before anyone could argue further, the captain's voice returned, now edged with unmistakable fear.

"This is an emergency announcement. The pursuing aircraft has—" The transmission cut out momentarily. "—has locked weapons systems on our position. All passengers must immediately assume brace positions. Place your head against the seat in front of you, arms under your thighs. Flight attendants prepare for possible impact."

The plane lurched suddenly, banking hard to the right. Screams erupted throughout the cabin as oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling.

"Damn!" Orion snarled, his eyes flashing with supernatural fury. "Who the hell even this is?!"

I stood up to my feet, clutching the headrest of a nearby seat to steady myself.

This was madness.

Valentin was willing to shoot down a commercial airliner?

How dare he got to that extent? There were humans on the plane!

And of course, he was Valentin Volkov, the villain. He had been doing such outrageous things since past life.

"It's Valentin Volkov. He wants me," I said to Orion who immediately turned to me, his realization seemed to be dawning on his surface. "He followed me here! He'll kill everyone aboard just to get to me."

Orion's expression was murderous. "Let him try. I'll tear his heart out and feed it to him."

"No," I said, a desperate plan forming in my mind. I glanced out the nearest window. We were over what looked like waterfalls, greenish grass and forests below. "There are innocent people in this plane. We can't fight with him here!"

"What are you suggesting?"

"We jump."

His eyes widened, genuine surprise crossing his features. "Jump? From thirty thousand feet?"

"We're werewolves," I insisted, lowering my voice so the panicking humans couldn't hear. "We can survive the impact and land in the ground perfectly fine. If we stay, Valentin will destroy this plane and everyone on it just to get to us."

"I should fight," Orion growled, his hands clenching into fists. "Face him directly. Running away is not my style."

"At what cost?" I challenged, stepping closer to him, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. "The lives of everyone aboard? Harper? The flight crew? All these innocent humans? Please listen to me. Let's just jump now and end this for him! Maybe after landing safety somewhere, you can take care of him you know—"

His jaw worked as he struggled with the decision. The Alpha in him wanted to confront his rival directly, to finally end the centuries-old feud.

Perhaps he will not listen to me - when had Orion listened to me?!

Even in past life, he never backed out of fights that could be avoided with talking. He had never listened to her - or valued her opinion.

'He is going to do the same,' I thought, sighing deeply.

It was Orion Lockwood after - he wanted blood and death.

But what he said next completely surprised me to my bones.

"You're right," he finally conceded, his eyes softening as they met mine. "We should not risk the lives here."

Was he real?! Or was I dreaming?!

I turned to Harper, whose face had also gone pale with shock. "Harper, I have to go. Stay with the plane. Once we're gone, Valentin won't have any reason to attack."

"Are you insane?" she hissed, gripping my arm. "You are going with him?!"

I gave her a promising smile. "Trust me on this, I'll be fine and come back to you."

She knew it in her blood that Orion will do nothing to hurt her.

He was a predator - but her predator who protected her.

Before she could argue further, the plane shuddered violently, and warning lights bathed the cabin in an eerie red glow.

"Missile lock!" the captain's voice shouted over the intercom. "Brace! Brace! Brace!"

It was now or never.

"Come," I said to Orion, extending my hand.

Without hesitation, he took it, his large palm engulfing mine, warm and calloused and achingly familiar. The moment our skin connected, a jolt of recognition shot through me—ancient magic, the bond between fated mates, recognizing its other half.

Together, we pushed past panicking passengers toward the emergency exit door.

"Are you certain?" Orion asked, his eyes searching mine one last time.

In answer, I reached up and pulled the emergency release. The door blasted outward, and the cabin instantly depressurized.

Hurricane-force winds whipped through the opening, nearly knocking me off my feet.

Orion's arms wrapped around me, pulling me against the solid wall of his chest. His scent enveloped me—pine forests and woodsmoke, leather and something uniquely his, a scent that had imprinted on my soul a millennium ago.

"Hold onto me," he commanded, his lips against my ear. "No matter what happens, don't let go."

I wound my arms around his neck, pressing myself against him. Despite everything—the danger, the betrayals, the centuries of running—being in his arms felt like coming home.

"Ready?" he asked, bracing us against the doorframe.

The plane lurched again, more violently this time. Outside, I caught a glimpse of a sleek black jet, unnaturally close.

"Now!" I shouted.

Together, we leapt into the void.

The initial shock of freefall stole my breath. Wind screamed past us, the force of it trying to tear us apart. But Orion's arms remained locked around me, his body curved protectively over mine as we plummeted through the clouds.

I buried my face against his chest, inhaling his scent, letting it anchor me as the world spun wildly around us.

His heartbeat thundered against my ear, strong and steady despite our plunge toward earth.

"I've got you," his voice somehow reached me above the roaring wind. "I won't let you go. Not again. Not ever."

As we fell through the sky, memories flashed before my eyes—not of death and blood, but of love.

Orion's smile on our first meeting. His hands, gentle despite their strength, braiding flowers into my hair. The way he had looked at me on our mating night, as if I were the moon itself.

Perhaps it was madness to trust him again. Perhaps we were doomed to repeat our tragic cycle. But as the ground rushed up to meet us, one truth crystallized in my mind with perfect clarity:

For better or worse, in life or in death, through this lifetime and all others—he was mine, and I was his.

And no force on earth, not even Valentin Volkov and his missiles, could change that fact.

With Orion's arms around me, I surrendered to the fall, to fate, to the inevitable collision of our souls.

She could only hope that their landing would be in a smooth place.