34 Hyenas

'Plane rides are fun.' I told myself as I swallowed back my nervousness. It did nothing and my hands still shook. My entire left rib cage had been ablaze in anguish since I woke up, the painkillers were barely numbing the pain.

I don't know why I was so nervous. I had been on planes multiple times. I stared at the stairs with a blank expression, but my heart was racing and my hands shook no matter what I did.

James had already gone inside.

'It's all good, all good.' I said as I placed my hand on the rail and my foot on the step. With slow movements I finally reached the cabin and slumped on the seat by the door. My side burning with every intake of air.

James was on the phone, his eyes reading through a file. I ignored his words.

The plane took off and I did my best to not panic, my nails did a number on the arms of my seat though.

We had taken off at six in the morning, which meant that we would be landing in Montreal in seven hours.

They passed very slowly, the hum of the engines almost causing me to sleep, but the damn pain was distracting enough to keep me conscious. James was busy the whole time, talking to either Thresh or Thomas, or another Alpha from the other packs.

After being in the air for five hours we were each served a meal; a green salad with a grilled chicken on the side and a shrimp cocktail for me. And for James, a steak with a baked potato and coleslaw.

I picked away at my chicken with hardly any appetite. The salad had a strong vinaigrette that made my nose burn, so I avoided that and contented myself with the cold tangy shrimp.

The plates were taken away once we'd finished and I continued watching the clouds drift by. We were now over Ontario, I had no doubt that we'd soon see Toronto below us. I could just make out the Great Lakes in the distance.

Just as I stood to use the washroom the plane shook. I met James's eyes and then I felt gravity disappear.

My feet lifted from the floor under me. My eyes went wide and I fought to breathe. I couldn't touch the ground, I couldn't breathe. My ribs screamed in pain from the rapid contracting of my lungs, but my feet weren't touching the ground!

I looked around frantically, searching for something I grab hold of. Outside the portholes the sky was moving rapidly. I gasped and felt my vision cloud from the lack of oxygen caused by the hyperventilating. My mind fogged from the pain ebbing from my side.

"Hold on." James yelled and I felt his arms wrap around me, his hulking form swallowing me as he protected me from what I was sure would be a terrible crash landing.

But there was none.

The shaking of the plane stopped and I squinted open one eye to see that the world wasn't moving. My heart was still beating too quickly and my breath was rapid as I began to straighten and separate from James. Fighting not to wince as I moved.

My nose twitched, I could still smell him. He smelled much different from Raph; smoky with hints of burning wood.

I coughed, which elicited a wince, and looked out the window.

We were surrounded by trees, their branches bare, save the evergreens whose needles were still connected to their branches. The ground was covered in pinecones and dead, decomposing leaves with patches of snow.

James suddenly got up from behind me and rushed towards the cockpit. He kicked down the door and revealed that both pilots were dead.

I looked down, how had two Lycans dropped dead mid-flight?

"I couldn't even tell they had died." He muttered. My eyes flicked up to him.

His senses had stopped. Raph said that that was what happened when Pixies blocked off areas with magic.

I began to swivel my head as I spun around, looking out the windows.

Pixies had brought us here. Which meant Elves. 'But Thresh had said that they were all imprisoned or dead?' I questioned.

My brows furrowed as I tensed, ready for an attack. My breath was laboured, but I couldn't be taken by them again.

"There are Pixies nearby." James said. And I nodded, letting some hardness creep into my eyes. He raised his bearded chin then stomped towards the door, his back hunched from his height and how low the plane ceiling was.

"I'll go scout around, you stay here. Try and contact Alpha or Beta." He ordered.

I gave him a look, 'Seriously?' But he seemed to think that I'd said yes.

'Kroglaw.' I muttered mentally. It was an Elvish swear word that I'd picked up, it was the equivalent of idiot or asshole.

I watched as he squeezed out of the plane. 'Even if the phones worked, what good would it do to call Thresh? And if the Pixies let the call through, then what? They'd know that I'd called someone and that help was on the way.' I massaged my forehead, thinking of a way out of this.

After finding a solution I waltzed out of the cabin, my head held high and ignoring the now only aching pain in my side. But when I saw that James was nowhere in sight my eyes began to dart around the cold forest.

The wind rustled the leaves along the ground and brushed the snow from the evergreens bows. I shivered but did not let my guard down. I could feel eyes on me, it was times like these that I missed my gift desperately.

I took the last few steps then landed on the ground, my sneakers pressing into the decaying leaves mixed with frozen snow.

I dared not move.

A twig snapped to my right, then another to my left. My head swivelled to find the cause of the noises but I could find none.

My eyes widened and I took an instinctive step back when a laughing sound came from the trees. The whopping continued till I felt as though I was surrounded by it. I began to spot beady eyes from behind the shrubbery.

The laughter rang out and I began to look for signs of James's return. My heart pounded incessantly and my lungs expanded rapidly as I fought hyperventilating.

'Come on, Brooke. Keep it together.' I ordered myself, angry at myself but my hands shook from fear.

A loud yelp came from behind me and I turned to see a large brown wolf with a spotted hyena in its jaws. A horrific snapping sound came from its neck and I grimaced. The wolf dropped the carcass and growled predatorily at the other Shapeshifters.

I knew it was James but I still gulped and felt the urge to run and hide.

The laughter continued but was interspersed with snarls and barks. James moved to stand in front of me, his hackles raised as he let out a continuous low growl, his teeth bared revealing deadly canines.

The battle of cackling and growling went on, the eyes appearing from the shadows for a snippet and then disappearing entirely, but the freakish sound went on.

I though it would never end, and that the devil dogs would soon attack when they silenced. I glanced at James, who was still ready for attack.

"All we want is the girl, Lycan." A hoarse female voice rang out, "Release her to us and we'll let you go free."

The brown wolf snarled viciously and I was nearly overcome with relief, he wasn't going to hand me over to the hyenas.

The laughter came back and a large hyena charged from the bushes, heading straight for James.