Heart of Stone (Part III)

III. Chapter 14 | Part 1 - Stone

"What's that noise?"

Sitting upright stiffly, Lance gripped the armrests of the seat as the plane began to move toward the runway. He sat in the seat next to the window with Aubree next to him and Stone sitting next to the aisle.

The pup was sweating like an ice-cold beer on a hot summer's day. It was pouring down his face as his nails extended and dug into the cushion of the armrests. Tufts of cotton poked out from the cracks.

It had been hard for Elena to let him go with them. She and Eramis drove them to the airport and without an audience of pack members behind them, she let her guard down and held her pup tightly to her bosom. Eramis was stiffer. The alpha's attitude had changed toward the pup since the discovery of Gwen being his mate. He was tougher and stricter, and it showed on Lance's face.

Shame at being the weak link in the alpha line.

"Relax," Stone said, trying not to wrinkle his nose as the stink of Lance's fear rolled over him. "That's the gears shifting inside the plane."

"I-I can't do this." Lance's voice was high-pitched. "I-I have to get off."

His hands, which were in the early stages of transformation with elongated nails and a millimeter of fur breaking through the surface of the skin, fumbled to unbuckle his safety belt, but all he could manage was to tug on the two ends frantically.

About to reach for him, Aubree beat Stone to it and grabbed his arm.

"Lance," she said calmly, though sternly, "relax, okay? This is normal. Everything is fine. You don't need to worry. Everyone is nervous their first time flying. If every plane crashed, then there would be no pilots to fly and no passengers willing to risk their lives. People fly all the time because they know they will get to their destination safely. You can do this."

His hands returned to their normal human appearance and reached for the punctured armrests again. He whimpered as he slouched in his seat.

"Take deep breaths," Aubree guided, her hand still on his arm, but her grip was more relaxed.

With clenched jaws and eyes squeezed shut, he nodded as he took deep breaths in and out alongside Aubree.

When he calmed down some as the plane paused at the start of the runway, Stone leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

Aubree instinctively reached for Stone's hand with her free one.

"This is the hard part now," she announced. "The takeoff."

Lance whimpered again.

"Keep taking deep breaths, and think of Gwen."

Stone smiled to himself. [Good idea, Love. But I will be thinking of you and Gwen.]

He peeked open an eye when Aubree lifted his hand up to her lips and kissed the back of it with a slight smirk. [What kind of thoughts would those be?]

The plane lurched forward, making Lance grunt, before it began to increase its speed down the runway.

"Oh Goddess, we're moving."

"Relax," Aubree said again, her attention turning to the pup, gripping the armrests tightly again as the plane jiggled slightly as it picked up speed.

[Quick, reach into my purse and pass me my phone,] she ordered Stone as she angled her body toward Lance. She put one hand on his shoulder and the other on his arm.

Stone pulled her purse up from the floor between her feet and the seat in front of them and set it on his lap before digging into it for her phone. [You don't share a connection with him, so you can't pass on soothing feelings through touch, Love,] he said as he held the phone out to her.