Flying is a weird experience. From the crying baby to the person saying their prayers in the corner. It's not a fear of heights, it's a fear of falling. So the take off is fine, almost giving you a second chance to explore new lands, but it's the landing. You put your life in the hands of the pilot, the manufacturer and the weather. Most people hate the turbulence, the shaking, the fear of crashing but I love it. It just reminds me that i'm alive, plus i've always found the motion soothing. Cars and ships alike thankfully i've never experienced sea sickness.
I never fear the landing because I learned to fear what comes after the landing. I've flown into war zones but this, this is different. This is scarier. I can't tell if my stomach dropping is a result of the plane dropping in altitude or what's coming afterwards.
Going into war i've got my orders, my weapons, my troop. Someone has mapped out exactly what's going to happen, we know what to expect, we've been prepped. But here i'm going in blind. I want everything but the things I want don't mix. It's like trying to defuse a bomb and being colour blind.
Luke laced our hands together and rubbed his thumb across my knuckles, in an attempt to sooth me. It frightens me how well he knows me, I'd say he knows me better than I know myself.
The landing went swimmingly.........that was a terrible pun. He never let go of my hand.
I watched him help get the old lady's bag from the overhead compartment. He's such a gentleman. But her, well she's a different kettle of fish all together. Not only was she shamelessly flirting with him, the cougar, but then she tries setting me up with her neighbour's son. Wasn't she the one who at the start of the flight was telling me not to let him go? What kind of game is she playing.
"Oh come on, you must work out. Look at those biceps." She then felt his arms. His eyes bulged out of his head. I was in stitches.
As he turned to face me and reach up to get our bags I heard her say
"I do love a man with an ass." He looked at me, completely shocked and mouthed
"help me". That was it for me. I burst out laughing, I couldn't breath and there were tears running down my face. I waved my hand as I wiped my tears.
That drew her attention to me.
"Now now sweetie don't cry, I've got the perfect boy for you. He's name is Sam. He's a good church boy and don't worry he'll grow and he is damn fine."
I could see Luke slowly losing it. We all know that she's just joking around but I guess with our whole situation Damien and Luke don't like her "giving me ideas".
I moved off my seat and leaned against Luke, letting him wrap his arm around my waist. "You really are something different aren't you." She just smiled at me.
"You're only as young as you feel love."
She was talking too us the entire way through the airport. People thought she was drunk and that caused quite a scene when we were walking through security.
We put our things into the tray, took off our shoes, belts etc. and walked through the metal detector. Anne went first, Luke and then myself. This is always my favourite part of travelling.
I walked through and beeped. I was asked to take off my jacket and walk through again but this time my leg lit up on the screen. I was asked to step aside and armed guards turned up.
They did a routine frisk search and found nothing and sent me through again. When it lit up again things got serious. There was this one employee, about 20, bright red hair to match her bright red lips and making goo-goo eyes at Luke. She wore the tightest uniform and has been giving me the stink eye since she saw Luke kiss my cheek. She had a sadistic smirk plastered on her face as they started questioning me.
"Is there any reason that you could think of that would explain why the machine would indicate towards your leg?" She's determined to see me squirm but I won't give her the satisfaction.
"Yes ma'am, there's a metal pins holding my leg together. One of the ups of serving my country."
"Pardon"
Usually I tell them out right, to save all this fuss. But there was just something about her that made me want to punch her in the face. She was trying to humiliate me in front of everyone and make a scene. If a scene is what she wants, then that's exactly what she's going to get.
"You know there was a day when being a veteran meant something. When people showed some kind of respect instead of sticking their nose up, and assuming that they're better than others."
I pulled my dog tags out from under my top and let them rest on it. The stainless steel contrasting with the black of my shirt. She nearly choked on her own spit.
"Oh i'm-"
"So this is how our country repays the brave men and women who put their lives on the line for us? This is disgraceful. You should be ashamed of yourself young woman. After all she has been through, you put her through this so you can feel better about yourself? Well darling I think you should take a long look in the mirror. Now apologising won't get you anywher-"
"Miss I think you should calm down, this was just some sort of misunderstanding"
Oh that did it for Anne. It looked like she wanted to hang this guy by his tie.
"Did you just interrupt me? Was I talking to you? No I was not. Didn't your parents ever teach you manners. You young kids today, running around disrespecting others. It will get you no where in life. I'm telling you that now. Did you see what your staff member did to my dear friend? There was no need for it............"
This went on for another 10 minutes. Eventually the security guards had to accompany her out because she was becoming a disturbance. Instead we said that we'd escort her out. In all honesty, it was the least I could do. I thought I was going to make a scene, well she won the oscar. There was no need for it but it was damn funny to watch.
Just as we were about to part ways, and she was about to get into her car she shouted
"are you sure you won't take me up on that offer handsome?" This started the giggles again.
Luke wrapped his arm around my waist, pulled me into his side, looked down at me and said "No thank you Anne, i've only got my eyes on one girl." He finished it with a kiss to the top of my head.
She gave me a wink before we waved her off.
"Well that was interesting"
"you can say that again"
We headed back inside to find my parents. There's something I might not have shared with him about my parents but I hope he won't overreact.
I could spot them from a mile away. They haven't changed a bit. I ran up to them, hugged my mum who was now sobbing into my shoulder and bent down to give my father a kiss on the cheek.
Yes bent down. My dad's in a wheelchair. Paralysed from the waist down. It didn't keep him for the Military though. They found a place for him. He works in rehabilitating Marines, Navy Seals and Soldiers who have been seriously injured in war. He helps them train and has the highest success rate in Britain. Honestly I think it's because he's the only one in that profession to be noticeably injured himself. The men and women find it easier to talk to him and also it prevents any excuses.
It's so good to finally hold them, have them with me instead of being a voice on the other end of the phone.
My mum pulled back and wiped her tears. She stared at Luke, then me, then Luke, then me, so on. She nudged my dads arm and that's where it started. I knew this game play all too well. My dad would stare it out and the longer you lasted the better your end result.
I'm not sure what I expected out of Luke but it definitely wasn't this. He held my dads gaze, almost challenging him. Then he stuck his hand out and introduced himself. I watched their handshake. This was phase two. Something about a mans handshake telling you who he really is.
I saw my dads grip tighten and so did Luke's. My dad smiled and we got into the car.
Luke even earned brownie points as he refused to let me carry anything, this didn't go unnoticed by my mum.
The car ride was pretty quiet. My mum questioned Luke but my dad stayed silent. She then proceeded to fill me in on what they've been doing and what i've missed.
Once inside the house I was pulled into the kitchen to "help cook" as my mother put it.
"He's a catch. Now I don't want you to feel like you have to rush into anything. I want grandchildren but I don't know if I want them right now."
What is it with mothers and Grandchildren?
"So I heard you were in a car crash. I'm so sorry we weren't there. We should have been able to help you. I'm such a bad mother."
"Mum stop that right now. No you're not. You're doing everything you can, plus we're together now. That's all that matters and i'm fine. Anyway Luke saved me."
She pointed her spoon at me "Every detail, now."
"Bu-"
"I out rank you"
"s-"
"that is an order Marine"
Ugh I hate when she pulls the rank card. But an order is an order, so I started from the beginning, tweaking a few things. Leaving out a small few things like how he can turn into a giant, hairy, wolf. You know the small details that don't matter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Luke's POV*
I watched Alex's mum drag her off into the kitchen. I was left awkwardly standing with her dad. I might be an Alpha but this is my mates father. Who just happens to be a Veteran with only one daughter. So you know, that's enough to scare anyone.
I followed him into the front room and sat down on the couch opposite him. He stared at me intently. I was shitting it on the inside but I made sure that I didn't portray any emotion.
His voice was rough and held authority
"What are your intentions with my daughter?"
I knew this was coming.
"I'm not sure sir, if i'm being completely honest I want to marry her. One thing I am sure of is that I love her and I won't let her go without a fight."
He simply nodded. "Would you ever hurt her?"
I could feel Damien stirring.
Who does he think he is? We would never hurt Alex, she's our mate.
"No of course not. I would never bring harm to her purposefully, physically or emotionally. Unfortunately I do make mistakes, so I can't promise you that I won't hurt her. But I can promise you that she is my world and I would never intentionally do anything to hurt her, and if I did I would go to hell and back to fix it."
I think I caught a twitch, which i'm hoping was him suppressing a smile.
"What do you want from her?"
"Nothing, I just want her. Even if that means I have to deal with the military, it's part of her. I want everything. Her past, present and future."
He was silent.
This time he didn't try to hide his smile. "She's your mate isn't she?"
If I had a drink I would've spat it out. I started choking on air.
"Sorry sir, I don't understan-"
"oh bullshit. Answer me son."
I looked him straight in the eyes. He knows exactly what he's talking about. "Yes"
"Great. This doesn't mean I approve but it does increase your chances. At least now I know that you really do love her and you're not playing her."
"How did you know?" Honestly I was gobsmacked.
"Your eyes were swirling black when I mentioned you hurting her, also you share a striking resemblance to your father."
He knows my dad? How could he know my dad. He was never in the military, he just ran his pack.
"You get to know a lot of people. It's a small world. I was training with a team in America, we were doing survival 101. It was a simple -last the week with nothing but the clothes on your back- training. Myself and 5 others, including my wife were there. As it turns out it was pack land that your father rents to the Military for things like this. I was down by the river when I saw two huge wolves fighting. I grabbed my knife and waited in the bushes. That's when I saw your dad shift. He found me and explained everything, to this day him and I are the only two who knew what happened that night.
Also you finding Alex was no coincidence, I knew she enjoyed hanging out in the woods. I talked to your father and we wanted to see if anything would happen. It wasn't an accident that you stumbled upon her in the woods that day.
Don't worry son she'll come around. She has a reason for why she blocks love out and it's our fault because we were never there to show her that love does exist."
Holy ShitBalls. What do you say to that? What am I meant to think?
Did someone hurt our mate? Is that why she won't love?
Damien's thoughts swirling around in my head, like a little voice. Suddenly i'm very agitated.
I want to know what happened to her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Alex's POV*
So I just finished my edited PG story version of my roller coaster of a time in America.
My mum is just standing there, her mouth wide open and slowly stirring whatever she put into the pot.
"You have to take him there" I was confused for a minute but it didn't take long for the penny to drop.
"No. No way in hell am I doing that. I can't. I won't" she sighed and almost looked disappointed in me. My mum turned off the oven and walked over to me.
"It's time honey. After what you described i'm sure he's the one. He needs to know and you need to share it with someone."
As if on cue my dad came into the kitchen with Luke on his heels........well wheels.
And yes I have said that to him before and he finds my terrible puns funny.
"Alex I think you and lover boy need to go for a walk."
I'm stunned. If anything my father should be stopping this not encouraging us going off on our own. What has gotten into him?
Well I guess there's no escaping this.
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