6. VALKYRIE FLIGHT 101 BLOWS ASS

6

VALKYRIE FLIGHT 101 BLOWS ASS

Y ou know, the flight really hadn't been all that bad up until that little announcement. It had been a bit chilly, had a quick visit with Tyr, and I'd had an amazing orgasm. The straps didn't dig in too hard, but really…I couldn't complain. Okay, there was no inflight service. Well, if you didn't count the lip service that Havoc had provided. And I wasn't complaining about that.

"Did she say what I think she said?" Bebe screeched, loud enough to be heard over the rushing wind and the clank of the plane's bits and pieces as our flight path adjusted. "Extreme turbulence? What the hell does that mean?"

I gripped the straps above my head and yelled up at the Valkyries. "What is it? What are we evading? Is it the storm, did it catch us?" I mean, they had said turbulence. So maybe the storm? One could hope, but I had a bad feeling.

Because I couldn't see anything. I mean, we were so fucking high that anything that took us out up here would fuck us big time. There were no storm clouds any longer, just the chunks of land below, some still white with frost and snow, others gray rock, bits of trees.

A Valkyrie, the one closest to my rigging, looked down at me. "Flying rooster."

Rooster? Had I heard that right? That couldn't be right, it had to be the wrong word. Flying Twister maybe? I turned around as best I could, trying to see another bird, or whatever the hell we were suddenly evading. But still there was nothing.

The winged troop of women suddenly dropped into a dive that spun us to the right, up over a hill, and then down again to the left.

Bebe, Claire and Ship were screaming their heads off. I gritted my teeth as the Valkyries dragged us through the narrow chasm of a canyon, moving side to side as if they were trying to dodge bullets. But I didn't see anyone behind us, and there were no bullets flying.

What in the actual fuck was going on? Color me distrustful, but I couldn't help but wonder if they were doing this just so they could say that someone was after them, and that we were killed in the process.

Ooops, our bad, sorry ‘bout that .

Of course, right when I was certain that we were being fucked with again, that was when I heard the rumbling roar of something really, really big coming up behind us. Or maybe it was above us? I twisted around again. This time I got a glimpse of something that made my eyes bug out.

Scales. Wings. Teeth. Huge. Bright orange eyes locked on us.

"That's not what I think it is, is it?" I yelled.

"That's Rooster. He's a frosty damn bastard," the same Valkyrie yelled. "And we are crossing his territory in order to get you far enough into Alaska."

I blinked and looked back, but Rooster was not visible. For the moment.

"Are you saying his attack…it's not personal?" I yelled my question.

"Exactly." She bobbed her head once.

I didn't ask her more questions, not when she was flying hard to keep us all alive.

I grabbed the strut closest to my head so I could spin myself slightly to the side and get a better look at the beast that was coming hard on our heels.

Finally, he appeared fully, seemingly slithering through the canyon as he flew behind us.

Rooster's body was lean, and he fit through the canyon, but the twists and turns were slowing him down, so I only caught glimpses of the big beast.

Dragon, yes, but his scales were all browns and greens, not at all what I would have guessed for a northern dragon. Then again, dragons weren't exactly well known anymore, most had been killed off by the humans. Not a surprise there, murderous fearful little shits that they were. The humans, not the dragons.

The dragon's deeply orange eyes were narrowed, and he kept baring his teeth in our direction. But he hadn't blown fire, or anything else for that matter.

"Northern dragon!" Berek yelled. "This is bad!"

Okay, so Rooster was a northern dragon, which made it less likely it would be fire coming out of his big ass mouth, and more likely…my thoughts skittered to a stop as the air temperature around us suddenly dropped.

"Hang on!" The Valkyries shouted as a unit and then we dropped rapidly toward the bottom of the canyon, the icy whitish blue walls around us a blur as we raced for the water far below. An ice storm followed us along with a roar from Rooster, shards of pointed chunks of ice flying through the air as if shot from a gun.

The Valkyries ducked and dived, dodging the worst of the particles. That didn't mean none of us got hit, and their ducking and diving jerked us around, the plane groaning as they yanked it in all directions.

A shiv of ice cut across my right forearm, slicing muscle and flesh as easily as a razor blade. Yelps and screams from the others only seemed to urge the dragon on further.

I really was doing my best not to look at what was coming for us. The river below surged and frothed like a giant blender, white caps slamming against rocks and debris.

This was not going to go well if we ended up in there.

Gods' balls, I'd had enough of rivers. I jerked my knees to my chest, but it didn't help, and the moment stretched out. We were in a solid straight stretch of the canyon, and I didn't see any bends coming up. Fuck, that was not going to help us outrun the flying Rooster?—

The dragon burst out from behind us, and the world slowed down.

Screams. The Valkyries tucked their wings in tight. I stared up at his open mouth as he lunged forward and grabbed the tail end of the plane, jerking us to a mid-air stop just before we hit the water. Ice frosted on the plane, radiating out of the dragon's mouth and curling toward us. I watched in horror as the ice slid up over the Valkyrie closest to him. Her body froze, her eyes still moving as her wings turned into frozen blocks.

"Cut the straps!" I screamed—we didn't have a choice. There was no escaping the ice. It curled toward each of us, Valkyrie and passenger alike. If any of us were to survive, we had to get free.

At least we were over water. It was something positive. Right? I mean, icy fucking cold water that would kill us in a matter of minutes—shifters or not. But better than being turned into giant ice cubes.

It was the only chance we had.

Berek and Claire dropped first, then Richard with Bebe.

Ship looked at me as I jerked at the straps. His blade cut through his own straps. And as he fell, we both realized the same things.

I had no knife.

"Fuck me up again!" I yelped as I got one of the straps off. A Valkyrie dropped to me, and she shoved a sword through the remaining straps. We locked eyes.

"Go. Find a way. Save us all."

I fell, facing the sky, watching the dragon tear apart the flimsy plane, while my savior was tied to it. She spun and tried to get herself untangled but it was no use. She was yanked into the dragon's mouth, her eyes still on mine. Her last words still on her lips as she disappeared.

Save us all.

The other Valkyries scattered, and I could not blame them. They'd lost two of their own, one to the ice dragon, and the other because she'd saved me instead of herself. My guts roiled like the frothing water below me.

But there was little time to dwell.

I hit the water hard, like hitting a cement sidewalk, the icy cold pulling me down and under, stealing the air in my lungs as I was yanked into a sheer tumble of waves. Rapids. We'd dropped straight into a series of rapids. Bashed left and right, I hit my shoulder, knee and hip on rocks, my hands cut open as I clawed at a boulder trying to get out of the swirl that was dragging at me. I couldn't tell what was up and down with the rolling of the current.

Relax. That was what I needed to do. I blew the air out of my lungs and dropped to the bed of the river. From there I pushed up from the bottom, the urge and need to breathe fighting with the ability to get to the surface.

With a last surge I broke the surface and dragged in a lungful of air, gasping and coughing.

"Richard!" I screamed for my older brother as soon as I could get enough air. Not because I thought he'd save me, but he had Bebe. And Bebe would get absolutely fucked up in this water. I couldn't let her die.

A wave rolled over my head, and I was shoved into another current, spun around and smashed against a log battling the same current. The last time I'd been in a river, fighting for my life, Havoc had saved me.

He'd pulled me out, dragged me from a death that would have ended the world—not because I meant anything. Just because I was another job to complete. I was a responsibility he hadn't wanted.

When had that changed?

"You aren't like the others who have fallen to the curse. They were all scared. Terrified. As they should be. You…you are the first to fight back in all these years."

He believed in me. And that was enough to give me the strength to push me. I launched myself toward the closest shoreline, fighting the waves as if I were wrestling with Havoc. And yes, it was nearly as futile as if I'd been fighting the much larger man. The river was violent, and cruel, letting me get almost to safety, before I was dragged back under by an unseen current, as if hands had been latched onto my ankles.

Over and over again, I fought for the shoreline. I would not stop fighting.

The cold and exhaustion wrapped themselves around me, sinking into my skin and bones, numbing my mind until there was only one goal. The shoreline.

Keep going. That's all I could do. Keep swimming. Rapids turned into a fast-rolling river, and I finally made a little progress, my knees hitting the shallow riverbed, pebbles and rocks rolling out from under me. I fell forward, clawing at the meager edge, dragging myself up until I was fully out of the water.

I sucked wind, gasping and shivering as the reality of my situation hit hard. There was nothing I could do but keep going. I couldn't stop trying now. The choice was to stop trying and die or keep going and maybe live.

I forced myself to sit up and look up and down the edge of the river. But the damn thing had a slight curve, and I couldn't see much more than a few hundred feet back upriver. The others could be anywhere along here. Or they could have passed me and ended up downstream.

I wasn't sure how long I'd fought with the currents. Or if my brothers and friends had fared any better against the pull of the water.

"They're here," I whispered to myself, teeth chattering. I reached for the bond between me and the boys first. They were upstream, alive.

Relief flooded me. Trembling, I got to my feet. The cold would kill me but not if I shifted. Decision made, I went to call my wolf forward, knowing that it was best in this situation.

But she stood there and looked at me. Black wolf. Golden retriever next to her.

No golden wolf.

We are individuals, Cinniúint . We come together only when needed. My wolf tipped her head and sneezed in my direction.

The shift between two legs and four was painless. Golden fur rippled around me, and by the size of my paws, I was a golden retriever again. I sighed. Ah well, maybe my wolf knew better. The retriever was better suited to the water, and with a thick undercoat would survive the cold better when it was water I was dealing with.

Feeling a little brighter—that retriever mentality was a serious vibe—I trotted up the side of the river barking. Trying to get someone's attention.

I found Shipley and Claire first. They were huddled together, shivering, lips blue with cold.

Ship saw me and nodded. "Smart. We should shift, warmer that way."

Claire was shaking so hard, I wasn't sure she'd be able to pull it together. Ship shifted first and Claire just sat there, staring at him.

He gave a low woof, a command in it to shift. Even I knew it wasn't enough. She shook her head. "I can't. I need…I need someone stronger to make me."

She was stuck then, it happened sometimes with extreme fear, injury or general trauma.

It takes an alpha to kill an alpha female.

I could try and make her shift. If what Juniper had said was correct, then…there was no reason it wouldn't work, even though I wasn't her alpha. In theory. And if I didn't…she would suffer and we would possibly have to leave her behind.

I whined, not liking that. My golden wanted to protect her .

I gathered my alpha strength, and let it rumble under my skin. I locked eyes with Claire.

She tried to lower her gaze, but I held her there. And gave a sharp bark.

"You need to shift."

Claire's eyes widened and her body shimmered, shifting to her four-legged form in a breath. Her wolf was a deep chocolate with threads of deeper red running across her ribs, like tiger stripes. No doubt she hadn't thought I'd have any say over her as a golden.

But even as she stood there, shaking, I felt something unexpected.

In that one command, because I'd done it to protect her, a deeper connection had been formed. Nothing too permanent, but I could see it and feel her energy through it stronger than before. She was part of my pack…assuming I could count myself, Richard, Bebe and Ship as my pack.

That was not what I wanted. I didn't need more people depending on me, tied to me.

But right then, Claire was terrified, and it was my job to help her through. I sent a gentle push of calm energy toward her, thoughts of safety and warmth.

Her terror ebbed and her breathing eased. She looked at me and gave a soft woof of thanks.

A small part of me hummed with pleasure, because this meant my golden was strong too. A different strength than my wolf, sure, but still strong. There was compassion in my golden that balanced the violence of my wolf.

I could see why they couldn't combine unless the situation was dire. They were too different.

"Alright, let's find the others." I trotted off ahead of them. Assuming—hoping—that they were upriver, at least from what I could sense. Ship fell into a steady pace just ahead of me, his nose twitching.

Claire tucked in close to my hip, the pack bonds keeping her closer than normal.

I breathed in deeply, but more than that I reached for my connection to Richard and Bebe. They were pack. They were family.

I tipped my head, hearing the screech at the same time as I locked onto Bebe's ties to me.

"This is fucking awful! Even with fur, this is the worst! Do you know how long it's going to take me to get warm! Years!"

"At least you're alive, we don't know if the others made it," Richard's voice rumbled back.

We took a corner and there was Berek on the shoreline, already on four-legs. Funny, but I recognized him even though I'd never seen his wolf before. He was a deep gray wolf that would disappear in the shadows of a forest with ease. He turned and looked at me and I felt that same twang as I had with Claire.

His allegiance had switched to me, sometime along the way. I'd begun to sense it before, like at the hospital when he'd been shot and even used it to send him energy when he'd been shot. But it was stronger now and he was more…mine, less Havoc's.

Richard and Bebe, well they weren't in as good a spot as Berek. They were on a rock protruding out of the middle of the river.

Bebe saw me, her eyes widened. "Cin! We tried to grab you! We saw you go tumbling by!"

"I tried," Richard corrected, wincing. "But I broke my leg I think, caught between the rocks, and I lost my balance when I reached for you." The water bashed into the rock they sat on, still in the middle of the river. I eyed the distance. A broken leg was not good, but we'd deal.

We always did.

"Richard, you remember how we used to play keep away? Tossing the ball as far as we could?" I asked.

He grinned, though his lips were tinged blue. "I do."

"Bebe is the ball," I said.

"You will not!" She screamed, but Richard was fast. He scooped her up and launched her toward the shoreline before she could truly protest.

"You bastard!"

"You'll land on your feet," he yelled back.

And he was right. Bebe dropped onto the shore, all four feet landing at once. It didn't stop her from turning around and spitting curses at him .

I bumped my nose into hers. "He can shift now."

"I could have ridden on his back!" she snapped, her wet fur attempting to fluff up in indignation, which just made her look partially fluffed, and wholly pissed.

"But if you were to slide off, it would put us all in danger," Richard said what I was thinking. "Because we'd have to dive into the rapids after you."

Bebe stared at him, then looked at me. "Fine."

I barked at Richard, encouraging him, giving him some of my energy, though I didn't have much it was something. He shifted, right there on the rock. His face contorted with pain, but he pushed through. It wasn't something many shifters liked to do, simply because it hurt severely to shift when you were injured—especially with things like broken limbs. But in our family, we knew that the pain of shifting injured outweighed the risk of being trapped by whoever had done the hurting.

Richard leapt upstream but didn't get far, the water pulling him downstream fast. I waded into the frigid river, and felt Ship take a hold of my tail so I floated another wolf's length out. As Richard fought to get to me, I reached for him.

I managed to get my teeth into his left paw, and he clamped onto the ruff around my neck, and just like that we were dragging him back to the shore. Soaking wet, but we'd all made it out of a death drop that I hadn't been sure any of us would survive .

"We need to get out of here," Berek grumbled. "That dragon will come back once he's done chasing the Valkyries. We'd be easy pickings along the river."

As if hearing him, the beast in question let out a bellow that rocked through the canyon, overpowering even the sound of the river. The air crackled with cold and the threat of an unnatural ice storm. We had to move.

"Then we go," I said.

"Where?" Bebe shook her head, sending out a spray of water.

I looked to the north, feeling home, knowing we were almost there. "We're headed to my place. It's not far."

I just didn't tell her that not far was still going to be farther than she would like.