Scum (Book 1)

20. Plane

Cheyenne’s POV

I’ve never been on a plane before, so even being at the airport is like a tourist attraction to me. My parents weren’t thrilled about me being hired as Liam’s personal assistant, the story we’ve told them, but they also didn’t like the idea of me declining the offer, so they really couldn’t stop me from going.

There are a ton of art installations at the airport, and it amazes me how creative humans can be. They aren’t a strong species per-se, but they are among the most destructive, which is why we tend to stay away from them.

They have some idea that supernatural creatures exist, but proving it would cause mass hysteria, and so long as we aren’t hunting them down, they aren’t looking in our direction.

Still, we use caution around humans, almost to the point of completely isolating ourselves from them by living in the most rural areas of the world, so it’s common for someone my age to have never left their hometown.

Jenna, Royce, and Liam on the other hand are well traveled. In fact, my own parents have also experienced much of the outside world that I haven’t, specifically because they had to travel as part of their official position when they held a rank within the pack.

“Please tell me that you’ve had Cinnabon before,” Jenna says, but I stay quiet. I’ve heard of them, but at five dollars each, I wasn’t interested, not to mention that they are almost always located in malls, a place that I’ve been to once.

“You’ve got to try one.” Liam pulls me toward the line where I uncomfortably stand, but the closer I get, the more eager I become.

My sense of smell is beginning to heighten, meaning that my wolf is coming soon, and right now, I can practically taste the cinnamon roll through my nostrils.

He orders four of them, and my jaw tightens with the amount he’s spending, but when he turns to ask me if I want anything else, I’m even more irritated.

“How much of a budget have you been given for this trip?” I didn’t mean to sound like a nagging mother, but I’m pretty sure that’s how I came off, and the laughter from Jenna and her mate confirm that my tone was comical to them.

“Relax, my father put Jenna in charge. This is my personal money.” I say nothing until Liam pays, but when we sit, I feel like I need to give him a stern talking to.

“Alpha-”

“Liam.” The man corrects, pointing to our surroundings as a reminder to which I nod.

“I know it’s not my place, but you will soon be in a position where… four… cinnamon… money…” Jenna and Royce aren’t even paying attention as they greedily open their boxes, and the smell makes my stomach rumble.

“You were saying?” Liam is holding one of the rolls in front of my face, and I silently take it, opening the box almost reverently as I gingerly unwrap the plastic utensils.

Humans have about 9,000 taste receptors, while werewolves have nearly 12,000, making our sense of taste more developed, but based on the line we just stood on, that fact doesn’t matter; good is good to everyone.

“Got it!” Jenna says, making me jump mid chew.

The warm gooey cinnamon roll is so good that I literally zoned out, so she was able to snap a picture without me noticing.

“You have to post that,” Royce chuckles out, handing me the device when he’s done looking at it.

In the picture, my eyes are closed, I’m smiling, and the whole thing gives off a vibe of tranquility.

In reality, I was admiring, detecting, and trying to memorize the ingredients in the dessert, because when I get back home, I’m going to try making them myself.

Jenna takes her phone back, and there’s nothing but silence again, but after a while the woman checks her device, and shows her brother and mate something.

“We’ll have to make sure we bring him one when we get back.” I’m assuming that the trio is talking about Kelvin, who couldn’t come because I’m Liam’s plus one, and Jenna got invited on her own merit; her mate is obviously her guest.

Once again, we are silent, and the next time someone speaks is to tell us that our plane will start boarding soon.

We get to the gate with our taste buds still humming from the delicious bun, but I suddenly become nervous.

“You good?” Royce asks, noticing my change in demeanor while Liam and his sister busy themselves with pulling out our boarding passes.

“I think I’m scared,” I reply, which draws everyone's attention to me.

Liam’s POV

Chey is a first-time flier, so I understand that she’s a little weary, but I’ve never heard the girl openly express fear, except for in the context of being rejected by her mate, which doesn’t count.

She’s technically an unaccompanied minor on this flight, which affords her certain allowances, and when her name is loudly called over the intercom, she unconsciously takes my hand.

“Hey… It’s okay. We’ll be right behind you.” Chey takes a deep breath and makes her way to the gate attendant, who looks confused until she presents him with her boarding pass.

He was probably expecting a small child, but the look of fear on Cheyenne’s face is clear, so he doesn’t dismiss her the way they did with me the first time I flew alone.

That and the man attending to her is definitely a werewolf, so he’s probably trying to feel Chey out, since she’s of legal age.

He keeps cracking flirty jokes, but it’s not making her feel any better, so another attendant has to step in and ‘save’ Chey from his colleague.

“Let’s get you to your seat dear,” the other man says, but Chey’s feet won’t move. “Is anyone forcing you onto this plane?” The attendant questions, worrying us because Chey may be barred from boarding if she doesn’t calm down.

“Will we really be thirty thousand miles up?”

“Is this your first time flying?” Chey nods vigorously, making the man chuckle at her. “Try not to think about it,” he says, ushering the girl through the landing gates.

I’m so nervous for her that my wolf becomes agitated, so when our group is called, I practically sprint down the boarding dock to get into the plane.

As soon as I do, I see Chey being doted on by two other flight attendants, who are admiring everything from her hair to her eye color.

Humans tend to be more empathetic than werewolves, so in Chey, the women must see themselves, and they’ve already got her smiling ear to ear.

I take my seat, and when boarding concludes, Chey is escorted to the seat beside me, which was conveniently still open when we did our bookings.

“Boyfriend?” The stewardess asks, looking between Chey and I with a tight smile that I don’t quite understand.

“Eww, no. He’s like a brother to me. We’re headed to a youth conference; he’s smarter than he looks.” My jaw drops, but Chey’s words work to draw the attendant’s attention away from her and toward me.

“And how old are you?”

“Twenty.”

“An adult…” I cast a glance at Chey, who stifles a giggle before turning toward her window, likely not wanting to ‘interfere.’

I’m not against being with an older woman, and normally, I wouldn’t be one to turn down an opportunity to have s*x on a plane, but I don’t want a random fling to mess up my chances of getting Porsha back, which is why I haven’t slept with anyone since our breakup.

“I have a boyfriend,” I reply, startling the woman, and Chey, who starts choking on her shocked laughter.

She knows that I’m lying, and when the stewardess leaves, she and I share a good laugh about the woman’s facial expression.

Some people are extremely sensitive about their sexuality, but I’m not, so I don’t mind joking in that way, although it has gotten me into trouble a few times.

“You may end up saying that to the wrong person,” Chey says, investigating her chair as she speaks.

“It’s already happened.” I tell her about a time I told a girl on campus the same thing, and she came back with her ‘bestie,’ who refused to take no for an answer.

“What did you do?”

“I gave him my number.” Chey laughs a little too loudly, then covers her mouth in embarrassment.

I like to see her happy and relaxed, which in my opinion, suits her better than a hardened battle warrior.

“Do you know that Royce thought that I was fated to Dallas?”

“Nora would have snapped, and clawed your eyes out,” Chey jokes, making me tilt my head at her.

“So, you knew about them?”

“I had my suspicions, but I didn’t know for sure until Nora’s birthday.” Chey and I are silent for a while, but I’m suddenly curious about how the girl plans to celebrate her big day.

“Are you excited about turning eighteen?”

“Not really… She hasn’t woken yet.” Chey is referring to her wolf, making me sad because I know from slightly abusing my authority that whatever she was given when she was drugged messed her up pretty bad, so she’s still recovering.

“Don’t worry. You’ve got time, and when it happens, we’ll go running together to celebrate.” As odd as it may be, what I just offered Chey is a high honor to which she excitedly agrees.

We fall into conversation, but when the plane starts, the woman tenses, so I rest a hand over hers, trying to calm her.

“It’s going to be loud.” Chey nods and squeezes the arm rests, and not knowing what else to do, I link Royce and Jenna, who are at the back of the plane for reasons I’m sure I don’t want to know.

The couple tells me to distract her by bringing up something she’s ‘passionate’ about, so I default to her parents, the only people Chey is afraid to disappoint.

“How’d you convince your dad to let you do this?”

“Nora,” Chey says, almost whispering. “She’s good at convincing people to do things they aren’t comfortable with.”

“And your mother?” The plane starts moving and Chey forcefully takes my hand, holding it so tightly that I make a face, but I don’t say anything.

Once the plane begins to take off, Chey’s eyes go so wide that I start laughing, making her scowl.

“We told her that you were forcing me to go.” I gasp in horror, but Chey’s smirk tells me that she’s joking, so I lightly punch her arm.