CHAPTER 29
Gwen paced impatiently in front of the check-in desk at the private airport. The She-leopard watched her close until Gwen finally said, “Keep staring at me, I’ll tear your eyes out.”
The females hissed at each other until Gwen heard the doors leading to the tarmac open. She charged over, trying to see through the large males blocking her view.
“Blayne!”
The two females ran at each other, bodies colliding, arms wrapping around each other as they squealed and hugged.
Seeing Blayne, knowing she was safe, meant more to Gwen than anything else. It was hard in this vicious, cruel world to find someone you not only could trust as you could your own blood but who you actually liked to be around—unlike your own blood.
“Are you okay?” Gwen asked, pulling back so she could see Blayne’s face. She wiped Blayne’s tears with her thumbs.
“I’m fine. I’m great!”
Of course she was. She was Blayne.
“Don’t cry, Gwenie.” She didn’t realize she had been. “I’m really okay.”
“You better be. Or I’m going to hurt people.”
Blayne threw her arm over Gwen’s shoulder. “It won’t be necessary. Everything is okay.”
“If you say so. I’m just glad you’re . . . you’re . . .” Gwen studied her friend for a moment.
“What?”
Instead of answering, Gwen buried her nose against Blayne’s neck and sniffed. The scent of bear and cat hit strong and her back snapped straight, her gaze on a suddenly silent wolfdog.
Gwen looked over at the three males standing behind them. Lock looked resigned, Ric concerned, and Novikov amused.
“You want to tell me what’s going on?” she asked her friend.
“Not really.”
“Blayne.”
Both women jumped, her father’s booming military voice always managing to make them feel guilty when they had no reason to feel guilty. Usually.
“I’m heading home,” he said, marching around them. “I’ll expect you on Sunday. As planned.”
“Is that all you have to say to me?” Blayne demanded.
“Well, I could remind you to stay out of trouble—but that always seems to fall on deaf ears!” Ezra Thorpe raised a brow, immediately calm after his bellow. “Anything else?”
“No,” Blayne said with a very resigned sigh. “That was it.”
“Good.” He leaned in and kissed his daughter on the forehead. “Sunday,” he reminded her, walking toward the parking lot. “Bring the freak with you.”
“Daddy!”
Funny thing was, Gwen knew old man Thorpe liked Novikov. He’d invited him to his and Blayne’s monthly Sunday dinners. If Ezra Thorpe didn’t like a man, he wasn’t inviting him anywhere. Especially if he didn’t like the man for his daughter.
But just because Blayne’s father seemed to have accepted Novikov—or at the very least was willing to give him a shot—didn’t mean Blayne’s collective brother system was about to accept him.
“Why don’t I give you a lift home?” Ric asked Blayne.
“Well—”
“I’ve got it,” Novikov cut in, standing behind Blayne.
“I’d like to hear Blayne say it.” Ric stepped closer. Now Blayne was trapped between two predators, and she didn’t look happy about it. But Gwen knew Blayne well enough to know it wasn’t fear or anger that had Blayne like this. It was something else. Something she was desperately trying to hide. “Unless you’re trying to keep her quiet,” Ric went on.
“We both know that’s not even possible.”
Lips pursed and eyes rolling, Blayne let out another sigh.
“You really wanna do this here, tiny little wolf boy?” Novikov asked. “Do I need to prove my point again with you?”
“You can try. If you’ve got the guts.”
“Or,” Lock said, grabbing Blayne’s hand and pulling her out from between the two males. “We can go to the hospital.”
“What?” Gwen knew what Lock had been heading into when he left, and knew it was dangerous. “Are you hurt?”
“It’s a girl.”
“Maybe he hit his head,” Blayne whispered.
Lock held his cell phone between the friends. “Just got a text from Phil. It’s a girl.”
Blayne squealed, bouncing up and down on her toes. “Jess had the baby! Jess had the baby!” She grabbed Lock’s arm and pulled before running off. “Come on! Jess had the baby!”
She cartwheeled toward the exit. “It’s a girl!” she cheered, ran out the door, and ran back in. “Let’s go!”
Laughing, probably as relieved as she was that Blayne was a-okay, Lock followed after her.
Gwen turned to Novikov, raising her head to try to see his face. Poor guy. He had no idea Blayne had just run out on him—again.
“Thank you,” Gwen said to him, and she meant it. Without even talking to Blayne yet, she knew that Novikov had protected her best friend—and that he loved her.
“Not a problem.”
She winked at him and followed after her friend, stopping long enough to say, “Come on, Ric. You can keep Lock and Blayne calm while I explain why I’m not going into that death trap.” When the wolf kept staring at Novikov, she whistled, catching his immediate attention and making Novikov laugh.
“Don’t make me get the choke chain, Ulrich.”
Bo stood in the middle of the private airport, alone. Blayne had left to check on her friend. Did she forget he was in the room? Very possible. This was Blayne after all. Or was she panicking and running on him again? No. No way. She’d call him soon. In the hour, he bet. Gushing over the baby and whatever. He’d hear from her. He was sure of it.