Chapter 13 - Astrid

My phone dies halfway through our flight over the Atlantic Ocean.

I'm on a fancy Lycan private plane yet there are no chargers in sight. But maybe it's for the best when I remember how Valentina was tracking Bianca. I never realized the extent of their relationship, but if it has resulted in Valentina privately stalking Bianca to make sure she's okay, however messed up that sounds, maybe they were more serious than I thought.

Rio, as I feel I should start calling him by his name, apologizes. It's been very weird to witness Alpha Smug's character development in the span of 12 hours, and I think I'm secretly growing to like the reveal of a gentler side, although he still has his moments.

He offers me a change of clothes from his suitcase and when I emerge from the bathroom with his clothes on, I fight the urge to blush under his hungry blue-black eyes.

He strides over to me coolly, his delicious minty scent following close by, and I stand firm expectantly.

"You look good in my clothes," he comments, with a grin that makes my stomach flutter. Naturally, I roll my eyes. He hands me one of the burgers we picked up along the way for dinner. "Eat up then rest up. We'll be reaching Midnight Shadow tomorrow around noon."

I take the burger and have a seat. Alex is already passed out in his little corner with a sleeping mask on.

"I've never been anywhere outside of Silver Bow," I confess as Rio and I eat.

"Not even a road trip to the East Coast?"

"Nope. But my aunt, Ellie, lives there. She, unlike my dad, was not born a shifter."

"And what about your mother?"

"My parents met when my dad was backpacking through Asia."

"Your mother is a tiger, too?"

"Yes. As a result, An and I—An's my older sister—we both have the ability to shift."

"I would have liked to have met your entire family."

"Well, I would have liked to say goodbye to my family, but you can't always get what you want." I pause and cringe a little at my blunt tongue.

At least Rio seems amused as he grins and shakes his head. I ought to change the subject.

"So, do you have brothers or sisters?" I ask.

"Yes, two younger brothers. Kobe and Leon."

"That explains your name. Rio."

His eyes light up at the mention of his name, the first time I've uttered it since we've met.

"Yes," he says, "My mother's name is Corinthia, after her birth place. She has a thing about that."

"You were born in Rio de Janeiro?"

He nods. "My parents were visiting the old Alpha of Violet Moon, the father of now Alpha Juliana Jiminez."

At the mention of the female Alpha, my memories sting a little. The events of the afternoon loom over this little distracting conversation between Rio and I. Suddenly, my appetite's left me and I wrap up the rest of my half-eaten burger to stow it away.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Rio apologizes.

I sigh, exasperated, leaning back in my seat. I look up at the overhead light shining above me and turn it off. I sit quietly for a while as the rustling of Rio's burger wrapper is the only sound that penetrates through the hum of being up in the air. Something comes over me to confess the thoughts I've been holding back in my head over the past few days.

"You know," I begin, "I was really pissed at Bianca for accepting your proposal. Which is stupid when I think about it now. I wasted my time and energy being upset over something so small in the bigger scheme of things."

I look over to Rio to gauge his reaction. He looks to be in the middle of carefully forming words in response.

"Astrid, did you know Bianca was gay?"

"Well, I don't know what exactly she is, but I knew she was seeing Valentina."

"So, do you think she would have been happy if she married me?"

"I...don't know."

I purse my lips, never having realized the heavy implications of it all. When I first heard of the proposal, I did think that she was pleased to be betrothed to the Lycan Alpha, a greater honor than to be betrothed to another wolf. But it never occurred to me that the title wasn't the issue, that perhaps gender was.

And everything slowly clicks. All of a sudden, I feel like the worst best friend, not understanding how prejudiced I've been about my own expectations of Bianca. Worse yet, she would have experienced heavier pressure from the expectations of her parents. The memories of Alpha Gilbert's misogynistic speech cut deeper and I'm angry at him and at myself.

"Wow," I exhale heavily, "I can't believe I was blinded by my own expectations. Best friends aren't supposed to have expectations. They're supposed to just let you be you."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Rio remarks. "When you don't have a good support system at home, it's hard to unlock your destiny. Luckily, I had the best."

And there goes another thing I should feel bad about. My annoyance at formerly Alpha Smug let slip the fact that Rio lost his father a few months ago.

"Rio, I'm so sorry about your father. It must have been hard to lose him so early."

He smiles solemnly. "You don't have to be sorry. It wasn't your fault."

"What was he like?" I quietly ask, having had enough of talking about my problems.

"He was a serious man. He took his responsibilities very seriously. When it was time to work, nothing could sway him away, not even his own child coming down with a fever of 100 degrees. But, at the end of the day, it was all for love." Rio smiles at this. "He loved my mother more than anything. They were the top fighters of the pack and would always enter any battle side-by-side. And when she witnessed his death while defending a small town in Hungary from a coven of vampires, the impact of it shook my mother to the core."

I couldn't imagine such a thing happening to my own parents. I pray to the Goddess to keep them safe while I'm gone.

"Were they destined mates?" I ask.

"Yes. Chosen mates are not very well received where I'm from. The only reason I sent out that proposal to Bianca was because I hadn't found you yet...and because of my mother in her grief."

"So, your mom won't mind that I'm a tiger?"

Rio smiles and raises an eyebrow at me, his blue-black eyes wordlessly communicating something. I catch myself. I had asked him if his mother would approve of me as if I'd just accepted the destiny bond.

He chuckles. "Don't worry, Astrid. The fact that you're not a human would be enough relief for my mother. She has this paranoia that the human members of our pack will out us to the rest of humankind."

I scoff at this and can't help but wonder if Rio's sense of superiority comes from his mother as much as it comes from being a Lycan.

"But I don't mind that you're a tiger," he adds with a wink.

I roll my eyes. "And what exactly makes destined mates better?"

"For one, the children of destined mates are stronger than those of chosen mates. It's like the perfect pairing of genetics combined to create stronger descendants."

I scoff. "Oh, so I'm just a baby-making machine then?"

"But only with me," he winks. "And more importantly, the bond and...the love between a destined pair is beyond the understanding of this world. It's an unbreakable and irrevocable love. That is, of course, when we lay the mark of destiny upon each other." He points around his trapezoid by the base of his neck. "Just around here."

My eyes widen in disbelief at his crude suggestion. Inevitably, I end up imagining what that would feel like, having heard rumors about the orgasmic capacity of Lycan bites, said to be more intense than a vampire's. I feel myself squirm a little down there and I bite my lip to stop imagining things that aren't going to happen.

Rio bursts into laughter. I turn intensely red knowing that he could somehow sense my thoughts being in such close proximity to him in this confined space.

"I will never tire of making you feel the right sort of things that you're probably trying very hard to suppress."

I want to turn away, shove a headset against my ears and ignore him, but a thought occurs to me that two can play this game.

"You're right," I say as I face Rio and blink, slowly opening my eyes, but only about half-way in my amateur attempt at bedroom eyes. I purse my lips then relax them, leaving them a tiny bit parted as I gradually exhale. "Some things you just can't hide."

And I hear him audibly gulp.

"Good night, Rio." I toss my hair, turning away to rest.

I hear him groan disappointedly, but he wishes me a good night nonetheless.

I smile at my little victory, then close my eyes. Surprisingly, the night's conversation has done some good in settling my erratic thoughts. But no matter what, I can't lose sight of my mission here. To find Bianca.

I drift off quicker than anticipated. The last thing I remember is the gentle aroma of mint.