Chapter 128

Judy’s POV

“Ow, Judy!” Nan cried. “You’re hurting me!”

I dug my nails so deep into her flesh that she started to bleed. My heart was racing, and I thought my ears were going to explode. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to remain as still as possible as Nan attempted to unwrap my fingers from around her arm.

“Seriously, girl. Let me go,” she demanded through her teeth.

I finally untangled my fingers from her and gripped the armrests instead. As Nan rubbed her aching arm, I could hear her muttering, “Training to be a gamma yet terrified of planes.”

She was right; I was terrified of flying. Wolves didn’t belong in the air; we were land animals. This thing could break down and we’d crash, exploding into a million pieces. This was a chance I truly did not want to take, but here I was, in the air, flying for the next several hours to a tropical location. Nan wasn’t as scared as I was, she was gazing out the window, pointing at all the pretty clouds that we were flying through. She kept saying something about our packs looking like a giant map the higher we got.

“You are missing out on the beauty of it all,” Nan breathed as she pressed her face against the window. I finally managed to pry my eyes open and look around; the plane had finally leveled off, and my ears no longer felt as if they were about to explode.

I saw the big smile on Nan’s face as she stared out the window, awe clear in her eyes. It was nice seeing her smiling again. After these last few days, I never thought I would see that smile on her face again. It was almost worth it.

“How much longer until we are there,” I asked, not wanting to stare out the window, afraid of what I’d see.

“We just took off,” she laughed. “Calm yourself and relax.”

“How can I relax when we are so high up in the sky?” I asked. “I don’t like this.”

“Well, there’s no other way to get to this place. We have to cross several oceans,” she told me. “You were the one who wanted to do the competition,” she added with a shrug.

“Do you ladies want anything to drink or a snack?” The stewardess, who startled me, asked.

“Water please,” I asked. She nodded and handed me a small water bottle before glancing at Nan.

“Coffee would be great,” she said.

“We just drank coffee,” I reminded her.

She shrugged.

“It’s going to be a long flight, and I don’t want to fall asleep,” she explained.

The stewardess poured a cup of coffee and then handed Nan some sweeteners and powdered creamers.

She went off to serve others.

I took a sip of the water, trying to calm my nerves and racing heart.

“It’s going to be okay, Judy,” Nan assured me. “Just chill.”

I nodded, trying to relax.

“Have you spoken to Chester?” I asked, trying to keep my mind off being thousands of miles in the air.

Nan blanched at my question.

“No,” she murmured. “I’ve been with you since yesterday. When would I have spoken to him?”

I shrugged.

“He has your number. I didn’t know if he called you,” I told her, taking another sip of the water.

“Wait, what??” She gasped, glaring at me. “Why exactly does he have my number??”

I shrugged, trying not to look her in the eyes but I felt like I was on fire from her stares.

“I gave it to him…”

“Judy!” She nearly screeched. “Why would you do that??”

“Because he was worried,” I told her. “When I told him you were coming with me and—”

‘You told him where I was going??” She asked, her eyes wide. “How could you do that?!”

“He’s my friend, Nan…”

“I’m your friend. I’m supposed to be your best friend. I thought you were in my corner,” she cried.

“I am in your corner,” I assured her. “I’m always in your corner. Which is exactly why I gave your mate your phone number. You can thank me when you’re married and I’m your maid of honor.”

“And what makes you so sure we are going to get married?” She asked, folding her arms across her chest. “He’s a playboy.”

“He hasn’t touched a woman in days. Not even Harper and I thought for a while that they were going to be end game,” I told her, but immediately regretting my choice of words because Nan’s face went completely white. I sighed and touched her arm gently. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I know how it is to have a mate… but Nan, Chester isn’t a bad guy. If you give him a chance…”

“I’ll end up like you.”

I was stunned speechless by her words. They hurt me more than I could ever let her know.

“What?” I asked, my voice coming out heavy.

“Ethan cheated and left you for someone else. He broke a part of you that you’ll never get back. You can feel it every time he’s intimate with her, and it kills both you and your wolf,” Nan said, tears filling her eyes. “I hate seeing it happen to you… why would you want it happen to me?”

I wanted to say something to reassure her that it wasn’t going to happen to her, but at the same time, I couldn’t guarantee that. She was right; she could end up like me and I was selfish for putting her in that position. I was also hurt that she said such a terrible thing to me. I clamped my mouth shut and faced forward, staring at my water bottle as if it held the answers to everything.

She sighed and turned bac towards the window. I didn’t want to spend this flight fighting with my best friend, but I felt tears burning in my eyes and I couldn’t quite face her right now without breaking apart.

At some point, I thankfully fell asleep. I was only woken when my ears once again felt as if they were going to explode, and the plane began to dip low. I opened my eyes, gripping the arm rest tightly as the plane began to land.

Once we officially touched the ground, I let out a breath of relief.

The seatbelt light turned off and they allowed us to leave the plane by section. Once we were safely off the plane, I felt like I could kiss the ground. Nan and I had barely spoken since our argument earlier and even as we walked over to baggage claim, I could still fee the strain on our relationship. She was quiet and I knew she was lost in thought, just as I was.

We got our luggage and started towards the exit. I was bracing myself for the hot air, but nothing could of prepared me for it. I could hardly breathe when we went from the AC and into a heatwave.

“What now?” Nan asked as she looked around, seemingly comfortable in her element. She always liked the heat; summer was her favorite season.

“I guess we get a cab to the hotel,” I said, pulling out my phone and bringing up the email that Levi Churchill sent me a few days ago. It had the hotel information; it was only a few miles away from the airport and near the beach, so it shouldn’t take us long to get there. “Here’s the address for the resort,” I said, pointing at it.

Nan nodded and turned towards the busy streets.

“Leave it to me,” she said confidently. She walked towards the curb and whispered, holding up her hand. In seconds, a cab was stopping in front of her. She grinned and glanced over her shoulder at me. “I was always good at getting a cab back in the city,” she explained. “Before I got my car that is.”

I chuckled and grabbed my things off the ground, rushing towards the cab. The Cab driver was kind enough to pop his back trunk and get out of the car to help with our luggage. Just as we were about to get into the cab, I caught a glimpse of Sammy sitting on one of her suitcases looking exhausted and defeated. She was staring at her phone with a deep frown and tears clear in her eyes.

“Sammy?” I called after her.

She lifted her gaze to meet mine and forced a small smile.

“Oh, hi,” she said softly.

“Is everything okay?” I asked as I walked over to her, motioning for the cab driver to hold on a second. Nan stayed by our things and the cab to make sure no one else took it.

“Not really,” Sammy sighed. “My boyfriend was supposed to come and pick me up, but something came up and he’s unable to get here.”

“Do you need a ride?” I asked her.

She raised her brows.

“Really?” She asked.

I nodded.

“I’m assuming he’s at the resort, right?” I asked. “You can ride with us. We are heading there now.”

She nodded quickly.

“Yes, that would be great. Thank you!” She breathed.

I helped her with her things and once the cab was filled with our belongings, we all got in. Sammy was the smaller of us three, so she sat in the middle.

I told the cab driver the address and he plugged it into the GPS. Just as we were driving off, something caught my eye. There were a ton of paparazzi surrounding someone that I couldn’t quite see. They were flashing their cameras and asking them questions. I strained my neck to get a glimpse of what was going on, but I could hardly see around the large crowd, and we were too far away.

“I wonder what’s going on over there,” Nan said, following my gaze.

I shrugged.

“Who knows,” I muttered. “Probably some rich jerk.”

She nodded in agreement, and we rested for the next 20 minutes until we reached the biggest and prettiest resort I had ever seen.