Page 37 of Racing the Storm

Arturo steered the car into the brush, then killed the engine. “Get walking,” he said. “I need to disable this thing so they can’t track it.”

Part of me said I should be helping him, because that’s where my skills began and ended. I was a fighter, not a hero, but Danyal met my gaze, and I was helpless against him. I slung my arm around Mari and lifted her to me, and Danyal quickly followed the path until the trees became thicker and—eventually—caves came into view.

Mari’s body was almost dead weight against me, and I tried not to think about the fact that she was carrying Kor’s child, though I wouldn’t be able to ignore it for long. I wondered if Kor knew—but that was foolish. He wouldn’t have gone off into the unknown with Misha if he had any idea that Kasher had bred a child from his seed.

He’d have torn a hole in the earth’s crust to be here.

He was going to do exactly that the moment he found out.

My arms were trembling slightly as we finally reached the caves, and Danyal followed the path deep inside until it broke into two tunnels. He and I both inhaled, then he nodded to the right. “I smell…something.”

“Supplies. Weapons,” I said. There was the faintest hint of food and tang of metal Kor had left us.

Danyal’s jaw ticked—visible in the dark—and he started ahead with one hand on the wall to guide him. We eventually made it to a small clearing, and I could hear water dripping from far off. There were small piles of stuff—MREs, packs, blankets—and Danyal quickly got a small, cushioned nest for Mari to lay down in.

My arms screamed in protest as her weight shifted off me, and when Danyal lit one of the lanterns, I could see she’d gone pale.

“Don’t die on us, all right?” I told her.

She grimaced. “Don’t be stupid.”

I almost laughed. She sounded so much like Arturo, and then, after a beat, it hit me. “He’s not your mate.”

She huffed. “He’s my brother. Is he…”

If Arturo was her brother, it meant she was also a Wolf, hiding in plain sight, just like he was.

“He’s coming,” Danyal told her. He walked over, then dropped to his knees beside her and gave her a careful look. I could see he was holding back, but I couldn’t even begin to know what. “I’m sorry for what I did.”

“No,” she said, then sucked in a breath, and I could all-but smell her pain. “No. I would have done the same thing, but they never let me near him. And I couldn’t let them find out what I was.”

Danyal rubbed his fingers around his mouth, almost like he was physically holding back his questions. I knew the feeling well. After a beat, he took her wrist, feeling for her pulse, then he laid a hand on her knee. “Do you want me to check your progress. I’ve never done this before, but I learned the basics in med school.”

She shook her head. “Not…not yet. Just…” She panted a bit, then relaxed all the way back into the blankets beneath her. “Please.”

He gently withdrew his hand, then pushed to his feet and looked at me. “When her brother gets here…”

“Arturo,” I supplied.

Danyal clenched his jaw, then nodded. “I’m going to explore the cave.”

“Not alone,” I told him swiftly, and his eyes flashed at me, but I wouldn’t back down—though I refused to posture. “We don’t know who the fuck has been here or if we’ve been tracked. Both of you could have devices in you.”

Danyal rubbed his thumb over his wrist and shook his head. “We don’t. We got them out before we left the compound.”

I didn’t want to insult his intelligence or competence by asking if he was sure. I just had to trust him. “All the same, it’s not safe.”

He hesitated for a long time, then he gave a stiff nod. I wanted desperately to fall to my knees and apologize—to make promises until my breath ran out that I would never, ever leave his side again. But I could see from the look in his eyes, it was the last thing he wanted.

Before either of us could say more, though, I heard Arturo enter the cave. He hesitated at the fork the same way we had, then he made his way down our tunnel. His gaze immediately caught on Mari, and he fell to his knees beside her, brushing a hand over her forehead.

“Are you going to give birth here?” he murmured.

She groaned softly and rolled into his touch. “It’s likely.”

Arturo let out a low, rumbling groan, and his hand twitched like he wanted to touch her stomach, but he was afraid. I could scent it on him. “Did they hurt you?”

“No worse than anyone else. Far less than the feral ones they were keeping,” she said, then groaned with the pain. “They were too afraid to lose the child. They never knew what I was.”

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