Page 28 of Racing the Storm

He shrugged. “It was safest at the time,” he said, switching from Spanish to English.

I was startled at how good it was, and I realized that it was likely almost everything he’d told me apart from where he was from, had been bullshit. “Are you going to tell me your real name?”

He swallowed thickly, then shrugged and shoved one hand into his pocket like he was trying to control his movements. “Arturo. But that’s all I’m willing to share. Forgive me, güey.”

I shook my head and waved him off. It was enough, I supposed. After all, within a matter of hours—if I was lucky—I would be rid of these people, and I would have Danyal with me. Letting out a breath, I turned in a slow half-circle. “I’m going to assume you all know why I’m here.”

Amélie nodded her head, brushing back a lock of hair behind her ear. “We’ve been in contact with your Alpha. In fact, he’ll be calling through to speak with you before we make our way toward Kasher’s compound.”

My heart thudded in my chest at the thought of having contact from someone at home—even if I knew Kor wasn’t actually there. It meant his half-cocked plan of fleeing with his Omega had worked, even if he hadn’t made any other progress.

“For now,” Hervé said, dropping a hand to my shoulder, “have a drink and a rest. You had a long journey, and we have an even longer one ahead of us when we’re done.”

I didn’t feel much like socializing. These people—a Wolf and these strong, curious humans—they were a pack of their own. They moved in tandem, their language almost silent full of quiet noises and gestures. They were lost in their work, and while, once upon a time, I might have tried to help, my focus was on Danyal.

My once-mate.

My future mate?

The idea was wholly terrifying, but the only thing that consumed me outside of making sure I could get him home safely. I didn’t even allow myself to think about what he might be going through in detail, because a single trigger would send me feral. I would shift into my wolf, and I wouldn’t stop until there was blood between my teeth, and they were all dead.

Global consequences be damned.

Unable to sleep when the flat settled into rest, I crept outside on the terrace. It was ancient, held up by belief and miracle with the wrought iron bolted into the ivy-covered brick. Paris was a place I wished I could savor—understand and adore. I thought about Galen for a moment. How he might have loved this place.

It would have spoken to his scholar heart.

I felt a sort of ache that he had only ever known war and oppression—that he had been robbed of these moments. My gaze drifted to the sky, to the stars that were floating in a sea above me. The moon was half-full, and the pull to my wolf was getting stronger.

I didn’t jump when the terrace door opened, and I recognized the faint scent of Hervé as he climbed out and lowered himself to the ground beside me. He slid his legs through the bars and let them dangle, surprisingly unafraid for a Wolf surrounded by humans.

“We used to watch the war when we were little,” he said after a beat, his eyes glowing in the soft darkness. “On American soil. We used to wonder why no one did anything. It was so…barbaric.”

I listened to the way he spoke—the lyrical sort of accent like a song without music. “I wasn’t born into the war, but it went on so long, I forgot what peace was like.”

He laughed softly. “That’s how it always is. It creeps up on you.” He leaned back, then reached into his pocket and a second later had a lit cigarette in his mouth and took a deep drag. It wasn’t tobacco—it was something else. Sweet and earthy. “I used to wonder why we were allowed to watch, and it became clear that the humans here believed if it wasn’t as bad as what you were all suffering, then we here had it good. We didn’t question when we lost some rights, because at least we had others.”

“That’s how it started for us too,” I told him. I remember Galen holding me at night when I would be consumed with fear of what was to come, his whispered voice telling us that no one would let it get too bad. “It’s bad, but it’ll never be inhuman.” I spat the last word like a curse, and he bowed his head.

A part of me was still angry for believing Galen—mostly because I knew now, he hadn’t believed his own lie.

“The generations that came after mine, they changed things,” Hervé said. He took another long drag, then stubbed out the smoke and flicked it over the edge of the balcony. “They stopped believing the propaganda. They started making waves. We’re a people of revolution, you know.” He pushed himself to stand and stared into my eyes with a bravery most humans would never have. “We’re never far from resisting—not just us, but the humans alongside.”

I wanted to be angry. After all, who the hell cared what a few humans thought. They could call it quits tomorrow and never have to suffer another day. We would never be given that option. But it was no time to turn my nose up at what might very well be Danyal’s salvation.

“You should get some rest, even if you don’t sleep,” he said, giving me a once-over. “He’ll be grateful for your strength when you arrive—especially if he has none of his own.”

And if anything could get me to turn in and at least rest my eyes, those words were the magic ones.

I hadn’t slept, but I’d gotten close enough to dozing that when I heard the sounds of a Wolf growl, I sat up straight, my heart beating in my throat. It took me a second to remember where I was, and then another to pinpoint the noise. It was coming from the computer near the kitchen, and I was on my feet, drawn over almost like the sound was magnetic.

Hervé and Amélie were crowded around the screen, but Amélie looked over her shoulder when I approached, and she made room for me. The footage wasn’t as clear as it should have been, but better than some hacked security feed, though the room was dark, and it was difficult to see. There were eyes though, glowing somewhere between orange and red, and I had no idea where that change had come from because that Wolf—though half-shifted—was clearly an Alpha.

“You might not want to watch this,” Hervé said quietly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Is that so?”

“Nadya sent us this footage of your friend. Your…” Amélie hesitated. “A member of your Alpha Council.”

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