Page 34 of Racing the Storm

MIKAEL

Ipeered at the compound from across the distance and felt my heart hammering like it wanted to beat straight out of my chest.

Danyal was behind those walls. It wasn’t just the knowledge that’s where he’d been taken, but I could sense him. I could almost scent him on the breeze. I had parted ways with the small group in Paris, making the drive on my own in order to get Danyal out without distractions. They wouldn’t be far behind me, but this was to give me time to rescue him before they laid waste to Kasher’s land.

I had a feeling they were near, but it was better that I didn’t know where they were or how close they were to striking.

If I was captured, at least I wouldn’t have information to offer.

I reached the compound just before eleven, and the sky was dark and hazy off in the distance. In the south, I could smell the ocean on the breeze, and it made me wonder what it would be like to enjoy the moment free from the weight of war.

But that had never been for me, not even before the humans fired the first shot.

Swallowing thickly, I crept closer, then checked my watch. Just before midnight, power would be cut off, and that was my cue to go. I was informed that I would have to find Danyal outside of the walls. There would be humans after him, armed with weapons trained to take down a Wolf, which meant our chances of escape were dwindling, but if he wasn’t harmed, I trusted him to fight at my side.

I trusted him to be capable.

Feeling my wolf rippling beneath the surface of my skin, I kept low to the ground and waited. I hadn’t fought like this in the war—this quiet, stealthy attack. I hadn’t been trained for much beyond finding and killing any human that came across my path.

It was difficult to wait here in the shadows, knowing he was behind those walls. Knowing that he could be taken down before I got to him.

I felt like I was going out of my mind, but as the sky darkened even further, it happened. There was a sudden and profound silence as the electricity in the area died. I could see through the blackness though, to figures taking off at a run. There were several shouts, and I knew it was time for me to run. Hervé said they were going to disarm the security system; they were going to give the humans a chance to panic, and only then would they attack.

That was my window to grab Danyal and get as far from Kasher as we could.

I took off at a run, lifting my nose into the air and searching for his scent. It only took a minute to find it, and it was wrapped around someone else’s. It wasn’t a scent I recognized, but it didn’t matter. If someone was holding him prisoner—they wouldn’t be alive for long.

I tore through the grass, my speed picking up so no human could follow, and I saw two figures off in the distance toward the hills. There wasn’t enough brush to block them from view though, and after a beat, I heard the gunshots.

Increasing my speed, I ran until everything was a blur, but I came to a skidding halt when I heard voices not far behind me, and the rumble of vehicles. They were gaining. I swerved to the right just as shots began to ring out again, and I smelled the caustic chemicals Kasher had provided armies across the globe.

Rage welled in me, and it only got worse—leaving my vision red—when I heard Danyal cry out. A growl rippled from my lungs, and my claws in both hands and feet extended. They tore through my shoes, digging into the earth as I covered the distance, and then I saw him.

He was almost close enough to touch, and he was clutching someone close to him. A woman. My eyes cleared a little, and my breath caught in my throat.

It was a pregnant woman. I couldn’t see a glow in her eyes, which meant she was human, and I knew instinctively she was one of Kasher’s experiments.

There was no time to make a judgment call. Danyal’s eyes met mine, and his entire body froze. He knew—gods protect me. He knew it was me. I hesitated only a second, but it was long enough for the humans to fire another shot.

The woman screamed, then Danyal went to his knees with a soft grunt. I smelled more blood on the air, and my body obeyed me once again.

I had arms around them both after a second, and I clutched him close to me as the woman used to me to steady herself. “Which one of you was shot?” I tried to ask, and realized only then my fangs had extended.

“Both,” Danyal gasped. “Mari…”

“I’m fine. It was just a graze,” she said. She was breathless but holding her own, her hands attempting to support her stomach. “We need to run. They’re close.”

Her sentence was punctuated with a roar in the distance that chilled me down to my core. Hervé, I had to assume, and whatever back-up he brought with him. “We need to get the fuck into those hills and lay low,” I growled. “There’s going to be an attack, and I don’t think they’re going to be careful about who they’re shooting.”

The humans had turned back, distracted by whatever was happening at the compound. There was a rumble along the ground, and then an explosion. Heat tore up my back, and I tried to use my body to shield them both, but they gasped under me.

“Can you run?” Danyal asked.

The woman—Mari—gave a stiff nod, though I could see that only adrenaline was keeping her together. I quickly propped her up on my arm, then let go of my Omega—the Omega—and took a step back. “Can you make it without help?”

He nodded. “Yes. I can already feel it starting to heal.”

I let out a soft breath, then I hoisted Mari into my grip as much as I could, and we began to run again. Her feet were barely on the ground once I’d regained my strength, and we made it up the rocky path. We were nowhere near the top, but around the side I saw a small indent—almost a cave, but not quite. It would be enough to regain some of our strength and wait out whatever the hell was going to happen. It wasn’t the place Kor had set for us, but it was close. Just a little bit of rest, and I could get us there, though I hadn’t planned for a pregnant woman.

---