Page 50 of Racing the Storm

After an eternity by the mouth of the cave, I dragged myself to my feet and made my way back into the tunnel. Mikael was there, curled in the corner near our supplies, messing with the little phone. I had no doubt he was trying to make it work so we could reach someone from our camp, but I wasn’t sure there was any point.

Kor had promised an extraction, but only if he could successfully get one to us.

“You should probably give that a break,” I told him, lowering myself onto the pile of blankets. I noticed there were more than the night before, and I realized he’d given up some of his share and created a little nest. I had to wonder if it was being cut off from civilization that was making him react harder to his baser instincts or if it was just me.

“Arturo left us something,” he said, his voice strained. “I missed it before.”

My eyes widened. “Left us what?”

Mikael held out his hand and there was a set of keys. “He also left coordinates. I looked them up, and they’re on the coast.”

“A boat?” I wrapped my arms around my middle, not sure how the hell that made me feel. “Do you trust him?”

Mikael blew out of a puff of air. “It seems foolish to, right? Considering he fucking stole Kor’s child and left in the middle of the night with half our shit? But he also went through a lot to get her back, and he’s no friend of Kasher.”

Mikael had a point, but it was against my nature to trust anyone outside of my pack. “Can you even sail?”

He snorted. “Yes, but it’s been a goddamn long time, and I’m not sure I can sail over the fucking Atlantic.” He dragged his free hand through his hair, then shook his head. “Everything feels like a goddamn trap, and I don’t know who to trust. It seems ridiculous to keep waiting here for some phone call that’s probably never going to come. But it seems equally absurd to trust this Wolf who has spent his entire life flowing in and out of the human world, undetected.”

I bit my lip hard, then released it. “I think whatever we choose, we’re pretty close to fucked. What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Tomorrow night, I think we need to sneak down into the village and try to get some information. Maybe see if we can figure out how bad it is out there.”

I raised a brow at him in the low lantern glow. “How?”

“I don’t fucking know,” he snapped, then swallowed thickly, and oddly, I was grateful when he didn’t apologize for his tone. “We’re probably going to have to break into someone’s house. We can check the news, get on the web. Something.”

I hated the idea of it, but he had a point. We could wait around here for Kor, or we could start taking matters into our own hands. And Kor had to know Mikael would choose the latter—and so would I. “Why not tonight?”

Mikael cocked his head to the side and studied me. “I’m worried it’s too soon after all the shit that went down at Kasher’s little castle.”

I snorted. “Tomorrow night isn’t going to make a difference in that case. We know how to be stealthy. We were made for it.”

He couldn’t really argue. Not only was it part of our biology, but he’d been trained for it. Years of war, having to sneak through enemy territory—he was perfect for this job. And I could follow.

After his prolonged silence though, I studied him a bit harder, then realized his hesitation. “You’re worried about me.”

“I know it’s unfair. Patronizing,” he added with a shrug. “But I can’t help it.”

We both knew that was a lie. He could help it. All Alphas could control their baser instincts when it came to Omegas—even the ones they claimed as their own. But I also understood how it was for him. We had just come together again, and he had no promises from me. All he had was his own ability to guarantee my safety.

“Trust me to follow your lead,” I told him. “I’m as antsy as you are to get the hell out of here.”

He flinched, like my words were cruel. “I don’t blame you for wanting to get as far away from me as you can, but there’s no need to take risks.”

I let out a small sigh and fought the urge to just throw myself into his arms, because it was exactly where I wanted to be. I was furious about the lies—even if I understood they were borne from trauma. But it didn’t change the fact that he was my Alpha. After all this time and all this distance, he was still my Alpha.

“I can’t know if I want to be with you,” I told him, and I felt his gaze get heavier. “Not out here. I just left Kasher’s compound, we’re stuck in a goddamn cave, and we’ve lost Kor’s child. We just found out there are Wolves out there who can pass as humans,” and at that, he snorted, though the laugh wasn’t full of amusement. “We have no idea if a rescue is coming—or when. All we have is each other, and I don’t want that to cloud my judgment.”

His gaze lingered on me for a long while, then he let out a breath and nodded. “I understand.”

“Do you?” I pressed.

Seemingly unable to stop himself, Mikael stood up, crossed the distance, then knelt down next to me. “Yes, I do. I understand more than you could possibly know. This is the last place in the world I wanted to be when I told you what a fool I’ve been over these past few decades. But we’re here, and I couldn’t lie to you any longer. I want to beg you to give me a chance, but I’m not going to lay that on you here.”

He was close enough to touch, so I did. Not just for me, either. It was unfair to deprive him of these small comforts while we weren’t sure we were going to make it home again. My fingers grazed the top of his hand, then I curled them around his wrist and pulled. He collapsed into me without a second thought, scenting me along my neck with the tip of his nose.

“Danyal,” he breathed out.

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