Page 60 of Racing the Storm

But the Alpha in me—the Alpha that had been addicted to him for all these years and was now coming to love him over these long, long hours I had him to myself—wasn’t able to just let it go.

“I don’t want you hurt,” I told him.

His eyes narrowed, and I knew I sounded like some Alpha-posturing dickhead, but I couldn’t turn off my nature. “If I promise to stop you before I over-work myself…?”

It wasn’t enough, but I had to take it. “Fine.”

When he didn’t argue with me about me taking the weight of the supplies, it made things a bit easier. After midnight, we put the flat together as best we could—doing everything in our power to make sure it looked exactly the way it was before we’d come—and then I shifted and allowed him to strap the bag of supplies along my back.

I watched him, my eyes glowing hot as he began to peel away his clothes, and I took a deep breath of his scent before the crackle of the shift began. Even in wolf form, watching him shift was a holy experience. He bowed, he bent, he broke. He twisted in what was once agony of the first shift and was now a seamless change from one form to the other.

When he was on four paws, I allowed myself a moment to drink him in. He was soft whites and grays, sleek everywhere apart from his ears where he never lost his pup fluff. I wanted to nip there, to lick him, to clench my jaw down on his neck knowing he wouldn’t flinch away from me.

I wanted to pin him to the ground and watch him submit willingly—lovingly.

But we had no time.

He snapped his jaws at me, and I nosed the front doors open, stepping out onto the street. He waited behind as I breathed in deep, trying to sense Wolves or humans around us—but the village continued to sleep.

I gave a single, sharp nod of my head, and as I took off at a run, he was directly behind me. The landscape flew by, and I followed the path I’d mapped out in my head. Instinct drove me forward, and instinct kept me aware of my mate’s pace.

Danger kept my ears tuned in to everything around us, and it slowed me a little, but not enough that we were losing any real time.

For a little while—for impossible moments—I felt free. There was no war, no threat. There was nothing but the moon in the sky and the wilderness around us. There was my mate at my heels and our future in front.

It didn’t last.

We were only a few miles from our destination when I felt them. Their scent was first—caustic and chemical, like they’d bathed in the shit that could bring down a Wolf. And then I heard their voices. They were in cars, just a few hundred feet from the path we were running. They were gaining speed as our exhaustion had us losing it, and though I couldn’t process what they were saying, it didn’t matter.

I knew.

The sounds of metal—of guns being loaded with the only things that could properly take us down.

I roared, then slowed my speed, throwing my body into Danyal’s. He yelped loudly and began to spin out, and suddenly there was distance between us and the humans.

I shifted back without a thought, and Danyal followed my lead. We were shielded by trees as we shifted back, but they weren’t thick enough to hide us for long. I could hear the humans, and when I met Danyal’s wide, frantic eyes, it was clear he’d sensed the danger.

“How did they find us?” he hissed.

That was the question. That was a serious fucking question, considering there hadn’t been a whisper of a tail on the road. We’d been running two full hours—we’d escaped the village without being detected. At least, I had to assume.

And now…

I didn’t have time to work it out. I could hear them getting closer. “Give me a second,” I murmured. I just needed one to think, to work our way out of this.

“We can outrun them,” he said so low I had to read his lips.

I shook my head. My limbs were growing weaker now that we’d stopped. Without help, we wouldn’t be able to outpace them, and it was clear we were no match for their weapons.

Closing my eyes, I breathed through my panic. Not for my own safety—I had never been afraid to face anything, including my own death. But I couldn’t let anything happen to my mate. And I wasn’t ready to give us up yet—not before I could have him properly.

“We fight,” I said.

Danyal’s jaw ticked, but he nodded. “We fight.”

Glancing around at the short hills, I took a breath, then turned back to Danyal. “Head over to that copse of trees,” I pointed a few hundred feet from where I was standing. “I need you to throw your howl. I’ll make them think there’s more of us, and if they’re all humans, they won’t know what direction it’s coming from.”

Danyal nodded again. “All right. And then?”

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