Page 10 of Shelter (The Wanderers 4)

CHAPTER4

Storm stood rigid in the hallway outside Haley’s room. He did this every night, guarding her. Some nights were more stressful than others, especially the nights Braylon visited his wife. His friend had been in there too long. Luckily, no one had come looking for him.

It was late. At this time of night, they all took bigger risks. It was rare for Lorena, Bray’s mother, to be up at this hour, and Storm had never known William, Bray’s father, to be seen after ten pm. The man liked his beauty rest.

Storm covered for Braylon often. If he got caught, God only knew what would happen to him. But Bray was one of his best friends, and he’d do anything for the man.

In an unexpected twist of events, Storm had a fucking soft spot for Haley. Riggs did too. It was impossible not to adore her. She was sunshine and all that was good in this post-apocalyptic universe.

She wasn’t sunny tonight though. He’d seen her face at the dinner table when she’d learned of her fate. He’d watched her closely, his heart pounding, forcing himself to act like it didn’t matter. For outward appearances, Storm needed to appear to have no interest whatsoever in what happened to Haley. It wasn’t his job. His job was to guard her.

Storm was a big man, and blessed because of it. When he first came to this estate, he’d been nine years old. His father had been hired as the groundskeeper. Riggs and Bray had been seven and spent most of their time with their tutor, Marian.

With all the insane things happening in the world and even within this household, Lorena Hanson wanted Braylon to be well-educated. So, she’d hired a tutor two years before Storm’s arrival. Three important things fell into place.

One, the tutor was a woman, nearly unheard of since women weren’t permitted to be educated in The Republic. Marian had a master’s degree in education. She’d been educated before the world had flipped on its axis, and she’d come highly recommended, so the Hansons had permitted her to move in to teach the boys.

Two, Marian had a daughter. She was five years younger than the boys, a baby when Marian arrived. Marian and Lorena struck up a deal. Instead of Marian receiving a salary for her work, she was given room and board and permitted to keep her child with her until puberty, also unheard of among the aristocracy. Marian was damn lucky. So was Harmony. Although that was debatable since the poor child had been taken from her mother at twelve and never seen again.

Three, Storm had been invited to join Riggs and Braylon when they did their lessons. A godsend. Storm’s father sat down with him that first night, looked him in the eyes, and made it perfectly clear that getting educated was a gift few people of his class had available to them in this day and age.

Storm had understood the importance of his father’s words and made it his mission to catch up with the other boys, working his ass off late at night until he too could read and write and do math at the same level as them. If he ever got out of this hellhole, at least he would have a useful education that might get him out of a bind someday.

Storm stared at the door, hoping Braylon would emerge soon before someone else wandered by. Lorena hated that Braylon appeared to have befriended his wife. It annoyed her immensely. She sure wouldn’t approve of him consoling his wife on the night they’d all found out Haley would be impregnated by the man being held prisoner in the basement.

Jesus.

Storm rubbed his temples. Lorena was unpredictable. She often made no sense. The same woman who bought Marian twelve precious years with her daughter and allowed Storm to receive an education alongside her own son also ran this estate like a ruthless matriarch.

Storm was smart enough to know that most homes in this enormous, wealthy, heavily guarded, gated community were not run by women. They were ruled by men. No matter what age their wives were, the women were expected to keep a low profile and stick to sewing and cooking to entertain themselves.

Not this house. William Hanson had no interest in running a household. He gladly let his wife do whatever she wanted and paid little attention—not just to her decisions but the woman herself.

From Storm’s perspective, Lorena had a God complex and simply enjoyed the power. She was probably jealous of the fact that Braylon had befriended his wife since she’d undoubtedly never known kindness from William, or it had been so long she didn’t remember.

Lorena also spouted nonsense about Braylon being weak and too tender-hearted, and she took every opportunity to torment Haley to punish her son. It was vile and unnecessary, and made Storm want to punch a wall most days.

He didn’t though. They were all playing a game. A very important game that wouldn’t end until they managed to come up with a way to escape this estate and never come back.

Years had ticked by while Storm, Braylon, and Riggs plotted their escape. They hadn’t considered how much more difficult and precarious their situation would be with the addition of Haley.

They hadn’t planned on liking her or falling in love with her. She added a new level of danger to their plans. They would never leave her behind.

Storm pursed his lips, thinking back on the moment he’d stepped into the kitchen last night as a man was being forced down the basement stairs. The man was about Braylon’s size, but Storm hadn’t known more than that yet. The guy had been wearing a black hood.

The idea that he’d been brought here to impregnate Haley was bone-chilling. Storm’s heart was still pounding at the thought of anyone touching Haley for any reason.

Hell, it was difficult to stand guard outside Haley’s door while Bray spent time with her. He never stayed more than twenty minutes. At nineteen minutes, Storm always gave one soft knock on the door to remind him to get out.

It was barbaric. Bray’s job was to get his wife pregnant. According to science, that shouldn’t take him more than twenty minutes. He wasn’t supposed to linger and ensure Haley enjoyed herself. Her job was to carry the heir. Nothing else. Pleasure wasn’t on the docket.

Too much time had gone by tonight, far more than twenty minutes, but circumstances were different today. Bray had a job to do in there and he wouldn’t leave until he’d ensured Haley understood what her part was and calmed her down.

Finally, the door opened. Bray silently stepped into the corridor, shutting the door as softly as humanly possible.

Storm blew out a breath and glanced both ways down the quiet hallway. “You took too long,” he hissed, relieved.

Bray ran a shaking hand through his hair. He looked like he was on the verge of either punching a matching hole in the wall with Storm or perhaps crying. “Fuck you,” he muttered.

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