Surviving the Storm

Chapter 7

Storm

Getting out of the Alpha residence without being seen was going to be the first real test of our escape plan.

I slipped through the back door and immediately kept low.

The eight-foot concrete wall surrounding the Alpha residence loomed ahead of me.

Freedom was on the other side.

I just had to get there without being caught.

I crouched behind a massive tree in the garden and held my breath as two of Mason’s guards appeared.

They walked straight past my hiding place, completely absorbed in their conversation.

I didn’t move.

I barely breathed.

The guards were supposed to protect the entire Alpha family.

But Mason had turned them against me just like he’d turned everyone else against me.

If they caught me sneaking out, I had no doubt where their loyalty would lie.

With Mason.

I waited.

And waited.

Only when their voices had faded into the distance did I finally move.

I sprinted from the tree and disappeared among the trees lining the wall.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

One mistake.

That’s all it would take.

I found the tree closest to the wall and began climbing.

The branches creaked beneath my weight.

I froze.

Nothing.

No shouting.

No footsteps.

I continued upwards until I reached the branch that stretched over the wall.

Carefully, I crawled along it until I could swing myself onto the top of the concrete barrier.

I crouched there, scanning the road below.

Then I saw it.

Kat’s Jeep.

It was approaching exactly when we’d planned.

Relief washed through me.

I waited until the Jeep pulled alongside the wall.

Then I stood, keeping my body low.

One deep breath.

I jumped.

I landed on the roof of the Jeep with a solid thud.

The sunroof opened beneath me.

I slipped through.

“What the actual f**k?”

Asher’s shocked voice made me laugh.

I dropped into the back seat.

“It was the fastest way out of the compound.”

He stared at me as though I’d just fallen out of the sky.

Technically, I had.

Then I noticed something else.

Asher was driving.

Lucas was sitting in the passenger seat.

And Kat was in the back with me.

I frowned.

Wait.

Why was Asher driving Kat’s Jeep?

And why the hell was Lucas in the passenger seat while Kat was relegated to the back?

Before I could ask, Lucas turned around.

“Do you have to sneak out a lot?”

“Yes.”

Kat answered for me.

“Storm here just happens to have a controlling family.”

I shot her a look.

“Thanks for the explanation.”

She grinned.

I looked at her.

“So…”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Was it you two last night?”

Kat’s cheeks immediately turned pink.

Lucas glanced at her, his expression softening.

“It was an incredible night, wasn’t it, sweetheart?”

The look in his eyes told me everything.

Kat turned towards me.

Then, with the most innocent expression imaginable, she silently mouthed two words.

Gigantic c**k.

I burst out laughing.

“Kat!”

She dissolved into giggles.

Lucas looked completely mortified.

Asher just shook his head.

For a few minutes, everything felt normal.

Almost.

We drove through the streets of Sugar Land, Texas.

My hometown.

The place I’d spent my entire life.

The place I’d spent years dreaming about escaping.

I stared out the window as familiar buildings slipped past.

I tried to memorise them.

The streets.

The shops.

The roads I’d travelled countless times.

Because after today, I wouldn’t see any of them again.

The thought made my chest ache.

We eventually pulled up outside our favourite café.

My heart sank.

This was it.

My last lunch with Kat.

She didn’t know it.

She thought we’d be doing this again next week.

Maybe next month.

Maybe next year.

But there wouldn’t be another lunch.

There wouldn’t be another shopping trip.

Another movie night.

Another spontaneous trip to the club.

No more birthdays together.

No more Christmases.

No more Thanksgiving dinners.

No more Easter holidays.

No more vacations.

No more sneaking out for coffee or spending hours talking about boys and life and everything in between.

All those ordinary moments I’d taken for granted were suddenly precious.

And this café was where they were going to end.

We went inside and took a table.

Kat and Lucas sat beside each other.

Asher sat beside me.

I immediately regretted that decision.

Something about him made me uncomfortable.

I couldn’t explain it.

There was just something…

Different.

Dangerous.

Every time he moved closer, my instincts screamed at me to put distance between us.

Asher casually draped his arm across the back of my chair.

Every hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

I shifted away.

He didn’t seem to notice.

Or maybe he did.

Either way, I didn’t like it.

I forced myself to focus on Kat.

Today wasn’t about Asher.

Today was about her.

“So,” Kat said, smiling across the table. “Did you get into trouble when you got home last night?”

I smiled.

“No. Logan and I managed to sneak back in without anyone catching us.”

“Thank God.”

She smiled.

I smiled back.

And almost broke down.

Because she had no idea.

No idea that before she even woke up tomorrow, I’d be gone.

I’d be boarding a plane.

Flying across the world.

Starting a new life under a new identity.

And I wasn’t going to give her a proper goodbye.

The guilt was suffocating.

I looked at her and tried to memorise her face.

Her smile.

Her laugh.

The way her eyes lit up when she looked at Lucas.

I wanted to remember everything.

Because I was never going to see her again.

My emotions began spiralling.

I couldn’t do this.

I couldn’t sit here pretending everything was normal while my heart was breaking apart.

I needed Logan.

Without taking my eyes off the table, I slipped my phone onto my lap beneath it.

I typed quickly.

Please come get me.

His reply came a few minutes later.

On my way.

Relief flooded me.

When Logan finally arrived, he joined us at the table.

He chatted with everyone for several minutes, laughing and joking like everything was perfectly normal.

Then he stood.

“We’ve got somewhere we need to be.”

Kat frowned.

“Already?”

“Yeah. Something came up.”

I stood with him.

My heart was pounding.

I turned towards Kat.

This was it.

I wrapped my arms around her.

Tightly.

So tightly that she laughed.

“Okay, Storm. I can’t breathe.”

I didn’t let go.

Not immediately.

I wanted to freeze that moment.

Store it somewhere inside me.

Because I knew I’d never get another one.

Finally, I forced myself to release her.

She looked at me curiously.

I could see the question forming in her eyes.

Why was I hugging her like that?

Why was I looking at her like that?

I couldn’t let her ask.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I said quickly. “Let me know what you’re doing, okay? Maybe we can go somewhere.”

Her face brightened.

“Sure.”

She smiled.

I smiled back.

And lied.

“Sounds good.”

Then I walked away.

The moment the SUV doors closed behind us, I broke.

The tears came so hard I couldn’t stop them.

Logan looked at me but didn’t say anything.

He started the engine and drove.

We left the town behind.

We drove until the buildings disappeared and the road became quieter.

Eventually, he pulled over beside Brook’s Lake.

He turned off the engine.

And let me cry.

I cried until my chest hurt.

Until I had nothing left.

Finally, I looked at him.

“Tell me I’m doing the right thing.”

My voice cracked.

“I need you to tell me.”

Logan reached across the space between us and pulled me into his arms.

“You are.”

I buried my face against his chest.

“It’s the only way I can keep you alive, baby girl.”

His voice broke slightly.

“If I leave for Germany and leave you here with Mason and the pack, you’re going to die.”

I closed my eyes.

“I don’t want to leave Kat.”

“I know.”

“I don’t want to leave everything.”

“I know.”

He held me tighter.

“But you deserve the chance to live.”

His words hit me harder than anything else.

“You deserve a life that belongs to you.”

I finally pulled away and wiped my tears.

“Okay.”

He nodded.

“We’re almost there.”

We sat in silence for another few minutes before heading back.

As we approached the Alpha residence, Logan pointed towards the back of the SUV.

“I got everything loaded.”

I twisted around.

My suitcases were stacked neatly beside his luggage.

My instruments were there too.

Everything I needed for my new life.

Everything I’d managed to save from my old one.

“No one saw me.”

Relief flooded me.

The SUV’s heavily tinted windows had hidden everything from view.

We’d made it this far.

No one suspected anything.

I stared at the luggage.

My heart began racing.

For the first time, it actually felt real.

Tomorrow, I’d be gone.

Tomorrow, I’d be free.

I turned back towards Logan.

“We’re really doing this.”

He smiled.

“Yes, baby girl.”

I looked out the window as the Alpha residence came into view.

For the first time in my life, I wasn’t thinking about how to survive another day.

I was thinking about the life waiting for me on the other side of the world.

Ireland.

University.

Music.

Freedom.

I was so close.

So damn close.

All we had to do now…

was make it through one more night.