Surviving the Storm

Chapter 4

Storm

I glanced across the room.

Kat and Lucas hadn’t noticed anything happening around them.

They were completely lost in each other.

The way they looked at one another made me smile.

Kat was happy.

Truly happy.

And I knew, without a doubt, that she’d found her fated mate.

For some reason, that made leaving her a little easier.

Not easy.

Never easy.

But easier.

At least she wouldn’t be alone when I disappeared.

She’d have Lucas.

Someone to love her.

Someone to help her through the pain of losing me.

Because whether I liked it or not, I was going to become a painful memory in her life.

I just hoped I’d left her with enough good memories to outweigh the bad.

I turned my attention back to Asher, who was in the middle of telling me some ridiculous story about what he and his friends had gotten up to the previous weekend.

I laughed at something he said.

My back was turned towards the pool table, and for once, I wasn’t thinking about Josh.

Or Cameron.

Or my family.

For a few minutes, I was simply enjoying myself.

Then a heavy hand landed on my shoulder.

I instinctively shrugged it off.

“Piss off.”

“Language, little girl.”

I froze.

That voice.

“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

I turned around.

“Just kidding,” the familiar voice continued. “No one is brave enough to kiss you. You’d probably go all psychotic, rabid-wolf on them.”

I glared at my twin brother.

Logan stood there with his arms folded across his chest, wearing the smug grin of someone who knew exactly how irritating he was being.

“What’s your excuse for being here?” I asked, putting on my best bitchy voice.

“Storm.”

His grin disappeared.

“You know you’re not supposed to be here.”

“Come on, Logan. I was dancing with Kat and playing pool.”

“You were also drinking.”

I shrugged.

“Details.”

He sighed.

I knew that look.

He wasn’t angry.

Not really.

He understood.

He knew exactly why I’d stayed.

This wasn’t just another night out with Kat.

It was one of the last nights we’d ever have together.

Logan stepped closer and lowered his voice so no one around us could hear.

“I understand, baby girl. I really do.”

His eyes softened.

“But it’s nearly two in the morning. You were supposed to be home hours ago.”

I opened my mouth to argue.

He held up a hand.

“I’m not trying to ruin your last night with your friend.”

That stopped me.

“But I don’t want you getting on Mason’s bad side either.”

The smile disappeared from my face.

“We can’t give him a reason to start looking too closely at you. Not now. Not with everything that’s in motion.”

I swallowed.

He didn’t need to say anything else.

We both knew what Mason was capable of.

“We’re almost there, Storm,” Logan continued quietly. “Don’t screw this up now.”

He was right.

If I wanted our plan to work, I needed to stay invisible.

Out of Mason’s way.

Off his radar.

For the next thirty-six hours, I needed to be nothing more than a shadow.

Because if Mason suspected I was planning something…

I’d never make it out.

I’d spent eighteen months trapped in his vicious cycle.

Eighteen months of fear.

Eighteen months of wondering when he’d strike next.

And that didn’t even include the years of abuse I’d endured from him and our father before that.

I couldn’t go back.

Not again.

Logan was leaving for Germany in two days.

His mate, CJ, lived there, and her father was the Alpha of her pack. Logan had met CJ only last month when she’d travelled to Texas with her parents for a conference involving several packs.

She and her family had returned to Germany two weeks ago.

As far as CJ knew, Logan would be joining her in two days.

She had no idea he was leaving early.

And she certainly had no idea why.

Because forty-eight hours from now, Logan wasn’t simply flying to Germany.

He was taking me with him.

We’d planned everything.

He would get me out of the United States and onto a flight to Ireland.

Galway.

The National University of Ireland.

A completely different country.

A completely different life.

I’d already been accepted into the Bachelor of Arts in Music program.

The thought still didn’t feel real.

University.

A dorm room.

Freedom.

A life where I could finally be Storm instead of the girl everyone in my pack had decided I was.

And maybe, just maybe, I could finally become the person I’d always wanted to be.

A musician.

I’d been writing music since I was a little girl.

Lyrics were the only way I’d ever known how to make sense of the thoughts inside my head.

When everything became too much, I wrote.

When I couldn’t speak about something, I wrote.

When I was hurting, I turned the pain into music.

Only Logan had ever heard me sing.

He’d been the only person I’d trusted enough to hear the songs I’d written.

He’d encouraged me from the beginning, buying me recording equipment and software, helping me turn the sounds in my head into something real.

I’d never told anyone else.

Not my family.

Not my pack.

No one.

I couldn’t handle the ridicule.

So my music had always belonged to Logan and me.

Soon, though, it would belong to me alone.

And maybe that was the scariest part of all.

Freedom sounded wonderful.

But freedom meant leaving everything behind.

Including Kat.

I looked across the room at my best friend.

My chest tightened.

“Logan,” I whispered. “Can I have just one more minute?”

His expression softened.

“Go.”

I hurried across the room.

Kat was laughing at something Lucas had said, her entire face glowing with happiness.

I couldn’t help smiling.

“Kat.”

She turned towards me.

“I have to go.”

Her smile faded.

“Already?”

I nodded and pulled her into my arms.

She hugged me tightly.

“Okay. No worries. I’ll come with you.”

She started to pull away, but her eyes immediately flicked back towards Lucas.

I knew she wanted to stay.

And I didn’t want guilt over leaving me to ruin her night.

“No,” I said quickly. “Stay.”

She frowned.

“I’m going with Logan.”

Her eyes widened.

“Logan’s here?”

I nodded.

She looked around until she spotted him.

Then she turned back to me and pulled me into another hug.

I held her tightly.

I wanted to memorise everything.

Her scent.

Her warmth.

The feel of her arms around me.

Because in a few days, I wouldn’t be able to do this anymore.

I wouldn’t be able to call her.

I wouldn’t be able to drop by her house.

I wouldn’t be able to hear her laugh.

I wouldn’t be there when she needed me.

And she wouldn’t even know why I’d left.

The guilt threatened to swallow me.

I pushed it down.

I couldn’t fall apart now.

Not here.

Not tonight.

I pulled back and looked into her eyes.

There was one question I needed answered before I left.

“Kat?”

“Yeah?”

I glanced towards Lucas.

“Is he your mate?”

For a second, she simply stared at me.

Then the biggest grin I’d ever seen spread across her face.

She nodded.

My heart squeezed.

I wrapped my arms around her again.

“I’m so happy for you,” I whispered.

And I meant every word.

Because if I had to disappear…

At least I knew my best friend had found someone who would love her when I couldn’t be there anymore.

I just wished she knew this wasn’t goodbye for the night.

It was goodbye for good.

And as I held her, I had to fight back the tears.

Because in less than thirty-six hours…

I would be gone.