Surviving the Storm

Chapter 10

Storm

The flight from Houston to Dublin took just under ten hours.

Ten hours trapped somewhere between the life I had known and the life I was desperately trying to build.

I spent most of the flight doing exactly what Logan had told me to do—setting up my new phone, downloading my favourite apps and filling Spotify with enough music to keep me entertained for weeks.

But somewhere over the middle of the Atlantic, everything changed.

Logan, the pilots, Alicia and I formally renounced our ties to the Hunter’s Moon Pack.

Just like that, we were rogues.

The word sent an uncomfortable shiver through me.

I had spent my entire life being part of a pack. Now, we belonged to no one.

There was no pack to protect us.

No Alpha to answer to.

And no safety net if something went wrong.

A few hours later, Logan slipped his phone from his pocket and sent me a message.

It contained the details for my new email address, social media accounts and several other accounts he had created as part of my new identity.

Then he handed me the documents.

My new life was sitting inside a handful of forged papers.

I opened them and stared at the name printed across the top.

Lena Wolf.

I couldn’t help smiling.

The irony wasn’t lost on me.

A wolf pretending not to be one.

I quickly memorised the important details before tucking everything safely into my backpack.

By the time we touched down in Ireland, it was five in the afternoon.

Exhaustion weighed heavily on all of us after the long flight, and none of us was particularly eager to leave the safety of the plane.

So we didn’t.

We decided to spend the night aboard the aircraft, eat, sleep and continue our journey in the morning.

It wasn’t only because we were exhausted.

It was safer.

Airports were the last place we wanted to be wandering around.

With so many supernatural beings passing through them, there was always a chance we’d run into another werewolf.

And being recognised was the one thing we couldn’t afford.

Alicia prepared dinner for us, and after we’d eaten, we settled in and watched a movie.

Eventually, exhaustion won.

I fell asleep wondering what my new life would look like.

For the first time in years, I allowed myself to imagine a future that belonged to me.

No pack.

No brother breathing down my neck.

No one telling me who I was supposed to be.

Just me.

Lena Wolf.

The next morning, Logan woke me to the mouth-watering smell of breakfast.

Alicia had prepared a full English breakfast, and after everything we’d been through, it tasted incredible.

Once we’d eaten, I grabbed my toiletries and headed for the small shower on the plane.

After freshening up, I changed into another comfortable outfit similar to the one I’d worn the day before.

Being a university student had at least one advantage.

I could dress for comfort.

I shoved my discarded clothes into a plastic shopping bag and tucked it into my suitcase. I’d wash everything once I got settled into university.

Soon, our luggage was being unloaded from the plane and transferred into Logan’s hire car—a sleek black Range Rover.

After saying goodbye to our flight crew, Logan and I finally set off.

Two and a half hours later, we arrived at the university campus in Galway.

I stared out the window, barely able to contain my excitement.

The buildings were beautiful, surrounded by sprawling green grounds that looked nothing like the places I’d grown up around.

It was breathtaking.

I was finally here.

A new country.

A new identity.

A new life.

For the first time, freedom felt close enough to touch.

Logan parked, and we made our way into the administration building. I completed the necessary paperwork with the ladies in the office before returning to the car to collect my suitcases and bedding.

Then we headed toward my assigned dorm.

My stomach fluttered with nervous excitement as we climbed the stairs.

University.

A roommate.

A normal life.

Or at least, as normal as my life could possibly be.

When we reached my door, I paused.

Then I knocked.

It was only polite.

And, honestly, I didn’t want to make a terrible first impression by barging into my roommate’s room at the wrong moment.

For all I knew, I could have walked in on something horribly awkward.

Like my roommate hooking up with some guy on the kitchen table.

I almost laughed at the thought.

Then the door opened.

A blonde girl with striking blue eyes stood on the other side.

And the moment she did, everything inside me froze.

Her scent hit me.

Wolf.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

No.

The excitement drained from me so quickly it was almost dizzying.

I stared at the girl standing in front of me, barely breathing.

She was a werewolf.

A cold shiver travelled down my spine.

Of all the things I had worried about when starting my new life, this hadn’t even crossed my mind.

I’d escaped one pack…

Only to move straight into another pack’s territory.

And now I was going to be living with one of them.

My mind raced.

What if she recognised me?

What if she discovered who I really was?

What if her Alpha found out there was a rogue werewolf living under his nose?

The freedom I’d been dreaming about suddenly felt like a trap.

I had been so focused on escaping my old pack—and my brother—that I’d forgotten one very important thing.

The world outside my old home wasn’t safe.

It was just different.

And standing in front of me was proof of that.

I had thought leaving the Hunter’s Moon Pack meant I was finally free.

Instead, I might have just walked straight into another danger.

And this time…

I had nowhere left to run.