Falling For Storm
Chapter 12

Storm

I had been in a foul mood and had not slept well since the night the rogues snuck in, and I’d been meeting other alphas for several days, hoping to find more answers. The truth is, I lied to Amara when I told her that I had nothing to do today for three reasons. The very first one was that I needed to be near my mate to keep me off the edge. Mates tend to calm each other’s nerves with a simple touch or closeness, and right now, I need my calm because things have not been looking well. The second was that I wouldn’t want her to go off on her own, knowing the possibility that a rogue could show up any second. Lastly, I might get the chance to tell her about who or what I really am, and hopefully, she’d accept that, which was a long shot but worth a try.

As expected, my mate was a mood changer from the moment she got in the car. She greeted me with a broad smile and leaned in for a short kiss. I would’ve preferred to make our kiss last longer, but a lot of people were coming in and out of every building, making her a bit shy.

“Hey!” she cheerfully greeted as she put the seatbelt on.

“Hey to you too,” I said back, already feeling a hundred times better.

“How was your day so far?” I asked, wanting to know if she was doing better than I was.

“Pretty normal for a student. Nothing spectacular happened today, but I’m excited about starting painting,” she happily answered.

I took her there at night, which meant this was the first time she’d seen anything during the day. I was sure she was going to find out very soon that it was as breathtaking in the morning as it was at night.

“What have you guys been up to?” She suddenly asked.

It was a normal kind of question, but the worried look she had as she asked made me think that she wasn’t just asking this to carry a conversation. I didn’t know how to tell her everything that had been going on without giving away certain information that I was pretty sure she was not ready to find out yet, so I went with the simplest and half-true answer.

“We’ve been busy with the family business and stuff. I’ve been visiting some of our close friends to gain a new perspective.”

I glanced at her sideways, trying to gauge if she was going to buy it or not. Lucky for me, she didn’t say much about it or pry too much. All I got was a shrug and her pretty smile.

We continued talking about trivial things, and she kept glancing everywhere during our drive, all bright-eyed and excited like a little girl on her way to Disney Land.

“Happy?” I asked.

She nodded enthusiastically, and I smiled at that.

“I’m just committing the direction to memory so that I can come back just in case I don’t finish everything today.”

My heart sank at the thought. I knew I was being unreasonable, but I couldn’t help it. As her mate, I was inclined to spend as much time as I could with her, and her saying that made me feel that she didn’t see things the same way. I mean, why would she? She wasn’t a wolf like me, so I guess humans couldn’t sense or experience the same things we did when it came to bonds.

“You know you can always ask me to bring you here, right?”

She shrugged. “I know, but I don’t want you to drop everything you need to do, especially if it’s important, just to accompany me.”

I really appreciated her thoughtfulness, but her coming here alone didn’t sit well with me at all. Not only was it far away enough, but we were still having issues with intruders left and right. The thought of letting her roam around without me or Dakota, especially where there were not a lot of people, made me anxious.

“I’m not too busy for you, so if you need to come here, I’ll bring you here,” I finally said.

“Well, if you say so,” she answered before turning her gaze back out the window.

We fell into comfortable silence the entire time we drove, and when we finally got there, I stared at Amara for the most part while she painted. I found it adorable when she’d sometimes bite her lower lip or have her tongue mildly stick out to the side of her mouth when she’s trying to capture a certain detail that she’s having a hard time with. I’ve also learned that she doesn’t like using an easel; she’d rather paint sitting or lying on her stomach, just like how she studied in my room.

I was lying on my back with my hands under my head and my eyes closed when I caught the most disgusting scent there was. Fuck! My eyes snapped open, and in a millisecond, I was on my feet, sweeping the woods for any sign of the rogue that was lingering around. I knew right away that it was too close to where we were, so my brain was on overdrive, trying to think of ways to get Amara out of here as safely as possible.

“What’s wrong?” Amara asked, clearly confused by my sudden action.

“Amara, I need you to listen to me well, and I need you to trust me and do as I say no matter what,” I warned in a low voice.

“Why? What’s going on?” She asked, this time panicking a bit.

“I can’t explain it now, but promise me you’ll do exactly what I say no matter what,” I ordered this time, making sure that she understood how serious I was.

But instead of answering, she only kept staring at me, wide-eyed and unmoving.

“Promise me!” I shouted.

That made her flinch, but she nodded in understanding. I didn’t mean to sound harsh, but the way things were going right now, I needed her to understand how serious this was. I slowly reached my hand out to Amara, and she took it with shaking hands. She knew that there was something wrong, and though she wasn’t hysterical, I could tell how scared she was right now.

“Baby, I won’t let anything happen to you. Trust me, okay?” I whispered, tucking her to my side.

“Are we in danger?” She shakily questioned as she moved closer to me.

“We could be. I’m not sure yet,” I admitted while I scanned the surroundings once more.

I had mind linked Dakota, Wyatt, and Hunter soon after I caught the scent, letting them know what could possibly go down from here on out. I just hoped that the four of them, along with some backup, could get here quickly because I could now smell not just one but four rogues stalking. I could now pinpoint where they were hiding, but I couldn’t be the first to make a move. There were only two options I could think of. The first was to continue fighting despite the danger of Amara spotting me in my wolf form. The second was to try to outrun them back to the car. The only problem was that both options would put Amara in danger, and I couldn’t afford that.

“Whatever happens, whatever you see, stay close behind me at all times. When I move, you move. Don’t run away unless I tell you to. Pull my shirt a bit if you heard me.” I whispered to Amara’s ears in a low voice so that she was the only one who could hear.

I felt her slightly tug on my shirt, and I exhaled slowly. None of the rogues were making a move yet, so I decided to slowly step backward, taking Amara with me, to see how the intruders would react. They inched a bit closer but stopped when I stopped moving. I took two steps back, making it seem like I was about to break into a sprint, and three of them took the bait.

“Oh my god! Wolves! Storm, we’re going to die!” Amara screamed at the top of her lungs as soon as she saw three oddly huge, vicious wolves heading toward us.

“I won’t let that happen,” I growled, planting my feet firmly on the ground.

This was it; there was no way in hell we were going to outrun them, so I had to shift now and do the best that I could to end this as quickly as possible. I just hope and pray to God that she doesn’t go running off as soon as I shift to my wolf form.

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