Chapter 4

Storm

I took in his words, and after a moment I nodded. He was right. If I wanted our escape plan to go off without a hitch, then I needed to stay out of my father and my brother’s way. I needed to fly under the radar and not attract any unwanted attention from either of them. If I were to get on their nasty side now, it would throw a spanner into the works. Effectively ruining our escape plan and seeing me trapped in this never-ending vicious cycle I had been caught in with the men in my family since my mother’s death.

Felix was flying back out to Germany in two days’ time, to return to his pack. Felix’s father was his pack’s Alpha, and Winter had met him last month when he had flown over here to America with his parents to attend a conference with our pack, along with several other packs in the Texas area. I remember how excited Winter had been when she had first met Felix. She was twenty-one now and had been waiting to find her mate since she had turned eighteen. She was relieved when she finally found him. Felix’s family had flown back to Germany two weeks ago. I would not be joining Felix’s pack when we left here, instead I would be disappearing. I would be going somewhere where my father and brother would never find me. It was my only chance to have a life of my own. It was scary, but I had to do it.

Winter had managed to talk Felix into staying here an extra couple of weeks before flying out to be with his pack, so that she could put her plan of getting me out of here into action. We would be flying out forty-eight hours earlier than Felix had told his parents we would be leaving. This was so they could fly me out to Ireland and drop me off at NUI, the National University of Ireland which was in Galway. Soon, I was going to be attending classes there and living on campus in the dorm. It was exciting for me. I was going to be studying Medicine.

Ever since I was a little girl, I had been wanting to help people when they were in pain. So, I figured becoming a surgeon would allow me to do that.

“Storm? What are you doing here? Are you crazy?” A shrill voice asked from behind me.

I turned around and came face to face with Winter. She didn’t look to thrilled to see me here. I couldn’t blame her. If I was her, I wouldn’t want my underaged sister hanging out in places where people were heavily intoxicated.

“Guys, can you please just give me a moment to say goodbye to Kat?” I asked them. They both nodded, and I walked over to where Kat was laughing and joking with Lucas.

“Kat, I have to get going,” I told her, before giving her a hug.

“Okay, no worries, I will come with you,” she said, as she pulled away from me.

 I saw the disappointment in her eyes when she glanced back at Lucas. It was obvious to me that she didn’t want to leave him. Not wanting her to be unhappy, I quickly said, “No, it’s okay, you stay here. I am going to head off with Winter and Felix.”

“Winter and Felix are here?” she asked, looking around, clearly shocked by this revelation.

I nodded as she leaned in towards me to hug me once more. I couldn’t resist asking her the question I was dying to get an answer to, “Is Lucas your mate?” 

She pulled back and grinned a grin like that of the Cheshire Cat, while she nodded at me. I hugged her back to me and whispered, “I am so, so, happy for you. Truly I am.”

I began to make my way back over to Felix and Winter, who were now talking to Asher. Asher was physically larger than Felix, but I had no doubt that in a fight, Felix could take Asher easily. As I was making my way over to where Felix, Winter and Asher were standing, Josh stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

“Are you planning to go home with him?” he asked, pointing to Asher.

Looking at Josh, I decided I had had enough of his annoyingly macho attitude, and his chauvinistic double standards. I was still a virgin, but Josh didn’t need to know that! My life was none of his business. I was glad I was getting out of here before my eighteenth birthday. I honestly didn’t want to know if he was my mate, but I hoped that he wasn’t. Josh had spent many nights and days ignoring me; and leaving me to watch as he flirted shamelessly and hooked up with girls by the dozens. He would flirt with anything with breasts right in front of me; and spend hours bragging to his friends about his sordid exploits right where I could hear him, as though it was something to be proud of. Then to add insult to injury, each night after this shameless flirting, and his sleazy sex-capades with these random women, he would call me on my cell phone.

These calls I would receive from him in the middle of the night, I wouldn’t bother to answer. So, he would leave voice messages, his whispered declarations of love and undying adoration, and other nonsensical ramblings.

I had never answered one of his calls whenever he rang me. I would just lay there in my bed, in the dark, knowing that once again he would be leaving the same old messages. I would just close my eyes and fall asleep knowing deep in my heart that he was never going to change. This was who he was, and all he would ever be. A womanising man whore.