54. Harmony
Harmony
Runa and Aster wave to me from the back of the grid, and I laugh. All the cars are parked up, engines already running. They want us out in front of the cameras for the big charity race at Silverstone.
Five actors, five professional racers, and a huge crowd has drawn out just to watch us all perform. Rather than the usual fifty-two laps, we’re only doing thirty. The other actors aren’t built for endurance, and most of them are faking their smiles for the cameras to hide their nerves.
They don’t expect much from any of us, so they put the actors at the front of the grid.
Maddock, Jaxx, the two alpha females, and a driver from the Cuba Libre team are lined up at the back, and everyone looks like they're ready for fun, apart from the Cuba Libre racer. It looks like he’s been forced into it, and he has the same kind of expression that Maddock did every time he won second in a race.
The Cuba Libre came fifth in the championships, so they put him at the back of the grid in his burnt caramel car.
Once the camera crews have their shots and all the important people do their speeches, we finally have the signal to climb into our cars.
My neck is still tender from my alpha’s bites, but I hide them with my bodywarmer. No one has pointed them out, even though it feels obvious they're there from the way they pulse.
Nat gives me a look from the grid position in front of me, and I send her a reassuring smile.
“You got this!” I shout over the noise of the engines, and she nods, a determined look on her face.
They've been practicing for almost two months, but, after everything that had happened with that stunt driver, I’m amazed they didn't call off the charity race. Or at least remove the actors so they weren’t at risk.
But we’re the reason that people are sending in so many donations.
As I put my helmet on, I catch Jaxx saluting to Maddock, who glowers at him before strapping on his helmet as well.
I just laugh at them both as I climb into the car, and get ready for another race.
I love that I can feel their energy now through our pack bond.
Nerves tremor through me, but I can feel their confidence and love through the bond, and it keeps me steady.
After the crash, I’ve had nightmares about swerving off the track. Only waking up next to one of my alphas calms me down. But I’m not going to let fear get me today.
I make sure I’m strapped in as I test out the steering wheel and take a deep breath.
They set the race up in a way that all the charities will get a donation no matter what.
It aligns with the standard point system of F1, except, instead of 25 points, the winner will receive $25,000 to donate to a charity of their choice.
Everyone agreed that they would make up the money, so our charities will all get $25,000. But we still want to come in first.
And I have my bet with Maddock to fulfill.
We chose our own charities. I focused on a UK based one, Cardboard Citizens, that puts on shows and plays to raise awareness about homelessness, performed by people who were made homeless in their lives.
It’s a passion project from my Mum's side of the family, and I hope the race will let people know that these charities exist. We’ve chosen charities along a broad range of causes: animals, children, the welfare of countries.
And anyone watching can send in a donation as well.
It’s set to be a great event, we just have to make sure that we’re all racing safely.
Because Runa and Aster are still glaring daggers at Maddock like they haven’t forgiven him for taking P3 from them weeks ago.
As the engines rev and the crowd swells with cheers, I send out a small prayer, hoping that we’ll all stay safe. My heart bursts with excitement as I crank the engine, those five red lights build up, the tension rising. And, as they suddenly vanish, engines roar, and we take off.
Even though it's supposed to be a charity race, the Cuba Libre racer is being a dick. The whole point is to advertise friendly racing and promote good causes, but he put so much effort into overtaking the Grace and Valkyrie drivers during the first twenty laps, and now he's coming after the actors.
They don’t stand a chance.
It’s easy for me to get out into P1, especially when my four co-stars aren’t so sure about going at full speed down the long straights of the Silverstone track.
But the Cuba Libre driver chews up the track, swerving past two of the actors in lap fifteen to take P3 like he's out for an easy jog.
Now we’re almost at the lights for our penultimate lap, and he's coming at me on a mission. I ease my foot up, gulping before I hit the three ninety-degree corners that will take me there.
And the whole thing is so exciting and infuriating that perfume is thick around me.
But even after twenty-eight laps, it's still nerve-racking to turn the steering wheel left-right-right, and grinding so hard when I’m never quite sure if the car might spin out.
“Jacob, what’s this asshole doing?” I ask as I speed away from a tight corner and shoot under the lights.
Silverstone is one of the harder tracks of the entire season, and the Cuba Libre isn’t messing around.
“I don’t know, but the crowd’s already excited, so just leave him be. Don’t try anything risky.”
“Thanks for the support. You’re really looking out for those charities, aren’t you?”
“I’m looking out for you ,” he presses.
“Come on, no one's gone over 200kmph apart from the Cuba Libre. We’ll be fine.”
“You’re only saying that because you think 200kmph is normal,” he bites back.
“Are you really going to do this when I'm near the finish line?” I ask, and he goes silent.
I want to know what Maddock and Jaxx are doing. From what Jacob told me earlier, they're having their own fun at the back of the grid with the alpha females.
It’s better this way. If I could see their cars, I'd probably start slicking even harder.
“Anyway, are you really going to let this guy take you over when you’re driving a Grace car?” Jacob asks, and then it's my turn to go silent.
He has a point. What will it look like if three Grace cars lose to a Cuba Libre in a charity race? I don’t mind losing to the Valkyries in their sleek gray cars with white wings painted on the sides, but the Cuba Libre looks like he's out to win. Maybe his charity is just that important?
I’m not just doing this for my family. Or to represent the movie. I’m winning this for myself, the charity, and my pack, because I already know what I want to do when we get back to that grid. It will just be better if I pull in in first.
I grit my teeth as the Cuba Libre closes in fast, and I don’t want to give him an inch to spare.
I’m not sure I can hold my own against him, even for a lap.
It's like Maddock says. Sneaking days of racing on the Grace track with the trainees and reserve team while my family were away for the season combined with my crash course doesn’t count against professionals. And there’s still a tremble inside me at how easily I can be bumped off of the course.
As we draw closer to the finish line, my excitement makes me perfume even more.
Maybe the Cuba Libre is one of those alpha elitist types who thinks betas and omegas shouldn’t race. Or maybe he's just a straight up asshole who doesn’t understand the meaning of ‘fun’. No matter what it is, I’m not going to give up my position.
I’m enjoying myself too much. Because driving a Grace car, even if it’s still a pink monstrosity, I feel like I’m representing my family again. And I want to take pride in that as well.
“Hey, Jacob?” I say as I zoom out onto a straight, my smile widening with every second that I speed by. “Tell Everest to come out onto the grid to welcome us back.”
"Why would he do that? You know how much he hates crowds.”
“Tell him I asked him to. You know why.”
He sighs heavily, and I can just imagine him pressing his lips together in that disapproving way of his.
“Fine, but that’s the only favor I’m doing you.”
My grin stretches out as another spurt of energy bursts through me. It's my time to shine.
We’re pulling way ahead of the actors, and I’m worried we’re going to end up swooping around the track and meeting the pack at the back.
It hasn’t happened so far, but the actors are trailing behind.
But if I had never driven before and I was suddenly thrown onto a track like Silverstone to race against professional drivers, I'd feel the same.
But it's time to go. I keep my eyes on the track, look down the long straight of the speed trap, and slam my foot down.
I rev hard, choking through the gears clunkily, laughing at how nervous I am as we near the final lap.
I have to remember that my pack is always with me.
But this is what I want. A ride that makes my body feel weightless as the cloudy British sky grows even grayer.
I slow right down again to get through the (switchback), and then the world is mine. High battery, high fuel, and I pitted six laps ago with Everest beside me and slick in my suit.
The engine fires to life under me, and I yell with it as we pick up speed again.
The Cuba Libre is just coming around the corner, but there’s no way he's catching me.
I fly through the strait of Sector 1.
Then comes the hardest part. The hairpin is the most dangerous place on the whole track.
Nerves hop and skip through my stomach as I churn down the gears and slow the car, enough for the Cuba Libre to catch me up.
It’s tight, so tight that I’m worried I’ll slow down too much. But the car is good, and I hope I have learned enough in my crash course to take him on.
Jacob keeps talking about my theatrics out on the track, and I’m pure drama as the Cuba Libre keeps gaining on me, and all I have for him is dirty air.
We chug through the hairpin, and I take the sharp right to get us out onto the smooth curve of another long run of Sector 2.
Now it's time to go.
Foot flat on the floor, steering wheel gripped between hard fingers, I swallow a breath to prepare.