The Wolf's Surrender - By Kendra Leigh Castle Page 0,79

and torn the night he’d had to take Tess’s life, that had been unconscionable. Terrifying. So he’d shut down, turned away.

He’d been a fool. He was about to lose the woman he loved far more than he’d ever loved the smoke and mirrors that had hidden the true Tess from him. And this time, it really would be his fault.

Jeff Gaines. He would kill that bastard if it was the last thing he did.

Though his limbs felt weighted down with sandbags, his anger gave Jenner the strength to get moving. He carefully removed the seat belt, trying to be as gentle as he could not to injure anything else as he dropped. He took some of the hit with his shoulder, feeling shards of glass slice into his skin through his shirt. Slowly, he pushed himself across the roof of the car, over where Mia had been sitting, and out the door that had been wrenched open.

Jenner gritted his teeth as he righted himself, getting to his feet with considerable effort. He touched his head gingerly, worried about what he’d find. When he pulled the hand away, his fingers were covered in sticky blood, but there had been no open wound.

Hell, yes he’d been lucky.

Then he heard the sound again, the one that had awakened him. The distant sound of Mia weeping. Instantly alert, he looked around him, seeing only the ruts that his truck and Jeff’s SUV had made in his lawn. No, she was gone.

“Mia,” he murmured, beginning to lurch toward his house. Maybe it was an auditory hallucination, something left over from being hit so hard in the head. But then he heard his name mixed in amongst the gut-wrenching sobs. It was the saddest sound he had ever heard.

It was at that moment he realized what was going on, what all those brief instances of deeper connection between the two of them had really meant, though he’d tried hard to brush them off, first as imagination, then as some kind of unwanted magic.

It was also the moment he realized he didn’t just love her, didn’t just want her.

He had truly found his mate.

The realization of it, the simple truth of it, stopped Jenner in his unsteady tracks. Mia was his one, his other half. After years spent thinking that he’d already had his chance at a life mate and failed, he finally realized that it had never been Tess. That had been youthful infatuation mixed with the lovesick desperation that comes when your partner doesn’t truly belong to you and never will. But all the stories he’d heard, everything he’d been told about the bond that formed between true mates now made sense. It was why he’d never quite worked around to sealing his bond with Tess. She hadn’t been for him.

And the woman he was meant to be with was out there somewhere mourning him, because she thought he was dead. Jeff thought so, too, or he wouldn’t have left. He could use that to his advantage, but he would have to be quick. Quicker, really, than his broken body would allow, but he was going to have to push it if he wanted to save the woman who had already saved him. Determined, he limped as fast as he could toward his home, and at the same time called out to all his brothers and sisters. He felt their answer, a howl of such force and fury that Jenner felt strength flooding back into him. His gait evened out, and the pain began to recede. He needed to heal now, for his pack. For Mia.

Mia’s weeping had vanished from his mind, but he felt sure she was still out there, losing hope. He didn’t know whether she could hear him the way he’d heard her, but if what he needed to make it happen was willpower, Jenner had it in spades. With all he had, Jenner sent a thought into the vast darkness that existed beyond the warm circle of his pack. He hoped it would find her. Even if the words didn’t come through, maybe the sentiment would.

Mia. Hold on. I love you. And I’m coming.

Chapter 19

Mia huddled into a ball, making herself as small as she could. If only she could make herself so small they couldn’t see her, she wished. If only they would forget about her. But it wasn’t going to happen.

Her wounds had once again healed with stunning speed. Even the tiny pieces of glass embedded in her skin