Kitabı oku: «The Wolf's Surrender»
Jenner couldn’t help himself.
Before Mia could speak a word, Jenner leaned down and claimed her mouth in a long, slow kiss. There was an initial shock as their lips met, and Jenner felt dizzy, as though he’d unwittingly tapped into an electric current. He heard Mia’s sharp intake of breath, knew she’d felt it, too. But she didn’t pull away, either. And as his lips lingered on hers, shock quickly became a simmering heat that began to pulse in time with his heart. Jenner nuzzled her mouth, brushing his lips against hers, testing, tasting.
He didn’t expect it when Mia simply melted into him, her mouth softening, opening beneath his as she gave in to whatever this strange pull was that existed between them. She sighed, a soft, simple exhalation. But Jenner felt the submission that had produced it, and that single sigh rocketed through his bloodstream.
About the Author
KENDRA LEIGH CASTLE was born and raised in the far and frozen reaches of northern New York, where there was plenty of time to cultivate her love of reading thanks to the six-month-long winters. Sneaking off with selections from her mother’s vast collection of romance novels came naturally and fairly early, and a lifelong love of the happily-ever-after was born. Her continuing love of heroes who sprout fangs, fur and/or wings, however, is something no one in her family has yet been able to explain.
After graduating from SUNY Oswego (where it also snowed a lot) with a teaching degree that she did actually plan on using at the time, Kendra ran off with a handsome young navy fighter pilot. She’s still not exactly sure how, but they’ve managed to accumulate three children, two high-maintenance dogs and one enormous cat during their many moves. Her enduring love of all things both spooky and steamy means she’s always got another paranormal romance in the works. Kendra currently resides in Maryland and also has a home on the web at www.kendraleighcastle.com. She loves to hear from her readers.
The Wolf’s Surrender
Kendra Leigh Castle
MILLS & BOON
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For Brian
At the heart of all my heroes, there is you.
Prologue
Mia D’Alessandro ran into the darkness, knowing he followed, that he was toying with her before the kill. Shaking all over, blood oozing slowly from the jagged wounds on her shoulder and neck, she stumbled into the night’s cold embrace.
He laughed, a breathy growl full of dark amusement that echoed hauntingly in her ears.
God, he’s right behind me.
“Don’t be afraid, baby. I’ll make it good for you, I promise. Just wait until you see what I have planned for us….”
He was close, so close. But these woods were unfamiliar to her and, even with the moon riding high above, it was all she could do not to run headlong into one of the trees that lurked just out of sight, hulking menacingly in the deep shadows. A sound escaped her, a soft, pitiful moan of fear that she was barely aware of in her desperation to get away. And she couldn’t hear him, couldn’t hear anything but the crunch of her feet over dry twigs and hard earth and the ragged sounds of her own breathing.
But he…he made no sound at all.
It was unnatural for someone to be so quiet, so light of foot that there wasn’t the tiniest hint of a footfall that reached her ears, she thought wildly, her terror now verging on hysteria. But then, there was nothing natural about the man who had only minutes ago sunk his teeth into her and torn her shirt wide open with his claws.
Claws. They were claws. And his teeth had been so sharp.
The stone, jutting about an inch out of the ground, seemed to appear out of nowhere to catch the toe of her shoe. Mia nearly lost it then, stumbling forward into the thick, oppressive blackness and only just catching herself. But the split second it took to right her balance had cost her, and she knew it. Any second now, she would feel his hand wrap around her arm, feel his claws sink into tender flesh that had already been scored and bitten.
Jeff Gaines, the wealthy entrepreneur.
The yellow-eyed monster.
She’d been giddy from the wine, the excitement, the pleasure of having attention lavished on her by the handsome man who’d swept her away for a romantic weekend. It had never occurred to Mia to refuse his offer of a moonlit walk. By the time she’d noticed the change in him, it had been too late. His hand had been over her mouth.
His teeth had been in her flesh.
“I don’t know why you’re running, Mia. I can see you. I can smell you. And I’m going to have you. You can’t hide from the big bad wolf.”
Somehow, she managed to find enough breath to scream. It felt as though she’d dragged it up from the very core of her being, a tortured, full-throated rail against what was being done to her, a demand that she be allowed to live. It echoed into the cold night sky, a final plea to an indifferent moon as Mia struggled forward, nearly sobbing with the effort. Time seemed to pause for a few precious breaths.
Then all hell broke loose.
Jeff’s hand, hot and strange, clamped onto her wrist and dragged her forward as he gave a wild, triumphant growl that was utterly inhuman.
“Your blood is mine,” he said, his voice thick, unrecognizable from the cultured tones of the man she’d come here with. “Did you really think you could hide it forever? I know what runs in your veins, witch.”
The blood he spoke of went to ice in an instant. She’d been warned—she’d been so stupid—but she’d never imagined the threat drummed into her for so long could be real.
It was a lesson learned far too late.
Mia had only time enough to gasp before he bit her again, his teeth sinking again into the already-swollen and bleeding flesh of her shoulder. Then, like the animal he had revealed himself to be, Jeff shook his head like a beast with its prey, burying those teeth deep.
Mia heard another scream, distant. It was only when the world began to fade to gray that she realized it had come from her.
The blood ran fast now as her delicate skin tore. Mia could feel her life’s essence flowing from her, soaking her clothes, running down her arm and chest. The world began to tilt beneath her feet, and she felt herself leaning into Jeff’s body, only because he was all she had to cling to before going under.
She was afraid that if she let herself, she wouldn’t come up again.
He seemed to revel in her groggy embrace.
“We’ll finish this now,” Jeff growled, his voice resonating with anticipation. He lowered her to the ground, gently, as though she were only a sleepy child. “Illuria tira. Illuria m’ar hemana.” The words, foreign and yet strangely familiar, resonated in the deepest part of her, and she felt herself opening to the night. Power, dark and forbidden, swirled through her. It was the other half of her gift that Jeff called forth. The malignant seed never allowed to grow, forced to shoot and bloom all in one breathless instant…and it had been waiting.
No, Mia thought. And right on the heels of that, yes.
“Look at it glow,” Jeff whispered reverently as he drew back. Mia managed to open her eyes just enough to see him looming over her, covered in what seemed to be spatters of pure light. A hazy glow surrounded both of them, and she knew at once, with numb horror, what it was.
Oh goddess…that’s me. My life. She saw the flash of a blade as he lifted it above his head, and she closed her eyes against it, against what she knew was coming.
But the final blow never came.
Even in her half-conscious state, Mia managed to lift her head, sensing the subtle shift in the air, as though it had taken on an electrical charge. Somewhere in the distance, a howl rent the night in a mournful song. Then there was another. And another.
Jeff’s body went rigid, and fury began to pump off of him in hot waves, intermingling with the madness that already burned like fever. Whatever was happening, he didn’t like it.
Hope bloomed, small but fierce, deep in Mia’s chest.
“Hang on to me,” he snapped. “I don’t care whose territory this is. You’re mine.”
Then she was lifted, carried through the rushing blackness, dimly aware of short, sharp barks and snarls in the world that existed beyond her closed eyelids, rapidly increasing in volume.
The sounds of pursuit were everywhere around them now. Search-and-rescue dogs? Could she be so lucky? But something about the sounds surrounding them, without a single human voice shouting commands, told her these were no dogs. Pictures flashed through her mind from the book she’d stolen from her grandmother’s library, the one she was never to read. Sketches of men wearing the skins of animals, becoming the animals…beautiful men and women, full of light, dancing wildly beneath the moon…dark creatures with shining eyes that were always watching…
Werewolves, she thought, her mind struggling to stay in the moment. More of them, a pack of them. To save me…or to finish what Jeff started. It seemed impossible. But then, she of all people should know better. Whoever was pursuing them, whatever their intent, Mia knew without a doubt that taking even the smallest chance at rescue was far, far better than dealing with what was going to happen to her should she not struggle. Her will to live, rearing its head with surprising force even as her strength ebbed, gave Mia the drive to try, one last time, to stop this madness.
She caught just a glimpse of Jeff when her eyes snapped open, his eyes glowing a burning gold, lips peeled back over glistening fangs as though he were a creature straight out of Hell. Then she threw back her head and screamed one last time, thrashing in his arms so suddenly and violently that he stumbled.
She thrashed again, and he couldn’t hold her. Mia slammed into the hard earth, barely feeling the jolt of it, forcing limbs that seemed to have gone liquid to move and propel her backward. But nothing seemed to work right, and her frantic motions seemed far too slow. Nightmare slow.
Jeff whirled on her, his lips peeled back over teeth that were far too sharp.
Oh my God, he is a monster….
She stared right into his blazing-yellow eyes when she cried out this time, giving it all she had left.
“Help! Help me, I’m here! He’s going to kill me!”
“You’re not going to get away from me that easy, Mia,” he breathed. “I marked you. The ritual is already begun. You belong to me.”
But she knew it was at least half a lie, because the glow from her life blood was already dimming where it covered him. She knew so little, so much less than she should. But she knew when Jeff’s chance was slipping away. And from his expression, so did he.
“There he is!”
A man’s voice, deep and strong, bellowed nearby. The ground, cold and solid beneath her, was oddly comforting. She would rather the earth held her than the monster.
Jeff’s face contorted with raw fury before he vanished with a single inhuman roar, his figure already lengthening and changing as he rushed past her into the yawning darkness beyond. And then there were other voices, surrounding her as the world began to swim again. Humans, after all. Relief coursed through her. But it died, a short, brutal death as she looked up into eyes that glowed as bright as the moon. And no amount of willpower could convince her that she was imagining it. Not anymore.
“Just hang on,” someone said. “We’ve got you now.”
I hope that’s a good thing, she thought faintly. I really do.
Then, blissfully, reality finally went dark.
Chapter 1
If there was one thing you could count on, it was that things always got weird right before a full moon. Still, Jenner held out hope, month after month, that there would come a night when his fellow creatures of the night would collectively behave themselves.
Tonight was not that night.
You’re gonna want to get over here, Jenner. We’ve got a biter.
“Hell.” Nick Jenner gave a low growl and shoved away from the pool table, where he’d been about to make the shot that would relieve a couple of his pack mates of twenty bucks. Dex’s voice had sounded loud and clear in his head, and there was no mistaking the urgency in the message. Being able to communicate telepathically with the other members of his pack came in handy, and it sure beat walkie-talkies, but there was also no hiding from it when you didn’t want to be bothered. Especially when you were your pack’s Lunari, second only to the Alpha in both power and responsibility, and said Alpha was giving you a dirty look from across the room.
Bane was linked in to the conversation, of course. He always was. Jenner gave him a sharp nod.
I’m on it.
Bane nodded back, then returned his attention to the pretty blonde who probably had no idea she was being hit on by a werewolf, much less one who headed up one of the larger packs in this part of the country.
No way would he ever want to be an Alpha, Jenner thought as he headed out the door. He couldn’t stand to have all those voices yammering away in his head all the time. He liked Bane, though he was an ornery bastard…hell, probably because of it…but running herd on all the Blackpaw in the area was a deeply unappealing thought. For one thing, it meant having to talk to people. A lot of people. And often.
Being what basically amounted to captain of the guard could be a pain, but Jenner would take the hunt-and-chase any day over all of that talking. His opinion was often asked for, and given, in private, but he much preferred being the silent half of the pack’s leadership in public. Diplomacy had never been his strong suit. Fighting, on the other hand…well, it turned out he had quite a knack for that. And being a werewolf meant having some interesting things to fight on a regular basis, if you wanted your pack to continue to exist.
His father, pampered and entitled, would be horrified if he knew the full truth of it. Actually, he was horrified enough at the little he did know about his oldest son’s life. The thought made Jenner smile.
On my way, he thought, giving it the little mental push he’d learned quickly after his own life-changing bite years before. Instantly, he felt a flash of Dex’s relief, and sighed irritably. If Dex was twisted up about it, it couldn’t be good.
Goddamn biters. It had been quite a while since the last one, which was good considering all the other crap he had to deal with out in the woods. There had been a lot more activity lately, a bad sign, though the shadows had started up and then quieted down just as everyone got really jumpy many times before. But Jenner knew his luck couldn’t hold forever. He just hoped that the woods were clear of any other annoyances tonight. Last night’s hunt should have cleared those blood-sucking shadows out for a day or two, at least.
Jenner paused just outside the door of Rowdy’s, the small, ramshackle bar that was a pack favorite on weekends. He inhaled deeply, his sensitive nose painting him a mental picture of everything going on in the area. The air, faintly damp and with a snap of chill that was typical for a late September night in Northern Pennsylvania, was full of the scents that had become familiar, even comforting, since he’d come here ten years before. Maple and pine, earth and early fall air. Human and wolf, each with their own distinct musk.
And best of all, not a hint of brimstone.
Ferry’s Hollow had come to smell like home. Jenner had no problem doing what needed to be done to keep that home safe.
He pushed another thought at Dex. What’s the status on the biter? Roaming stray from another pack, do you think?
Dex’s response was rapid-fire. Biter’s missing. We’re looking for him now. He wasn’t a Silverback, that’s for sure, Dex continued, referring to the nearest pack over a hundred miles to the North. Didn’t like the smell of him. Or the look, once we got that close. Hate to say it, but I’m thinking feral.
Jenner frowned, loping quickly down the street toward the place where the open land dissolved into forest. The Hollow was nestled deep in the woods, surrounded on all sides by it. The humans who lived alongside the werewolves here, by and large in blissful ignorance of all things supernatural, had no idea that the town’s being a veritable island in the forest was by design.
What about the bitten?
There was a pause. Then: We’ve got her. She lost a lot of blood, but she’s already starting to heal. She was only out for a couple of minutes, seems pretty with it since she came to. Other than that, she’s in shock and confused. About what you’d expect. Pretty little thing.
Jenner snorted to himself. It didn’t matter to him if this woman was the second coming of Angelina Jolie. Nothing good ever came from a feral bite.
Are they linked, then? he thought, and Dex’s immediate blast of anger was an answer in itself.
He didn’t seal the deal, lucky for her. And when we find him, I’m going to rip his throat out myself. The moon is too close to full to be pulling this crap. We need her connection to him while it lasts, but you know damn well somebody’s going to have to make her part of the pack before long. We’ve got less than a week, Jenner. Not much time. For her, either…
Dex’s voice trailed off in Jenner’s mind, but it didn’t matter. Jenner already knew what he meant. It could take some time to smoke out a clever feral who’d decided to take to the woods, which covered hundreds of square miles. But the unwitting victim was going to have to be brought into the pack before the moon rose full. Otherwise, they’d have two ferals on their hands.
The tenuous connection forged between biter and bitten was always a good way, sometimes the only way, to find a jerk like this. But the clock was ticking. Once his victim started to turn, that temporary mental link to her attacker would vanish right along with her sanity. Unless this feral got his paws on her again, of course, to make things between them permanent. But that wasn’t going to happen. Not on Blackpaw territory. And not on his watch.
How strong’s her bond to him? he asked, hoping for the quick resolution that there was no way, in his experience, he was going to get.
Hoping you can find that out. She’s been a little skittish with me. Weird thing is, she hasn’t asked for a doctor, cops, nothing. It’s almost like she knows…but I guess it could be the shock.
Has she said anything to make you think that? Jenner asked, beginning to frown. If this woman knew who and what they were, it meant the feral had a big mouth. That made it even more imperative to find the asshole. Loose lips could do in a wolf pack just as easily as a gang of well-armed were-hunters. Dex’s reply was small comfort.
No. That’s the thing. She’s not saying anything, just watching with those big eyes. I dunno, Jenner, this isn’t my thing! I’ve never had to deal with one of these before!
It was a sad day when he got asked to play mediator, Jenner thought.
I hear you. Headed in.
A loose biter, and a potential feral. And it was only ten. Jenner gritted his teeth and headed into the trees.
Mia D’Alessandro sat with her back against the rough bark of a tree, pressing a wadded-up ball of fabric that had once been a shirt against the open wounds between her shoulder and her neck. An odd sense of calm had settled over her, one that she was sure, in the detached way she seemed to be thinking right now, was a pretty good indicator of shock. After all, how else could she be sitting here, calmly and quietly, when half her shirt was shredded and covered in her own blood? At least there was no pain. Not anymore. And the bleeding, oddly enough, seemed to have stopped…but maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part.
At least my blood isn’t glowing anymore, she thought, but shut that down quickly. These men didn’t seem to have any idea what she was, so as far as she was concerned, she would be playing the normal, traumatized human woman until they let her go. If they let her go. She knew so little about these things, these other creatures.
Silently, and for the millionth time, she cursed the woman who had raised her so indifferently, family or no. Her life had been about hiding, about suppressing the truth until she had hardly believed it herself. And then Ada had simply been gone.
Five men milled around her in the moonlit clearing, eerily silent, though the meaningful looks they were giving one another made her wonder exactly what she was missing. One of the men had been kind enough to give her his shirt to stanch the blood, at least. He was the one who kept checking on her. The one who had reassured her, in a tone that brooked no argument, that she wasn’t in any danger of dying.
It was hard not to believe him, even though she knew she would need medical care, stitches, at the very least. Maybe the wounds had felt worse than they really were? It was all she could figure. These men didn’t look the type to just watch her bleed out. At least she didn’t feel like she was going to pass out anymore, though Mia wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing. Then again, this whole thing was so surreal; she wasn’t entirely convinced she was truly conscious anyway.
“Here comes Jenner,” someone said. Mia looked up.
And then he was just…there.
He seemed to melt right out of the trees, appearing with a swift silence that was even more unnerving because of his size. He was big, well over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and the sort of powerful, muscular build that she associated with professional quarterbacks. He didn’t say a word, only shared another one of those odd looks, what she thought of as a “speaking look,” with Dex. Then he turned his gaze on her.
“I’m Jenner,” he said, in a deep, melodious voice that seemed to fill the night. “I’m here to help. How are you holding up?”
Honey-gold eyes blazed out of a dark and handsome face that might have been chiseled from stone. His hair was short, spiky in a way that made her think it was naturally like that, and so dark she wasn’t sure whether it was brown or black, setting off strong features that bore not a trace of softness. With one look, Mia felt a punch of heat in her belly. Appalled at herself, she pushed the feeling away, instead concentrating on getting to her feet to answer him. She’d be damned if she spent one more second as the damsel in distress tonight.
Of course, her effort might have been more effective if she hadn’t nearly fallen over again. Dizziness swept over her, but just as her knees started to buckle Mia felt a pair of strong arms lift her with surprising gentleness. A wonderful smell enveloped her, woodsy and masculine.
Epic fail on being an empowered woman, she thought, knowing immediately who had caught her. Heat rose to her cheeks so that they burned. The world stopped spinning around her pretty quickly, but she really didn’t want to look.
She also knew she didn’t really have a choice.
Sure enough, she found herself pinned by a sharp golden gaze the instant she opened her eyes. Mia took a little solace that this Jenner looked about as uncertain of what to make of her as she was of him. They stared at one another for a long, drawn-out moment, and Mia again felt that strange warmth beginning to flood her. She was suddenly very aware of his large hands on her, the steady rise and fall of the chest she rested against as he cradled her. She could even feel the beat of his heart.
It was, hands down, the oddest sensation she had ever experienced, which in her case was really saying something. It felt as though invisible threads were even now winding around them, binding them together in a way she couldn’t quite fathom. And she had no interest in breaking those new and fragile bonds, preferring instead to forget everything but the intriguing lines of the face bent over her own. She felt drugged, almost, but pleasantly so. His lashes, she noted with some pleasure, were inky black and incredibly long. Such beautiful eyes.
Mia’s hand, which had been fisted against his chest, loosened, and she spread her fingers against the place where his heart beat steadily, thudding reassuringly against her palm. Her head filled with music, the way it always did when her blood called out, and was answered. Jenner’s song was wild and sweet, and for one breathless instant, Mia could hear her own singular melody twining with his, perfectly matched, creating something new and amazing. Her skin broke out in gooseflesh at its beauty…but it was short-lived. She heard Jenner’s startled intake of breath, watched the quick bob of his Adam’s apple at his throat. He looked quickly away, and as neatly as if it had been severed with a knife, the immediacy of their connection was broken. The song stopped short in the midst of a crescendo, locked back away.
Those invisible bonds, however, remained, comforting her even though she didn’t know this man from Adam. For the moment, he was all she had.
Mia found herself quickly set down, though Jenner’s hands lingered to support her. This time, despite an initial wobble, her footing was steady. Inside, she was anything but. A shiver rippled through her at the loss of Jenner’s heat, and the snap of a twig somewhere near her made her jerk. Every head turned sharply in the direction of the sound, at least reassuring her that she hadn’t imagined it. Without a word, two of the men dashed off into the trees with a speed and grace that surprised her. Quickly, fear bubbled back to the surface.
Jeff was still out there. Maybe he’d come back to finish what he’d started. Maybe—
“Don’t worry about them. They’re just being cautious,” Jenner said, pulling her back to the moment. He had obviously seen her watch the two men go. She looked at him, his eyes giving off a soft glow. Did he even realize it? she wondered. He seemed so calm. No sense of urgency. All things considered, Mia thought she would have preferred someone who acted at least a little like the crazed werewolf running around in the woods biting people might be a problem.
“Sorry. I’m not used to being bitten by my dates, and then left to die. I guess it’s made me a little jumpy,” Mia said, finding her voice raspy from the bloodcurdling scream she’d sounded earlier. One dark brow winged up, and Mia wondered if he was surprised she wasn’t just falling apart.
Probably she should fake it. But she didn’t know how. Tears had been outlawed for too long to ever really come naturally to her.
“Point taken,” he said, his voice a resonant growl that scraped in an interesting sort of way against her ragged nerve endings. His eyes dropped to where she’d been wounded. “You seem to be healing up well, at least.”
Mia just looked at him, aghast. Healing? No, not yet, not by a long shot. Magic was her gift, but she could bleed with the best of them. Hadn’t she proven that?
“You’ve got to be joking,” she choked out. “I’ve been attacked! His name is Jeff Gaines, and he tried to kill me! What about all of this is holding you people up? I need the police, I need a doctor, and I need to get out…of…these…oh my God.” She happened to look at her ruined shoulder during her tirade, and what she saw shouldn’t have been, couldn’t have been possible. Beneath the bloody fabric, torn and bleeding skin had already knit together, leaving small scabs in most places. A few spots, she noted incredulously, had already healed completely.
The pain, it seemed, was gone for a reason.
And suddenly, falling apart seemed a much more doable option than it had only seconds ago.
Mia’s mouth opened while she stared at Jenner, who was gazing steadily back at her. He looked like this was the most natural thing in the world. She tried to make words come out, but none came to her. Her heart began to pound, and all of her instincts were screaming at her to run.
“She’s going to freak out,” a voice muttered somewhere behind her. “They always freak out.”
“She is not going to freak out,” Jenner replied, but his eyes never left her, and his voice was low, as though he was speaking only to her. “You’re going to be fine. And you’re not going to lose it. Not if you want him to pay for what he did.”
“But,” Mia said softly, trying desperately to keep it together. This couldn’t be. This wasn’t supposed to happen. “But…”
“I can make him pay,” Jenner said, and something about the way he said it, the words themselves, steadied Mia in a way probably nothing else could have in that moment. “You have to trust me. What this Jeffrey did isn’t allowed among our kind any more than it is among yours. Less, in fact.”
“Your kind,” Mia repeated in a whisper. “What is that?” Deep inside, she knew. But she still needed to hear the words. It had been so long since that day in her grandmother’s study, poring over fantastical pictures that sometimes moved and danced beneath her fingertips. Revelations to her young eyes that had been cut brutally short in the wake of the older woman’s fury at being disobeyed.
At some point, she had stopped believing that these creatures were real, and started believing what she’d always been told. That she was alone in her strangeness.
