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I knew the way back home. I wasn’t a small lost girl. I was a grown-ass, tired woman. I blessed the stars because I was doing the afternoon shift the next day. After doing some mental math, I concluded it’d take two hours to get home.
Maybe three.
Oh, well. It’s not as if someone was waiting for me. Spike had his food laid out and will probably cuddle on the couch without me. That’s the wonderful thing about cats. They can be happy without you if they have food, water, and a warm, dry place to sleep. They’ll be happy and don’t care.
The river roared next to me. The moon reflected by the dark waters offered me enough light to find the path I knew was downstream. It was wider than the one that led to the Old Mill and was visible even if slightly overgrown.
“Good workout.”
My thighs and ass will hate me tomorrow, but I felt I was doing something good for my health. The muscles called for help, but the exhaustion felt good. It’ll help me sleep. The episode with Karl had upset me, but I had already almost forgotten it. He was drunk and depressed.
During the last year, I had so many bad things happen that I didn’t care about one more shitty event, especially because it reminded me that I could kick ass big time. This is just another pearl in my collection of nasty things that happened to me. I refused to picture what could have happened. Why should I go with the worst-case scenario?
Small twigs broke under my boots, and the echo followed me as I found my way back to the blacktop. Each step felt like I was journeying toward a new life. As if I would break old habits and old ties that held me connected to the life from before.
The road was empty. Prudence was not the kind of place with a lot of traffic. The town was calm and silent. Plus, it was not the weekend. During the weekend, some of the students from the Blackmore campus would come over and test their fake IDs in the local bar.
9
SOREN
The last few days shook me. Many years have passed since I saw Yana the last time. I allowed my Fated Mate to slip through my fingers once, and I’ll be damned if I’ll allow her to leave me a second time. Being generous once was enough. I gave her a shot at a normal life, and that asshole of a husband ripped my girl’s heart out of her chest. Not a day passed when I did not feel the need to drive to Chicago and rip him a new one. He had Yana, the most perfect woman in the universe, and he threw her away, and for what?
I didn’t care for the child bride he got. All I cared about was Yana, my mate, the one I let go.
The only reason I let Nick live was the fact that this, all of it, was my fault. If I hadn’t left her, if I only stepped up to be her mate, she would have never ended up with this piece of junk human who didn’t treat her right.
Yana was like a beacon in the darkness. As long as her heart beat, there was a line between her and me, a connection no one could break. Even though she had no idea who I was except the guy who sends her flowers and KFC and bleeds all over her kitchen. And the way I behaved…. Fuck, I acted like a damned asshole, scaring her with my gun as if I could hurt even one hair on her perfect head. Everything about Yana was perfect. And she was mine. She had no idea that she was my mate. I’ll have to explain that to her, one way or the other.
Yana’s house was familiar. I knew Ruby well. Just being close to the place my mate called home warmed my heart.
I parked my motorcycle down the street and walked here to stand behind the house and smoke a cigarette in the dark.
That’s when I noticed her changing clothes and leaving the house.
She left with a man.
Was she going on a date?
I knew everything about Yana. I have known her since the day she was born. She was mine. I gave up on pursuing her once but, after having that jerk breaking her heart, I refused to let her go.
When I invaded her house wounded, that was not the plan. I didn’t want her to meet me like that. The last thing I wanted was to scare my mate.
My hands burned to run over, pull that guy out of the car, and break him in two. No one touched Yana.
Not anymore.
I won’t allow it.
I was not proud of myself when I followed them to the Old Mill. Thankfully, my mature self stopped me from running through the woods and ripping off that guy’s head. Instead of following my desire, I waited.
When he returned without her, my mind went crazy. Adrenaline shot through my body, taking over my rational self. My wolf howled in pain and was hungry for violence. The worst-case scenario flashed in front of my inner eyes. I was scared Yana could be hurt. Too many feelings, plus the fact that my wolf howling under my skin drove me mad. Like a raging storm, the violence inside my chest made it hard to grasp the mating bond. She is my Fated. But the bond is not complete. It’s weak until we fulfill it until Yana is fully and truly mine.
Thinking he could have hurt my mate made me want to shift and rip him apart. What if he had hurt her? I knew his scent. I’d be able to find him anywhere. Instead of letting it go, I followed him on my motorcycle until I could cut him off.
The poor idiot almost drove into a tree in his panic. I jumped off the motorcycle and was in his face before that sad excuse of a man managed to unlock his safety belt. My fist punched through the window of his car. Glass splinters fell over his face. Fresh blood streamed from the cuts on his neck and hands. A part of me was sad he was still alive, but my inner wolf howled in delight. I’ll get a chance to torment him.
His eyes bulged when my large hand wrapped around his throat. His mouth made frog-like moves but without any sound. His flesh shivered. He attempted to speak. Thinking about his voice made me want to snap his neck. He had left Yana in the woods. My mate was out there, and I was not curious about what this worm had to say. Still, I had to ask.
