The Wolf's Surrender. Kendra Castle Leigh
pack in that city, so any werewolves you’d find there would be outliers.”
“Outliers?”
“Yeah, you know…” He lifted his hands as though he could grasp the words he wanted out of the air. Had he wondered whether Mia was intelligent? This conversation was like being crossexamined by a particularly bloodthirsty lawyer.
“Werewolves congregate in packs,” he said. “It’s natural. We’re linked to one another. Telepathically.”
To his surprise, this bit of information seemed more of a revelation to Mia than a shock.
“Oh,” she murmured. “That explains why there were a lot more funny looks than actual talking last night.”
“It does,” Jenner said, relieved not to be challenged on something. “Pack mates can all speak that way, even over great distance. It’s a little weird at first, but you get used to it. And without it, the change, and learning to live with all of the other effects of being what we are, can be way too much for one person. The pack, this pack, is the support group you’re looking for, Mia. The group helps curb the basest instincts all of us deal with from time to time. Living away from the pack is unnatural. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen sometimes…but mostly, in an area without a pack, you’re going to find ferals.”
“Like Jeff,” Mia said. Jenner watched the way her eyes dropped, the way she wound her hands together and began toying restlessly with her fingers. The sight hit him with a flood of guilt. However much he didn’t want to be the one introducing Mia to the facts of her new life, he needed to remember what it was like to be on the other side of things. It had been ten years for him, years that felt like a lifetime away from the man he had been. And Mia had the added burden of not having asked for this. Whatever she might be holding back from him, right now she needed some sympathy, not suspicion. He knew a lot about evil. Mia wasn’t it.
He needed to remember that.
Jenner shoved his plate aside and leaned in close to her, wanting to catch her gaze. It was a mistake, he knew immediately. The scent of her, sweet and carrying the hint of orange blossoms, swamped his senses. His heartbeat accelerated, blood beginning to pump more quickly through his veins. The animal within him stirred, stretched.
Hungered.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said softly. The need to comfort Mia surprised him with its strength. She looked back at him, eyes wide and full of misery.
“I don’t see how,” she said. “I really don’t. Not unless there’s a way out of this that you haven’t mentioned.”
“Well,” he drawled, hoping to erase some of the pain from her lovely face, “there is the one ritual with antelope blood and goat heads.”
Damned if she didn’t suddenly look hopeful. “Really?”
He shook his head. “Uh, no, Mia. You’re stuck being a werewolf. But like I told you last night, it’s not so bad. You’ll probably like it, once you get used to it.”
She closed her eyes and gave her head a tight little shake, as though she could will all of this away.
“No, I won’t. I have enough to deal with. And whether you like it or not, whether your Alpha likes it or not, I’m going to be one of those outliers. I have no interest in quitting my job, moving to the middle of nowhere, and starting all over again.”
“Again?”
She opened her eyes, but couldn’t quite meet his.
Of course she has secrets, Jenner thought, hating the bitter, cynical feel of them. You’re a magnet for women like this. Get suckered this time and it’s on you.
“My upbringing…wasn’t the greatest. So I got away. I want to put down roots, not keep pulling them up.”
There wasn’t even the slightest hint of deception in her words, and Jenner immediately felt like an ass. Maybe she wasn’t the one with the issue, here.
Wouldn’t be the first time.
Flustered, Jenner tried to shift gears. “Don’t write it off when you haven’t even really begun changing, Mia. It isn’t easy to live away from the pack. And I bet we could find you a job here,” Jenner said. “What do you do?”
Her voice was flat. “I do web-based PR for a software company, and I do freelance web design on the side.”
Jenner thought of the Hollow’s one internet provider and single video game store and fought back a grimace. “Okay, maybe not the software company thing. But you can design websites from here as easy as in Philly. Just because it’s quiet in the Hollow doesn’t make it the middle of nowhere.”
Mia’s look said volumes about what she thought of that.
“Just because you love it here doesn’t make it not the middle of nowhere. This isn’t my home, and it isn’t going to be.”
“It’s a lot better than some soulless city,” Jenner shot back. “And if you weren’t being so busy trying to plan your getaway, you’d think about the fact that all the men who saved you last night were out running, as wolves, just for the fun of it. There’s room for that here, for what we need and what you’re going to need—whether or not you like it.”
His voice had risen without him meaning for it to in his defense of his home, his way of life. Jenner realized it too late, catching the flash of Mia’s eyes just before she stood up, shoved in her stool with an angry little kick, and stood glaring at him with her hands settled on her hips.
“Maybe I like my soulless city,” she snapped. “And if you weren’t so busy being defensive about your little wolf commune out here, you might remember the fact that I have gone from being relatively normal to being a paranormal creature with a psycho after her in the space of one night. You’ve just told me I have to plug into this pack deal, however that’s done, or go nuts. That I’m going to suddenly have an overwhelming desire to move away from my life and relocate here. I am, and this is an understatement, I promise, a little overwhelmed.”
She turned away, started to go. “Forget it. I’ll talk to Bane, but then I’m out of here. I’ll figure this out on my own.”
Jenner stood, sensing the fear beneath her burst of anger, regretting having caused it. Regretting whatever had put that desolation in her voice, like she was used to handling everything alone. He told himself he felt the way he did because he had the good of the pack in mind.
It was easier than admitting the truth, and he was just fine with that.
“Mia,” he said, though his voice came out more growly than soothing.
“Don’t,” she said, stiffening. But she stopped.
“Just hang on. Don’t go off like that,” Jenner said. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t let her just storm off in her current state. Not only was it a miserable start, but he didn’t want her hurt. And he didn’t want to be the one who had hurt her. There’d been enough of that for Mia last night, whatever she was or wasn’t hiding about herself. It was probably none of his business.
Even if that strange prickle at the back of his neck insisted that it was.
Mia turned to look back at him. When she spoke, he could hear the quaver in her voice, could see the sheen of moisture in her eyes. That was all it took to make him feel like a big, blundering ass. Things were finally beginning to hit home, he could see. He was immediately caught between guilt and a sudden, desperate urge to flee.
“Don’t tell me how great this all is, Jenner,” she said. “I’ll…I’ll come to terms with things in my own way, but try to remember I’m not getting a choice here. Story of my life.” Then, to his horror, she burst into tears.
He watched helplessly as glistening droplets began to roll down Mia’s cheeks from beneath her glasses. She pressed her hands to her face