Page 26 of The Alpha's Bounty
I clench my fists, fighting for breath.No.This isn’t over.She thinks she can leave, but she doesn’t know me.She doesn’t know the kind of man she’s mated to.I don’t give up.I don’t let go.
I head straight for Camden’s, my truck barely making it down the street without flying apart.He opens the door before I can knock, frowning at the sight of me.
“What the hell happened?”
“I need your car,” I growl.“Now.”
He studies me for a beat, then tosses me the keys without a word.
The engine roars as I hit the road again, my foot heavy on the gas.The car surges forward, the trees blurring past.My jaw is tight, my chest burning, my bear a constant thunder inside me.
Ours.Don’t stop.Never let her go again.
I grip the wheel tighter, my knuckles aching.She’s out there, scared and alone, thinking she’s doing the right thing by leaving me.But she’s wrong.The only right thing is us.Together.Always.
I slam my foot down harder, the car growling as it eats the miles.
I’m going to get my mate back.And this time, I’ll make damn sure she never leaves my side again.
TEN
Mina
The bus rumbles beneath me,steady and low, and my eyelids grow heavier with every mile.I press my forehead to the cold glass, watching the blur of trees and fields slip past, and tell myself I’m doing the right thing.
But it doesn’t feel right.It feels as if my chest is caving in.Every breath hurts.Yet logic insists this is the only way.If I stay, Cyrus will pay for me—literally.If I leave, maybe he’ll see that I was never worth that kind of sacrifice.Maybe he’ll move on.
The weight of that thought presses harder than the glass against my temple, but exhaustion pulls at me, dragging me closer to sleep.My body aches from the tension, from the crying, from holding myself together when all I want to do is fall apart.
The bus jolts violently, brakes screeching, and I’m yanked awake.Gasps and murmurs ripple through the passengers as bags tumble from overhead racks.My heart slams into my throat, panic spiking.
“What happened?”someone calls.
I blink hard, trying to focus, and that’s when I see him.
Cyrus.
Storming down the center of the road like he owns it, his shoulders broad, his eyes blazing, his jaw tight with fury.My stomach drops, the air rushing out of me in one stunned exhale.
No.It can’t be.
But it is.
He’s here.
My pulse stutters, racing and wild.Every cell in my body knows him, recognizes him, screams for me to go to him even as fear and guilt twist inside me.He shouldn’t be here.He should’ve let me go.
The driver curses, already opening the door as Cyrus strides forward.He doesn’t hesitate, doesn’t slow, doesn’t care about the stares of strangers.His eyes lock on me like I’m the only person in the world, and my whole body goes still.
He doesn’t speak.He just comes for me.
And when he reaches my seat, he takes my hand—firm, unyielding, warm—and pulls me up without a word.
“Wait—” I start, but he’s already tugging me down the aisle, past wide-eyed passengers whispering behind their hands.
The moment we step off the bus, the cold air hits me, sharp against my skin.Cyrus doesn’t stop.He leads me straight to the car idling on the shoulder, opens the passenger door, and all but lifts me inside.
The slam of the door echoes in my ears.My heart hammers as he rounds the hood and slides into the driver’s seat, his hands gripping the wheel, his chest rising and falling in hard, furious breaths.
