Chapter 95
Kane’s POV
The second my boots hit the gravel, I spun- eyes scanning wildly, figuring out the fastest way to get to what I needed most…
And there she was.
Already waiting for me.
Like a vision…
My Tessa.
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She burst from the front porch like a shot, flying down the steps barefoot, her hair whipping behind her in the wind. Her face twisted
with something between disbelief and desperation, and for a second, I thought I was imagining it. That the pain, the adrenaline, the near-
death brush of the past twenty–four hours was finally causing me to hallucinate.
But she was real.
She was running to me.
Just as longing to hold me as I was her…
My mouth cracked wide open as I moved toward her, limbs instinctively reacting before thought could catch up. My muscles screamed, my
ribs protested, but I didn’t give a damn. I surged forward, closing the last few feet like a man possessed.
“Tessa,” I breathed, barely audible over the pounding in my ears.
Her gasp hit me like a whip as she slowed, horror flashing across her face as her eyes locked on mine up close.
“Oh my god–y–your face-” she choked out, horrified, but I didn’t let her stop.
I moved in and caught her the moment she faltered, wrapping my arms around her waist and lifting her clean off the ground.
She clung to me instantly- arms tight around my shoulders, legs wrapping around my waist like she needed to feel every inch of me to
believe I was truly here.
I felt her sob against my neck, warm tears soaking into my skin as she trembled in my arms.
“You’re alive,” she cried, her voice broken and raw. “You’re still alive…”
I pulled her in tighter, burying my face in her hair, breathing her in like a man who’d just been dragged back from the dead.
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Chapter 95
“I told you I’d come back,” I murmured against her scalp, my voice rough. “Nothing could keep me from you after this. Nothing.”
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She didn’t say anything for a long beat, only held me harder. Her scent washed through me- familiar and perfect- healing me as my wolf
stirred, finally settling with a low, contented hum beneath my skin.
Hearing the others moving from around us, we finally shifted our position, as I started slowly lowering her back down on to the ground,
though I still kept her close to me.
One hand cupped the back of her head while the other moved to her jaw as I tilted her face up to mine.
My eyes scanned her perfectly sculpted face, carved just for me to adore, as I couldn’t refrain from kissing her – hard.
It was the kind of kiss that promised things that I’d never have to say out loud, and she didn’t hesitate on kissing me back either…
Her hands curled into my shirt, her lips answering mine with the same desperate relief I felt. But when I pulled back, her eyes
immediately darted back to the wound on my face- her breath hitching in horror all over again…
“Oh, Kane,” she whispered, her fingers brushing the blood drying along my cheekbone. “It’s really deep… It goes all the way up by your
eye… It’s awful, how did-”
I grabbed her hand gently, pressing a kiss to her palm in reassurance. “It doesn’t hurt angel. Barely a scratch. I’ve had worse before, trust
me.”
But I couldn’t deny to myself that It did, in fact, sting like a bitch…
Every breath I took made it burn hotter too…
I knew it would need stitches. Probably a few. But I wasn’t about to add more fear to her eyes just yet – not when she had just got me
back in somewhat of one piece.
She was already on the verge of falling apart at the current sight of me, and I couldn’t blame her. I could only imagine how messed up
each of us looked to them…
From behind her, I caught movement- white coats, fast hands, Seth holding Erin as they too watched the scene unfolding…
The doctor and nurses had rushed in, not even sparing a glance at the rest of us. They were already surrounding the front of the truck.
Where the true problem lay…
Tessa eventually caught wind of it too as she turned to see what I was staring at, her breath catching. “Wait–what’s going on? Who’s-?”
She moved away from me to look, stepping sideways out of my arms, peering toward the crowd of medical staff.
Her body stiffened with tension, shoulders squared like she was bracing herself for anything…
18:54 Thu, Jan 29
Chapter 95
I stepped up behind her, my palm resting lightly against the small of her back, anchoring her again…
“We found her,” I said quietly. “She’s alive.”
I felt her tense further.
“But barely.” I added softly, not wanting to scare her.
Tessa turned slightly to glance up at me before snapping her eyes back to the scene unfolding at the front of the truck.
They were bringing her out now.
Sasha.
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She looked even smaller than I remembered her body slumped, cradled in the arms of two of the nurses, her skin pale and almost blue
beneath the layer of grime and blood.
Tessa’s hand flew up to her mouth as the sight hit her.
“You found her…” Tessa cried, disbelief filling her entirely. “You found her like this?!” She added, horrified at how beat up and broken the
girl now was.
I couldn’t begin to tell her the truth, to tell her what we actually walked in on, what we actually found Dimitri doing to the poor girl… so
instead, I simply nodded.
“She helped us,” Tessa cried. “She didn’t have to! This is all our fault, Kane!” She wobbled, as I hushed her, pulling her back in to me.
Tessa’s lips parted, her breath catching with a sharp sound. “She looks so–so broken…”
My jaw ticked at the guilt she felt, knowing that this was no one’s fault but Dimitri’s…
“She done more than what most people would’ve done for strangers, I will be eternally grateful to her for helping you.” I add, rocking Tessa against me, her sobs breaking out in quick breaths.
She’d risked everything for them… and for what? To wind up like this? That was true bravery, and it wouldn’t go unnoticed.
‘I don’t know how to ever thank her,” she whispered. “Or you. Or anyone. We were so close to being trapped in that place forever!* Tessa
admitted her worst fears, as I shook my head.
“We were always going to come back for you both… nobody takes what is mine and gets away with it!” I shake my head down at her.
And it was true.
The blood, the war, the pain- this had all been worth it the moment I knew Dimitri could never take her from me again.
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Chapter 95
But I also knew this wasn’t over.
Not yet.
Because sure, Dimitri was dead, but the trauma he’d left behind was very much still fresh…
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
