Wolf Queen (A New Dawn Novel Book 6)

by Rachel M Raithby

  Kerry smiled. “Will you be eating too?”

  “No. I’m all good, but a coffee and a slice of that cake over there would be nice.”

  Kerry busied herself setting up a tray and preparing the food. “Do me a favor. Those covered plates on the counter need setting up on the serving tables for the early morning shift change. Take them out while I get this ready for you, please.”

  “On it.” John balanced several plates in his arms but paused before walking out. “Erm, Kerry, do you think we could keep this between us two? I’d rather not be the latest pack gossip.”

  “Your secret is safe with me, John,” she answered, glancing over her shoulder with a smile. “I hope she knows how lucky she is.”

  Unfortunately, John didn’t think Eva would call herself lucky, and it had nothing to do with him. Life had thrown too many blows at her recently, and she hadn’t even begun to catch up.

  Plates set out and his tray of food done, John set back off for his cabin with a strange sense of anxiety and anticipation in his blood. It wasn’t in his nature to worry; he was the run headfirst into danger type of guy, but Eva was territory he’d never stepped foot in before, and he was very much aware he couldn’t mess this up.

  He’d never intended to kiss her earlier, but he’d been unable to resist the urge. That she didn’t protest or pull away gave him hope, but John wasn’t naïve enough to believe courting Eva was going to be easy. John wanted her for life, and for humans, he’d learned life had a different meaning to a wolf. Eva hadn’t pulled away this time, but would she if he made her understand the true depths of his feelings? Would she run? Would she deny his wolf’s need to mate?

  When he entered his cabin, silence greeted him, but when he knocked softly on her door, her sleepy voice mumbled, “Come in.”

  Pulling herself upright in bed, her eyes widened as she eyed the tray. Once he’d placed it in front of her, John removed the covers from the plates and stood back with a smile.

  “Wow… John, you’ve impressed me.”

  “Full disclaimer, I didn’t cook any of it.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, I guessed as much. Pretty handy having a twenty-four-hour kitchen nearby.”

  “It is. I can cook though. My mom made sure of it. Maybe you’ll let me sometime?” His heart hammered in his chest, and John had never been so pleased Eva was human as it would have been even more embarrassing knowing she could hear the frantic gallop of his heart.

  “Maybe I will.” She smirked before taking a bit of pasta. Her eyes slid shut, a moan escaping her.

  John gritted his teeth against the sudden rush of lust coursing through his blood. “It’s good then?” He chuckled.

  “Mmm.” She nodded, chewing some more. “Sorry, I didn’t realize how much I needed food until it hit my mouth.”

  “I can see I’m going to have to make sure you take care of yourself.”

  “I was lost in the forest,” she defended. “There weren’t many options available to me.”

  “Can I sit?” John asked, pointing to the space beside her.

  Nodding, Eva concentrated on her food, a delicate splattering of pink dusting her cheeks.

  So, I make you nervous too… good.

  “I’m guessing the second slice of cake is for you?” she asked after a few minutes of silent eating.

  “Hmm. I ate earlier, but it looked too good to pass up.”

  “It does.”

  John sipped his coffee, happy to simply watch Eva eat. This was what he wanted—someone to share his bed with and enjoy the simplicities in life. His world was busy with training, patrols, advising his alpha, and when he came home and shut the door to his home, he wanted to be able to shut all of that stuff out and relax with the woman who was meant to be his. It was a simple desire, but when day-to-day decisions could mean the potential harm of your pack, it was needed to balance out the chaos.

  “John,” she said, once she’d laid her fork down and pushed the tray back with a content sigh. “What do you want from me?”

  Her question had his heart stalling. “What do you mean?” he asked, unsure if he wanted the answer.

  Glancing up, she seemed to think over her words. “Since I arrived with my family, I’ve had three guys chat me up. Two outright asked me on a date, but I sense you’re not looking for a quick bit of fun.”

  It took John a moment to clear the red haze from his mind. He was too busy wondering who he needed to kill to grasp her question.

  “Are you jealous?” she asked, laughing behind her hand. “Because you look like you’re imagining tearing limbs from bodies. I turned them all down if that makes you feel better.” She shrugged.

  “Who were they?” he finally asked, calm enough to find words.

  “I don’t know, erm… Logan—the one who got shot. He was the first about a week after arriving. Honestly, can’t remember the names of the others. They were from the other pack. Does it matter?”

  “Yes,” he growled.

  “So you’re the jealous, possessive type.” Her lips pursed. “Hmm, I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

  “Evaline, all shifter males are the jealous, possessive type. It’s in our blood.”

  She visibly swallowed. “Well, I ask again… what do you want from me?”

  “I don’t know how to answer that question, Eva.” Not without saying the word mate anyway. How did he explain without sending her running?

  “This is more than just wanting to get into my pants, right?” Her eyebrow raised.

  “Yes, though that would be nice.”

  Eva rolled her eyes as heat spread over her cheeks. “My brother’s on to you, by the way.”

  “He’s smaller than me,” John pointed out.

  As she poked him in his side, her expression grew serious. “He is, so when he comes to threaten you, which he will, you’ll be nice to him. I love my little brother, and before all this mess happened, we were as close as two siblings could be. He might be younger than me, but he’s chased boys off before who he didn’t like.”

  “Noted. Get your brother to like me.”

  She laughed. “I think you should work on me first.”

  “You already like me, sweetheart,” he murmured roughly, running a finger over the exposed curve of her neck.

  Turning her head, she met his gaze, their faces inches apart. “Maybe a little.” Her smile was daring and all kinds of sexy.

  He’d told himself he’d be good, to tread gently and ease her into his demands, but when he saw the challenge in her eyes, all his plans went out of the window. He drew her head to him and kissed her, showing her with his mouth how much he wanted her. By the time they pulled apart, they were both breathless and flushed, sexual tension hanging in the air.

  “I think you should eat your dessert,” John suggested. Because if she didn’t pull away from him soon, he’d be having her for dessert instead, and he wasn’t sure she was ready for that just yet.

  “I think you’re right,” she murmured, picking up his plate and handing it over. “You should eat yours too.”

  “What’s your favorite food, Eva?” he asked after they’d finished the cake.

  Biting her lip, she made a humming sound before answering. “My mother’s pumpkin pie,” she answered with a smile, but he could sense her pain mixed in there.

  Taking her hand, he squeezed gently before asking another question, “Will you come to Logan and Mia’s moving-in party with me tomorrow.”

  “Like a date?”

  “If that’s what you want to call it, yeah, a date.”

  She studied him, her hesitation causing nerves to fizzle through his blood. “Okay.”

  As his heart gave a happy leap, his wolf hummed with satisfaction, vibrating through his chest as a smile tugged up his lips. Caressing her face, John watched her for a moment longer, noting the fine dusting of pink over his cheeks, before picking up his fork and digging into the cake she’d passed him.

  They talked for a little while longer,
John asking her all the questions that popped into his head. Eva obliged, sometimes asking her own, and at some point in the night, his questions ran dry, and his eyes began closing. A distant voice in his head whispered for him to leave and find his own bed, but Eva had fallen asleep too, her head on his shoulder, and whether she’d be angry or not in the morning, John couldn’t make himself move.

  She was meant to be his. He could feel the potential of the mating bond growing ever stronger inside of him. A flicker with the promise for more. An eternal blaze with the ability to join them forever.

  Chapter 10

  Katalina

  Katalina stood alone. Snow fell around her, catching in her hair, her scarf, and the wool of her coat, and covering the back yard of Logan and Mia’s home. It had begun in the early hours of the morning and not given up since. The moon was full, though it struggled to shine through the heavy cloud, creating a muted darkness that swallowed her form.

  Laughter drifted from inside the house, but it didn’t reach Katalina tonight. It couldn’t break through the building anxiety that increased with each day.

  With the falling of the first snow came a knowledge, a promise that would end with blood. Almost a year had gone by since her eighteenth birthday… since her and Bass’s love triggered events that sent Castor on his course. They’d come full circle, and soon she’d be nineteen, and one way or the other, Castor would have his way.

  War was coming, and no matter the winner, the universe would have its blood.

  She could only hope it wasn’t her own, or any of those she loved, but Katalina wasn’t so naïve to believe her hope would come true. The truth was she’d been unable to stay inside the house, watching her family and friends talk and laugh, feeling the warmth of their love.

  Mia and Logan had survived this time, but would they survive the next battle, the next gun that went off? Would Nico? Would Bass? Would Jackson, the father she’d barely begun to know? With so much uncertainty, so much riding on her shoulders, day by day it was becoming a struggle to hold. Pressure built in her chest, an understanding of her fate. A knowing that before the year was through, her blood would run thick and fast across the white snow.

  “There you are. What are you doing out here, my winter wolf?”

  Katalina turned, showing him the tears falling silently down her face. She wasn’t sure if she was crying for herself or for her friends who would inevitably fall.

  It isn’t fair! She couldn’t understand why she’d been brought into their lives to then die. You are the key. The Link. The bridge. The one who connects us all. So many times, so many different versions of the same meaning told from a different mouth. Her friends. Her family. Her pack. She would die for them if it meant they’d be safe. She’d happily give her life. But Anna had already foretold their doom.

  Katalina didn’t know how to solve a riddle that spoke of strength when she’d never felt so weak. She hadn’t been trained to kill her entire life like Bass had. She wasn’t fearless like Mia. They told her that her greatest strength was her human heart, but it couldn’t win a war. In truth, Katalina had never felt so powerless. So very human.

  “Tell me what’s wrong,” Bass murmured as she ran into his open arms. “Please tell me what’s been haunting you.”

  She would never tell him. The vision would stay between her and Anna until her death, whenever that might be. Explaining to him wouldn’t help. Anna had made it clear the vison was something she must understand on her own. Bass had to have hope. He had to believe they’d all walk away from this free and alive.

  Katalina had once been full of hope, but it was dwindling, dying, and flickering inside her anxiety-riddled heart.

  “I need to go visit my parents.” One last time. “See my gram, and aunt and uncle. Dillon. It’s been too long.” I just need to go home. To say goodbye.

  Maybe it would help her. It was where she came from, after all. The human world where she’d never truly belonged.

  “When?” Bass murmured, stroking her hair, soothing her hurt as only he could.

  “My birthday.” The anniversary of their deaths. “Then after… after we can finish this.”

  It had been decided they’d take the fight to Castor. They’d never survive winter living on high alert. First though, they needed to finish rebuilding Dark Shadow. The early fall of snow hadn’t helped. It was nearly done. Already families were living in their new homes. A couple of weeks and the job would be complete, just in time for Katalina’s birthday and her potential death.

  “Bass, I want you to promise me something. You’re not going to like it, but I need you to promise me anyway.”

  “Okay.” He sounded wary, and he had reason to be.

  “If I fall, or if—”

  “Nothing is going to—”

  “Bass, listen to me. Listen and promise.” He sighed deeply but remained silent. “If something happens to me, I want you to promise me you’ll hold the packs together. Don’t allow your pain to destroy all we’ve achieved. For Tyler, for Logan, for me, promise me you’ll hold them together.”

  “If you die, Katalina, I die with you. I do not wish to live in a world without you.”

  Katalina looked up, a crazed kind of desperation surging through her veins. She gripped his jacket and shook him. “You don’t get to say that, Bass. There are others who need you, not just me.”

  “You are all that matters.”

  “That’s crap and you know it. You were unconscious for a day when Logan was shot. You gave so much of yourself. How can you say I’m all that matters? People have relied on you before I was ever a part of your world.”

  “It’s not that simple, Kat. You’re my mate.”

  “So die. Join me, but only after you’ve made sure Dark Shadow and River Run survive. Only then can you join me.”

  “You ask too much,” Bass whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “And you ask as if you are certain you are leaving me.” His eyes held hers, glassy as they filled with terror. “You can’t leave me, Katalina.”

  “I know.” Her voice cracked. “I would never leave you intentionally, but I need to know those we love will be okay. I know I ask too much, but I ask it anyway.”

  “What do you know, Katalina?” he whispered.

  “Nothing. I know nothing.”

  And it wasn’t a lie, not really. Nothing was certain. Anna saw her blood on the snow. Anna saw what would happen if she fell. But Katalina had bled before, and she’d bleed again. Somehow, someway, she’d understand the vision’s meaning. Because even as she made Bass promise, even as she saw his determination to not let her down, Katalina knew she wouldn’t hold him to her word. Even she didn’t have the power to ask him to suffer after her death.

  Not even his mate had the right to ask Bass to live while she died.

  Chapter 11

  Eva

  After watching Katalina leave, Eva couldn’t shake the hollowness in her gut that warned her something was wrong. Searching out John in the room, she made her way to him, weaving through the many people who’d come to celebrate with Mia and Logan.

  “John,” she murmured, slipping her hand onto his arm and tugging slightly. Not that she really needed to tug to get his attention, he’d been watching her all night, his gaze a constant flicker her way. It was both unnerving and reassuring.

  Stepping away from the couple he was speaking to, John bent to her level. “What’s up?”

  “I think something is wrong with Katalina. I know I don’t know her all that well, but I just can’t shake the feeling something is wrong. She’s normally so… bright.” Eva wasn’t stupid, no one was that happy all the time. It was just that Katalina tended to smile for those she was around, and today, Eva had seen her smile fall far too many times.

  “Trust your instincts, Eva.” Taking her hand, John led her through the room. “Which way did she go?”

  “Out back.”

  Those they passed noted their joined hands, gazes curious, some almost angry. A slight pu
ll of her hand wasn’t enough to free herself from him, and she had no desire to cause a scene by ripping herself free. Besides, she quite liked holding his hand, even if the feeling troubled her. They’d almost made it to the door, which led outside when John paused, his head tilting in a very canine way.

  “Bass has already found her. We should give them privacy.”

  “You can hear them from here, even with the noise of the party?” It was hard not to be jealous of such advantages.

  “Yes and no. It’s hard drowning out the voices, but Bass is my alpha. I can sense his presence.”

  “So… you just know where he is?” Sometimes the wolf stuff gave her a headache.

  “People give off energy,” he explained as they made their way back to the main room. “And Bass’s is special because he’s alpha, so if he’s nearby, I can pick up on that.”

  “Okay,” she replied, not sure she really understood.

  “Everything is heightened for me, Eva. Like the fact you knew Katalina was upset. How did you know?”

  “Well, she didn’t look as happy as she normally does, but it was more than that. I just knew.”

  “Humans call it gut instinct. The churning in your stomach when you know something is wrong, the sense that someone is bad. You have the same abilities as me. They’re just not as strong as mine.”

  “When you put it like that, I guess you’re right.”

  “Have you met Anna before?” he asked.

  “Yeah, a couple of times.” She’d never had the chance to get to know the redheaded woman though. Katalina had told her she was psychic, which seemed just as unbelievable as there being shifters in the world.

  “Cage, Anna, how are you?” John said as they approached.

  “Tired,” Cage replied. “I’ve just pulled a double shift.”

  “And I told him we should go home, but will he listen?” Anna grumbled.

  “I’m an enforcer, Anna. I need to at least show my face.” Cage sighed.

  Eva watched the interaction with the sense they’d had the same argument several times.

  “We have,” Anna said, focusing on her. “He’s pushing himself so others who are less experienced can rest.”