It’s only one night.
“Did Bass say how long he’d be?” Noah asked as they climbed into the car. He started the engine once settled.
“No. Just something about an incident with Zac and needing to help him shift back.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah.” She huffed out a breath, gazing at the trees as they began to flash by. Regan dashed out of the forest, a howl of goodbye on her lips. She disappeared a second later.
Katalina laughed. “You’d think I was going for a year or something the way everyone is acting.”
“Well, I can’t wait to see the back of you, Kat,” Noah teased.
She poked him in the ribs. “If Bass doesn’t hurry up, you’ll be coming along as my new boyfriend.”
“Families love me.” He beamed.
“I think mine might think you’re a little old for me,” Katalina answered.
“Oy!” He shoved her playfully in the shoulder. “I’m barely into my thirties.”
“That’s more than ten years, Noah.”
“Yeah, all right, fine. I’m old,” he mumbled.
Katalina giggled. “So, what’s this I hear about you chatting up Holly?”
Glancing at her, he rolled his eyes. “Is nothing secret around here?”
“Not when I’m friends with her, no. Secretly, I think she likes you.”
He grinned. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Katalina nodded. “But she thinks you’re cocky, so maybe play it cool, huh?”
“She had the cheek to call me old too, you know. I think I’m developing a complex.”
Katalina patted his shoulder. “I’m sure your ego can take it.” Noah loved himself; he had a confident presence and was a skilled fighter, add his wicked sense of humor into the mix, and the man was a catch. If you could look past the ego blocking the way.
“I really do like her, Kat. We danced at the mating party, and I’ve been hooked ever since.”
“Maybe you should tell her that. Because she thinks she’s just another conquest.”
“I’m not Logan,” he moaned.
“Ah, well see, Logan’s retired now. Didn’t you know he’d handed over his playboy crown?”
“I see.” Noah shook his head. “Now Logan’s out of the game, you’ve all decided I’m next in line.”
“Man whore is the description Holly used.” Katalina tried and failed to keep her laughter inside.
“This isn’t funny, Kat. I’m going to have to up my game. I’m not a man whore.”
Unable to talk through her amusement, Katalina wiped at the tears in her eyes as Noah scowled, chuntering under his breath as he drove. Their playful banter continued back and forth, but when Noah finally pulled over where they’d soon be meeting her family, the smile on her face fell. Five minutes and her aunt’s car would arrive, and as Katalina dialed Bass’s number, listening to the rings go unanswered, she knew in her gut he wouldn’t make it on time.
I guess this is one nightmare I’m going to have to face alone.
“He’ll be here, Kat,” Noah reassured when she rang for the third time.
Her aunt’s car appeared around the corner, indicating to turn into the small layby on the side of the quiet road.
“Damn it, Bass,” Katalina muttered.
“We can just wait,” Noah said lightly as if he was trying his best to stay optimistic.
“Yeah, and how do I explain you?”
He shrugged. “I’m your slightly older, a lot more good-looking friend.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “Perfect explanation.”
Her phone chimed. “’Bout ti—" It wasn’t Bass. “Thanks for the cryptic bullshit, Anna,” Katalina muttered as her stomach lurched.
“Everything all right?”
“It was Anna,” Katalina explained. Her skin prickled with an awareness she didn’t quite yet understand.
“What did she say?” Noah asked warily. They all knew when Anna gave cryptic tales it wasn’t good.
Katalina glanced up as her family began to pile out of the car. Everything was flying into fast-forward. Bass should have been there. She was never supposed to face this heartache alone. Arne whined in the back seat, adding to the tension humming through Katalina’s veins.
“Your origin is your strength,” she whispered. Why send this now? She knew the answer, yet Katalina wouldn’t accept it. Today was not the day. She wasn’t ready to face Castor. First she had to say goodbye to her human family and visit her parents’ graves one last time.
Just one last time, please, she begged silently.
Noah studied her, concern filling his gaze. “Very helpful.”
Her family noticed Noah as they approached the side of the car, confusion marring their expressions.
Katalina glanced at Noah and patted his knee; he looked a little nervous. “They don’t bite,” she teased, trying to shake the nauseous churning in her gut. “Though they might yell when I tell them I’m dating an older man.”
He jabbed her in the rib, and she jabbed back, smiling despite the situation.
“That’s it. I’m tickling you for that.” He grinned.
Katalina squealed as his fingers began their attack, laughter filling the car. Arne jumped up and down, joining in the fun by licking Noah.
“Gross, Arne, stop,” Noah complained, pushing him back while still tickling Katalina.
She was gasping for breath, her cheeks hurting from smiling, and the sorrow that had been weighing her down lifted if only for a second. When glass shattered around her, the noise blasting through the car, it erased the joy dancing through her veins and rained anarchy around her. Arne’s barks of delight turned into growls of warning as dread spread like ice through her veins.
Noah’s eyes widened, his voice dying into a rasp as his blood splattered across Katalina’s face.
“Noah,” Katalina gasped, shaking him as he slumped over her. “Noah, please.” He couldn’t be dead; they’d been too much death already. She could deal with her own death but not any more of her friends and family. “Noah,” she cried, a sob catching in her throat. “Please.”
They’d been laughing and joking only seconds before. It wasn’t fair. It shouldn’t be possible to be tickling her one second and gone the next. Yet in her world, such horror happened far too often.
Arne’s barking vibrated through her head, mixing with the screams of her family outside of the car. As urgency pumped through her blood, her wolf came to the forefront of her mind. Shifting Noah into his seat, Katalina then closed his vacant eyes and wiped away tears running down her face.
“Goodbye, my friend,” she whispered.
Dragging in a breath, fury surged through her body, ignited by the pain of yet more loss. A scream built in her chest, fire charging through her muscles as she searched out of the shattered window and found the enemy she intended to kill.
Kicking open the car door and climbing out, her arms rigid by her side, Katalina’s body hummed with the strength of her contained rage. Tipping back her head, she let the aguish rip from her throat, echoing through the air, and the scream carried, the sound nothing human, and almost at the same time, Bass’s reply met hers in the sky.
Her family was confused, crying, huddled on the ground, covering one another. There was no hiding her secret anymore. No protecting her family from the deadly aspects of her new life. She’d known it was coming. It had hovered over her, a constant reminder she’d never be free until she’d finished the war.
Yet she wasn’t ready.
But no amount of preparation truly prepared one for the destruction of war. The death, the violence, the blood, yet as Katalina let her claws slip free and unleashed her fury with a snarl, she raced forward, knowing it could be to her death, and okay with that as long as it meant the others would live.
They swarmed out of the trees, an army for one lone wolf. Castor had planned this well. This was no sneak attack to cause annoyance; he’d been waiting for the moment she’d be alone, and he’d
made sure there was no way she’d escape.
The first three dropped dead, their blood coating her hands, spraying across her body. She didn’t think, didn’t watch the life drain from their eyes. They were obstacles in her way. Threats to her family. She’d fight them to her last breath if needed.
Crowding her, someone jumped on her back, bringing Katalina to her knees. Screaming, she slipped her knife free and swung it behind her and into flesh, but no matter how many times she stabbed, he wouldn’t release her, and his weight was forcing her to the ground. The other’s pressed in. A foot kicked out her knee, sending her sprawling as another attack stole her breath. She thrashed and stabbed, her rage vibrating through the air, but there was no freeing herself against such a number.
Dropping the blade, Katalina shifted, howling as she shook them off. Hot blood filled her mouth, dripped through her teeth as she tore into flesh and lashed with her claws. Her lungs were on fire, her limbs reaching their limit. Twisting and turning, Katalina avoided their blows, lunged with her own, but it was no use. No amount of training would have prepared her to take on a small army.
Whimpering as her paws struggled to find traction, her legs buckled, and she met the hard ground with a pained growl. But then another growl filled the air, quieter, but no less furious.
No!
Arne jumped into the fray, taking the man pinning her down flying, and they tumbled over and over, fur and skin. Katalina forced herself up, fought her way to her dog. Something hit her hard in the chest. She heard the crack of bone, felt the scream of pain, but it was nothing compared to the need to reach her dog.
He was fierce and loyal and brave. He’d saved her once, won against a pack of wolves, but this army didn’t care about killing a dog.
Arne! Their gazes met, as his filled with pain, and he whined as he slumped to the ground. Shifting, Katalina screamed his name, crawling through blood and dirt, desperate to reach him.
“Arne! No, Arne!” Gathering him into her arms, tears fell from her eyes and landed on his fur as he whimpered. “Shush, boy, you’re all right. You’re going to be all right.”
Arms seized her roughly, dragging her upright. “Get off me. Get off me. He needs help,” she yelled, thrashing. “I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you all!”
Arne belly-crawled toward her, his back leg twisted wrong, his breathing labored. Fighting until the last breath just as Katalina would do.
Her claws ripped free, gorging into flesh as she kicked and screamed.
“That’s about enough from you.”
Agony burst through her skull, stealing her sight, and all the will in the world couldn’t fight the darkness beckoning her into the long goodnight. Body going limp, Katalina slumped into the arms of her enemy, unconscious and helpless as she and her family were taken captive.
Chapter 37
Bass
“No,” Bass whispered, his tone holding the edge of horror. He’d known in his heart what he’d find would be unbearable; Katalina’s heartache pulsing through the mating bond was evidence enough. Yet it didn’t prepare Bass for what he found. “Oh, Arne.”
Collapsing to his knees, Bass took in the injured dog. There was no coming back from the extent of his wounds. But still, he struggled to get up, as if some innate instinct told him he had to find her. He had to save Katalina.
Their gazes met, and a silent message passed between them. “I know,” Bass whispered. “I will find her. I will bring her home.”
A teardrop landed on Arne’s matted, blood-soaked fur. The dog whined, the sound full of pain. It was like a knife to his heart, shattering the alpha wolf at his core. Arne wasn’t his dog, but the German shepherd was as much a part of Dark Shadow as any wolf under his care. They were connected, and that connection allowed Bass to draw pain from Arne’s body into his own.
The dog sighed as Bass gritted his teeth against the agony.
“You’re okay,” Bass murmured. “Good boy, it’s okay.”
Arne huffed softly in return.
“Shush.” Bass stroked his head, gazing into the dog’s eyes. “It’s okay, Arne, you did good. I’ve got her now. I’ll keep her safe. You can stop fighting.”
Arne stilled, his chest barely rising, yet the look in the dog’s eyes was as strong and determined as ever.
“I know,” Bass said. “Kat’s strong. Stronger than we give her credit for. She’ll hold on until I find her, and I will. I promise you that.” Bass drew more pain, gave back his own lifeforce, but it wasn’t enough. “I’ll bring her home. I promise.”
As the vow left Bass’s lips, Arne released his breath for the final time. Bowing his head, Bass allowed himself a second to feel both his own and Katalina’s pain through their bond. Before he shut it down and buried it deep at his core, fueling the pit of fiery rage building within him.
It was a fire he’d been stoking for days, coaxing from a flicker into an inferno, and there it would stay until Bass faced his enemies. Only then would he release it. All the pain, the sorrow, the anger. It would be the storm that brought the Indiana pack to their knees. It would be the blade that ended their lives.
Lifting the dog into his arms, Bass turned to face Nico, Tyler, and Evan.
“Noah’s dead, Bass. Bullet through the head. He’d have died instantly.”
Bass had already known Noah was gone; he’d felt the instant his enforcer was severed from him. A part of him hadn’t wanted to believe it, though. A part of him had clung onto the impossible hope that this was all a bad dream.
His knees threatened to give out as he took in the drawn, grief-stricken faces of his men. “They’ll pay for the blood they’ve spilled,” Bass growled, his voice trembling. “I’m going to make Castor scream.”
The three men nodded their agreement, vengeance aglow in their eyes, covering the sorrow that would live in their hearts for a long time to come.
“We need to regroup and devise a plan,” Tyler said.
“I need to go after Katalina,” Bass answered, even as he knew it was impossible to do so. He was at war with himself; his need to lay his fallen to rest, colliding with the savage instinct to find Katalina.
“That’s what he wants, Bass. Castor wants you to run off unprepared and alone. We’ll need both packs to get her back,” Nico urged.
“I know,” Bass murmured. He knew, yet he didn’t care. But an alpha didn’t have the luxury of following his own needs. Instead, Bass shut down the screaming desire to run and headed for the car.
Tyler, Nico and Evan followed, a silent procession at his back, and Bass laid Arne down on the back seat of the car, besides Noah.
“Rest easy, my friend,” Bass whispered, resting a hand over Noah’s silent heart. “I’m sorry.”
He’d return them to their home. They’d given their lives to try and save Katalina, and for that, they’d both be honored and always remembered.
Arriving home, Bass instructed for Noah’s body to be sent to the infirmary and then took Arne to the lake. A shovel was placed into his hand, and he began to dig blindly, his mind a jumbled mess. Beside him, Jackson dug as well, having been phoned on the drive home and updated on the situation. Within minutes, the hole was ready, and Bass placed Arne inside, and as the last mound of dirt was patted down over the dog’s body, Bass repeated his vow.
I’ll bring her home.
Turning, he studied the small crowd, then focused on Jackson. “Regroup and meet at the pavilion to leave in thirty, ready to fight.”
“We’ll be there,” Jackson replied, his expression grim.
“It could be a trap,” Tyler suggested.
“It undoubtedly is. We’ll be walking right into their hands,” Bass confirmed. He’d go anyway. There was no way he wasn’t going after his mate.
“I’ll not go quietly,” Jackson growled, fisting his hands, the potency of his rage setting the wolf at Bass’s core into a frenzy. “They have my daughter.”
“Who’s staying behind? Who will defend our home?” Joh
n asked as Bass struggled to control the animal, who was his other half.
Our home? Katalina is our home, and she’s gone. But Bass couldn’t voice his words, wouldn’t tell his pack he couldn’t live without Katalina even for them. Instead, he contained the fire inside of him and clenched his jaw against the murderous rage threatening to consume him.
“We’re walking into battle. We’ll need our strongest with us,” Bass replied.
“I have a suggestion,” Regan said, looking a little unsure. Tyler ran a hand down her spine, backing his mate up.
“Go on,” Jackson answered.
“Bring those left behind together. Combining Dark Shadow and River Run will give us less land to guard.”
“That could work,” John answered.
“My dominant teens can patrol. It will give them a focus. We’ve been planning for this,” Tyler suggested.
“Leave the less experienced novice soldiers behind to oversee them,” Jackson added.
“And if the worst should happen? Who’s left to rebuild those left behind?” John asked.
Bass had never hated being alpha more than in that moment. He didn’t want to think about anyone but Katalina. His every cell was screaming at him to go after her. To leave everything behind and forget everyone until she was safe in his arms. Swallowing the murderous snarl in his throat, Bass fixed his mask securely in place, and set his feelings for Katalina to one side, as he put the needs of his pack first.
“I’m struggling to think straight, John. What do you suggest?”
“Evan and Cassady are strong enough to hold Dark Shadow together if they have to,” John answered. “Evan might not like being left behind, but he will if you instruct him to.”
Bass blinked, his mind fading suddenly under a wave of fear from Katalina. He nodded his agreement to John, afraid if he spoke, his voice would give away how much he was struggling to keep it together.
A hand landed on his shoulder. “We’ll get her back,” Nico murmured. “I promise.”
Meeting Nico’s gaze, Bass managed what he hoped was a smile. “I know.”
But at what price?
Wolf Queen (A New Dawn Novel Book 6) Page 21
