Her own burned fiercely, leaving her nothing but ash at times. Coming to a stop, Katalina struggled to draw breath past the overwhelming pressure in her chest.
“Hey, boy,” she murmured, dropping to her knees before Arne’s grave.
Someone had left a stuffed bear propped against the simple wooden cross they’d put at the head of where her dog had been buried. Picking it up, she hugged the toy to her chest, inhaling the scent of Toby as she did.
Smiling through her tears, Katalina put the bear back. “You’re a popular boy,” she whispered. He’d been more than just hers—worming his way into the hearts of many over the year he’d lived with the packs. “Been brought flowers too, I see. Now I feel kinda bad for just bringing myself.”
“But you were his favorite thing in the whole world.” Glancing over her shoulder, Katalina smiled through her tears as she looked up at Bass. Closing the last few paces between them, Bass knelt beside Katalina and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “How was Cage?” he asked.
“Still no change. Karen put on a brave face, but I saw through it. She doesn’t think he’s going to survive.”
“And Anna.”
Katalina leaned her head on Bass’s shoulder and breathed deeply to regain control of her emotions. “She says she’s already seen her death and when she leaves this world, she’s old and gray and surrounded by her children and grandchildren.”
“And Cage?”
Katalina shook her head. “He’s not in her vision, but she’s adamant that her future can only happen with him. After all Anna’s been through, after all the packs have been through, you’ve got to admire her faith.”
“Without faith in her abilities, Kat, they’d be nothing but a curse.”
“She’s stronger than me. I left the room so I could go and cry away from her.”
“He’s strong, Katalina.”
“And so were the others who died.”
Bass held her tighter and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “It seems like Eva’s going to be okay. She made it through the first shift with John’s help.”
“Good. I must go see her, congratulate them both on their mating. I’ve just been so….” Her words trailed off, the sorrow inside of her flowing down the mating bond to answer what she could not voice.
“I know, baby. We all have.”
“It’s not right though, Bass. John found his mate, and we’ve not even been to wish them well.” Guilt shadowed her grief, adding to the darkness haunting her.
“I think he’ll forgive us, Kat. He’s lost people too,” Bass reassured.
But even though she knew Bass was right, Katalina couldn’t shift the wrongness in her chest. John had found love in the chaos of war. His love had held onto Eva long enough for her body to begin to heal, and it should be celebrated not pushed to one side.
“We should do something for them. All the other matings have been celebrated with a party. There’s should too.”
“I’m not sure it’s not the best time.”
“That’s exactly why it is the best time, Bass. There’s a cloud hanging over us all, and we need to step out from under it and remember there is still joy in the world.”
Cupping her face, Bass turned her head to face him. His smile was warm and full of love as he took her in. It shined through Katalina’s own pain, giving her joy back. “Have I told you I love you?”
“Once or twice.” Katalina grinned.
As he climbed to his feet, Bass held out his hand. “Come on. Let’s go see what they think.”
Allowing him to pull her up, Katalina looked down on Arne, the ache of his absence crushing her heart. “See you later, boy,” she whispered. “I miss you.”
Bass wrapped an arm around her as they walked, his lips coming to her ear. “I miss the pain in the butt too. There’s no one stealing my side of the bed or licking my face in the morning. Damn it, I should not miss those things.”
Katalina laughed. “He loved you too, Bass.”
“He had a way of loving everyone, Kat. He’ll be missed by many.”
Arriving at John and Eva’s cabin, Bass knocked, John opening the door seconds later.
“Come on in,” John said as he stepped back to let them through. “Eva’s just reading Matty a story before bed.”
“How’s she coping?” Bass murmured quietly, aware Eva would now have hearing as sharp as theirs.
John shrugged, studying them both. “She seems fine. Doesn’t stop me worrying though.” His gaze landed on Katalina, eyeing the knife wound she knew stood out on her cheek. “How are you doing, Kat?” he asked gently, cupping her cheek.
“I’ll survive. Oliver doesn’t think it will scar,” she answered.
“You’d be beautiful still, even if it did,” John assured.
Bass punched John’s shoulder playfully. “Best quit the flirting now you have a mate, John.”
The men grinned as Katalina shook her head.
“He’s all right. I’m not the jealous type,” Eva said as she came out of the bedroom. “I’ll give Matty five minutes before he’s out of bed and coming to see you both,” she added.
“Sorry,” Katalina mumbled. “We didn’t really think about it being bedtime.” It was still hard for Katalina to picture Eva and John as parents—not that they hadn’t taken to it like seasoned pros. It was just that what seemed like five minutes ago, Eva was arriving in a van, her brother half-crazed in a cage. There were quite a few events to wrap her head around that had happened in a short space of time. Katalina didn’t envy them; she too had had life thrust things onto her and given her no time to catch her breath as well.
Katalina had a lot in common with Eva, and with a bit of luck, the future would be less chaotic, and she’d have time to get to know her a little better.
“Drinks?” John asked.
“I’ll take a beer if you have one,” Bass answered.
“Nothing for me, thanks,” Katalina replied.
Together, the four of them took a seat, the men with their beers and her and Eva without. “So,” Bass began, “we came to first say congrats, and second to ask what you thought about having a party to celebrate.”
“A party?” Eva’s eyes widened.
“It would be good for lifting the packs’ spirits,” Katalina explained. “We can’t let our sorrow darken the light.”
John looked at the two of them, a silent conversation going on behind his eyes before he focused on Eva and then back to them. “It would have to be small and not right away. Eva needs time to adjust.”
Eva’s cheeks darkened. “Crowds overwhelm me. I’m not very good at shutting out everyone’s emotions.”
“It will come with time,” Bass said. “If you’re anything like your brother, you’ll adjust in no time.”
“Hopefully,” Eva murmured.
“I remember my first shift,” Katalina mused, thinking back with a shudder. “I was terrified, and it hurt like hell.”
“Really?” Eva answered, clearly shocked.
Katalina suppressed a laugh. “Yes, really.”
“Sorry.” Eva looked to the floor. “It’s just you always seem so brave and together. I can’t imagine you feeling like I did when I shifted,” Eva explained.
“Eva, I am so far from fearless and put together. I never knew I was a wolf and didn’t shift until I was brought back to pack land at eighteen.”
“Does it get easier?” Eva asked quietly.
“Yes. As easy as breathing,” she reassured.
Mathew chose that time to come bounding into the room and scrambled up the back of the sofa and in between Eva and John. Big blue eyes stared at them, his curly locks sticking this way and that. Katalina wouldn’t admit it aloud, but secretly she understood why John and Eva had taken Mathew on. There was a presence about him that drew you in, softening your heart until it was all but melting.
“Hey, monkey,” Katalina greeted with a smile. “Thought you were meant to be in bed?”
He shook his h
ead, curls bouncing about as he did.
John pulled the boy into his lap and ruffled his hair. “Didn’t want to miss out, huh?”
Katalina’s phone rang, cutting through the conversation. Pulling it out of her pocket, her stomach did a flip as Jackson’s name appeared on the screen.
Cage.
Bass’s hand slipped onto her knee and squeezed, giving her the courage to answer the call. “Dad, what’s up?”
“It’s Cage,” Jackson began, stealing Katalina’s breath. “He’s woken up.”
“Jesus, Jackson,” Katalina growled. “Lead with that next time!”
His laughter filled the line. “Sorry, I’m still in shock…. I really thought we were going to lose him, Kat.”
“I know,” she murmured. “I’m coming over. See you soon.” Putting down the phone, Katalina hugged Bass. “He’s awake.” She repeated what he’d have likely heard over the phone.
“Told you he was strong,” Bass reminded her. “Do you want to go see him now?”
Pulling back, she searched his face. “Do you mind?”
“Of course not,” Bass said.
Katalina took in Eva, John, and Mathew. “Can we talk about this party another time? Maybe over a coffee date if you’re feeling up for it, Eva? Don’t know about you, but I’m fed up of being trapped on pack lands. Time we got out into the real world for a bit.”
“That sounds nice,” Eva nodded. “I’d almost forgot there was a life beyond these trees.”
Bass and John didn’t seem as impressed by their plans though. Slapping Bass’s knee, Katalina jumped to her feet with a laugh. “What’s the matter, babe? Wishing for another threat so you can keep me under lock and key?”
He climbed to his feet. “Give me a day or two to get used to this new life.”
Laughing, Katalina glanced at John’s disgruntled expression. “Don’t worry, John. I’m perfectly capable of keeping Eva safe.”
She was teasing and joking, but the truth was, Katalina needed a day or two as well. The idea of leaving pack grounds and being safe from attack was a foreign concept to her now. Something she’d longed for, for many months, but the reality of it was altogether different. Fear wasn’t just shut off overnight. Protective instincts weren’t washed away after the last enemy fell. It was going to take time for all of them to adjust to this new life, and until Katalina did, she’d joke and laugh, covering the truth of her emotions with a smile on her face.
They walked them to the door, Mathew waving a shy goodbye, and as Katalina stepped out into the cold night, Bass turned back and placed a hand on Eva’s shoulder.
“You’ve been a member of this pack for some time now, but I’m going to say this anyway.” The wolf filled his eyes, causing Eva’s to do the same. “Welcome to my pack, Evaline,” Bass finished, pulling her in for a hug. “May your life here be a good one.”
After a final goodbye, Katalina and Bass slipped into the darkness of the trees. Turning to face, Bass, she walked backward, a grin on her face as she slipped her coat from her shoulders. “Race you there.”
Her clothes disintegrated around her as fur burst from her skin, the change happening between one breath and the next. Dashing between the trees, she wove around them, laughter in her soul, and the cool winter air in her lungs as her paws flew across the snow-covered wilderness, a black wolf on her tail.
And though they were in mourning and friends had been lost, as the two of them played through the night, they could have sworn they felt their lost ones’ happiness in the air. Their souls at peace.
For they had won. The packs were free. And their new dawn would finally be given a chance to begin.
Epilogue
Katalina
3 years later
“So, how are you really feeling about this?” Eva asked Katalina.
Katalina studied her surroundings. Fairy lights twinkled in the trees, snow covered the ground in a pretty blanket, and light fell from the pack’s school, which had been cleared to host her twenty-second birthday. Four years since she’d lost her parents in a car crash that had changed her life, three years of peace, and was she really ready to celebrate this day instead of mourning it? Katalina wasn’t sure. What she did know was that her packs needed this day to be one of joy and not sorrow, and so she’d done what she’d been doing for some time now—put Dark Shadow and River Run before herself.
It wasn’t a hardship. The packs were a part of her soul, connected to her on a level she’d never truly understand. They were her strength. Her home. And she’d keep giving them what they needed until the day she died.
“Good and bad. How about you? Three years of being a wolf, any regrets?”
“None. Though sometimes I regret wanting to be a vet. I swear, after I finish vet school, I am never driving a car again.”
Katalina laughed. “Yep, I don’t envy your commute.”
“Mom! Watch me, watch me!”
A smile lit Eva’s face, her eyes like sparkling jewels. “I’m watching, Matty,” Eva called back. “I swear,” she continued dreamily, “I will never get tired of hearing him call me Mom.”
“You earned the title, Eva,” Katalina replied. Since the moment Mathew had come into her life, Eva had made sacrifice after sacrifice for the boy, changing the direction of her life for a child she’d never known she’d wanted. “Not many people would drive an hour there and back every day to vet school, just so they can be home for bedtime.”
“I do it for John too,” Eva added.
“The mate and mom of the year award most definitely goes to you.”
“What about you and this party? You’re my friend, Kat. I know you’d rather be at home eating junk food and moping.”
Katalina glanced at Eva, who had become one of her best friends over the years. She was right, of course, but that made no difference. The truth was she couldn’t mope forever. At some point, she had to leave the past in the past and move on.
Mathew chose that moment to show Eva what he’d been shouting for. Giving a running head start, the boy ran a few steps before doing a cartwheel and then turned into a backflip. Katalina bit her lip to keep from laughing as Eva growled softly. “I’m going to kill my brother,” she muttered.
“Did you see, Mom? Did you see? Uncle Zac showed me!” Mathew explained excitedly.
“I did,” Eva replied, eyes wide. “You were amazing. Though it looked a little dangerous to me.”
“I’m a wolf, Mom,” Mathew complained, rolling his eyes before he ran off to show his friends.
Eva glanced at Katalina. “Excuse me a moment. I’m just going to go hunt down my brother and throttle him.”
Laughing as Eva stormed off, Katalina turned for the school building and the food that was held within. Bass had promised her the best chocolate cake in the world for agreeing to have a birthday party, and she’d be holding him to that promise.
As if reading her mind, he appeared in the doorway cast in silhouette. “Cake for the birthday girl,” he announced as she approached.
Pausing before him, Katalina eyed the huge slice of cake and then the noisy room behind him. Her cousin, Dillon, waved as their gazes met, her aunt and uncle chatting next to him to Cassady and Evan. It had taken time, but her human family had come around to their new way of life, and her uncle had become a valuable member of the Dark Shadow pack.
After waving back to Dillon, Katalina then focused on Bass. “Come out here and kiss me first.”
Bass stepped down into the dark and took her into his arms, whispering in her ear, “I can take you home and give you more if you like?”
Butterflies took flight in her belly, his kiss to her neck sending her heart racing. Not once in four years had she grown tired of the way he made her feel. She’d fallen in love with him more each day. “I haven’t even attended my own party yet. The party you thought I should have, I might add.”
“It seemed like a good idea, but now I’ve seen you all sexy in your dress, I’ve changed my mind about sharing
you.”
“Kat! Come give your father a hug,” Jackson called from behind them.
“We can still run,” Bass suggested. “He’s getting old now. We’ll beat him.”
Laughter slipped passed her lips before Katalina pressed her mouth to Bass’s and savored the taste of him for a moment. She stepped from his embrace and looked at Jackson. “You’ve got terrible timing, Dad,” she said, walking toward him.
“Or perfect,” he answered, grinning as Bass growled. “Happy birthday, Kat,” he whispered as she walked into his arms.
“Thanks.” Stepping away, she entered the building, Bass on her left, Jackson on her right. Katalina the link joining them all together as she’d always been destined to be.
Their friends and family approached, smiling and giving their words of celebration. Katalina hugged and thanked them all, grateful for each and every one of them.
“Getting old, Kat,” Nico teased, handing her a gift.
“I said no presents,” Katalina moaned.
“Shut up and open it. You’ll like this one,” Nico replied, rolling his eyes.
Olivia stood to his side, her hand curved around her swollen belly, which seemed to grow day by day as the months ticked by. “This is his gift,” Olivia explained. “I’d have gotten you something far more girly.”
“She’s not a girly girl, though,” Nico grumbled, hugging his mate to his side and placing his hand over Olivia’s, caressing their unborn child. “Some girls prefer to kickass instead.”
Ripping open the wrapping paper, Katalina wasn’t sure if she should be offended or not by Nico’s words, until she found a box containing the most beautiful knife she’d ever seen inside. The gemstones and filigree on the hilt seemed girly to her, but it was the sharp lethal edge of the blade that really caused her heart to leap. “I love it, Nic. Thank you.”
“Knew you would. Happy birthday, Katalina.”
Putting the knife back into the box, Katalina leaned further into Bass’s side, deciding a party wasn’t such a bad idea.
“Cake?” Bass prompted, hovering the chocolate cake in front of her.
Handing him Nico’s gift, Katalina took the plate from him in exchange and dug the fork into the gooey chocolate layer and lifted it into her mouth. “Mmm,” she groaned as it set her taste buds alight.
Wolf Queen (A New Dawn Novel Book 6) Page 29
