“Arne, come here,” Katalina whispered.
“What’s that?”
“Oh, erm…Jackson’s dog. I’m dog sitting while he’s away.”
“Can I get a look at that dog? This girl had a dog, too. Seems it’s gone missing with her.”
“No, sorry, he’s not too friendly with strangers.”
Katalina tried to drag Arne away from the door but slipped and knocked into a table. The lamp wobbled; but she caught it just before it fell.
“Let me in, son. I won’t be long, just need to do a quick search, make sure she’s not here.”
“Do you have a warrant?” Toby said, sounding much older than his twelve years.
“Well, no, but what harm is there if it’s just you and a dog here?”
“Sorry, sir, but if there is no warrant, I can’t let you in. It’s not my house.”
“Right, well, when will Mr. Song be home?”
“In a week.”
“I’ll be back, kid.”
The door closed and Toby walked into the front room seconds later. “Seriously, Arne,” he growled at the dog.
To Katalina’s surprise, Arne whined, going down on his belly in submission.
“Hey!” Katalina patted her leg, “Come here, boy. You don’t have to submit to him!”
Arne glanced at Toby and then scurried to Katalina.
She glared at Toby. “That wasn’t nice, scaring him.”
“I wasn’t scaring him, Kat. I was telling him off for nearly getting us caught. I can’t believe the cops are looking for you.”
“Well, he never cowers on the floor when I tell him off and what did Jackson expect? You can’t just kidnap someone and expect there not to be consequences.”
“He cowered ‘cause I’m a wolf, Kat, or have you forgotten? And we didn’t kidnap you. You are Jackson’s daughter. You would have died if we’d hadn’t found you,” he snapped.
Katalina looked at Toby and for the first time, she could see it; he wasn’t just a kid with a carefree smile. Underneath it all, he was a wolf, a wild creature.
“No, I didn’t forget, Toby. I’d just thought you were different, my mistake; one I won’t be making again.”
She grabbed hold of the drip and hobbled from the room. “Heel, boy,” she said to Arne.
“Kat…Kat, at least let me help you.”
“No! I don’t need any more help, from any of you. As soon as I’m better, I’ll be leaving and there is nothing Jackson can do about it. Just because you are a shifter, Toby, doesn’t mean different rules apply.”
She heard shouting that night. Jackson was banging and swearing as Karen and whomever else was down there, tried to calm him down. She stood at the window watching darkness take over the sky when she saw the glimpse of a wolf dash away from the house. Toby, she thought, and then moments later a larger grey wolf followed.
Cage…
She couldn’t know for sure as she’d never seen his wolf, but if that had been Toby, then it would be Cage following him. She wondered if this was what it was like all the time here, or whether Jackson was acting like an ass because of her. She hoped he wasn’t always like this. What a horrible life it would be always tiptoeing around him, trying not to upset him.
“Are you all right?”
Katalina jumped, not hearing Karen open the door.
“Sorry, dear, didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s all right. I just didn’t hear you come in.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll be able to hear everything we can after the full moon.”
“Why is it you all presume I want to be a shifter? I’d love nothing more than to reverse time and never meet any of you!”
Karen didn’t answer; though, Katalina could see she’d hurt her.
“I…I’m sorry that wasn’t fair. I’m just…”
“It’s all right, Kat. I understand and I am truly sorry for your loss. Being a shifter is something we treasure. I hope you will understand after the change.” Karen stared off into space for a second, her mind elsewhere. She snapped her head up, plastering a smile on her face. “Right then, Toby tells me you’d like this drip off. I think you’re almost better, so let’s get it off.”
Katalina sat on the edge of the bed in thought as Karen bustled around her, collecting medical supplies.
“I’d like to change that dressing one last time, too, if you don’t mind?”
“Sure,” Katalina answered, swinging her leg gently up onto the bed. “So is Jackson always like that?”
Karen locked eyes with her. “Did you look through the album?”
“Oh, no, I just, I’m not ready.”
“Look at it, Kat. There you’ll see the man Jackson used to be, the man he could be again.”
“I don’t understand why everyone puts up with him. Why would they want a leader with such rage?”
“Because, Kat, wolves live by a code of honor and loyalty. He’s our alpha and we would die for him. We also hope that one day the man we lost will come back to us.” She left quietly on those words and Katalina went back to staring out the window.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d stood there, but when she finally decided it was time to look at the family she’d once had, the moon had risen high into the sky, its crescent shape casting a dim light over the snow-covered world.
Picking up the album and a thick blanket from the bed, Katalina went down the stairs and out the front door; there she sat on the porch steps, the blanket wrapped around her and the album in her lap. Taking a deep breath, she opened it. The first picture was of a woman. She looked to be in her early thirties. She was sitting on a bed with a baby in her arms. Katalina looked at the woman’s smiling face, at the happy glint in her eyes and the glow of love for the newborn she held.
She didn’t need to read the description to know this was her mother; they shared the same eyes and hair; in fact, Katalina thought it was like looking at an image of herself in another fifteen years. There was no mistaking their relationship.
She turned to the next page and almost didn’t recognize the man who stood with her and Winter. Jackson still had the same messy fire-red hair, the same imposing stance, but in the picture, his eyes didn’t hold the haunted look of grief, his mouth didn’t have the hard set of rage. Jackson was truly happy, his hand gently holding Winter’s, beaming proudly at the camera.
Katalina flicked through the whole album looking at picture after picture of her first six months of life; in every one they were happy, and it wasn’t just pictures of Jackson, Winter and her. There was one with Karen and another man with his arm around her. There was a group shot with a couple who looked as if they were Cage and Toby’s parents, and the last was one of around thirty people, Jackson and Winter at the center of them, and all around stood happy, smiling people.
Katalina closed the album as a tear rolled down her cheek. Her hands trembled as she hugged the album to her chest. With each breath she took, the pain inside of her threatened to burst. She stared out, the darkness a welcome companion. The feelings inside of her were as bleak and empty as the desolate landscape around her. The grief and loss she felt grew by the day, the hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach a constant thing. She wondered if she’d ever be whole again.
“Kat?” Karen walked out onto the porch. “Kat, what are you doing out here. You’ll freeze to death!”
Katalina swiped at her tears. “I won’t be long. I…I just needed some air.”
Karen’s hand rested on Katalina’s shoulder. “What’s on your mind, Kat?”
“Why did this happen? Why do the packs hate each other so much?”
Sighing, Karen took a seat beside her. “I’m afraid this story isn’t a nice one. I would love to say we are good and they are bad, but both packs have done some unspeakable things. What you must understand is this hatred between the packs has been there for many, many generations, but we had an understanding: you leave us alone, we leave you alone. However, soon after you reached six months- old
, Black Shadow’s alpha’s nephew was found hanging from a tree, just over our territory line. Now, many of the pack said we should have hidden the body because it would start a war, but Jackson said the boy deserved to be buried on his homeland.”
“But they believed you’d killed him?”
“Yes, the boy’s father wanted blood for the death of his son. Black Shadow’s alpha says his brother acted against his will and I believe him. The boy’s father brought two of his best fighters and came onto our lands. They set a fire, cutting the rest of the pack off from your parents. By the time Jackson killed the other two men, Winter was already dying. She’d killed the boy’s father, protecting you. She died in Jackson’s arms that night. Jackson and many others, wanted blood; they attacked Black Shadow and Jackson killed the alpha’s mate. Slowly over the years, both packs have picked each other off until the pure lines are now nearly extinct and no wolf is safe outside of pack land alone.”
“When will it stop? How much blood is enough?”
Karen stood up. “I don’t know, Kat. I’ve asked myself that question many times.” She left Kat alone with her thoughts and a dead weight in her stomach. Does Karen really think I can stop years’ worth of hatred?
She bent her head, gripping the album in her hands as a broken sob left her. Sucking in a breath, she tried to gain control of her emotions.
Someone spoke her name, making her heart leap in her chest.
“Katalina?”
“Bass?” Katalina whispered, looking up. “Where’d you come from? I didn’t hear you approach.”
“Of course you didn’t. I wouldn’t be a very good predator if my prey heard me approach.”
“Prey?” she whispered, glancing behind her to check the house was quiet.
“I’ll hear if someone comes to the door. If we’re quiet, they shouldn’t hear us.” He smiled but then it left his face. “You’re crying.”
She didn’t bother trying to wipe her tears away, more just fell in their place anyway.
He sat down beside her. “What’s wrong?”
She wasn’t sure why she wanted to tell Bass. He’d called himself a predator and that word described him perfectly. She’d not missed the fact that he’d been on pack land for days now, yet had not been found. She also knew there were pack members out there at all times keeping watch. But it didn’t seem to matter. She might be a fool for trusting him but she did. Maybe he’d captured his prey after all, on the first night they’d met.
“I feel like I’m mourning two sets of parents, two lives. I’m so full of conflicting feelings I feel like I might break. My parents are dead and the life I had is never going to be the same again, and then I look at this album full from my first six months of life, and I’ve lost the parents I had then, too. Jackson might still be alive, but the man he is in here…I think he died that night along with Winter. All that’s left is a ghost clinging onto a hatred that has poisoned this pack.”
She sucked in a ragged breath, wiping her tears away; Bass wrapped his arm around her and she leaned into him, absorbing his heat, his steady strength. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you didn’t come here to listen to my problems.”
“Don’t apologize, Katalina. You feel what you feel and no one can change that, but do you really want to walk away from Jackson? No matter what he’s done, he is your father.”
“Right now, I can’t stand the sight of him, Bass. He gave me away as if I was an object he owned. He brought me here and he just expects me to fall in line and do as he says, when he has no right. He lost the right to have an opinion the night he left me on a doorstep.”
They sat in silence for a while, looking out at the dark night, watching the moon travel across the sky. Content, Kat could have fallen to sleep, tucked against him, warm and safe in his hold. With him the hollowness wasn’t as bad.
“Bass?” she whispered.
“Mmm?”
“Why are you here?”
She felt his laugh rumble against her side. “I already said, you intrigue me.”
“That’s not a real answer, Bass. Why haven’t you gone home? Why would you risk being here? If they find you, they’ll kill you.”
“No one finds me unless I want them to, and I haven’t gone home yet because I’m drawn to you.”
His finger touched her chin, turning her head so that she faced him. They were just centimeters apart, she could feel his warm breath against her skin. Katalina’s heart galloped in her chest.
He’s going to kiss me. The thought both terrified and excited her.
Looking into his jet-black eyes with flecks of silver, she thought it was like gazing at the night’s sky, vast and beautiful. The corner of his mouth lifted in a slight smile. “I do quite like you, Katalina Winter. You are very intriguing and oh, so beautiful.”
Her breath caught. His hand tangled into her hair and he pulled her toward him, his smile turning wicked. He was so close, an electric force zapped between them and then his lips were on hers, and she exploded; a thousand butterflies took flight inside her. The world dropped away until she saw nothing but him, felt nothing but him.
He pulled away, looking at her with an intense hunger. “You do things to me. Make me feel things I shouldn’t. I’d like to savage every member of my pack for ever thinking of hurting you. You are a dangerous temptation, Katalina Winter.” His thumb rubbed over her lip, sending delicious shivers up her spine. “But then, I’ve always liked to play with danger.”
His head shot up, a growl rumbling from his chest. “Someone is coming.” He ran his lips gently over hers before leaping from the porch steps. He ran across the snow toward the trees. The second he hit their shadows, it was as if he disappeared, as if he was a shadow himself.
Katalina was still staring breathlessly at the spot where he’d vanished, wondering if he was there watching, when Cage walked outside.
“Kat? What are you doing out here? What are you looking at?”
She dragged her eyes away to look at Cage. He narrowed his eyes at the tree line but said nothing.
“I was just coming in.” She stood, feeling weak at the knees.
Cage stepped forward, steadying her. “Hey, are you okay? Your heart’s racing, Kat.”
“You can hear my heart?”
“Yes, did you see something in the trees?”
“What? No, why would you think that?”
“Well, you were staring at something and now your heart sounds like you’ve been running a marathon.”
She pulled her arm from his. “I’m fine, honestly, but thanks for asking. I’m going to go back to bed now. Night.”
He frowned at her. “Okay, night, Kat.”
When she closed the front door, she turned to look back outside. Cage looked as if he was smelling the air, and then he dropped his jeans, turning into a wolf, following the same path Bass had taken.
Damn it, he’ll know there was someone not from this pack there.
Chapter 7
Over the next few days, Cage avoided Katalina. Toby kept her company but there was an awkward tension between them, which made Katalina regret the words she’d said to him the other day.
“Hey, Toby?”
“Yeah?” he answered, dragging his eyes from the TV.
“We’re okay, aren’t we? I’m sorry about the other day.”
“Of course, Kat, tensions are a little high around here right now, but don’t worry about it.” He gave her a reassuring smile.
“Is Cage ever planning on talking to me again?” she asked, tucking her feet under backside.
“He’s sulking, but don’t worry about it. He’s fallen out with Jackson, too.”
“Hmm, I saw Jackson stomping about earlier. What’s wrong with him?”
“I overheard Karen putting him in his place early this morning,” he laughed.
“Really? I bet he hated that,” she smiled.
“Sometimes, it’s like being surrounded by children,” he said in a mock-serious tone.
Katalin
a started laughing just as Cage walked past the door.
He paused and backtracked. “What’s so funny?” he muttered.
Toby took one look at him and fell onto the floor, laughing.
“Hilarious you are, little brother. Kat, can I have a word in private?” He crossed his arms and gave Toby a murderous look.
“Oh, erm, sure.” Katalina left the room, laughing at Toby. “What’s up?” she asked, trying to contain her smile.
He turned and looked at her intensely. “Were you with someone the other night on the porch?”
Her heart gave a lurch. “Karen sat with me for a while, why?”
“Someone other than one of us?”
Boom, boom, boom, it pounded in her ears. “No, why? What’s wrong?”
“I found a faint scent trail after you’d left.”
“What?” Her heart pounded harder.
Much to her relief, Cage took her worried tone as her fearing for her life. “Kat, no one is getting near you, okay?”
“Okay… Have you told Jackson?” Please say no, please say no…
“No, I want to make sure it’s really someone hanging around first. He’s in such a foul mood; I’m not sure what he’ll do.”
“Okay.” She must have looked as sick as she felt because his face softened and he lifted his hand. For a moment, she thought he was going to touch her face, but he paused halfway and squeezed her arm.
“I won’t let anyone hurt you, Kat.”
Katalina hated this. She hated that he cared so much and she didn’t feel the same. She hated lying to him, and most of all, she hated he’d been brainwashed into believing it was his job to always protect her.
“Cage, you look tired. When did you last stop and eat? Come sit down and watch TV with Toby and me. It’ll be fun.”
He looked at the sofa longingly. “No, I’d best get back out there. I want to make sure you’re safe.”
“Cage, you don’t need to look out for me all the time.”
“I don’t mind. It’s my job, Kat,” he answered, walking away.
“Whose job is it to look after you?” she murmured.
He paused halfway out the door and smiled sadly. “Yours if you want it?”
Winter Wolf (A New Dawn Novel Book 1) Page 5
