Winter Wolf (A New Dawn Novel Book 1)

by Rachel M Raithby

  Katalina’s temper snapped. She stood up straight staring Jackson right in the eyes, not caring in the slightest that he was an alpha, and demanded respect.

  “You have no idea whether he can be trusted or not! From what I know, since arriving here, he’s far more trustworthy than any of you! You have no right to tell me what to do, Jackson!”

  “I’m your father.”

  “You don’t know the first thing about being a father,” Katalina scoffed.

  “I’m the alpha.”

  Having enough, Katalina stormed past them and headed back inside, Arne on her heels.

  “Not my alpha!” she shouted as she went up the stairs.

  Katalina slammed the door to the bedroom, which was feeling more like a prison by the minute. She wished she was with Bass. Things were better when he was near. She heard shouting downstairs, but had given up caring what they had to say. Pulling the blanket around her, she crawled into bed, while Arne curled up on the floor, his eyes ever watchful.

  “Don’t worry, boy. We just have to get through the full moon, and then we are outta here!”

  *****

  The full moon arrived. Katalina paced her room feeling restless and trapped, wanting nothing more than to get out of the house. She’d not left the bedroom since the previous night and no one had come to her after the argument.

  The door slammed downstairs, making Katalina pause and listen.

  “I’ve picked up his scent all over the woods, right up to the house. Jack ran the perimeter. He’s been coming across territory lines near the ridge, but I couldn’t find him. He’s either left or very good at hiding.”

  “Damn it! She’ll be most vulnerable tonight. Everyone who is of age to fight needs to be out there now looking for him!” Jackson ordered.

  Katalina’s stomach gave a lurch. She hoped Bass could reach her without being caught.

  “But what about Katalina; she’ll change soon?” Cage asked.

  “Well, she’ll just have to change in the house!”

  “What? You can’t be serious? It’s hard enough the first time without being trapped in a room.

  “Do you have a better idea?” Jackson snapped.

  “We’re not even sure he is out there anymore. I only picked up one scent and it wasn’t fresh. If we all go out and protect her, she can change in the open and run with the pack. She’ll be protected and it will make the transition easier.”

  “No, absolutely not. It’s too dangerous. Now, get out there, Cage. You’re one of our best fighters and the best tracker in the pack.”

  “I’m not leaving her. She needs someone to help her change.”

  I don’t want you anywhere near me, after the way you acted before. She hoped to God Jackson sent him away.

  “Out, now, Cage! That’s a direct order. You can help her by killing whoever is out there.”

  “Jackson, he does have a point. Someone needs to be with the girl; someone she trusts,” Karen added.

  “Well, they’re not exactly friends after what he did last night. TOBY!”

  “Erm, yes, I didn’t hear—”

  “I don’t care if you were listening in. You’re to stay and protect Katalina. Help her change, understand?”

  “Yes, sir, you can count on me.”

  Great, how am I going to get past Toby?

  “Good. See, Cage, all sorted. Now get out there and hunt!”

  Katalina moved away from the door as she heard Toby’s feet shuffling up the stairs. She didn’t want a babysitter and she wasn’t in the mood to see Toby. He was always so happy and full of life, neither she was in the mood for. Rather, she felt like ripping someone apart, not happy chitchat. The thought of changing into a wolf terrified her and she knew Toby would only try to help, but somewhere out there, Bass was waiting. Her instinct told her to go to Bass and to do that she needed to be alone.

  “Kat?” he called, knocking on the door.

  “Yeah?”

  His head appeared around the door. “Hey, how’s things?” he asked, smiling.

  “I know what’s going on, Toby. I’m not the only one who can eavesdrop.”

  “Hey! I wasn’t listening. I just happened to walk up to the door and thought it would be rude to just walk in.”

  Katalina couldn’t help but laugh at the innocent expression on his face, “Okay, Toby, but I’m fine. I just wanna be alone, okay?”

  “All right, Kat, but shout if you need me, or you think you’re gonna change, okay?”

  “Yep,” she said, smiling too brightly. He left anyway, a frown marring his normally happy face.

  As soon as he’d shut the door, Katalina pulled off her woolen jumper. Her temperature was rising. Arne whined at her. “Shush, boy, I’m just hot is all. I’m going to be fine. Bass is going to come and we are going to go home.”

  But as the moon rose further into the sky, Katalina began to feel anything but fine. Her skin itched; she couldn’t stop scratching. She scratched until she bled. Pulling her shoes and socks off, she tried to cool herself down, but nothing worked. Walking out of the room, she locked herself in the bathroom and threw water over her face. Bracing her hands on the sink, looking at herself in the mirror, flushed red, she looked like she had a fever, and her silky hair was matted with sweat.

  A small part of her wanted to call Toby for help, but the other refused. She liked Toby and she did trust him but he was part of River Run, a part of Jackson’s pack. Accepting Toby’s help, felt like giving in to Jackson’s demands. She didn’t need Jackson, she didn’t need River Run; to admit that they were a part of her, was to admit Jackson was her father, and she didn’t want him as a father, she already had one.

  “God, what’s happening to me?”

  Her stomach suddenly lurched. She fell onto the floor, gripping at her middle, biting back a groan.

  “Kat, are you all right?” Toby asked, knocking.

  “Yes, Toby, please go back downstairs,” she forced out through clenched teeth.

  “Are you sure? Maybe I should come in?”

  “No, Toby, honestly, I’m fine.”

  “All right, Cage just called. They’ve not found anyone yet.”

  “Right.” Bass…

  “Shout if you need me!” he called, bounding down the stairs.

  “Urgh!” Katalina threw up. She retched over and over until there was nothing but bile in her stomach and her throat burned from the acid.

  Pulling off another layer of clothing, she rubbed at her skin; it felt tight. Her neck bled where she’d scratched it raw. She needed to get outside; the house was too small. There wasn’t enough air. Pulling the window up, Katalina lowered herself out. Digging her fingers into the boards, she scaled down the side of the house. A ripple of pain traveled up her spine. Crying out, she fell to the ground. Moaning, she rolled over, noticing the snow melting beneath her burning skin. Standing, Katalina ran for the tree line, but more pain shot through her. She bit down on her lip, tasting blood, trying her hardest not to cry out in pain. The last thing she wanted was the pack to find her.

  She heard distant calls and knew she needed to get away.

  Half-crawling, half-running, she made it into the trees as another wave of pain washed over her. She retched again; this time crying out as the pain became too much. Her hands stretched and cracked; her body was breaking apart from the inside.

  “Arrh!” she screamed, stumbling further into the forest, colliding from tree to tree, not noticing the bark grazing her skin or the fallen branches cutting at her feet.

  Another wave of pain and she half-changed. Her feet became wolf paws, her nails changing into deadly sharp claws. Pulling her jeans off, Katalina crawled over the ground, tears rolling down her face, mixing with the sweat coating her skin. Her heart boomed in her ears, each pulse throbbing inside her skull.

  Fear was thick on her tongue, coating her throat and stealing her breath. She’d never felt fear like it.

  She screamed again, panting hard, trying to suck oxygen into he
r body.

  Bass…Bass…I need Bass.

  She screamed his name in between each ripple of pain, each cracking of bones, “BASS!” Not caring who else heard her.

  “Please, Bass,” she sobbed, searching the trees. She didn’t know how she knew, but she knew he was out there somewhere, searching for her. “BASS!”

  He darted through the trees, invisible but for the few silver flecks in his eyes, and seeing him calmed her racing heart.

  He changed, kneeling down in front of her. “Katalina, shush, there are others out here.”

  “Bass, make it stop. Please, make it stop,” she sobbed, clinging onto him.

  “I can’t.”

  She screamed, hands turning into paws. “Bass, please,” she begged, gasping for breath through the never-ending pain.

  “Katalina, stop fighting it. This is who you are. Let your wolf out.” Murmuring, he rubbed her back, “Let it out, Kat.”

  “I don’t know how. Please, Bass, I’m so scared. Help me arrgh…!”

  “Kat, Katalina, look at me. Look into my eyes.” He tilted her chin up and she stared at his dark, dark eyes. “Breathe, Kat. Breathe with me.” Holding his gaze, she tried to match his breaths. She desperately tried to relax through the pain as it rocked through her. “That’s it, Katalina. This is who you are. You are a wolf, Katalina Winter. Let her out.”

  As he whispered those words to her, a final ripple rocked through her and then she was a wolf. Bass smiled at her, his head coming level with hers. “Katalina, you are a beautiful wolf.”

  Unsteady on her legs, she looked down at her paws; they were as white as the snow blanketing the forest. She turned her head to see thick white fur.

  “Run with me,” Bass whispered against her head, running his hands through her coat, making her shiver with pleasure. “Run with me.” Bass turned and jumped, changing into his wolf midair.

  Taking a tentative step forward, she realized it felt as natural as walking when human. Bass rubbed his head against her side. She could sense his urgency to go, his black coat a stark contrast to her white as they ran through the woods away from the pack.

  She’d never felt so free with the wind whipping past her and the ground flying beneath her fast, agile paws. Bass ran with her, running around her, jumping over her. The silver flecks in his eyes sparkled with joy. She ran until she couldn’t run anymore. Collapsing, she changed back, too exhausted to feel self-conscious about being naked, smiling at the black wolf as he licked her face. “Hey!” she laughed as he changed.

  “Come, Katalina, it’s time for you to go home,” he murmured, lifting her into his arms.

  She buried her head against his bare chest, feeling safe in the arms of the boy she’d come to trust. The rightness of his cradling arms subdued her need for him, a need somewhat similar to breathing.

  He carried her through the woods. Exhaustion swept through her, her body aching. “Bass, I feel terrible.”

  “You will for a few hours. It fades with each change.”

  Her eyes slid shut.

  “Kat?” he murmured against her ear, rousing her.

  “Hmm?”

  “It’s time I leave.” The tone of his voice made Katalina snap alert. She looked at the house across from them. Several members of River Run were hanging around.

  “They’ve not sensed us yet, but they will shortly.” As the words left his mouth, she saw someone look right at them and shout to Jackson.

  Bass put her down. She wrapped her arms around herself tightly. Cage started to run toward them, a look of pure fury on his face, others followed.

  “Bass?” Katalina gasped, frightened.

  He kissed her gently. “Don’t worry about me. Be ready to leave at first dark. I will come for you.”

  Bass took off into the trees, changing as he ran. Cage raced past her a second later, others following him. She didn’t know what to do or say; she felt too weak to protest. She just hoped Bass was as good as he said.

  “Kat?”

  Katalina turned toward Toby’s voice as he offered her a blanket. She’d barely registered the cold seeping into her bare skin.

  “I thought you’d need this. Are you feeling okay? The first change can be rough.”

  “Thanks, Toby.” She smiled, covering her naked body with the blanket. “I’m just tired and so hungry.”

  “Come on.” He wrapped his arm around her and helped her into the house. Katalina stopped off at the kitchen for food and then went to the bedroom. As she climbed onto the bed, she called out to Toby as he was closing the door.

  “Toby.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For always being there, for not judging me.”

  “It’s all right, Kat.”

  “I’m going to miss you,” she whispered as she closed the door.

  She couldn’t be certain, but she thought he whispered back, ‘I’ll miss you too, Kat.’

  Chapter 9

  With a full belly, Katalina fell instantly into a deep sleep. She woke up at midday, her stomach growling as she climbed out of bed.

  God, I’m starving.

  She turned the handle, intending to go find food, but the door was locked. Katalina rattled on the handle and then banged against the door. Her heart pounded. They’ve locked me in. She’d felt like a prisoner from the moment she’d arrived, but in that instant, she really was. She banged again and started shouting.

  Jackson’s voice drifted through the door a moment later.

  “This is for your own good, Katalina. As soon as that wolf is caught, you’ll be free to leave your room.”

  She felt sick, her head fuzzy. Each pound of her heart boomed through her skull; she had to be careful. She needed to make them think she’d behave or she’d never get away.

  “Jackson, please, I won’t leave the house. I’m hungry and bored,” she said in her sweetest voice.

  “I’ll send Toby up with food. Sorry, Kat, you’re staying put.”

  A surge of anger raced through her and then a sharp pain spread through her fingers. She gasped at the hand she had pressed against the door. Changing and cracking, it morphed into a wolf’s paw. With great effort, Katalina managed to regain control of her body and keep her wolf at bay, but she knew only the smallest thing would set it off again.

  Oh, my God, what has happened to me? Anger consumed her.

  She paced the room, feeling more agitated by the second. Her body didn’t feel like her own anymore. There was a rage, a wildness inside of her and it scared Katalina. Glancing out of the window, she realized Bass would come for her in a few hours. She needed to get out of the room. I need to go home.

  The door clicked and then opened. Toby looked miserable when he walked in carrying a tray of food.

  ‘Sorry,’ he mouthed. The door closed behind him and clicked, locking Toby inside with her.

  Katalina sat in silence eating the food, racking her brain for some semblance of a plan, or at least some idea of how to escape. She could barge past when they let Toby out, or climb out the window when he left. She stood and walked over to the window. Cage was circling the house, keeping her in and Bass out. Can I get past Cage?

  She watched him as he vanished from view lapping around the back; it took him two minutes to come back around the front. Two minutes she’d have to climb out the window and make it to the cover of the woods. She wasn’t even sure she could make that with her new wolf speed.

  “He nailed the window shut while you were sleeping, Kat,” Toby whispered.

  Katalina turned and looked at Toby with wide eyes. “While I was sleeping? Are you for real?”

  “The body takes the first change hard. I slept for more than twenty-four hours after mine. There could have been a riot outside and you wouldn’t have noticed.” His voice was a gravelly whisper.

  “What is my best chance of escape, Toby?” she whispered.

  Toby looked at the door, the window and then back at Katali
na. Taking a deep breath, he whispered, “If I can slip away, I’ll open the door. You’ll have to then sneak out, wait for Cage to be out of sight, and run. I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to get the door unlocked, and then you’ve got to get through the house and past Cage. Kat, it’s going to be pretty hard. The best chance you’ll have is turning wolf. You’ll be quicker. Jackson has all four enforcers patrolling around the pack’s perimeter too. He’ll come after you straight away. You’ll have to keep running and pray you can get enough of a head start to outrun them.”

  “You’d do that for me?”

  “It’s only unlocking a door.”

  “No, Toby, it’s going against your alpha to help me.”

  “This isn’t right, Kat. I can’t just sit back and do nothing. Cage has gone insane. I’ve no idea why he’s siding with Jackson.”

  There was a bang on the door. “Toby, time to come out.”

  “See you, Kat,” Toby smiled.

  Katalina spent the next hour pacing. She’d given up trying to open the window; it was well and truly nailed shut. She’d watched Cage for a while; his constant marching drove her mad. Arne was still running around free, which made her feel better, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to sneak out and get his attention.

  She froze as the door clicked softly. Rushing to the door, Katalina listened for any sounds and when she heard nothing, she crept out. It was time. Halfway down the stairs, the front door opened. Karen rushed in, slamming it so hard behind her the glass in the tiny rectangle window cracked. Katalina stood frozen, her heart in her throat, but Karen didn’t notice her as she marched into the kitchen. Jackson started shouting and then Karen started shouting back. For a second, she didn’t move. She’d never heard Karen so mad, but then she realized her advantage; their fighting would distract them as she escaped.

  Running the last few steps, Katalina waited until Cage was out of sight and then ran. Luckily, Arne was asleep on the porch. He woke the second she leaped off and ran after her. Halfway to the woods she remember Toby told her to change, having only done it once without wanting to, she wasn’t sure what to do. Pulling her clothes off as she ran, she tripped, landing face first in the snow.