Winter Wolf (A New Dawn Novel Book 1) (15 page)

The phone started to ring so Katalina ran for it.

“Hey, wait up a sec, Nico.” She heard Bass shout before she picked up the phone.

Katalina put down the phone, feeling happier that Arne was on the mend and she could pick him up. She turned to head for her bedroom when she heard Bass talking.

“I need to know you’ve got my back.”

“Sure, man, but I’m sure it won’t come to that.”

“Nico, I’m not sure I can talk myself out of this one.”

“You really willing to take on your own dad?”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”

Katalina ran for her bedroom. She randomly grabbed clothes from her drawers and wardrobe, not bothering to fold them; her stomach churned uncomfortably, dread, like a live living thing clawed its way through her veins. Her mind made up, they were leaving now; the sooner they were back on pack lands, the sooner she could fix this mess.

Chapter 22

Katalina sipped her way through one last cup of tea with her grandmother before they hit the road. The car was packed. A suitcase full of random clothes and a few boxes of her things had been strapped down in the back of Bass’s truck.

“I’ll take the rest of your things to my house for when you need them, Kat,” her grandmother said quietly, unsure of Katalina’s reaction.

“Yep,” she answered trying to sound more positive than she felt.

“Have you heard from the vet?”

“Yeah, he’s going to be fine. We’ll get him before we go. The vet said he just has to take it easy for a few days.”

“Now, you make sure to drive safely with my granddaughter as your cargo, Sebastian.”

“Yes, ma'am, I’ll take good care of Katalina, don’t you worry.”

“I’m not worried. Kat is a strong young woman. She’ll do just fine taking care of herself.”

Katalina smiled at her grandmother over her mug.
I sure hope you’re right, Gram.

Saying goodbye to her grandmother and the house she’d grown up in was a lot harder than Katalina had first thought. Sure she wanted to be back at Jackson’s making sure Toby and Cage were okay, but there was still a part of her that wasn’t ready to let go of her old life. Leaving this time was final. She’d always have a home with her grandmother or aunt, but this house—her home—she needed to say goodbye. She glanced one last time at the house before climbing into the car. She pictured her smiling, happy parents standing beside her grandmother, waving goodbye.

Tears welled in her eyes. “Goodbye, Mom, Dad,” she whispered. “I love you.”

Swallowing down her grief, she breathed in one last gulp of fresh winter air and entered the car, slamming the door behind her.

“Drive, Bass, before I change my mind and hide in that house forever.”

The car rumbled to life and made its way down the drive. He pulled out onto the road, passed the spot where her life had changed irrevocably and drove her away. Unable to hold in her tears, Katalina pulled her knees up to her chest, silently crying as she watched the world flash by. Bass’s hand linked with hers. It was strong and warm, a constant reminder she wasn’t alone, and never would be again.

They picked up Arne on the way and headed away from Detroit, the drive up the 175 a quiet one. Bass seemed happy with the silence, and Katalina was grateful; she didn’t know what to say to him. She was also frightened that if he did break the silence, she might ask him the question that had been spinning around and around inside her mind.

I’m not sure even I can talk myself out of this one.

What did he mean? And what was he willing to do to keep her safe? The problem was deep down, she already knew the answer, and she wasn’t sure she liked it.
Anything.

*****

“Hey, Kat.” Bass’s fingers stroked hair from her face. “Baby, we're nearly there. Do you want to stretch your legs?”

“Mmm, sure.” She stretched her arms up and yawned. “Come on, boy. Let’s take a walk,” she said, scratching Arne behind the ear.

Katalina walked Arne along the edge of the car park away from the gas station. Tall trees towered above her. They’d left suburbia far behind. The landscape had become more rugged and wild the closer they were to Jackson’s. She smiled as Bass approached, two takeaway cups in his hands. He looked at home here, surrounded by wilderness, the harsh, unforgiving landscape, a perfect backdrop for his chiseled face and sculpted body, his wolf as wild as the surroundings. It was as if she could see the wolf just below the surface: restless, ready, and waiting for blood. He passed her the cup, looking at her with a wild edge in his eyes. She stared at her wolf in human skin, wondering what he was thinking and why his wolf shone in his dark eyes.

“What are you thinking, Katalina?” he asked.

Katalina turned, walking toward the picnic benches positioned along the edge of the tree line. She sat before answering. “I can see the wolf in your eyes. Are you worried?”

With great effort, Bass reined his wolf back. “Sorry, I'm a little on edge, but not worried.”

“It’s fine, Bass. Don't apologize for who you are.” She grasped for a subject change. “Soo…Nico?”

He smiled fondly. “I think you'll like Nico. He's very...how to put it... ‘real world’.”

“I noticed. How could the two of you possibly have grown up together? I’d have thought he was human in any other situation,” she laughed.

“He joined the pack when I was ten. He was eight. His dad's a wolf, mother's human. She lives in the nearby town. She split from his dad before Nico was born. Apparently, his dad forgot to mention he was a shifter. Anyway, Nico stays with his dad most the time, but visits his mom on a weekend. Oh, and he goes to an ordinary school. He was never homeschooled like the rest of us.”

“That explains it. He knows how we ordinary people live.”

“Nothing about you, Katalina Winter, is ordinary,” he said with a warm smile.

No, I suppose not.

The silence settled over them again, pressing down, suffocating.

Katalina sighed heavily. “Am I silly to still hope our problems will be solved without a fight?”

“Not silly, no, but in the world of shifters, there is a hierarchy. The alpha is law.”

“But he's your father.”

“Yes, and that is the only reason I've gotten away with so much. Nico says I'm a rebel, but I never saw it that way. I never disobeyed my father to enrage him. We just have very different views and I refuse to do something I don't agree with. He's wanted your blood for nearly eighteen years. He's the alpha and there will be consequences for my disobedience.”

She already knew the answer, but she had to ask him anyway. “Are you really willing to fight your father for me?”

“I am willing to do whatever it takes to keep you safe. You are my mate, Katalina. Without you, my life holds no meaning.”

“She reached across the table for his hand. “Let's go deal with my father first. Hopefully, he's going to be easier to convince than yours. Even though he's been nothing but an arrogant, stubborn ass since I met him.”

“I believe we’ll get through to Jackson.”

“What makes you say that?” she asked.

“The way he looks at you, Katalina…he may have given you up, but he loves you. He’s gone about everything the wrong way, but when it boils down to it, he just wants to have you in his life.”

“He wanted me as a broodmare.”

“You’ll still give him pure babies. They’ll just be mine.” He flashed her his cheeky smile.

“Getting a little ahead of yourself there, Sebastian.”

“There is another thing, something I find quite interesting.”

“And what would that be?”

“You’re of River Run descent, yet your wolf doesn’t answer to Jackson.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s alpha. As alpha, he has the ability to control you. Only the very strong, dominant wolves can disobey a direct order. Jackson has tried to give you commands a number of times. I’ve felt the strength in the words, yet you’ve brushed them off.”

“Sometimes it’s as if his voice is pressing down on me, but then it passes. Why is that?”

“I’m not sure, really. You’ve only been able to change for a short while. You’re dominant, yes, but not nearly as strong as you will be. Maybe it’s simply because you’ve grown up away from the pack, so your wolf doesn’t register them as family.”

“All this wolf stuff hurts my head,” she moaned, rubbing her temples.

“We will get through this, Kat, together.”

Smiling, she got to her feet and pulled him toward her. “Together,” she breathed into his mouth as she stretched up on her tiptoes for a kiss.

Chapter 23

The rest of the drive didn’t take long at all. Before she knew it, the road had become familiar, dark-green pine trees flanking either side of the narrow road.

She took a deep breath. “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.” She wrapped her arms around her middle. While her tummy did flips, her knee jiggled up and down, over and over in quick succession.

Bass glanced at her. “Are you all right?”

“I don’t know. I feel kinda…” Her words choked in her mouth. They round the corner and discovered a great wall of fire blocked their path.

“Shit, we’re too late,” Bass muttered.

Katalina’s head whipped around. “Too late? What do you mean? BASS!” Katalina’s heart pounded in her ears, her knee jiggled faster, her fingers trembling. She wanted to scream, her mind on the edge of hysteria.

Bass didn’t answer her as she shouted at him. Instead, he scanned the tree line; his eyes focused and calculating. The car swerved sharply, bouncing them into the woods. Arne barked beside her.

“Bass, what are you doing?” she screamed.

“Trying to find…”

“I don’t understand. What is this?”

He didn’t answer.

“Sebastian!” She felt the wolf in her rise to the surface, her growl coming through in Katalina’s voice.

Bass slammed on the brakes, nearly sending Arne through the windshield. Bass turned to her, his face like stone, his eyes dark and hungry for blood.

“Dark Shadow have done this. They’ve trapped them in and they’ll slaughter them all.” His voice held the raspy edge of rage.

“What?” her voice a haunted whisper, picturing all of the people she’d met, dying. Toby, Cage, Karen…
They can’t die.

“Bass, Bass, they can’t die. We can’t let this happ-en,” her voice broke, the fear she felt overtaking her.

Bass turned and looked at her, his face fierce and determined. “Katalina, none of them will die. We’re going to drive through, okay?”

She nodded silently, swiping the tears from her cheeks. Katalina held the seat preparing for the drive, when she sensed someone. She met Bass’s gaze; his look told her he’d sensed them too.

She opened the door, looking for whoever approached.

“Katalina!” Bass hissed.

“It’s okay. It’s—” She never finished her sentence. Cage raced toward the truck a second later, his teeth bared, and the hairs along his back standing on end. He slowed as he saw her but his eyes never left Bass.

Bass slowly and deliberately made his way toward Katalina, positioning himself in front of her.

Cage changed. “You’d think I’d harm her!” he growled. “Scum, all of you Dark Shadows.”

“I’d be careful what you say if I were you!” Bass said in a low, hard tone.

“Or what?” Cage spat back.

“Oh, will you stop it!” Katalina stood between them, infuriated by their wolfy-testosterone battle. “We don’t have time for this. Cage, get in. We’re driving through.”

The forest around them was thick with smoke, the black plumes cutting off their air.

Bass started the truck as the smoke filtered through the vents. “Quick, Bass!” Katalina coughed.

He slammed his foot on the accelerator causing the wheels to spin in the snow. They reached the wall of fire. One second they were surrounded by smoke, flames and darkness, the next, bright glittering snow and a nightmare rolling out in slow motion lay before them. Blood and claws, screams and cries, and the victorious growls from the Dark Shadow wolves. There were too many Dark Shadow wolves for River Run to have any chance of winning. Katalina stared on in disbelief and horror, her eyes wide with fear. Seeing Toby struggling under the weight of two wolves, Jackson slowly losing his battle, more River Run out- numbered and badly injured, filled her with fury. The universe screamed death. The universe wanted blood.

Cage leapt from the still-moving car, changing into his wolf mid-jump. He entered the fray, no hesitation, no fear as he raced across the snow, tearing down those in his path.

She lurched forward as the car slammed to a stop. Her head whipped to the side, Bass having already climbed out, his clothes dropping to the floor.

“Stay in the car,” he ordered, before disappearing.

Her eyes tracked him, her shadow wolf, beautiful even as he dealt out death.

Frozen, stunned, detached from the world, each breath rasped in and out, her heart battered an unrelenting beat. She climbed out of the car, her hands trembling while the wolf within her stirred.

A scream caught her attention, she whipped around, her back pressed up against the truck; it was Karen’s scream. Karen’s eyes, huge and full of tears, stared at Toby, her arms held protectively around two small boys.

Toby was losing. She couldn't tear her eyes away. She watched in growing rage as he collapsed under the weight of three wolves.

“Toby!” Her scream tore from her, echoing around them.

The keening howls in reply broke her. Katalina’s clothes floated to the ground as she ran, her wolf bursting from her skin.

As white as the snow and as deadly as the predator she was, Katalina met the Dark Shadow wolves with the fury of her loss and her grief. With the slash of claws and the snap of her jaw, she used the weight of her wolf to barrel into them, sending them tumbling away from Toby. Crouching low and snarling, she crept toward the wolves. Her hackles rose, every cell of her being craving blood.

The Dark Shadow wolves were a mixture of brown and black, their eyes cold and filled with hatred. The three of them fanned out around her. Standing her ground, Katalina positioned herself between them and the River Run wolves they wished to kill. The middle wolf stepped forward. He was twice the size of Katalina’s wolf and didn’t seem at all intimidated. He lunged forward, closing the distance between them. In a split second, Katalina twisted away, her light body nimble and quick. She felt the brush of his claws through her fur, the slight scrape across skin. She snarled angrily as she slammed herself into his side, snapping her jaw down into flesh.

He shook her off, sending her tumbling to the ground with a yelp. Katalina climbed back to her feet, feeling pain throughout her muscles. Bass’s loud angry bark surrounded her. His presence filled her and she sensed his need to reach her. Her eyes stayed fixed on the three wolves before her. They crowded closer together, stepping forward, herding her back toward the house.

Blood pumping with nerves, she recognized the inevitable point of no return; she took another step back as they jumped forward, and hit the wall of the house. An angry growl tore from her chest as she crouched low, hackles raised. She waited for them to make their move, waited for the impact and pain. Katalina watched the wolf in the center tense, his muscles bunched and flexed before launching him airborne. Katalina turned her head away, braced for the moment he’d attack.

A flash of black followed by an echoing thud from impact filled her keen senses.

Katalina’s bark was one of surprise: he’d reached her. The other two wolves scattered away as Bass sunk his teeth into the throat of the wolf. A quick snap of his jaw and the wolf went slack, dropping dead to the ground. He turned to her, blood dripping from his mouth, the sharp gleam of his teeth a reminder of the deadly predator he was. He whimpered, pushing his muzzle against her side. He couldn’t speak human words but she understood exactly what he meant.
Are you okay?
She whimpered softly in return, licking at a gash down his flank.

A high pitched whine startled them back to the present. Cage and Jackson were being herded toward them. The wolf they were protecting was bleeding badly; the back leg he dragged hanging limp. They were still outnumbered two to one and the Black Shadow wolves looked in far better condition than the last remaining River Run wolves.

Frightened, Katalina pressed up against Bass’s side. She wasn’t prepared for the violence of this new world. He turned back to her with a reassuring lick.

He ran toward Jackson and Cage. Katalina followed. She might not have been trained to fight, or have grown up in this world, but she couldn’t stand back and watch the people she cared for be hurt. It was hard to make out who was winning or losing, since the wolves all clashed together, teeth tearing, claws ripping. The thud of bodies and whimpers of pain, mixed together was brutal. Katalina fell back, her legs a tangle beneath her and her white fur stained with blood. Panting heavily, she forced herself to get back up. About to jump back into the chaos, Bass stepped forward. The snarl that ripped from him was filled with rage, the strength of his tone pressed against her. The power in his voice halted the Black Shadow wolves.

Everyone paused and stared, Black Shadow and River Run. It was as if the world held its breath; the wind halting, the flames freezing, not a single sound could be heard.

Katalina watched, stunned and in awe as Bass changed, his skin stained with blood and the long wisps of his hair plastered to his neck with sweat.

“I am your alpha’s son and I order you to stop this!” his voice boomed into the quiet.

The Black Shadow wolves snarled back in protest.

“ENOUGH!”

Even though his words weren’t directed at her, Katalina could still feel the effect of his voice, the shiver over her skin, the pressure to obey.

“Go back to my father and tell him no more River Run blood will be shed.” The wolves crouched down low to the ground, their eyes hard, and their heads shaking as if to clear his voice from their minds.

“I said GO!” He took a step forward, his human words disappearing into a growl.

They started to back away but one remained. He took a step forward, snarling.

“You challenge me?” Bass asked.

The wolf changed into a man. “Your father is my alpha. I take orders from him only.” He leapt, his body contorting, changing into a wolf.

The next moment happened so fast, Katalina’s startled yelp was still vibrating through the air as the Black Shadow landed dead at Bass’s feet. Her eyes stared at his right hand coated red with blood, drops slowly dripping from his fingers marking the white snow.

The moment their fellow wolf fell dead, Black Shadow scattered.

Katalina felt the change ripple through her body and ran forward on two feet, reaching him as Bass’s knees buckled from under him.

“Bass!” she gasped, her hands reaching for him.

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” he murmured as she held him in her arms, her eyes scanning every inch of him for a mortal wound. “Using that much strength took it out of me, that’s all.”

“I don’t understand. What just happened? How did you do that?”

His eyes met hers. “Another time, Katalina. We are still in danger.”

Katalina’s head turned to see the angry glint of wolf eyes watching them. Jackson changed, his tall broad frame towering over them.

“Katalina, step away from him!”

“No!” she shouted back. “He’s just saved all of you, yet you still can’t see through your hatred!” She positioned herself in front of Bass, staring Jackson in the eyes, showing him how fierce and resolute she was, showing him she wouldn’t back down.

“Kat!” Bass hissed, dragging her behind him.

“You haven’t got time for this, Jackson!” Karen’s stern voice forced Jackson to look away. “Take a look at your people, Jackson. Are you pleased with what you’ve accomplished?”

She was bent over Toby, her hands quickly and gently assessing him. “Cage, quickly now! Bring him inside.” Karen said one last thing before the door shut behind her, “I need help, Jackson, if you’d like no more of River Run to die.”

Jackson didn’t move but he bellowed orders from where he stood. “Cage! Call your fath—”

Cage appeared in the doorway, phone to his ear. “I’m already on it! He says they’ve nearly put out the fire behind us. It doesn’t seem to be spreading because of the snow. He has every available pack member he could get hold of.”

“Good. Help Karen. William, drag your ass inside and have that leg seen to.”

He turned his attention back to Katalina. “Katalina, you’re not going anywhere.”

Katalina straightened back up and pulled the jumper she’d picked up over her head. Bass returned to her seconds later, his jeans hung low on his hips.”

“I will do as I please. But if you wish to talk, I’ll listen.”

He opened his mouth as if to speak.

“First you can put on some clothes! In your world, it may be just fine to talk to your daughter naked, but in my world, they’d lock you up.” She put her hands on her hips and glared.

“Fine!” Jackson huffed. He turned on his heel and stomped back into the house.

Katalina laughed. “I swear, sometimes he acts like a child.”

“Katalina, it may be in our favor if you could maybe not wind him up further,” Bass scolded with a smile. “Here, I found your jeans. They're a little wet but…”

Katalina took the jeans, pulling them on, and then stretched up on her toes, kissing him silently. “I ever tell you how much I love you?”

His hands gripped her hips, branding her bare skin. “Possibly, but maybe you should demonstrate how much later?” His voice was like gravel grazing over her skin, making her tummy flutter with anticipation.