“Awe, come on, Bro. I wanna see what Kat thinks of the story.”
“Kat?”
“Yeah, me and Kat are friends, hey?” Toby replied with a smug smile.
Katalina glared at Toby but couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto her face. He had such a cheeky smile and the young carefree glint of a boy who’d not seen the horrors of the world yet.
Fist pumping the air, he walked to the door. “Ha! I got a smile! Catch ya later, Kat.”
“So?” Katalina said after Toby left.
Cage approached the bed only to be met by a growl. “Right, okay,” he mumbled, rubbing his neck again. “I’ll sit over here. That okay with you?” He directed at the dog. “Okay…well, I’m Cage.”
“You told me that in the truck. Explain how you turn into…into…”
“Wolves? Yeah, I can see how that's a bit hard to grasp. I’m a shifter. I can change whenever I like, not just by the moon. Although, when you change for the first time, it’s always on the full moon. I was born a shifter and so were my parents. I come from a long line of pure wolves…and so do you.”
“Wait. What?” Katalina swallowed the bile in her throat. This is crazy. Wolf shifters are not real.
“Shit, sorry, I’m not breaking this to you very well, am I? You are a shifter, Katalina.”
“No, I’m not! I think I would have noticed if I turned into a wolf.”
“You’ve never lived with the pack, so the change hasn’t been triggered yet. Your parents, they’re shifters. They gave you away so you’d be safe. There are people who want to hurt you.”
“Abandoned me on a doorstep, you mean!” She felt a lifelong scar surface, one she’d thought she’d dealt with a long time ago.
“I…well, that’s between you and them.”
“Where do you fit into this, Cage? Why did that man tell you to hang around?”
“Let me explain the situation first. There are two wolf packs in Michigan. This one, River Run, and the one who attacked you, Dark Shadow. We’ve been enemies for a long time, since before you were born, but the hate escalated when you were a baby. They’ve been trying to kill off our purebred lines and have pretty much succeeded. Yours and mine are the only ones left. You see, shifters can be born, or created from a bite, the purer the lines the stronger the wolf. Shifters who are born are always stronger than those created, but as the genes are mixed with humans, the wolf becomes weaker. That’s why pure bloods are so important, necessary for our survival.”
Realization dawned on Katalina. “Wait a minute. You’re not saying I’ve been brought here because you want me to have little wolf babies with you!”
“Erm, I, well, it’s not the only reason. Your father always intended to bring you back when you turned eighteen.”
“My parents were murdered last night! All because you are wanting to breed pure-bred wolves?” They died because I’m a wolf shifter. She blinked back her tears, gripping the sheets on the bed.
“I’m sorry, Kat. Your father is the alpha, our leader. He decides. I…we never wanted for that to happen. Your adoptive parents were never supposed to get hurt. The other pack found out your location and we didn’t know until it was too late.”
“Hurt? They’re dead! Get out!” Her body shook, tears collecting in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She refused to allow Cage to see.
“Kat…” he murmured, reaching out for her.
She looked at his waiting embrace, wanting so desperately for him to be her parents. He might have saved her, she may have felt safe in his arms, but it was because of his kind, her parents were dead. Because of my kind.
“Don’t call me that. You’ve not earned the right to call me that! GET OUT! GET OUT!”
Arne barked, jumping down from the bed, backing Cage toward the door.
“Katalina, please, I haven’t much choice in this either,” Cage pleaded.
Her anger left as quickly as it came. A tear trickled down her face as she looked at Cage, looking as distressed as she felt. Sighing, she croaked, “I just want to be alone.”
Arne had him backed up against the door. Cage had no choice but to leave, his hand fumbling behind him for the handle. Katalina relaxed a fraction as the door opened with a click. However, someone else barged in. Cage jumped to the side to avoid a collision.
“What the hell is going on?” the man who’d barged in asked, anger evident in every strained tendon throughout his body.
Cage looked at the open door and back to Katalina. “Meet your father.” He gave her an apologetic look before dashing out the room.