Winter Wolf(25)

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 her 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.