Wait…that voice doesn’t belong to this nightmare.
“Katalina Winter, look at me! You are here. You are safe!” The edge of a growl, the strength of a command.
Her eyes focused through the blur of tears and found his dark eyes.
“Katalina.” His words were harsh, commanding, but his eyes and his touch, held so much love that the horrifying images cleared.
She took his hand and let him pull her up. “Hey, boy,” she croaked, ruffling her hand over Arne’s head.
“Are you all right?” Bass asked softly.
“For now.”
“Come on. Let’s get you inside.”
They walked in silence to the house; no one had arrived back yet, much to Katalina’s relief. She needed some peace, some time to work through her emotions. She curled up into the corner of the sofa with Arne sat at her feet, his head resting on her curled up legs.
“Tea?” Bass asked.
She looked up and nodded.
What felt like seconds later, Bass returned with a mug filled with steaming tea. She caught the whiff of coffee and pulled a face.
“What?” Bass laughed.
“I hate the smell of coffee.”
He circled his mug under his nose, sighing as he breathed deeply. “Nonsense, it’s wonderful.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder. “If you say so.”
They drank in silence for a while, enjoying the quiet, simple moment together, without any distractions.
“Tell me about them,” Bass said quietly, squeezing her hand.
Katalina stood up and collected an album from the shelf. She opened the first page. “They adopted me a few months before I turned one. My mother said I was so quiet when they first brought me home. I never spoke or cried. She said I used to sit on the floor and just watch the world go by, but never interacted.”
She flipped the pages. “This is my first birthday. Mom went all out on parties. She said I’d been with them for six months before I actually started to talk beyond asking for things. Maybe I was traumatized from watching Winter die? I don’t remember.”
“What’s the first thing you remember?” Bass asked.
A smile lit her face. “Mom brought this cat home, just before I turned three.” She flipped a few pages. “Look, there it is.”
“It doesn’t look very happy,” Bass laughed, his finger tracing over the little girl hugging a Tabby cat.
“It hated me, but I never let it escape. It would hiss and screech at me. Mom told me it ran away, but I’m certain she found it a new home.”
“You realize why it hated you?”
Katalina frowned. “Oh! I’m a wolf. It would have been able to sense that?”
“Yes.”
“When did you get Arne?”
“On my tenth birthday.” She turned a few more pages. “He was the cutest puppy ever, weren’t you, boy!” She kissed Arne’s head when he looked up at her.
“Hey! Where’s mine?”
Katalina laughed as Bass dragged her onto his lap. She found his lips easily. Running her hands up his shoulders and tangling them into his hair, the photo album was forgotten as they got lost in the feel of one another. Katalina’s grief was pushed back by the love and desire she felt for Bass. Her hands roamed his body. Slipping under his t-shirt, her nails grazed over his smooth skin.
He moaned into her mouth, his hands gripping her waist tighter, fingers digging into flesh. He lifted her and lay her onto the sofa, trapping her body with his.
“Bass,” she gasped.
He smiled cheekily, crushing his mouth with to hers.
She wasn’t sure how long she lay trapped beneath him, her body on fire, every part of her, craving his touch, before he suddenly pulled away, jumping onto the sofa chair.
“Bass?” she asked breathlessly, lifting up on her elbows. “What’s wrong?”
He nodded toward the door. “Company.”
At first, she couldn’t hear anything, but then she really concentrated and heard tires driving over gravel.
“How do you do that? I have to really concentrate to hear them.”
He smiled. “You’ve been a full shifter for a few days, Kat. Give it time, and before you know it, every sense you have will be heightened. Katalina, I think you’d best straighten your dress and hair,” he said with a wink.
“What? Oh…” She looked down at her dress; the hem had ridden up to the top of her thighs.
Katalina jumped to her feet, straightened her hair in the mirror and wiggled her dress back down. “You don’t look much better yourself,” she laughed, patting his hair down. By the time her grandmother and aunt walked in, she’d slumped back onto the sofa and found something to watch on TV.