Winter Wolf(50)

“Water…” he rasped.

Katalina ran from the room, filling a glass with water and retrieving a straw. She was back beside Bass within a minute, but when she returned, it was to find him asleep.

“Bass? Bass, your water,” she spoke gently.

He didn’t reply.

Katalina placed the water on the bedside table and cleaned her room. She only hoped her grandmother would stay away two nights, because she had no idea how she’d explain Bass being in bed injured and the two dead wolves in the garden.

Garden.

She raced to the back door, peering out through the tiny window. Early morning light filled the garden making it seem blanketed in a grey haze, but even in the dim light, Katalina could see there were no longer wolf bodies littering the bottom of her garden. She doubled checked the locks before returning to Bass. By the time she’d cleared her bedroom floor of all the evidence from the night before, he’d woken again.

“Thanks,” he whispered after she’d helped him take a drink.

She smiled, putting the glass down, afraid if she opened her mouth to speak the tears inside her would come spilling out.

“Kat, go get a shower. I’ll still be here when you get out,” he said, his voice clearer since drinking.

She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“Baby, you’ve got blood on your face.”

She lifted a trembling hand to her face. Glancing at Bass, she left the room as quickly as she could without actually breaking into a run.

With the bathroom filling with steam, Katalina unbuttoned Bass’s shirt she’d thrown on last night, and dared a quick glance in the mirror. There were smudges of mud and blood across her forehead. Her hair was a matted mess and a glance at her feet confirmed she’d run outside with nothing but an old t-shirt on and jeans. Those clothes had gone now, destroyed as she’d changed into her wolf.

The stream of hot water was a welcomed sensation. The tension and worry washed from her body, along with the mud and blood staining her skin. It took two lots of shampoo to wash the knots from her hair, but by the time she stepped out of the shower, she felt clean and new.

“Shit…clothes,” she mumbled, looking at the dirty shirt discarded on the floor.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped from the bathroom and padded quietly toward her bedroom. With any luck, Bass would be asleep and not notice her walking around in just a towel, but when her door opened, his eyes fluttered open, locking on her. Katalina knew she was being silly. He’d seen her naked a number of times, but this felt different. She’d just come from the shower. She didn’t have the confidence to just drop her towel and act as if she were brave.

She froze, gripping the edge of the towel tighter. “I forgot clothes,” she squeaked, ready to die from embarrassment.

He smiled at her. “I’ve seen it all before,” he said quietly, still sounding weak.

“This is different, Bass. I…I’d just been a wolf. The last thing on my mind was being naked and having you check me out.”

She turned her back to him, rummaging in her wardrobe for something easy to slip on.

“I feel like a complete dick now because I was definitely checking you out, all naked and beautiful in my arms.”

She spun around to face him, her face heating. The light had returned to his eyes, the smile on his lips, wicked and playful. “You, Sebastian Evernight, are a bad, bad wolf!” she said in mock outraged.

“And, you, Katalina Winter, look adorable when mad. Come here so I can kiss that look from your lips.”

“No! I can’t believe you were looking at me,” she huffed, grabbing the nearest dress in her wardrobe and pulling it over her head. She wiggled the towel out from underneath.

“Come on, Kat. I couldn’t help it! I’m a man after all. Come here. I’d come to you but it appears I’m not as indestructible as I first thought.”

No, you’re not. She looked from one injury to the next. With a heavy sigh, Katalina perched lightly on the edge of the bed. “I thought you were going to die. What happened last night?” she asked tentatively, still shaken from the night before.

“I was too busy rushing to get back to you that I didn’t notice them waiting for me. They jumped me. The first went down easily, the second not so much. From there, it’s all a bit of a blur.”

“You’d taken two out when I got to you, but the third”—a shudder rolled through her—“you didn’t even move. I was so mad, so frightened. There was no chance of me controlling my wolf. One minute I was me, the next…”

He lifted an unsteady hand to gently caress her cheek. “You saved me.”