Lost Wolf (A New Dawn Novel Book 4)

by Rachel M Raithby

“Kid’s his cousin from out of town,” she lied. “And no, we’ve not fallen out. I’ll be right there.”

  Regan took a few moments to compose herself before walking out front and heading toward Tyler. He’d taken the seat that meant he’d spot her the moment she exited the backroom. His face lit with a brilliant smile before he schooled his expression into a natural face, but he’d slipped up long enough for Zackary to notice and for him to turn around and see who Tyler was smiling at.

  Careful, Ty, you’ll give us away.

  “Hello, Tyler, Zackary, what can I get you guys?” she asked politely.

  The kid smirked. “Seriously, you two can give it a rest. I know you have the hots for one another.”

  Tyler’s attention snapped to Zackary’s as dread uncoiled inside of Regan.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Tyler

  “The two of you pretending like you barely know each other. I followed you last night, Ty, saw you guys all over each other, so secret’s out, you can stop pretending.”

  All the energy drained from Regan. She slumped down into the booth Zackary was in, nudging him along, then buried her head in her hands.

  “We’re doomed,” she cried.

  “Babe,” Tyler whispered, taking her hands and kissing them. “I’ll think of something.”

  “I really don’t know what the problem is,” Zackary said. “I’m not going to tell anyone. Though honestly, I can’t for the life of me figure out why the two of you can’t be together.”

  “I’ve told you, she’s from River Run,” Tyler said, glaring at Zackary. “And what were you doing following me?”

  “Well, I woke up the first night, saw your note, so went back to sleep. The second night I did the same, but on the third, it was getting a little weird that you were reusing the same note over and over, so I thought I’d see if I could follow you without you noticing. Honestly, I was just doing it for the fun of following you, wasn’t actually expecting to see you two sucking each other’s face off.” He made a gagging face. “But like I said, I’m not telling anyone.”

  It was Tyler’s turn to bury is head in his hands. “Urgh, I’m so stupid,” he grumbled.

  “You’re not,” Regan insisted. Tyler met her gaze, and despite everything, butterflies set flight within her.

  “I should have sensed him, Regan, and if I didn’t sense him, I could not have sensed someone else, someone far more dangerous.”

  “You weren’t on patrol, Tyler.”

  “Stop freaking out already. I don’t see why you can’t just tell everyone,” Zackary said.

  “Because she’s from another pack, Zac,” Tyler repeated.

  “Well, isn’t Katalina technically from River Run? And that’s not a problem, so why would you two be?”

  “It’s complicated, Zac,” Regan said softly.

  “Allegiances would be questioned, Zac, Katalina is different. She didn’t grow up here.”

  “Well, can’t you just join River Run instead of Dark Shadow?” Zackary suggested.

  “I’m an enforcer, Zac. I can’t just abandon my pack.”

  Zackary began to look a little worried. “I wish I hadn’t said anything now. I just thought it would be easier if you knew I knew so, you know, you didn’t have to keep waiting until real late for me to be asleep, or trying not to smile when you pretend we’re just randomly going out for coffee when I don’t even drink coffee, just so you can catch a glimpse of your girl.” He let out a huge breath. “I’m not going to breathe a word of this to anyone, promise. All right?”

  Regan laid a hand on Zackary’s shoulder, her wolf seeking to soothe his. “Okay, Zac, we believe you.” She felt for the kid, could sense how overwhelmed and confused he was. It was clear he looked up to Tyler and needed him to know he was loyal.

  “So, why does he look like he might throw up?”

  “Because you’ve just reminded Tyler that we’ve been walking a fine line these last few months, and how easily it can go wrong.” Reaching across the table, Regan took Tyler’s hand. “I’m going to go make us some drinks and food; then I’ll be back, okay?”

  Tyler glanced up, he looked broken. “I should have sensed him, Regan.”

  “I know, Ty, I know.” Getting up, she slowly closed the distance between them and bent toward his face, tipping his chin up with her finger and planting a soft kiss on his mouth. “It’s going to be okay,” she breathed against his lips. It has to be, she added silently. It has to be.

  Thankfully it was a quiet afternoon at the café, and she only had to serve two other customers while Zackary and Tyler were there. By the time they’d left, they’d almost convinced themselves that Zackary knowing was a good thing. The kid was right; it would mean less sneaking around, and Tyler could see her at work again. But what neither Tyler nor she admitted, even though it was on their minds, was the fact time had run out, and they needed to somehow find a way to tell somebody. It was better her parents found out from her own lips then secondhand gossip. They’d most likely be furious if it was a week or a year from now when she told them anyway. She just had to find the courage to follow through and do it.

  Chapter 35

  Since Bill’s capture, Katalina had sensed a rift forming between her and Bass. At first, it hadn’t worried her. She’d put it down to stress, which they’d both had a lot of lately. But she’d caught him in a lie; he wasn’t where he said he’d be, and the fact he was lying and sneaking around behind her back worried Katalina more than the constant threat they lived under.

  It was as if the two of them had taken one too many hits and were now going off in different directions. Bass wore his mask more and more, to a point Katalina didn’t always recognize him. It frightened her; she’d always feared losing herself to this life, but never Bass. Bass was her one constant, the one she could always rely on.

  Yet he’d lied.

  Nico looked confused when she asked him where Bass was, and when she said what Bass had told her; that he was with Nico, he tried to cover, to lie for Bass, but not all that well. It wasn’t fair of Bass to bring his friend into the deceit and knowing he hadn’t told Nico what he was up to told Katalina whatever it was he didn’t want his moral compass to know.

  “Where are you going?” Nico called as she stormed off.

  “To find him and kill him!” she yelled.

  “He might have an explanation,” Nico said, running after her. “Why don’t you come back and calm down and ask him when he returns?”

  Katalina came to an abrupt stop. “Because I need this anger to face him, because I keep letting things like this slip and it’s gotten me nowhere. I won’t stand by while he lies to me and pretends it’s okay.”

  “It’s not okay, Kat. I’m not saying that. He’s just…. There’s a lot going on, and he’s not coping like he thinks he is.”

  “Then he should turn to us for help, not shut us out. I’m sorry, Nico, I’m doing this.”

  It took her a little while to track him down, and where he was surprised Katalina. She’d not expected Jackson to be in on the lie. But there he was as guilty as Bass, and by the looks on their faces, they knew it.

  They were in Jackson’s barn with Bill tied to a chair his face swollen and covered in red and purple bruises. His eyebrow had split, fresh blood running from the cut, joining the blood that also flowed from his lip. Bill had been beaten bloody, and by the evidence on Bass’s knuckles, he’s done most of the damage.

  “What the hell is going on in here?” she snapped as she dragged the barn door open.

  Bill laughed. “Naughty, naughty, boys. Keeping things from the princess.”

  “Shut it,” Jackson snarled, punching Bill in the gut.

  Katalina studied them, the two men who weren’t supposed to lie to her, who she’d considered good, but at that moment, she saw a darkness in them. She saw how easy it was for a wolf to turn into a monster.

  “I don’t believe you two.”

  Turning on her heel, Katalina marched from the b
arn. She’d wanted an explanation, a valid reason as to why Bass had lied, and she’d found just that. Only in her eyes, it wasn’t valid at all.

  “Katalina,” Bass called.

  She didn’t wait to see if he followed; she was hoping he hadn’t. But his hand was touching hers, pulling her to a stop, and she had no choice but to face him.

  “I’m sorry, okay,” he said as she met his eyes.

  “For what? What are you sorry for, Bass?”

  “For not telling you where I was going.”

  He said the words, but they were flat; he was wearing a mask, saying what he knew she wanted to hear, but Bass had forgotten one vital thing—she saw through his masks. He’d only ever been one person to her.

  “No, you’re not. Do you think I don’t see? Your masks won’t work on me, and you should know that. I’m your mate, and you lied, and then lied to me again. You’re not sorry. You’re only sorry you got caught.”

  Katalina couldn’t look at him, dragging her hand from his she walked away.

  “I had to find out the truth, Kat,” he called. “I had to make Bill tell me the truth.”

  “What truth?” she asked over her shoulder.

  “What he told them, and who else is involved. I must know, Katalina, don’t you see? I must know who I can trust.”

  Katalina paused. Turning, she faced him, seeing everything he hid from the world: the hurt, the desperation, the betrayal. His eyes and his tone said it all, but it wasn’t enough for Katalina to forgive him, to accept what he was doing in the barn was justified.

  “And you think beating a man will have him spilling the truth? What you were doing in there was torture, Bass. That’s not who you are. Not the man I fell in love with anyway.”

  “Please, Katalina,” he whispered, full of pain.

  “Please, what? What is it you want from me?” Her anger was fading, and as it did, all the energy left her body. Disappointment was a heavy thing, and there was more than just that weighing her down.

  “Forgive me,” Bass begged, taking a step toward her. “Please forgive me.”

  “I can’t even look at you right now.”

  Her words hurt him. She could see them like the flick of a whip hitting skin, yet they were the truth.

  “You’re letting them win,” Bass said, angrily.

  His words fuel her fire. Hands scrunching into fists, Katalina closed the space between them. “No, it’s you who are letting them win. This is what they want, Bass. They’re wearing us down bit by bit, planting seeds of distrust and sowing darkness in our very veins. Castor doesn’t just want our home; he wants to twist us up and change who we are until our hearts are as black as his. And you’re letting him. What you were doing in that barn wasn’t right. That’s not who you are.”

  “A message needs to be sent,” he insisted.

  “And what message were you sending, and who to? Why is Bill even alive? He should have been killed the moment he was captured. Instead, you’ve held it off so you could beat him while he’s tied to a chair.”

  “To get answers, to find out if he was working with somebody else.”

  “And did you find any? Did he give you what you wanted?”

  “No,” Bass answered quietly.

  “So, then how long do you plan to do this for? It’s been five days, Bass, and people are noticing he’s missing, and your lies aren’t holding up.”

  “Today. It’s set for later today.”

  “What is?” she asked, though she already knew she’d not like the answer.

  “His execution.”

  “An execution?” Katalina shook her head, tears stinging her eyes. “What are you going to do, drag him up in front of the entire pack and slaughter him?”

  “Yes, and it will send a message to anyone that’s working with him that we will no longer be playing nice. Mercy will not be given.”

  “Playing nice.” Katalina laughed with disbelief. Turning away, she gripped at her hair. It was like Bass hadn’t just taken the wrong path, but had gone to another planet. She didn’t know how to deal with this version of him. He was alien to her. He frightened her.

  “Have you heard yourself? I won’t stand by while you do that. While you execute him in front of innocents.”

  “This world is harsh, Kat, you know that.”

  “No.” Tears ran down her face. “I can’t accept that. I don’t fit in a world that can accept that, and you know that, Bass, or at least I thought you did.”

  “I’m sorry, Katalina,” he whispered.

  “For what?” she sobbed, unable to contain her heartbreak anymore.

  “For failing to change this world,” he answered, his expression hollow.

  “It’s not too late. You don’t have to do this. You could go in that barn right now and just end it, please.”

  A mask slipped back onto his face, his gaze hard and empty, and Katalina had never felt so out of place, or Bass so far away. “Part of me wants to do as you ask, but you don’t understand this world, Katalina. It must be done; a message must be sent. I can no longer allow myself to be weak.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I understand this world perfectly, and I have always understood that I didn’t want to be a part of it, the way it was. But you promised me it wouldn’t be this way, and there’s no going back for me now. You’re my mate. I love you even as you’re breaking my heart. If you do this, there is no changing it. It will only change us.”

  He didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. Katalina could see it written all over his face, in his body language. Bass had decided on this path long before their argument, and nothing she could say would make him change his mind. The fact broke her, and she walked away feeling as cold and empty as Bass looked.

  “I must ask one more thing of you, Katalina.”

  She paused but didn’t look back.

  “You must be there. We must show a united front.”

  “I’ll be there,” she called. “But I don’t wear masks, Bass. They’ll all know we’re not united, and I’m glad of that fact.”

  Throughout all the attacks Indiana had sprung on them, Katalina hadn’t once felt they’d won. Packmates had been injured, homes burned to the ground, but she’d always felt they’d walked out in one piece, together, whole. But Castor had finally had his win. Bill was the ultimate trap and Bass had fallen for it. They were heading down the path to self-destruction, and Katalina only hoped she was enough to drag them back—that it wasn’t too late.

  Chapter 36

  Tyler was connected to his alpha and pack in a way that told him there was something wrong. But he’d never anticipated Bass walking onto Dark Shadow’s inner lands, dragging Bill not so gently with him. Bill was clearly injured, and his first instinct was to go to him, but the look on Bass’s face had him holding back. Nico, Dax, and Katalina followed not so far behind. They didn’t look confused, though Katalina did not look happy. In fact, he’d never seen Katalina look so… empty. Whatever had happened, Bass hadn’t told his inner circle, or what should have been his inner circle. It was becoming clear that the dynamics of Dark Shadow were shifting, and his second and enforcers were no longer trusted.

  “What’s going on?” Zackary murmured, coming to stand beside Tyler. “Hey, that dude’s the one who took over my spot in the barn.”

  “What?” Tyler gasped.

  “That guy. Jackson told me to move out of his barn, so they could keep him locked up in there instead. Who is he?”

  Tyler didn’t answer; instead, he met John’s gaze across the way, shaking his head slightly at his silent question, then did the same to Logan, Noah, and Jacob. They all walked forward, meeting in the center before Bass and the others, as stone-cold dread settled heavily in his stomach. What did you do, Bill? What did you do?

  Katalina stood beside Bass, appearing strong and unaffected. But Tyler detected an uneasiness in the depths of her gaze, a deep sadness that she was trying her best to hide. He’d thought up to that moment that Bass and Katalin
a trusted him, but it appeared he was wrong.

  A sliver of uncertainly wormed its way into his mind. Do they know? Have Regan and I been caught?

  Bass’s gaze roamed over them all, hard and unflinching. “It came to my attention after the Indiana attack that there was a leak in this pack, giving information to our enemy,” Bass said into the unsteady silence.

  A hushed murmur spread through the crowd as tension increased. Zackary moved closer to Tyler, his shoulder touching his.

  “Unfortunately, my suspicions were confirmed,” Bass continued gravely.

  Tyler studied Bill, his heart a pounding drum in his chest. Not Bill, not their second, a man they’d all trusted without doubt. Who he’d have given his life to defend. Not him, please not him, not him.

  Yet Bass continued, confirming what Tyler already knew was coming. “Earlier this week, I told only Bill that Katalina had decided she would spend the end of summer with her human family. Bill used this information and attempted to abduct Katalina, with the intention of taking her life and shattering the alliance beyond repair. Katalina was shot in his attempt, and Nico, Dax, and several River Run wolves bore witness. It was also recorded for anyone who does not believe my word, and the word of those here,” he finished, sweeping an arm toward Katalina, Dax, and Nico.

  He paused, his gaze hard as he took in the crowd. “If he had succeeded, not only would we have lost Katalina, we’d have been left vulnerable to attack as we suffered with grief and betrayal. The alliance and friendships forged because of Katalina could have shattered. Do not doubt the very real threat Bill’s actions have bought us. An attack after such a huge loss would have quite possibly been successful, altering all we know and love.”

  “Why?” John whispered from beside Tyler, gazing at Bill. “Why would you do this to us?”

  Bill looked up. One of his eyes was swollen shut, the right side of his face covered in angry bruises and cuts, but his other eye looked at them with rebellion. “Castor is my brother. He should have never been cast out.”

  “You supported Bass,” John responded angrily.