“With Regan?” he asked quietly, glancing around.
Tyler smiled. It was nice having someone who didn’t get the ramifications of their relationship. “Yeah.”
“Say hi for me,” he said, waving as he ran off for Cooper’s cabin.
Zackary was very quickly adjusting to pack life, and while he still had anger issues and struggled for control, Tyler had had him doing a few basic moves with the group his age today without incident. He’d need extra training and lessons for a while yet, but Tyler didn’t see there being any issues long-term. Deep down, Zackary was a good kid with a kind heart that had been bruised too much by life’s hard truths. The teenager would find himself in good company. Dark Shadow and River Run were full of many who knew the harsh reality of life’s truths. Regan being one of them. Tyler hadn’t seen Regan since Bill’s execution. They’d texted a few times after the phone call about Katalina, but both had been busy since. They’d made plans to meet that night by the river they’d once run daily, but Tyler couldn’t ignore the urgent voice inside of him that said he needed to see her now. One last time before he revealed the truth and everything changed, before she may be taken away from him forever.
Tyler – I know you’re studying, but I really need to see you. Meet me by the river?
Regan – Everything all right? Should I be worried?
Tyler wrote and rewrote his text message several times, torn between telling her the truth or not. They hadn’t discussed telling anyone since Regan had asked for more time, and while it felt wrong to be keeping secrets from her, he also didn’t want to worry her when there might not be any need.
Tyler – I just need to kiss you xoxo
Regan - :) I’ll be there in 5 xo
She ran into his arms like they’d been parted for months, the breath that rushed out of her deep and audible. “God, you’ve no idea how much I needed to be in your arms.”
“Everything okay?” he murmured against her hair, planting kisses on her head as he ran a hand up and down her back.
“You’ll never believe this, but Jackson wants me back in training.”
“When did he say that?”
“While I was there staying with Kat.”
He pulled back slightly, running his hands through her hair then cupping her face. “And how do you feel about that?”
Regan’s first reaction was a nervous smile, before it dropped away, and she chewed on her bottom lip. “Terrified, excited, worried like hell what my parents are going to say. But it’s time, I think.”
Tyler closed the space between them, claiming her lips as his own. “It is. I agree,” he breathed as they broke for air.
“I know. I’ve asked my parents to meet me this afternoon. Dad’s finishing work early so we can have a family talk. I’ve no idea what I’m going to say to them. I wish you could be there holding my hand.”
He caressed a thumb over her cheekbone, marveling at the smoothness of her skin. “You’ll find the words I’m sure.”
“My plan is to break all of the changes to them a bit at a time. Once they get used to the idea of me training again, I think we’ll be ready for the next bombshell.”
“That could be months away, Regan.” Tyler closed his eyes, leaning forward and resting his head on hers.
“I know, Ty.”
“Regan, after everything that’s happened with Bill, I just don’t think it’s a good idea that I’m keeping secrets from my alpha.”
“Ty, please. I know its really hard for you, but I’m so afraid I’ll lose what I have left of my family.”
Letting out a long, sad sigh, Tyler brushed his lips gently over Regan’s, losing himself in the way she made his body and heart feel. How a simple touch could reach him in so many places, how she seemed to have a direct link to his soul. He wanted more than anything to tell her about his rendezvous with Katalina, but he knew she couldn’t handle it right at that moment. It was taking all her courage to meet with her parents, to fight the fear he could taste in her scent and break the news. Regan didn’t need anymore pressure. She’d been standing still for three years and life had hurtled forward suddenly, but it was going far too fast; she was barely keeping up.
“You can do this, Regan. Concentrate on your parents. We’ll be okay.”
“I know it’s killing you to wait. It’s killing me too. I just can only handle one change at a time. I’m sorry, Ty.”
“You’ve nothing to be sorry for. Don’t ever doubt how strong you are, Regan. I believe in you.”
No more words were spoken between them. Instead, the pair silently talked, using their mouths and bodies to say how much they loved one another. There was no urgency, no whispers of the ticking clock above them. They parted with a promise to meet each other later that night as originally planned, and he murmured good luck for Regan’s family meeting.
Tyler left more determined than ever to meet with Katalina and convince her to help. Anna’s prediction couldn’t come to pass. He’d do anything to make sure it wouldn’t.
Chapter 44
“These are really good, Katalina. I can see what you’re thinking. More luxury ski lodge than rustic cabin,” Tim said, looking up from the sketchpad she’d drawn her visions of a new pack on.
“Thanks.” She smiled, happy to have at last found someone who appreciated her vision.
“Do you have builders’ plans?” he asked, glancing between her and Bass.
It was weird to be discussing building plans when less than twenty-four hours earlier she’d felt as if her entire world had shifted. Things between her and Bass were tense; he’d moved to touch her several times, then paused as if unsure she’d welcome it. She didn’t like how they’d gone from being as in tune as two people could be, to being off-kilter, as if they’d suddenly started spinning on an opposite axis.
They’d spent the time since leaving Jackson’s alone together, running as wolves, being as one as two people could get, but coming back to pack land had reminded them not everything had gone back to normal. And she knew they’d have been a time not so long ago that she’d have dreamed of running away, of taking Bass and leaving all things pack behind, but that wasn’t her dream anymore. They were her people as much as Bass’s and while the responsibility frightened her, Katalina couldn’t walk away.
“No. That’s where I am hoping you can help us,” Bass answered. “We have the manpower but not the expertise.”
“It’s a big project. I have men I could bring—”
“No,” Bass cut him off, making Tim flinch.
“What Bass means is we can’t risk having strangers on site and knowing our secret. I’m sure you can understand how dangerous that could be for us and them.”
“Yes… well, I guess if you have the manpower, and we kept it relatively simple. Building shouldn’t be too hard with my guidance.”
“You’ll be paid of course, and Zackary has already been welcomed into the pack. Tyler tells me he’s doing well.”
Katalina watched as Bass and Zackary’s gazes met. She thought it was possibly the first time they’d looked at each other without aggression.
“Yes, Zac tells me he’s been welcomed, and it’s helping to be here.” Tim looked back down at Katalina’s sketchpad, frowning as he flipped through the drawings and then looked at the area around him. “But this current space, Katalina, it doesn’t match your vision. There’s no light here, the trees are too thick. Are you planning on cutting down some trees and opening up this area?”
“No. I’d picked out another site to rebuild on,” Katalina said, glancing at Bass as she did, knowing the subject had been one they’d argued over frequently.
His eyes met hers, and he smiled. “I’ve been told many times by Katalina that our current site is more like a prison camp than a home.”
Tim looked a little nervous. “Well, I didn’t like to say.” He laughed cautiously.
“And I’ve come to realize that if we are ever going to leave the past and its ways behind, we must truly lea
ve and start again. If you’re up for a trek, Tim, we can head there now.”
“Oh, yes, sure. It will be good for me to get a feel of the land before drawing up plans,” Tim answered.
Shock rolled through her as well as a pulse of love through the mating bond between them. Bass reached out, taking her hand into his, and pulled it to his mouth to kiss.
“I told you,” he murmured softly, “I will make this right, even if that includes dragging everyone in this pack kicking and screaming into a brighter future.”
And she believed him. For the first time in a long time, Katalina felt the future she dreamed of within reach. Maybe Anna had been right. Maybe they’d needed to go in the wrong direction to truly see which was the right way. They needed the pain to push them, and while Katalina knew it would take more than this to fix what had gone wrong between them, she had hope they would with time.
Chapter 45
Katalina was late for their meeting. Tyler glanced at his phone, nervously watching as the minutes ticked by. He paced the small clearing, debating whether to ring her when it vibrated in his hand. Glancing at the screen, his heart leapt as he saw Regan’s face smiling back at him. “Regan?” he answered quietly.
Instantly he knew something was wrong. The catch in her breath before she spoke told him she was crying and the words that poured from her were desperate and broken.
“I’m going to lose them, Ty. They’ll never forgive me. I don’t see any future that allows me to keep you and them.”
“Wow, wow, slow down, baby. What’s happened?”
“I told them, Ty, and they freaked out. I’ve never seen my dad so angry. He’s stormed off to have it out with Jackson. My mom’s sobbing in her room. It’s such a mess, Tyler. I don’t know what to do.”
“About starting training?”
“Yes,” she whispered, dragging in a ragged breath.
“I’m sure they’ll come around,” Tyler reassured her, hating that every instinct told him to go to her and he couldn’t.
“I don’t think they will, Tyler. You didn’t see them, my dad especially. He said, he said—” Her voice broke as she sobbed. “He said wasn’t it enough that I’d killed my sister, now I wanted to kill myself.”
Anger licked through him like a flame. “Listen to me, Regan, what he said was wrong and cruel, and not at all true. Do you hear me? Megan’s death was not your fault and being true to yourself is not trying to get yourself killed.” The sounds of her crying softly through the phone killed him.
“I know, Ty. I know he said it in anger and it’s not true, but I can’t help how it makes me feel.”
“I’m coming to get you. Meet me by the stream.”
“No, Ty, I’ll be okay, and it’s probably best I stay in right now. God, I hope Jackson doesn’t kill my dad.”
He’ll deserve all he gets. Tyler growled silently in his head, wanting to get his hands on the man himself.
“It’s killing me that I can’t comfort you when you’re upset, Regan.”
“Just hearing your voice is enough.” She let out a deep, steady breath, then another. “I’ve gotta go. I can hear my mom coming.”
“Ring me when she’s gone. I love you.”
The call ended without a reply. “Fuck!” Tyler kicked at the ground, gripping his hands into his hair behind his neck. “Goddamn it, why?” he yelled.
“Tyler?”
Tyler whirled around. “How long have you been standing there?” he asked Katalina quietly.
“Long enough to know something is really bothering you. What’s going on, Ty? Why’d you bring me here?”
Tyler dropped his hands away from his neck and pulled in a breath. Looking at his phone, he brought up a picture he’d snapped of Regan as he’d kissed her cheek and studied it. There was a gleam in her eyes that wasn’t always present and should be, a lift to her lips that spoke of true happiness. He made her happy after she’d spent so long sad; he couldn’t see what they had as a bad thing.
“Ty?”
He met Katalina’s cautious stare. She’d not approached him yet, as if fearful of what he was about to say, but Tyler was having second thoughts. Regan’s phone call had made him question his reasoning, made him question everything. Maybe we should just leave. Maybe it will be easier that way….
“Talk to me, Tyler. Does this have something to do with Regan?”
Shock rolled through him. “What do you know?”
“Honestly, I’m guessing a little. After you asked after Megan, and well, Regan’s grown so much over the last few months…. Let me help you.”
“I’m not sure you can, Kat. I thought you could, but Regan’s just called after telling her parents she’s going to start training again and… well, let’s just say they took it badly. Even if we could make it work with the alliance, they’d never accept us.”
“Is she your mate?”
Mate. The word resonated through him like a curse and miracle all at once. He opened his mouth to answer but as he did the foliage behind Katalina rustled. “Kat!” Tyler gasped, racing forward.
Her eyes widened in fear as she whipped around. But it was too late; they hadn’t sensed the danger in time and Tyler wasn’t close enough to attack and push the intruder back. Sliding across the ground, he twisted around Katalina, shielding her body with his as the knife that was swung hit flesh.
A silent scream left his lips as pain burst through his back, blackening his vision. He fell to the ground, bringing Katalina down with him, a cry leaving her mouth.
Chapter 46
He’d been bored, and Tyler had been buzzing with a nervous kind of energy that he’s never sensed on the man before. Curiosity had gotten the better of him, so he’d snuck out after him, suspecting Tyler was having a secret rendezvous with Regan but instead, the man hadn’t headed toward River Run at all.
What Zackary hadn’t been expecting was Katalina. Nerves rolled through him, and he was about to turn around when something inside of him said to wait, a voice of sorts that came from the new half of himself that he really didn’t know all that much.
Seconds later, noise came for the right of him and then before Zackary’s eyes, the world turned to hell. A man appeared from the trees wielding a knife. Zackary watched wide-eyed with icy dread crawling over his skin as Tyler ran to protect Katalina but didn’t get there in time to fight off the attacker. His only option was to shield her from the blow. Blood seemed to fly in slow motion through the air as the nasty-looking blade met Tyler’s muscled back. Katalina screamed as Tyler slumped forward, collapsing to the ground and trapping her beneath him.
The man laughed as he hovered over them, drawing a gun from the holster at his back.
“This is for my brother, bitch.”
Zackary felt a wave of fear and rage rush through him. His vision blurred as his body cracked and twisted, pain shooting through him. A half scream, half growl erupted from him as the wolf within took control. Zackary watched as if a passenger within his own body as the wolf he’d shifted into leapt on the man aiming the gun. Blood filled his mouth, coppery and warm, making the boy inside gag as the wolf reveled. Muscle and bone were exposed as the life left the man’s eyes. Zackary screamed silently as his wolf controlled his mind, ripping and tearing at the man below him.
“Zac, stop. Zackary, stop!”
The voice was familiar, and it had power behind it. A power that made him want to obey, made him want to submit. The wolf snarled, shaking of the compulsion as his focus turned on her. Fear scented the air as her eyes widened.
“No, Zac, it’s me, it’s Kat.” She struggled out from under the mangled mess of her attacker and Tyler, scrambling backward on her butt as he approached.
“Zackary, stop. Gain control, you can do this. You’re the master not him.”
His steps faltered, the boy within yelling for the wolf to listen, to stop. But the wolf was powerful, far more powerful than the scared, lost boy.
Chapter 47
A silent warning h
ad gone to every phone within Dark Shadow, alerting them all to an intruder but not alerting the intruder to the fact they knew. He’d been spotted on the outskirts of Dark Shadow’s grounds, hesitating as if debating which point to try to enter their home.
Fear was in the back of his mind, threatening to derail his cool as he raced across his home ready to kill anyone who dared harm his pack, his family. Katalina had been unreachable. She’d left not that long ago, telling him she was going to visit Jackson, but a call to Jackson had confirmed she’d never made it.
Nico ran beside him, as did John. The others on patrol were at their stations, alert and ready. Bass moved half on instinct, half on the knowledge the man had last been spotted near the pack’s car park.
Bass missed a step as fear burst inside of him coming from the mating bond, from Katalina. His hand pressed against his chest as he whispered her name.
“Bass?” Nico questioned from beside him.
“She’s afraid.” He picked up her scent the next second, altering direction to take the route she’d taken. Nico and John followed without question and as a cold, killing calm entered his mind, all Bass’s emotions dropped away, his mind, his body on one thing, and one thing only—reach Katalina.
They broke through the trees to find a scene of blood and devastation. It took Bass a split second to access the scene, then he was hurtling for Zackary, landing on the boy in wolf form and pinning him down.
Rage raced through him at the unruly boy that had been about to attack his mate. Zackary didn’t submit. The wolf beneath him snarled and twisted, his teeth trying to tear at Bass’s flesh.
“Bass, no,” Katalina called, running to his side. “He saved me. Zac saved me.”
Bass flung Zackary away, leaping to his feet and positioning himself in front of Katalina as her words sank in. The wolf scrambled up on all fours, turning with a snarl toward them.
Lost Wolf (A New Dawn Novel Book 4) Page 18