by Noelle Marie
Two hours’ worth of I Love Lucy later, Katherine could barely keep her eyes open. She'd caught herself drifting off more than once, but forced her eyes to remain open and glued to the TV set. She just needed to wait for the others to fall asleep and then she could act upon her plan.
She wasn’t counting on Bastian rising from the mattress he was laying on and unceremoniously shutting off the television. He cut Lucy off midway through one of her infamous schemes.
"Oh, come on Bastian! Turn it back on. Lucille Ball is hot. So is that chick who plays Ethel."
Sophie scrunched up her nose at Markus's remark. "Um, ew. Don't you know that both of those women have been dead for years?”
Bastian didn't bothering commenting on Markus’s taste in women. He just gave the hazel-eyed man a pointed look. "No. We all need our rest."
It was clearly non-negotiable and the man begrudgingly agreed after shooting a glare in Katherine’s direction. Katherine stuck out her tongue at him as soon as he turned his head back around. Ass.
But she couldn't find it in her to be upset. The pack deciding to sleep was exactly what she wanted and needed to happen. She’d only have to wait until they were all out to take off.
They’d only crossed the border into Canada mere hours ago – with no border patrol in sight. Katherine had been paying attention to the roads Bastian had taken and was fairly confident she could find her way back into the states. She’d been thinking about it all day. She’d only have to drive a few hours after hitting the border to make it to Duluth, Minnesota. It was where her sister had settled down with her fiancé after attending college there. She could already see her sister’s startled, but happy face in her mind.
"I'm sleeping here," Markus gruffly announced, pulling Katherine out of her thoughts. He buried his head into the pillow of the bed he'd been lounging on.
Katherine's couldn't quite stop the corner of her lips from lifting into a smile of amusement when Bastian stood up and brusquely ripped the sheets off the man's form.
"What the hell?"
Bastian merely raised an eyebrow at the man's irritated expression. "Markus, Zane, you've got the floor." He ignored the immediate shouts of protest. "Sophie and Caleb, you've got this bed." Bastian turned his blue eyes on Katherine. "And you. You're with me."
Her amusement quickly faded.
In fact, she temporarily lost control of her motor functions and actually allowed her jaw to drop.
"I'd shut your mouth before you catch flies," she heard Markus scoff from somewhere to her right, but she didn't bother to acknowledge him.
"Wait," Katherine demanded, sitting up higher in her chair. She suddenly felt more awake. "What do you mean I'm with you?"
"It means, we'll both be sleeping here," Bastian informed her, gesturing towards the bed he'd been occupying all night.
"I'm not sharing a bed with you," Katherine immediately objected. She hadn't even wanted to sit on the same bed as the man. She was certainly not sleeping on one with him!
"Yes you are," he corrected her, completely disregarding what she’d said.
"Actually, no I'm not," she snappishly retorted.
"In case you haven’t noticed, you don’t exactly have a choice." Katherine ignored Zane much like she had Markus.
"Why? Why would you want that? To share a bed with me, I mean?" she demanded of the blue-eyed man, who was paying her no mind as he straightened up the bed he had demanded she share with him.
"Stop acting like you’re getting jipped, princess. Zane and I are stuck on the floor. We never get the floor," Markus grumbled. "Usually it’s Caleb who sleeps there when we travel."
A wave of irritation washed over her and Katherine couldn't stop herself from verbally attacking the man. "Don't you ever shut up?"
Markus’s eyes lit up in surprise for a moment before they darkened and he glowered at her. "I don't know. Don’t you ever stop being a bi-"
"Enough Markus. You too, Katherine," her heart skipped a beat at hearing Bastian say her name. It was only the second time she'd ever heard him say it.
Wait.
Why in the world did she know that?
"Now get over here."
Katherine had never met so many maddening people in her entire life. Did he seriously think that she’d just obey him? Really?
"Why are you insisting we share a bed?" she demanded again.
"So you don't get any stupid ideas, that's why. Someone needs to babysit you tonight."
Katherine saw red at the word babysit.
She was so mad that she almost didn't hear Sophie's mumble. "Sure, that's why."
The blonde's comment prompted Katherine to take note of her. Wouldn’t she make a much more appropriate bedmate?
"If you really think I need to be babysat," Katherine spat the word out, "then why can't I sleep with Sophie?"
Zane's amused snort made Katherine turn her eyes on him. "Yeah, perhaps that'd be possible if the woman didn't sleep like the dead."
The man was smacked across the head by the woman in question, but she offered Katherine a sheepish shrug. "It's true. I'd be little use as a babysitter."
Katherine continued to seethe. "Why not Caleb then? Zane? Even Markus?"
Bastian had tensed as soon the name “Caleb” had spilled from her mouth. His hands clenched at “Zane”. And by the time “Markus” had had been said, a dark red color was slowly creeping up his neck.
"No," the man answered through his teeth.
"Why not?" Katherine commanded Bastian to tell her despite the voice in the back of her head telling her not to mess with the man who looked mere moments away from having steam burst from his ears.
"They’re men!" he exploded, his eyes fierce as he glared at her.
"So are you!" Katherine shouted back.
"It’s different with me!"
"How?" Katherine demanded incredulously.
"It just is!"
Katherine made a face, pushing a lock of dark hair behind her ear. Then she crossed her arms, making it very clear that she wasn't going to move unless she got an explanation.
In response, Bastian took a deep breath, seemingly trying to get a hold of his wiry temper. "Just get over here," he finally ordered after a minute of silence and neither of them moving.
"Make me," Katherine shot back, not backing down for a moment.
"Fine," the man growled before stalking over to her. "Have it your way."
Katherine froze at the predatory growl and couldn't quite react in time to dodge him as he lifted her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder. It was like she weighed nothing.
After letting out a surprised squeak, Katherine was able to contain her shock. "Put me down!" she yelled, absolutely infuriated. She also landed a few forceful punches to his back – which she couldn't help but notice was very firm. The punches, in fact, probably hurt her more than him.
Within moments, she was rudely tossed onto the mattress of the bed in question. It was surprisingly comfortable. But that didn't stop Katherine from immediately sitting up and glaring at Bastian, who remained towering over her, his arms crossed over his chest. It was eerily similar to the pose she had held not two minutes earlier.
Katherine was only vaguely aware of their audience, having almost completely forgotten about the rest of the people in the room, who were no doubt more amused by than sympathetic of her situation.
"Why are you doing this to me?" The words were supposed to come out as an angry demand, but came out sounding defeated to even Katherine's own ears.
"Because I don’t trust you to stay," Bastian said simply.
And what could she say to that? He was right. Her intentions were to leave – to escape from these people as soon as she was given the opportunity.
"I don’t like you," Katherine snarked, for lack of anything else to say. But even she could tell the words lacked any real malice.
Bastian must have known as well because he remained unimpressed. "You’ve made that perfectly clear. Now sco
ot over and lay down."
Rolling her eyes, Katherine finally did as she was told and perched herself at the very edge of the queen-sized mattress. She buried herself under a blanket. Her whole body tensed when Bastian lay beside her, but she relaxed when he remained on top of the covers.
She stubbornly faced the wall, but could hear the others as they made themselves comfortable – with lots of groaning from the two men forced to brave the floor.
Katherine couldn't help but think it ironic that they were jealous of her sleeping arrangements and she of theirs.
Soon the man beside her shut off the lamp on the nightstand and the room was cast into darkness.
Despite her exhaustion, Katherine forced herself to keep her eyes open. She wasn't willing to believe that her plan had been completely thwarted. She concentrated on breathing as evenly as possible, hoping to be able to convince Bastian of her slumber. She nearly dozed off twice, but managed to keep herself awake by pinching her arm whenever she felt like falling asleep.
When what had to have been close to an hour had passed, she finally put her plan into action. She slowly shifted her body until she was on the verge of falling off of the bed. Then, holding her breath, she carefully sat up. The bed frame squeaked when she moved and she immediately tensed. And waited. When nothing happened, she let out a soft sigh of relief and continued.
She placed one foot on the carpet. Two.
And then a hand latched onto his wrist.
Katherine just barely managed to swallow a scream. Her eyes immediately turned to meet those of the man holding her wrist. Much like the long fingers enclosing her small hand, the man's eyes were gentle.
His words however, were as stoic as ever.
"Nice try. Now go to sleep. You’ve been keeping me up."
His indifference only added to her embarrassment of being caught. "I was just going to the bathroom," she managed to mumble angrily, denying the man's unspoken accusation.
Bastian raised an incredulous eyebrow, but didn't call her out on the obvious lie.
"Fine, so maybe I wasn't," she admitted.
Tearing her eyes away from his face, she peeled back the sheets and climbed under them. She usually wouldn't sleep under the covers, but despite her warm body temperature, the room was chilly. Under the sheets, however, was ...nice.
And the bed was actually pretty comfortable. The mattress was soft and nothing like the one she'd been forced to sleep on when she'd stayed at that Motel 8 with her family. Even the pillow was fluffy.
And the weight on the other side of the bed, the dip that Bastian's body caused and the warmth it created... well, it was cozy. Even the gaze she swore she could feel on the back of her head wasn't unpleasant. It was reassuring. And she felt warm. Safe.
And despite her best intentions not to, Katherine slowly drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
CHAPTER NINE
Katherine woke up cold. Even tangled in a thick blanket, she could feel the chill.
After a particularly violent shiver, she managed to force herself to sit up. Sluggishly rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she glanced at the other side of the bed. It was empty. She absentmindedly touched the pillow that he had been laying on last night. It was cool to the touch.
"He left."
Startling at the sound of Caleb's soft voice, Katherine jerked back her hand. She turned to see that the brown-eyed man was sitting on the bed that he and Sophie had shared the night before. Unlike the mess of sheets she was lounging on, the bed he sat on was neatly made – the blankets were tucked in and even the pillows looked as if they had been fluffed.
It couldn't have been more obvious that Caleb had been awake for a while.
And to Katherine's surprise – and not-so-secret delight – the others were nowhere in sight. She subtly peeked at the night stand between Caleb and herself.
And promptly felt her heart skip a beat.
The keys to the SUV were still there!
Where had everyone gone? Surely Bastian hadn't left her alone after meticulously babysitting her the night before.
Had he?
Was Caleb really the only person between her and the keys to a potential getaway car?
It wasn't as if Katherine had scruples against stealing it. She’d been kidnapped after all.
"Where is everyone?" Katherine asked, the question flying pass her lips before she could taper her excitement.
"Bastian and Sophie went to the supermarket we saw on the way into town," Caleb explained. "It’s only about a half mile from here and Bastian thought it'd be a good idea to get you a few things. You know, necessities – some clothes, a toothbrush, deodorant," he hesitated a moment, a light pink staining his cheeks, "...other feminine products. He wasn’t sure what you’d all need – that's why he brought Sophie with him."
"I see," Katherine said, working to hide her enthusiasm. She hoped Caleb assumed the red she could feel creeping up her neck was from embarrassment at the mention of “feminine products” and not the result of her suddenly racing heart.
"And the others? Markus and Zane? Are they gone too?" she asked, trying her best to sound nonchalant.
Caleb furrowed his brows, looking distinctly uncomfortable at the question. "Well, they weren't supposed to leave, but Markus wanted to get something to eat. Both he and Zane took off a few minutes ago."
“Why weren’t they supposed to leave? Babysitting duty?” Katherine couldn’t stop the knee-jerk anger from briefly clouding over her excitement.
Caleb cringed and Katherine almost felt bad about taking her irritation out on the man.
Almost.
"In a way," he admitted. "Bastian did say were all to wait here for him to return and," he hesitated, "he did say that we weren't supposed to let you out of our sight."
Katherine rolled her eyes, completely unsurprised by the revelation. Caleb seemed apologetic about his friend’s behavior, but she couldn't help but notice that the man's eyes were glued to her. He was clearly taking the order seriously – which left her in quite the predicament.
How could she get away with him watching her like this?
Despite his seemingly docile nature, Katherine knew she could never take Caleb in a fight. He may have been smaller than the other men in the so called pack, but he was still much larger than her. He'd win a physical battle every time and easily be able to restrain her.
Katherine tugged a hand through the knotted mess of hair on her head, anxiously trying to think of a solution to the situation she found herself in.
Why, oh why, did that infuriating man have to leave her with a babysitter?
She didn't even notice the frustrated growl building in the back of her throat until it had escaped.
"Are you okay?"
Katherine spared a glance at the blonde man who was still watching her.
"Why?" she demanded, the question exploding from her mouth before she'd even had the chance to form it in her head.
Caleb looked taken aback – and more than a little weary at the sudden outburst. "Why what?" he asked delicately.
"I don't know. Why everything?" Katherine licked her lips before asking the real question – the one that had been on her mind for days now. "Why'd he do it? Why… why did Bastian bite me?"
If Caleb had looked weary before, his hunched shoulders screamed that he was uncomfortable now. "That's something that he should explain to you."
Katherine was far from satisfied with that answer. "Just tell me," she insisted, the desperation she could hear in her own voice taking her by surprise. She sounded absolutely pathetic.
Caleb must have thought so too because she could practically see his resolve start to crack. He opened his mouth, hesitated, shut it, and then with a seemingly resigned sigh, opened it again. "Since you've been bitten have you noticed that your senses have been enhanced – made better? Especially your sense of smell?"
Katherine immediately nodded. "People have scents," she blurted.
"Yes," Caleb agreed before pursin
g his lips, seeming to consider his next words carefully. "People have scents and somehow, in his wolf form, Bastian sensed... well, he smelled you."
Katherine was affronted and couldn't have stopped the offended words from bursting pass her lips if she's wanted. "And what?" the angry brunette demanded. "I smelled so horrible that he couldn't stop himself from assaulting me?"
"No!" Caleb immediately denied. "I think that his wolf must have… liked it – recognized something in it that made him-"
"What? Attack me?" Katherine was adamant in her incredulity. "He liked my scent so much that he mauled me?"
Caleb seemed to sink into himself. "This is why he should be the one to explain this to you." He sighed. "I don't think he was attacking you."
Katherine's eyebrows shot up. "Then what?" she demanded, disbelief saturating her voice.
Caleb frowned, his eyes finally leaving her form as they drifted down to the floor.
In response to the man’s dejected posture, she could feel the hard ball of anger in her gut soften to something closer resembling shame. She sighed. "I'm sorry," she managed to bite out, "I never should have asked you to try to explain his actions."
Caleb glanced up at her. A slight frown was still tugging at the corner of his lips, but he looked grateful that she would no longer be interrogating him.
Still feeling guilty, Katherine offered him a small smile. She hoped it didn't look as forced as it felt because she thought that, deep down, she might actually like Caleb. He really did seem like a nice person and she could tell his kindness wasn't manufactured.
But she knew she couldn't afford to feel anything but animosity towards the people who had kidnapped her.
"I was bitten too."
Katherine almost didn't hear the soft spoken confession. But the words did reach her ears and Katherine couldn't withhold a small gasp.
What?
"Bastian attacked you too?" Katherine couldn’t even begin to name the strong, hard emotions she could feel boiling to the surface. Shock. Anger. Even jealousy, strangely enough.
The expression on Caleb’s face quickly assured her that she'd assumed wrongly, however, and the intense emotions disappeared as quickly as they had come, leaving Katherine feeling disoriented. She forced herself to concentrate on Caleb's voice.