Winter Wolf (A New Dawn Novel Book 1)

by Rachel M Raithby

  “Cage, keep an eye on her breathing. Call me if it quickens,” Karen murmured before shutting the door.

  After a while of silence, Katalina rolled over facing Cage. She pulled the covers up to her chin as she shivered.

  Cage met her eyes. “Cold?”

  “Freezing cold and boiling, all at the same time. I hate being ill.”

  “The fever should break soon. You’ll be better in no time. Get some sleep.”

  “Hmm.” Katalina closed her eyes, but every time she did, all she saw were red flames flicking over melting metal. “Cage?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Talk to me.”

  “What about?”

  “Anything, just distract me.”

  “You should really try and sleep.”

  “I can’t. I…”—she took a deep breath—“every time I close my eyes, I see them. I see them burning in the car.”

  Cage didn’t comment but took her hand. She welcomed the warmth his hand offered, gripping tightly and finding comfort in his touch.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Anything, tell me about yourself. How old are you? Where’d you go to school? All I know is you’re a shifter and we’re supposed to make wolf babies.”

  “You laugh at that, yet I’ve been told that for as long as I can remember; our childhoods were obviously very different. Well, where to start? I’m eighteen, like you, my birthday is June third, and I was homeschooled like most of the pack kids. I’m one of the best fighters in the pack—”

  “Why are most kid’s homeschooled?”

  “It’s just easier to keep our secret that way. When kids shift when they’re young, sometimes they find the change hard to control.”

  “Isn’t it isolating being cut off from the real world?”

  Cage laughed softly. “We’re not cut off, Kat, but we aren’t human. We’re shifters. Pack is family; we look after each other. You’ve been brought up differently, but that doesn’t mean the way I was is wrong.”

  “I didn’t mean it was. I just…I’m trying to imagine myself here, and I don’t fit.”

  “Where do you fit, Kat?”

  Where do I fit? She didn’t know. She’d loved her life, her family but she’d always felt as if she didn’t belong. She still hadn’t decided what to do when she left school. She’d always put it down to being adopted and not knowing where she’d come from.

  “I don’t know,” Katalina whispered.

  “Hey Kat, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  Katalina sighed, “I’m fine. It’s just…I feel like I’m adrift, nothing seems real. I keep waiting to wake up. My parents died, Cage. Two days ago, I was sitting in the back of the car laughing with them, and now, they’re gone and no one seems to acknowledge that. I feel as if Jackson just expects me to move on and be grateful I have the pack, but I can’t do that. I want to go home. I want to say goodbye to my parents with the rest of my family. I don’t belong here. I belong with the people who’ll understand exactly how I feel.”

  He rubbed his fingers across her face. “Get better, Katalina, and then I’ll talk to Jackson, okay?”

  She wasn’t sure Jackson would listen, but it made her happy that Cage was willing to talk to him. Yet she wished he’d just take her back home. The thought made her mind wander to Bass; he’d said he’d take her home. Why is Bass willing to break the rules and Cage not? Urgh, I need to stop thinking.

  “Tell me a story, Cage.”

  “What?”

  “Please, distract me. Tell me anything, something nice, so I can fall to sleep.”

  “Okay, here goes… Once upon a time, there was a little boy who was told he’d been chosen for a very special task; when he grew up, he was to marry a special girl with silver-blonde hair and eyes of crystal. The little boy grew up waiting for the day he’d meet her, hoping he’d be worthy of her, and when that day finally came, she was more beautiful than he could have ever imagined. They spent the rest of their lives running through the forest as wolves; darting through the trees, happy, free…”

  Katalina drifted off, dreaming about a little boy she’d wished she’d known, but her dreams twisted and changed, and soon she was back in the car, burning metal all around her and the shadows of her parents hanging limply in the upside down vehicle. Someone was shouting her name over and over, grabbing her…

  “Kat, wake up!” Her eyes shot open. She tried to focus on Cage’s face, to leave the past behind but it pulled her back. She felt as if she were burning, as if she were still surrounded by melting metal.

  “Kat, you’re okay. It’s just a dream.” His hands brushed hair from her face, stroking her gently.

  “I’m burning,” she croaked.

  “No, Kat, you’re here. You’re safe.”

  “No, Cage, I’m burning. I’m so hot, my head…it hurts.”

  “Okay, okay, I’m going to get Karen.”

  He whistled low, like Toby had done when he’d found her that first night. Karen rushed into the room seconds later. “Cage, what’s wrong?”

  “She’s burning and she says her head hurts.”

  Kat tried to concentrate on their voices but her head felt too thick; it was as if there was an invisible wall between them, blocking out their voices and blurring their faces.

  “…infected…”, “…drip…”, “…water…” Words floated around her but nothing made sense. She drifted in and out of consciousness. There was a sudden contact of cold against her forehead and it eased the throbbing slightly, while Cage’s face came in and out of focus above her.

  “Sleep, Kat,” he said softly, as more cold touched her forehead.

  She didn’t want to sleep. She didn’t want to be looked after anymore, but her body wouldn’t listen and she was swept into darkness

  Chapter 5

  Katalina slowly peeled open her eyes. The light blinded her, making her eyes swim with tears. Feeling stiff, she wiggled her toes and fingers. She sat up in bed looking around the room, feeling a little confused. There was no one with her, not even Arne. There was a chair pulled close to her bed, a small bowl of water sat on the bedside table, a cloth hanging half in, half out the bowl as if it had just been tossed there in a hurry.

  There was a drip attached to her hand, clear liquid half-filled the bag hanging on a metal pole.

  Where is everyone?

  “Toby?” she whispered; he always seemed to be lurking nearby. “Toby?”

  The door slowly opened. Toby’s grinning face appeared seconds later, followed by Arne.

  “There you are, boy,” she croaked, her voice gravelly.

  “Sorry, I took him for a walk, seeing as he’s been cooped up for days.” Days? How long have I been out?

  “What day is it?” she asked, not sure she was ready for the answer.

  “Sunday, you’ve been pretty out of it, Cage has literally just left for a pack meeting he couldn’t miss. He’s been glued to your side. Sad really,” he laughed.

  “What are they meeting about?”

  “Oh, not sure, I can go spy if you’d like?” he said, half getting up.

  Katalina laughed, shaking her head.

  “So are you feeling better?” he asked, dropping into the chair. Arne stuck his head on his lap whining for a stroke.

  “Traitor,” Katalina muttered at the dog. “Yeah, I feel a bit better; not hot, just weak, and thirsty, would you mind getting me a drink?”

  “Sure, back in a min.” Arne jumped up and trotted after him.

  “Great, I’ve lost my dog now, too,” she muttered.

  Toby came back minutes later, a glass in his hand. “Sounds like they’ve nearly finished, so Cage will be here any moment.”

  “Hmm.” Katalina couldn’t quite remember what she’d said to him before being ill; she remembered the feel of his hand in hers. She liked him; he made her smile and he obviously cared for her, but all she wanted was to get better and go home.

  “You know, he’s been waiting for you all his life,” To
by said, his voice unusually serious.

  Katalina whipped her head around, not quite believing he’d said the statement. Toby was carefree; she wasn’t expecting such a serious comment from him. “Yes, I can see that. I can see he truly cares for me, but where I come from, people don’t choose who they love; it just happens; sometimes unexpectedly, sometimes it grows over many years. I don’t want to hurt Cage, but I don’t know how I feel about him. All I feel right now is a gaping hole in my heart, from where my parents were ripped away, for the normal life I used to live. I just want to go home. Is that so hard to understand?”

  “No, it’s not.” Cage walked into the room, and by the look on his face, he’d heard every word.

  “Cage…I—”

  “No, its fine, Kat. I get it. I truly do, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.” He looked at her a second longer before turning on his heel and exiting the room.

  Toby looked awkwardly toward the door and then Kat.

  “It’s all right, Toby, you can go.”

  He didn’t even say goodbye. Toby was up and out the door in a flash, locking Arne inside the bedroom, who scratched at the door.

  “Oy! Come here, boy.” Arne came over with a whine, jumping up on the bed besides her.

  Katalina wasn’t sure how long she lay staring at the ceiling. Absent mindedly, she ran her fingers through Arne’s fur, and when the bedroom door opened again, it wasn’t Toby or Cage this time; it was Karen, the doctor.

  “Hey, I heard you were awake. How do you feel?” she asked with a warm smile.

  “Better.”

  “Fever’s broken,” Karen said, holding a hand to Katalina’s forehead. “I just need to change the dressing on your leg. It was infected. That’s why you had such a bad fever, but you’re on the mend.”

  Katalina nodded and stared at the wall, while Karen busied herself with changing the dressing. A heavy feeling sat in her chest, gnawing at her, churning her insides.

  “So where have your guards gone? Those Sinclair boys haven’t left your side… Well, Toby mostly lurked outside because Cage wouldn’t let him in.” Karen smiled warmly.

  “Cage is angry at me and Toby went to see if he was all right.”

  “Oh.” She didn’t say any more, just carried on applying the cream she held in her hand.

  “I don’t want to hurt Cage; he’s lovely and has been nothing but nice to me, but Jackson has given Cage something that was never his to give in the first place. Only I can give my heart to Cage.”

  “And you do not want to give Cage your heart?”

  Katalina looked at Karen and replied in a sad voice, “I just want to go home and say goodbye to my parents. Why does no one understand that?”

  “I understand, Kat. You have every right to feel that way.”

  “Really? I just expected you to be just like the rest.”

  “Ah, Kat, do not take Jackson’s views as the whole pack’s views. Yes, we’d like to have our bloodlines continue. I personally would love to have you back, but we cannot always have what we want. In a perfect world, I would have never lost my daughter and you would have been brought up by your mother.”

  Daughter?

  Katalina looked at Karen, really looked. “Your eyes…”

  “Yes, your mother was my daughter. These eyes have been passed down from generation to generation, only in the females. Your hair though, you get that from your grandfather’s side. Unfortunately, he isn’t here to see.”

  “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you say who you were?”

  “Because, Kat, unlike Jackson, I do not presume that blood makes us family. Family is much more than blood. I’m guessing you already have a grandmother. I have no right to claim that status when I only knew you for the first six months of your life and what a wonderful six months they were. I’d love nothing more than to have the chance to get to know you, if you’d like?”

  “I…yes, sure, sorry. I just feel a little overwhelmed. The past few days have just been so…overwhelming.”

  Karen pulled the covers back over Katalina’s legs and turned to pick something up. “I can only imagine how you feel. I’ll give you some space. Here, I’d like you to have this. It’s a photo album of Jackson, your mother and you. I know Jackson has gone about things in completely the wrong way, but he used to be a reasonable man, a happy man. When his world ended, he traveled on the wrong path. It’s been nearly eighteen years now and no one has been able to steer him right, but I think, I think soon things are going to change.”

  Karen walked to the door. Sitting in the bed, Katalina’s emotions were in turmoil inside of her as she gripped the worn album in her hands.

  “What makes you think I can change him?”

  Karen smiled fondly. “Because, Kat, you have a fire in your eyes, a fire your mother possessed too and she…she was the only person who steered Jackson in the right direction.”

  “What was her name, my mother?” Katalina asked, staring at the album.

  “Winter.”

  Looking up, Katalina wasn’t sure she’d heard her right, “Winter?”

  Karen smiled sadly, “yes. Jackson, didn’t just leave you on any doorstep. He wanted you to carry her name.”

  Karen left the room, leaving Katalina alone with her thoughts.

  Running her fingers over the worn album, the leather faded and wrinkled. She couldn’t bring herself to open it. She wasn’t ready to see the life she could have had. She wasn’t ready to see the mother who never had the chance to raise her.

  Feeling suddenly overcome with fatigue she lay back down, wishing the churning knot in her stomach would go away. Karen said she didn’t expect anything from her, but that wasn’t true. She not only wanted her to carry on the pure bloodline, she wanted her to save Jackson. Katalina didn’t want to know him. She hated him for all he’d done and she didn’t think anyone could make him see he was wrong.

  Only a few days ago, I was happy… Oh, Mom, Dad, I miss you…

  Chapter 6

  The morning sun peeked behind the drawn curtains, flooding the room in a muted orange.

  “Knock, knock,” Toby said as he opened the door.

  “Hey, Toby.”

  “Brought you some breakfast if you’re feeling up to eating?”

  “Yes, please, I’m starving. Do you think I could get this drip out my hand? Kinda hate needles.”

  “Karen’s coming over at lunch. You’ll have to ask her then. She instructed me to change the bag though.”

  “You?”

  “Oh, okay, she asked Cage, but Jackson had a fit because she didn’t ask him. He stomped off somewhere, and then Cage…he asked me to do it. I saw Karen change it last week; can’t be that hard.” He grinned at her.

  “Hmm, I don’t feel worried one little bit.” She started to stuff the food he’d given her into her mouth. “So Cage hates me then?”

  “Hates? No, don’t be silly. He loves you.”

  Katalina’s eyes widened.

  “Well, maybe ‘loves’ is a little strong. Erm, he…well, he really likes you, Kat, and you kinda hurt his feelings.”

  “So he stomped off, too?”

  “Yep, it’s just me, you and Arne.”

  “So does this house have a TV or is that too high tech for shifters?”

  “Course we have a TV. Who doesn’t have a TV?” he laughed.

  “So can we go watch it? I’m going to go insane if I have to stay locked in this room another day.”

  Toby frowned, guilt clouding his eyes. “Kat, I would can’t really, but—”

  “Oh, come on, Toby, pleeasse. Don’t be a bore. You’re the only fun one around here, pretty please?” She smiled her sweetest smile.

  “Urgh, Kat, you are going to get me in trouble. All right, come on then; I’ll help you down the stairs.”

  Katalina slipped out of bed, using the metal stand her drip was attached to as support. “Yes! Thanks, Toby! You’re the best,” she said, ruffling his hair.

  “Ay!” he moa
ned, ducking. “Don’t push your luck!”

  “I’ll be on my best behavior, promise. Just the sofa and TV, what could go wrong?”

  Several hours later, Katalina regretted her words as a police car pulled up to the house.

  “Shit!” Toby muttered as Arne barked. “Shit, shit, shit!” He ran his hand through his hair.

  “Toby, calm down. You’re just a kid. They can’t do anything to you. I’ll just tell them you saved me if they are here for me. But honestly, how would they know I’m here. It’s probably about something else.”

  Toby looked around in panic and then locked eyes with Katalina. “Stay here! Do not come out, even if it is about you, got it?”

  “Toby.”

  “No, Kat, I’m serious. I might just be a kid but I’m also a shifter, and your dad, my alpha, would kill me if I lost you, and I mean that literally! Or worse, he’s probably out there watching the house and when they take you away, he’ll come out and start fighting the cops!”

  “All right, all right, you’ll never know I was here.”

  There was a knock at the door. Toby glanced at Kat, looking as if he might be sick. Taking a deep breath, he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

  Kat moved closer to the door so she could hear them properly.

  “Looking for a Jackson Song. Is he here?”

  “No, sorry, he’s out.”

  “Are you his son?”

  “No.”

  There was a pause. She could imagine the cop, bristling, his feet tapping with impatience.

  “Look, son, this is important. There’s a girl gone missing. Her parents are dead, and there was a report of someone carrying an injured girl a few blocks over from where she lived. These people saw the girl being driven away in the back of a truck. They got a partial number plate and their description with the partial, matches up with one of Jackson Song’s trucks. Know anything about that, son?”

  “No, sorry, no girl here, just me.”

  Arne started to scratch and whine at the door.