Joshua’s greedy betrayal was one more mark against his family—one more time he would have to tell his children that their children had turned against the pack.
He turned back to the remaining man and bared his teeth.
First order of business was to kill the male who thought he owned Katarina. She wasn’t awake to identify him, but it was obvious that he knew her and had been in on her capture.
“There many females in this world, comrade. Go find another one. Katarina was mine long before she was yours, d'yavol volk.”
You can’t have her, comrade. She is mine now, Reed sent to the man with all the male energy he possessed. His wolf chuffed in approval when the Russian clutched at his head in pain.
“Devil,” he spat. “You are devil of night. Shift to human. Do not speak in my head.”
I’m far too old and far too mean to let someone like you boss me around. Tell me, comrade. How do you prefer to die?
The man’s answer was a stream of Russian that came out too fast for Reed to interpret.
Hatred bloomed as he watched the man look beyond him to Katarina helpless on the ground. Anger greater than any he’d felt before lifted him to two legs to tower over the male. He looked down at the man and laughed when he backed away.
“Fight me, evil one. Let’s end this tonight.” Reed pretended not to be surprised that he now spoke as human, even though he’d ground out his threats through fangs that suddenly felt too large for his mouth.
More fire raced through his blood. His body expanded with every breath. He knew something incredible was happening to his wolf when the man’s eyes widened in alarm. Seconds later, the Russian mumbled to himself, shifted back to his wolf form, and ran back toward the building.
Reed briefly thought about chasing after him, but his need to get Katarina away from here won out over the urge he had to erase the man from existence.
He looked down at himself, trying to see what had sent the male running. What he could make out in the moonlight was the stuff of nightmares.
For a moment, his dire situation faded away entirely. The nanos that once saved his life—Ariel’s nanos that she’d shared so freely despite the risks—had now given him what nature had not all those long years ago, no matter how hard he had wished for it. All he’d ever been able to shift into warrior form was a single hand.
The Russian did not understand how right he’d been calling Reed a devil wolf.
Reed laughed with pure joy as he studied himself. No wonder Heidi had embraced this form so quickly. It felt both calming and lethal all at the same time. As horrible as the warrior form must have appeared to the Russian, becoming a fully shifted devil wolf had granted him the first real peace he’d known in centuries.
Keeping his new form, Reed picked up Katarina. He sniffed her before setting off. This close he could smell the strange scent and it was exactly how she’d smelled after getting shot with the tranquilizer dart meant for him.
He didn’t know how she’d escaped her captors, but Brandi was right, Katarina definitely was a survivor.
Reed moved easily through the grass back to his tree. He collected the two backpacks before putting Katarina gently over his shoulder and heading toward the road.
Brandi had gone over the layout of the nearby land on their drive. There was a small town within thirty miles from this location and a wilderness resort with cabins ten miles in the opposite direction.
Not having Brandi’s skillset in out-thinking criminals, Reed couldn’t gauge how ambitious the kidnappers might get in looking for her. He had the warrior form now, which would make it much harder for anyone attacking them.
Getting Katarina settled somewhere to recover made more sense than calling for help. One of the cabins at the resort could be empty. That would be good a place to spend the night and the day tomorrow if needed.
9
Katrina woke to the sound of running water. Her hands rested on soft bed linens instead of the rough covering on the cot in her cage. She’d run away from the cage. Right?
She fled into the tall grasses outside her prison and fell on her face in the dirt. Everything before that was fuzzy—she’d dreamed something—and then passed out. That was all she recalled, and it was vague. Perhaps remembering yesterday was not as important as her current situation.
Where was she now?
Katarina blinked the desire to go back to sleep away and tried not to think about how sluggish and sick she felt. Had someone taken her from her captors? She knew the bad guys had betrayers among them.
Her hand stretched out to touch the other pillow. Someone had slept beside her in the bed. Her sense of smell was off this morning, but what lingered definitely wasn’t human. Her hand came back to her chest. All her clothes were still on and her body felt no violation.
It couldn’t be either of the men who tried to steal her. First, they were both completely human. Second, she’d shot both of them with the tranquilizer and locked them up in her cage.
Hadn’t she?
Sighing at her lack of certainty, Katarina put a hand to her hurting head. Whatever they’d given her was more than a tranquilizer. The one man had said it would keep her out for days. Thank Nicolai, all she’d gotten was a tiny bit of it.
Bringing her attention back to the immediate problem, that she didn’t know who was in the shower, she wondered if the person was friend or foe? This was the first problem to solve because it would determine what else needed to be done.
She rubbed her eyes and groaned softly at how much she hurt all over. She could use a shower herself… and some food that wasn’t laced with drugs.
Logical—she needed to be logical. Use your head, Katarina. Think like a smart she-wolf.
If the person in the shower was one of her kidnappers, her wolf would have been snarling by now. Since her wolf was not driving her crazy, it must be a rescuer. Right?
This had to be true.
Trusting her beast to warn her if she was making a mistake, Katarina pushed to the edge of the bed and slid her feet to the floor. The room and everything in it swum for a moment. Finally, she stood up and coaxed her wobbly legs into walking toward the bathroom.
This was a compact space. All the furniture was in one room with a small kitchenette in a corner. She saw a modern fireplace as she limped by. It was equipped with a small carousel of heavy wrought iron tools. She limped over to it and selected one with a pointed end like a spear. She tested her strength and made a stabbing motion in the air. Shifting to her wolf might be riskier than fighting a human if her wolf was also affected by the drug.
The shower cut off as she quietly pushed the door open enough to peer inside. She held her makeshift weapon up and took a fighting stance so when the naked person saw her, he or she would know she meant business.
A large man stepped out the shower and looked around for a towel. Relieved, Katarina snorted as she watched him. Why did men never get their towel before they got wet? It was one more disappointment about him to add to her list.
Reed’s naked body, though, fulfilled every fantasy she’d had and then offered more… temptation. It was the only word that fit. Yana would laugh when she told this story. Her sister would think it funny that she stood in the shadows to watch in secret.
Reed’s nearly waist-length hair dripped water down the back of him, which was soaking the mat he stood on. The front of him, though, was as muscled and toned as any male a fraction of his age.