Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles #2) (31 page)

“Regan hates me,” she reminded him, wincing even as she did so. If he had an angle he was playing, she wanted to know now before things got messier.

“Regan is unbelievably self-centered,” he said bluntly, and then he chuckled. “I love her, though. I’d die for her. I’d kill for her, though I surely pray it never comes to that.”

Lee Fenner
, she realized.
He’s talking about the alpha
.

“I don’t want Lee to mate me off to someone,” she said. “Justin said I’ll be given some time to adjust.”

He made a face. “Not so sure of that, Kat. Your lupine instincts will kick in better if you’re in a relationship. That’s how wolves are. Focus on the group, and you’ll worry less about yourself.”

She felt a twinge of desperation. “Doug, there’s a guy, a normal guy—”

He lifted a hand to cut her off. “A few years ago before his . . . condition . . . you might have been able to talk to Lee about this guy, but not now. Regan and I were lucky. Every once in a while someone gets bit in to the family, to bring fresh blood, widen the gene pool. It’s a practical thing but still a very rare thing. Right now, something like that would be forbidden. Lee’s our alpha — and that business with . . . you know . . . has meant he can’t afford to be seen to back down from any decision.”

“Not even one that concerns his own daughter?” she asked. “Her safety? If he’s her alpha, isn’t she his responsibility?”

“That’s why he banished her. So that she wouldn’t be his responsibility,” Doug replied. “So he could avoid putting her to death.”

“But he could choose not to. He’s the alpha.”

“We live by forcing her. So, if you value both your lives, keep your mouth shut. And I will, too.”

She nodded. She was grateful for Doug’s understanding —and for his discretion. But he was a member of the pack, loyal to Lee and married to Regan. How much of an ally could he be? And if Lee’s own daughter, high-ranking Cordelia, wasn’t going to be allowed back into her family, into her pack, what choices did she have?

She cast a sidelong glance his way. He seemed to be a good man. Al, too, who was married to Arial. How did two such nasty women end up with decent guys? It was a mystery.

After a while he spoke again. “The clearing’s just ahead.” He peered up at the sky, which was almost dark. “We should get a move on.”

He broke into a run and she raced with him. Even though it was shadowy and dim beneath the trees, she could still see the way. It felt good to stretch out her legs and to let loose, running so fast she marveled at the feeling of the speed.

Birds scattered as she and he burst into a clearing and came to a stop. The rest of the pack had gathered. They were wearing underwear, T-shirts, and tank tops, and she averted her gaze, embarrassed. Someone chuckled.

Clad only in track shorts, Justin was standing next to Mr. Fenner, who had on a bathrobe. Doug touched her elbow almost imperceptibly and then walked over to Regan. Lucy was holding hands with Jesse, and Arial and Albert were talking with their heads close together.

Mr. Fenner raised his head and lifted a finger in the air. “Get ready,” he told her. Then he tossed off the bathrobe, revealing a pair of boxers and a cheap white T-shirt.

He meant for her to undress, too. She’d put on loose shorts and a T-shirt beneath her clothes, and she looked around for a good place to stash her stuff so she’d be able to find them again in the morning.

Hopefully before anyone else wakes up.

Her skin was beginning to tingle. They had cut it close. The change was coming.

In the next instant, Katelyn found herself surrounded by several half-dressed young men, including Steve Berglund. They ringed her, walking slowly around her, acting as though they were sniffing the air. Her chest tightened. What was happening? Was Mr. Fenner going to choose a mate for her tonight? She opened her mouth to scream a protest and it came out as a howl.

She could feel the moon pulling on her, calling to her. Fire traced its way through her veins and she could hear her bones cracking. Her clothes ripped at the seams as her body changed.

She glanced up and saw everyone changing around her, and fresh horror flooded her.

I’m lost
.

18

Running

Bounding

Yipping and howling

with the pack

with the group

with the family

One among many

The pack is mighty!

Who do you run with?

Wolf girl, wolf boy

Dashing, soaring, flying

unfettered, free, released, unleashed

freedom in unity

the hills, the woods, the deer, the deer, the deer

the blood

the waterfall

the heart of rock

the waterfall

The males were loping around her, singling her out, and the wolf that was Katelyn rejoiced in her attractiveness while she snapped her jaws at them. But it was the waterfall that caught her attention, that and the rock; there was something about them that was important. Did predators lurk there?

A danger.

A monster.

A promise.

An answer.

Then the wolf that was Katelyn lost her name, as she was lost in a river of fur. In the pack. And all thoughts vanished in the hot, steaming blood.

Katelyn awoke and felt the frosty dirt beneath her cheek. She sat up swiftly.
My clothes. Where did I leave my clothes?

But she and Doug had only just made it to the meeting site before everyone started to change. She’d still been wearing all her clothes, which meant they were ruined, the shredded remains scattered who-knew-where.

Mortified, she rolled over onto her stomach. Drowsing scatters of naked people surrounded her. Jesse lay sprawled unashamedly on his back with his arm over his eyes. Farther on, Mr. Fenner was lying with his back to her, a clump of forest tangle shielding his backside from view. Past Mr. Fenner, Steve Berglund lay beside an older woman Katelyn knew she had met, but she couldn’t remember her name.

She saw blood in the grass and tasted some in her mouth. The air smelled of a deer they had taken down. She remembered washing Mike’s blood off. She’d be taking another shower before she saw her grandfather.

Behind a tree, someone was shushing someone else and giggling. Katelyn scooted behind the next one over, trying to cover herself.

What was she going to do? She had no idea how to get back to the Fenners’ house, where she had a change of clothes in her overnight bag. Then she heard a soft step behind her and crossed her arms over her chest, hunching forward, before twisting to look over her shoulder.

Hannah, the young woman she had seen in Babette’s, held out a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. She herself was dressed in a jog bra and bike shorts.

“Thank you,” Katelyn said, gratefully taking the clothes.

“You’re welcome,” the other girl murmured, eyeing Katelyn — the new girl at school, the new girl in the pack.

“I’ll give these back as soon as I can,” Katelyn said as she yanked on the T-shirt and then pulled on the sweats as fast as she could.

“Don’t worry about it. I once got caught too close to the change. I know how it feels,” she said, wrinkling her nose. Then she bent down to offer her cheek to Katelyn. It still didn’t feel natural to kiss total strangers on the cheek, but Katelyn did it, remembering to offer her cheek to Hannah in return. Hannah brushed Katelyn’s cheek gently.

Before she could say anything else one of the women called out, “Hannah!”

“Gotta go,” Hannah said, disappearing into the underbrush.

Katelyn stood up, stepping from behind the tree. Most of the two dozen or so others were awake now, chatting as they dressed.

“Kat.” Mr. Fenner approached her in a light blue, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. He was carrying a pair of cowboy boots and had a tall, younger guy trailing after him, maybe early twenties, hands stuffed in his jeans pockets, lower lip pushed out in a childish pout. His name escaped her. He had a scruffy beard and moustache, and an overabundance of dark bangs that swept across a high forehead.

“This is Quentin Lloyd,” Lee said.

“Hey, Quentin,” Katelyn said, checking his eye color.

Amber.
Not the one who bit me.

“Quentin
Lloyd
,” Mr. Fenner corrected her. “That’s his whole first name. Last name is Oskarsson.”

There were a lot of Scandinavian last names among the members of the Fenner pack, which made sense, since they’d originally come from there. Katelyn opened her mouth to say hello again, but then it dawned on her that the alpha wasn’t introducing Quentin Lloyd just to be sociable.

“Kat,” Quentin Lloyd said, looking over her slowly. Inspecting her. Undressing her with his eyes. In a bit of pushback, she folded her arms across her chest, and Mr. Fenner chuckled.

“I’ll leave you two to get acquainted,” he said, before walking over to speak to Doug. Doug caught her eye. His expression said
Be nice
. Then he redirected his attention back to Mr. Fenner.

Quentin Lloyd cleared his throat. “I don’t like this any more than you do. My family’s line is almost as old as the Fenners’ and I thought the alpha thought better of me than this. I don’t deserve to be paired with a bit-in nobody.”

Even though she wanted nothing to do with Quentin Lloyd either, Katelyn couldn’t help but be completely offended.

“If you’re so upset, why don’t you challenge him?” she snapped.

“Shut up,” he said, and spat at her face. Stunned, Katelyn wiped her eyes with hands shaking with rage —
how dare he!
She could hear growling. “Maybe I’ll just take you out instead,” he said. “You’re worthless and he’d probably thank me for it.”

She opened her eyes again, blinking. Steve Berglund and two other guys were advancing on Quentin Lloyd. Their teeth were bared; they were the ones making the growling sounds, and past Steve she could see Justin standing bare-chested with a T-shirt in his hand, expressionless, tracking every movement.

Quentin Lloyd flicked his head toward the others, as if not deigning to face them outright, and he growled as well.

Every fiber of Katelyn’s being urged her to take him on. Hit him back.

Challenge him.

What was it Justin had said about gaining higher status in the pack and having more control? You married up or clawed your way up. And she was getting ready to do some clawing.

As if he sensed what she was feeling, he narrowed his eyes at her, face twisted in fury. “They all think you’re some kind of prize. Let them have you.”

“One thing’s for sure,” Katelyn shot back. “You never will.”

“What’s going on here?” Mr. Fenner demanded, striding up in his boots.

“She spoke treason against you,” Quentin Lloyd said.

“
What?
” Mr. Fenner whirled on her. His eyes — his human eyes — began to glow. Katelyn had never seen that happen before, and it chilled her to the bone. Things were different. More dangerous. She began to sweat.

He was standing on the balls of his toes; his large hands wrapped into fists. He was about to spring.

“She asked me to challenge you,” Quentin Lloyd said, sneering at her.

Terror washed over Katelyn, tugged at her, a fear so deep she could only sense its fatal grasp on her. She was in mortal danger. Lee Fenner had banished his own daughter. He had threatened to kill her, Katelyn, numerous times. This might be the only excuse he needed. The pack would be rid of their problem.

Barely able to move her head, she glared at Quentin Lloyd, who was smiling sourly at her, certain that his accusation had hit home, and that Mr. Fenner was about to kill her.

It’s either him or me
, she realized over the howl of fear stuck inside her throat.
Think. Say something
. She bowed her head submissively to Lee, then looked up.

“He spat on me because he doesn’t want me,” she said, her head still ringing from the accusation. “He went on about how his family line was just as long as yours and that I — that what you were doing to him was — was outrageous.”

Mr. Fenner scowled, first at her, and then at Quentin Lloyd. She sensed his uncertainty and knew she had to buy some time. She had to save herself.

“I did not!” Quentin Lloyd shouted, but even she could hear the quaver of deceit cloaked in his indignation.

She seized on it and faced Lee again. “I told him you were his alpha. I said you knew what was best. And if he didn’t agree, and he was man enough, then he should challenge you to your face instead of going behind your back.”

Gasps arose from the onlookers.

Lies. And more lies.

Life-saving lies.

“I didn’t say that, alpha,” Quentin Lloyd protested. “She said I should . . .” He backed away.

Lee Fenner pivoted on his boots, eyes blazing brighter, and locked his sights on Quentin Lloyd. “You dare, boy? We got more than one traitor in this pack?”

“No! That’s not — not what I . . .” Quentin Lloyd stammered, taking a step back and lifting his hands as though to defend himself. “Alpha, I,
please
!” The last word burst from deep in his chest, an anguished cry that just seemed to infuriate Lee more. “She’s lying to you. She’s just an uppity bitch, don’t know her place—”

Lee Fenner changed into a wolf, the transformation swifter than Katelyn would have thought possible. He was completely white, like an albino, a huge, monstrous beast with his glowing eyes, and he leaped onto Quentin Lloyd like a whirlwind.

Quentin Lloyd slammed backwards against the ground, the wolf on top of him. Then he himself began to change, and she could hear the snapping of his bones.

“Quentin Lloyd!” someone screamed.