Winter Wolf (A New Dawn Novel Book 1) by Rachel M Raithby Page A

knees.
    His hand ran through her hair. “So that’s why you didn’t change when you were running for the car. I’m surprised you could control your wolf. No more worrying. You are safe now, Katalina.”
    Katalina turned her head to the side, her cheek resting on her knees. She looked at Bass with unshed tears in her eyes. “Am I? Am I ever going to be safe? Dark Shadow want me dead and my own father wants to keep me as a prisoner. What was his plan? To just lock me up until he decides he wants me to have babies with Cage.”
    Bass growled. His hand caressed her face. “I will never let anyone hurt you again. I’ll keep you safe. Do you understand? You are mine, not his, and I will treat you like the queen you are. You’ll never be locked up again.”
    Mine was such a possessive word, yet coming from Bass, it sounded anything but.
    “Queen?”
    “Yes, Katalina Winter, you are a queen, a very beautiful one,” he said softly, brushing his thumb over her face. “Now, let’s get you home.”
    “Do you think Jackson will come looking for me there?” she asked. “And your father, will he not wonder where you are?”
    “I’ve taken care of my father, and as for Jackson, he’ll most definitely come looking, but as long as you’re with your family he can’t just kidnap you. We may live outside of the law a lot of the time, but he couldn’t get away with taking you in front of humans. I’ll figure something out, just concentrate on dealing with all that’s happened and I’ll worry about Jackson. Okay?”
    “What do you mean, ‘taken care of your father’?” she asked.
    “Katalina, stop worrying, okay,” he answered a little sharply.
    Katalina nodded her response, wondering why he was being cagy.
    He smiled at her warmly and Katalina chose to leave the subject. She trusted him. Sebastian Evernight made her feel whole. He was the missing piece she’d never realized she’d been searching for.
    He’d rescued her. He was taking her home and he’d gone against his pack for her. He’d said she intrigued him. He’d also said she was beautiful, a queen; but what did all that really mean? She needed to understand what was between them; she needed a real answer.
    “Why, Bass, why are you taking me home? Why are you helping me? And don’t say I intrigue you. That’s not an answer.”
    He glanced at her briefly, smiling. “You’re mine.”
    “What does that even mean, Bass? Talk like a normal human being, will you?”
    He chuckled softly at her.
    “What’s so funny?” she said, frustrated.
    “You are. I’m not human, Kat. I’m a shifter, just like you, and I’m talking just like a shifter.”
    “Well, I was raised in the real world.”
    He looked at her, a sparkle in his eyes. “So you were, and in the ‘real world’, as you put it, I’d say, I love you, Katalina Winter.”
    Katalina couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe. He loved her, this gorgeous, sexy, boy, loved her! How was that even possible? They’d had a handful of meetings and stolen kisses, yet her heart raced when his words flittered through her.
    “Your wolf was made for mine. They fit perfectly together. We were made for each other. You are mine and I am yours. You’re my mate, Katalina.”
    She was mesmerized by his words. He spoke with such certainty that she found herself squeaking out, “Mate?”
    “Yes, Kat, mate,” he chuckled again. “Can’t you feel it?”
    There was a rightness to his words. “I knew you were coming. Before I even saw the truck. I knew it was you. I didn’t understand how, but deep down I knew.”
    He took her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing each of her knuckles. “Because you are my mate.”
    Katalina moved closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. She soaked up the heat of him. “I love you, too, Bass.” Her words spilled from her without them even registering in her brain. She spoke from her heart. As soon as they filled the cab, she knew she had spoken the truth.
    They drove