“And she joined both packs together and stopped a war,” Olivia added, grinning.
“Liv!”
Olivia laughed. “Sorry, just teasing. Katalina is as capable as anyone else when it comes to looking after herself. She’s just mollifying her overprotective mate and father.”
“Right,” Eva said, not sure she really did understand.
Sitting down at the table, the three women tucked into the food, conversation leaning toward simpler subjects. Eva was happy being quiet and enjoying a cooked meal. It had been a while since she’d eaten something homemade that she hadn’t thrown together herself. It wasn’t until after her mother had died and the initial haze of grief had passed that Eva realized how much she’d taken for granted. Homecooked meals, freshly ironed clothes, a kiss on her cheek whenever she’d return home. It was all the little things that hurt Eva the most, and the absence of them cut more than she’d care to admit. She’d seen the same sorrow in her father’s and brother’s eyes when they’d notice things missing, and so she’d begun to do the things their mother had done for them. Eva stepped into her role even as it killed her to do so. Every day became a reminder, she was cooking tea or worrying about Zackary because their mother wasn’t there to do it anymore.
Yet since Zackary had been bitten and they’d looked for help, finding Dark Shadow and River Run, her life had taken a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn. Because there was no one left to cook dinner for or call goodbye to as they left for work or school. The role she’d taken over disappeared when they went from having a home and a routine to living out of a motel and dealing with things like turning into a wolf and building cabins for them all to live in.
Her brother and father had seemed to thrive since arriving. Her dad pleased to be busy with work and her brother making new friends and learning the dynamics of his new life. She kept waiting for things to go back to normal, for her life to restart again, but as each day ticked on, Eva was beginning to think life had begun again for her family, only she wasn’t in it.
Realizing she’d zoned out, Eva concentrated on the two women and their discussion.
“I stuck up for you. Set Nic straight. Teaching is your job, therefore important,” Katalina said.
“Thanks. I swear sometimes I’d like to bat him over the head.” Olivia laughed.
“What do you teach?” Eva asked.
“Ballet. I run a studio in town.”
“Oh, wow, that must be cool.”
“I love it,” Olivia responded, a light in her eyes. “Dancing is freedom for me.”
“I like to run,” Eva added.
“You’ll be in good company here then,” Katalina said.
“I doubt I’ll be able to keep up with wolves,” Eva pointed out.
“Probably not, but we do run for pleasure and not speed, occasionally,” Katalina replied, smiling.
“Who’s got room for dessert?” Olivia asked, standing to collect the plates.
“Please tell me it’s chocolate something.” Katalina groaned, rubbing her tummy with a grin.
Olivia rolled her eyes. “Of course, it’s chocolate something, I knew you were coming.”
Katalina leaned in close to Eva. “Liv’s the best cook in the pack, but we keep it a secret so we can enjoy her spoils all to ourselves.”
Eva found herself grinning. Katalina had a lightness to her, as if it would be impossible to be unhappy in her presence.
“Chocolate cheesecake,” Olivia announced, putting the dessert in the center of the table and handing out plates. “Nico informed me that if you eat it all, Kat, he’s going to kick your ass, Bass be damned.”
“Ha. I’d like to see him try. I need at least a quarter.”
“It will just go to my hips,” Eva added, “so I’ll have less than a quarter, please.”
Katalina looked her up and down. “There’s hardly anything on you. Eat up.”
As the night drew on, they moved to the sitting area, and the subject turned to Bass and Nico and their overprotective ways. Eva was happy listening to them talk, but as she did, it occurred to her that maybe John had been acting in similar ways with her.
“Can I ask you something?” Eva butted in.
“Of course,” Katalina responded.
“Is it just mates who get that way, or are all shifter men more protective in general compared to humans?”
Olivia and Katalina shared a glance. “What’s John doing?” Katalina asked, looking amused. To Eva’s relief, Olivia looked as confused as Eva felt.
“What do you know?” Olivia demanded.
Katalina seemed to force the smile from her face. “I’m Bass’s mate. He tells me things, but I can’t repeat it all. Otherwise, he’d have no one to confide in. So, Eva, what’s he done?”
“Nothing bad…. I don’t know. It’s the way he looks at me sometimes, like when that guy attacked, he looked crazed with worry, and he wouldn’t let me walk even though I was capable of doing so. I just kinda got the impression he needed me in his arms to know I was all right because he was shook up. But that’s stupid, right? Why would he be affected by me getting attacked? You guys deal with this stuff all the time.”
“Hmm, yes and no,” Olivia replied.
“That’s not all that helpful,” Eva pointed out.
“We’re naturally more touchy-feely,” Olivia explained. “Touch is in our animal’s nature, but what you’ve described doesn’t sound like everyday behavior.” She gazed at Katalina expectantly.
Katalina dropped her head into her hands and let out a heavy sigh. “Fine,” she mumbled through her fingers. “But what I’m about to tell you cannot leave this room, okay?”
The two other women nodded.
“John likes you, Eva. More than he does other females of the pack.”
“As in romantically?”
“Uh-huh” Katalina
