Noah’s eyes widened, his voice dying into a rasp as his blood splattered across Katalina’s face.
“Noah,” Katalina gasped, shaking him as he slumped over her. “Noah, please.” He couldn’t be dead; they’d been too much death already. She could deal with her own death but not any more of her friends and family. “Noah,” she cried, a sob catching in her throat. “Please.”
They’d been laughing and joking only seconds before. It wasn’t fair. It shouldn’t be possible to be tickling her one second and gone the next. Yet in her world, such horror happened far too often.
Arne’s barking vibrated through her head, mixing with the screams of her family outside of the car. As urgency pumped through her blood, her wolf came to the forefront of her mind. Shifting Noah into his seat, Katalina then closed his vacant eyes and wiped away tears running down her face.
“Goodbye, my friend,” she whispered.
Dragging in a breath, fury surged through her body, ignited by the pain of yet more loss. A scream built in her chest, fire charging through her muscles as she searched out of the shattered window and found the enemy she intended to kill.
Kicking open the car door and climbing out, her arms rigid by her side, Katalina’s body hummed with the strength of her contained rage. Tipping back her head, she let the aguish rip from her throat, echoing through the air, and the scream carried, the sound nothing human, and almost at the same time, Bass’s reply met hers in the sky.
Her family was confused, crying, huddled on the ground, covering one another. There was no hiding her secret anymore. No protecting her family from the deadly aspects of her new life. She’d known it was coming. It had hovered over her, a constant reminder she’d never be free until she’d finished the war.
Yet she wasn’t ready.
But no amount of preparation truly prepared one for the destruction of war. The death, the violence, the blood, yet as Katalina let her claws slip free and unleashed her fury with a snarl, she raced forward, knowing it could be to her death, and okay with that as long as it meant the others would live.
They swarmed out of the trees, an army for one lone wolf. Castor had planned this well. This was no sneak attack to cause annoyance; he’d been waiting for the moment she’d be alone, and he’d made sure there was no way she’d escape.
The first three dropped dead, their blood coating her hands, spraying across her body. She didn’t think, didn’t watch the life drain from their eyes. They were obstacles in her way. Threats to her family. She’d fight them to her last breath if needed.
Crowding her, someone jumped on her back, bringing Katalina to her knees. Screaming, she slipped her knife free and swung it behind her and into flesh, but no matter how many times she stabbed, he wouldn’t release her, and his weight was forcing her to the ground. The other’s pressed in. A foot kicked out her knee, sending her sprawling as another attack stole her breath. She thrashed and stabbed, her rage vibrating through the air, but there was no freeing herself against such a number.
Dropping the blade, Katalina shifted, howling as she shook them off. Hot blood filled her mouth, dripped through her teeth as she tore into flesh and lashed with her claws. Her lungs were on fire, her limbs reaching their limit. Twisting and turning, Katalina avoided their blows, lunged with her own, but it was no use. No amount of training would have prepared her to take on a small army.
Whimpering as her paws struggled to find traction, her legs buckled, and she met the hard ground with a pained growl. But then another growl filled the air, quieter, but no less furious.
No!
Arne jumped into the fray, taking the man pinning her down flying, and they tumbled over and over, fur and skin. Katalina forced herself up, fought her way to her dog. Something hit her hard in the chest. She heard the crack of bone, felt the scream of pain, but it was nothing compared to the need to reach her dog.
He was fierce and loyal and brave. He’d saved her once, won against a pack of wolves, but this army didn’t care about killing a dog.
Arne! Their gazes met, as his filled with pain, and he whined as he slumped to the ground. Shifting, Katalina screamed his name, crawling through blood and dirt, desperate to reach him.
“Arne! No, Arne!” Gathering him into her arms, tears fell from her eyes and landed on his fur as he whimpered. “Shush, boy, you’re all right. You’re going to be all right.”
Arms seized her roughly, dragging her upright. “Get off me. Get off me. He needs help,” she yelled, thrashing. “I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you all!”
Arne belly-crawled toward her, his back leg twisted wrong, his breathing labored. Fighting until the last breath just as Katalina would do.
Her claws ripped free, gorging into flesh as she kicked and screamed.
“That’s about enough from you.”
Agony burst through her skull, stealing her sight, and all the will in the world couldn’t fight the darkness beckoning her into the long goodnight. Body going limp, Katalina slumped into the arms of her enemy, unconscious and helpless as she and her family were taken captive.
Chapter 37
Bass
“No,” Bass whispered, his tone holding the edge of horror. He’d known in his heart what he’d
