Winter Wolf (A New Dawn Novel Book 1) by Rachel M Raithby Read Free Book Online Page B

nothing more than to reverse time and never meet any of you!”
    Karen didn’t answer; though, Katalina could see she’d hurt her.
    “I…I’m sorry that wasn’t fair. I’m just…”
    “It’s all right, Kat. I understand and I am truly sorry for your loss. Being a shifter is something we treasure. I hope you will understand after the change.” Karen stared off into space for a second, her mind elsewhere. She snapped her head up, plastering a smile on her face. “Right then, Toby tells me you’d like this drip off. I think you’re almost better, so let’s get it off.”
    Katalina sat on the edge of the bed in thought as Karen bustled around her, collecting medical supplies.
    “I’d like to change that dressing one last time, too, if you don’t mind?”
    “Sure,” Katalina answered, swinging her leg gently up onto the bed. “So is Jackson always like that?”
    Karen locked eyes with her. “Did you look through the album?”
    “Oh, no, I just, I’m not ready.”
    “Look at it, Kat. There you’ll see the man Jackson used to be, the man he could be again.”
    “I don’t understand why everyone puts up with him. Why would they want a leader with such rage?”
    “Because, Kat, wolves live by a code of honor and loyalty. He’s our alpha and we would die for him. We also hope that one day the man we lost will come back to us.” She left quietly on those words and Katalina went back to staring out the window.
    She wasn’t sure how long she’d stood there, but when she finally decided it was time to look at the family she’d once had, the moon had risen high into the sky, its crescent shape casting a dim light over the snow-covered world.
    Picking up the album and a thick blanket from the bed, Katalina went down the stairs and out the front door; there she sat on the porch steps, the blanket wrapped around her and the album in her lap. Taking a deep breath, she opened it. The first picture was of a woman. She looked to be in her early thirties. She was sitting on a bed with a baby in her arms. Katalina looked at the woman’s smiling face, at the happy glint in her eyes and the glow of love for the newborn she held.
    She didn’t need to read the description to know this was her mother; they shared the same eyes and hair; in fact, Katalina thought it was like looking at an image of herself in another fifteen years. There was no mistaking their relationship.
    She turned to the next page and almost didn’t recognize the man who stood with her and Winter. Jackson still had the same messy fire-red hair, the same imposing stance, but in the picture, his eyes didn’t hold the haunted look of grief, his mouth didn’t have the hard set of rage. Jackson was truly happy, his hand gently holding Winter’s, beaming proudly at the camera.
    Katalina flicked through the whole album looking at picture after picture of her first six months of life; in every one they were happy, and it wasn’t just pictures of Jackson, Winter and her. There was one with Karen and another man with his arm around her. There was a group shot with a couple who looked as if they were Cage and Toby’s parents, and the last was one of around thirty people, Jackson and Winter at the center of them, and all around stood happy, smiling people.
    Katalina closed the album as a tear rolled down her cheek. Her hands trembled as she hugged the album to her chest. With each breath she took, the pain inside of her threatened to burst. She stared out, the darkness a welcome companion. The feelings inside of her were as bleak and empty as the desolate landscape around her. The grief and loss she felt grew by the day, the hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach a constant thing. She wondered if she’d ever be whole again.
    “Kat?” Karen walked out onto the porch. “Kat, what are you doing out here. You’ll freeze to death!”
    Katalina swiped at her tears. “I won’t be long. I…I just needed some air.”
    Karen’s hand rested on Katalina’s