Page 45 of Cold Foot King
Wreck gave a slow smile. “The wilderness. We’ll see how you get along when the creature comforts are taken away. Quick announcement. One of you has earned a spot already. Katrina, welcome to the Crew.”
Her cheeks heated with pleasure as the others clapped for her, but beside her, King had gone still.
She swung her gaze up to him, but his expression was unreadable. “Why didn’t you tell me?” King asked.
“I…well it happened earlier before I Changed, and then Silver asked me not to talk about it—”
“Ladies,” Wreck called out, “you’re in the blue one,” he said, gesturing to the second vehicle. “The rest of you are with me in the yellow one. Load up!” He climbed up onto the tracks and into the side door of the square-bodied rig.
The others dispersed, but King looked troubled.
“Are you not happy for me?” she asked, confused.
“No, no. I’m really happy for you, it’s just…” He frowned. “I don’t know.”
“Look, I know it’s a big move, but I’ve been thinking about it, and I saw Damon’s Mountains come together for that war. The lions and the boars were all bullied and manipulated into attacking Damon’s Mountains, but I saw them, King. They were there just to protect the people they cared about. And I was thinking that’s maybe something I would like to try. Especially after talking to Silver. She’s happy. She feels safe and secure.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, hoping he would understand. “Happy sounds nice. We could be happy there. We could be a part of Damon’s Mountains and have the safety in numbers. It could be a type of family group for us, right?”
His face had softened as she’d talked. He parted his lips to respond, but Wreck barked out, “Now! We have somewhere to be, and a long way to get there.”
“Coming,” King murmured to the Alpha, and then gripped the back of her neck and pressed his lips to her forehead. When he eased back, he told her, “I’m happy for you, Kat.” Truth. There was truth in his tone, but as she watched him walk toward the yellow people-mover, confusion washed through her in shallow waves. His tone had held truth, but it had sounded a little sad.
Frowning to herself, she made her way to the blue one and climbed up on the tracks, then ducked under the low doorway of the car.
The human guides were driving the front sections of the vehicles, and the passengers sat in the square-bodied section that was dragged behind the first.
There were three rows to sit in, which meant each of them—herself, Raynah, and Timber—got their own seats to stretch out on.
“The boys are probably so pissed right now,” Raynah said, settling her belongings against the edge of the bench seat.
“That’s part of the test for them,” Timber explained. “We’ve seen no red flags from you two that you can’t control yourselves around other dominant shifters.”
Katrina raised her hand. “In the interest of honesty, I had an issue with two shifters in the gas station.”
“Yep, and King told Wreck about it, and we reviewed the camera footage of the scuffle. You have every right to put a motherfucker in their place if they talk to you like that, but you didn’t Change, or put the human cashier in there in a dangerous situation. You walked away.”
Huh. Okay then.
The engine had been rumbling, and now it roared as the guide hit the accelerator. She could feel the sheer power of this machine as the tracks began turning in the snow, dragging them to a forward momentum. The tiny town of Deadhorse disappeared behind them quickly, and Katrina was lulled into a sense of peace as they travelled through the snowy Alaskan wilderness. There was a camera positioned up front, and Katrina gestured to it. “When we get to Montana, are those everywhere around where we will live?”
“Hell no,” Timber muttered. “I hate them. We have to figure out the Crew fast though, so we can make travel arrangements before Damon is done pulling that prison apart. Wreck has a good sense for people, but you know that saying, ‘when the cat is away, the mice will play’? We need to see how everyone behaves when Wreck isn’t watching them like a hawk.”
Raynah shrugged. “It’s really not that different than what we’ve been dealing with. There’s cameras all over the prison too. No privacy. It’s probably why you don’t have any complaints about them now. It feels pretty normal.”
“That’s tough,” Timber said sympathetically.
“I won’t miss it. I hope Wreck picks me,” Raynah said, staring out the window. “Best thing I could do for this kid is put him in a Crew of Damon’s Mountains.”
“You said ‘him.’ Do you think it’s a boy?” Timber asked softly.
“All jackals are boys.”
“Maybe it will be a crocodile shifter.”
Raynah kept her gaze on the snowy woods outside as she shook her head. “I have a feeling. Momma’s intuition.”
Katrina had been afraid the father was the Jackal. Raynah had never wanted to talk about it, so Katrina had stopped asking. In a way, she’d been lucky to be assigned to King. Looking back through the haze of the medicines, he’d still tried to be kind, and had fought it for as long as he could. And right when they’d finished coupling, he’d told her how to escape Cold Foot.
Katrina shook her head hard to rattle that memory from her mind. She couldn’t fit the King she’d met in prison with the one she was getting to know now. It would make her defensive again. It was easier if she just pretended she and King were completely different people in that prison.