Reed (Nano Wolves #4) - Donna McDonald Page 0,10

is alpha material and is already alpha in many ways. So is your father. Only alpha prospects are chosen for betas, or so I have been told. Packs are mysterious to lone wolf like me.”

“Lone wolf? Does that mean you don’t have a pack?” Stewart asked.

“Nyet. I mean, no. I do not have a pack.”

Stewart shook his head. “What do you do when you have a problem? Or when you’re hurt and scared? When I get my visions, Aggie pats my head and Kent tells me everything will turn out fine.”

Katarina sighed at his innocence. She couldn’t remember ever wishing for such comfort. “When I am scared, I guess I comfort myself.”

Stewart reached over and put a hand on the pretty Russian wolf’s arm. “That must be very hard.”

Katarina lifted a shoulder, but she patted the small hand on her arm. “In a hundred and fifty years, I’ve had a lot of practice. Thank you for caring. How old are you, Stewart?”

Stewart bit his lip because he hated the question. He never knew what to say to people who asked his age. “Like in real years or wolf years?”

Katarina laughed. “Which answer will shock me more? I want to hear that one.”

Stewart laughed. “When Mom got us, we were about four. Then suddenly a few months ago we were somewhere around eight. Now I’m like twelve or thirteen—I think. Kent and Aggie are still eight though. What’s happening to me is strange, but Mom says it’s just my werewolf pattern of growth. Apparently, we can all have different ones.”

Katarina nodded. “I agree with your mother. I do not find it strange. That’s what destiny is like—always bringing big surprises. All you can do is pray for help to accept what life brings to you.”

Stewart snickered. “Well, actually, I have been praying a lot lately because I really, really, really want to shift into an actual wolf.”

“That is a very specific request. I am curious, Stewart. What god do you pray to?” Katarina asked because the boy’s openness and positivity charmed her.

Stewart lifted a shoulder. “I suppose it’s fair to say that I trade up gods frequently. Aggie finds me a new one whenever I get tired of waiting for my shifting prayers to be answered.”

Unrestrained laughter bubbled up and out of Katarina. When she heard a masculine snicker, she glanced over and saw that a sleeping Reed hadn’t really been sleeping. His eyes were all but closed, but a grin tugged at his mouth, proving he listened to the boy. Reed looked very appealing with that grin, so she turned her focus back to the male beside her.

“When I was kidnapped and running for my life, I prayed to ghost of famous Russian werewolf who left my father’s pack and came to live with Reed’s pack in Alaska. The spirit of Nicolai Vashchenko answered my desperate prayers and sent your mother and her pack to save me. Turns out he was also Reed’s great-uncle through friendship. I think sometimes the best family is the one you create for yourself as you go through life. Nicolai was lucky like that—he was lucky like you.”

“I suppose I have been lucky. You need to get lucky too,” Stewart insisted. “No wolf should be alone—not even a lone wolf.”

Katarina nodded as she grinned. “Well, I recently found a sister I didn’t know I had. Her name is Yana. So I guess I have begun process.”

Stewart nodded. “That’s awesome. Is your sister Russian too?”

“Da. And she looks like me. Except much, much younger. I was my father’s firstborn. She was one of his last.”

“It must be cool to know who your actual father is,” Stewart whispered.

Katarina shook her head. “No. It is not good thing. My father is evil wolf. Hundreds of times I wish he had never been part of my life.” She lifted her finger and pointed at him. “You are luckier to have parents who chose you and love you for yourself. That is special blessing. Never take it for granted.”

“Oh, I won’t,” Stewart promised as he looked to the front of the plane where his parents were fussing with each other. They were passionate about life, which made them passionate about the three of them. He really did feel lucky. “Dad said Mom made a deal that made our Grandpa give us up to her. My grandpa’s not evil, but he sometimes does some things my parents don’t approve of. I get why Mom refused to leave us there with him.”

“You