Reed (Nano Wolves #4) - Donna McDonald Page 0,23

mean waiting a while in this cage. It would be hard not to drink or eat. She would suffer… but when she got free, she would make others suffer.

Except for her father. Her father she would kill. She should have killed him long ago.

Katarina hoped her glare combined with a wide smile reflected all the evil working in her heart as she stared at Clone Joshua. The cowardly wolf looked down and away. It brought forward a laugh born of power. Something inside her squirmed and wanted to be set loose.

“Your government has scientists too, Clone Joshua. They are coming for those who paid you. They are coming for everyone here. They will kill you for betraying your pack if I don’t do it first.”

“Your warnings do not scare me,” he declared.

Katarina laughed loudly. The sound echoed in the room. “A smart wolf does not expect someone stupid to believe truth. You need proof, yes? Proof I am happy to provide you. I swear on spirit of Nicolai Vashchenko that soon you will have your proof.”

“Vashchenko was a traitor to his original pack.”

“Nyet. Nicolai left pack who killed his mate to find people who were kind to each other,” Katarina argued. “He saved me from Clone Travis so I could be here now.” She shook her finger. “If you want to see true traitor, look in mirror, boy.”

“Enough,” her father said with a swipe of his hand through the air. “Katarina has vile tongue like snake. Do not test her.”

Katarina laughed again. “Tongue like snake? Maybe. My fangs are more deadly than snake. Would you like to see?”

Her father manhandled Clone Joshua as he dragged Reed’s traitorous grandson from the room. She felt sorry for Reed again. He might be stoic and passionless, but he was a magnificent wolf who cared for his people. Reed deserved to make a version of himself as good as he was. He deserved to create a Black Wolf alpha to replace himself.

When they were gone, Katarina couldn’t stop thinking of how it would hurt Reed to discover he had yet another traitor grandson. A wolf who’d been a fair alpha for hundreds of years surely deserved a better legacy.

“You’ve gone soft,” she said aloud. “And do you think to help him create miracle version of himself, Katarina Volkov? You are dreamer instead of realist. Reed is done with such things—done with family. He has said this. His heart has suffered from too much failure. Better you think of how to escape cage than indulging in female dreams like Yana.”

Katarina closed her eyes and hoped the metal thing Brandi had put inside her would help betray her captors. She knew they were coming for her. Brandi and Gareth would look. Maybe Stewart too—their smart son—would look as well.

But Reed? The man seemed too close to dead to make the effort. She would be wise to let all her wishes for that handsome wolf fade away.

Brandi liked silence—preferred it even—but Reed took it to a whole other level. He hadn’t spoken in over an hour, not even to ask questions. When she couldn’t handle the silence anymore, she cleared her throat to get his attention.

“Jon really seemed to enjoy tearing that helicopter apart. His strength is amazing.”

Reed nodded. “He has exceptional control of his beast. I’m glad for him.”

“Loving your children provides exceptional motivation,” Brandi replied.

Reed turned to smile at her. “It does. You’re a great mother, Brandi. Given how that bear described the boy’s transformation, I have even more respect for what you and Gareth have taken on.”

Brandi nodded. “I’m choosing to be positive about it. I didn’t see it, but I heard the description. Maybe Stewart’s form is like Heidi’s fighting form.”

Reed thought about it and nodded. “For that to be the case, whatever wolf blood was used would have had to have that form within its genes.”

Clearing her throat, Brandi stared out the front window. “Yeah, well, about that—I think I know who supplied the wolf genes that Randall fed to my kids.”

“Me?” Reed guessed, appalled at the idea that they had used him to create more werewolves.

“Only indirectly. The first wolf Randall used was definitely in your gene pool,” Brandi whispered.

“You’re talking about Travis,” Reed guessed.

“None other,” Brandi confirmed. “I don’t intend to tell them until I have no choice. Shitty Sheldon…”

Reed snorted. “Is that another code name?”

“Yes. After Stewart had his first growth spurt, Shitty Sheldon asked to do a DNA match between the kids and me to check an idea