Page 3 of Stolen Choices

“Just like you’ve never given up?” She knew the polar bear had no intention of forming a relationship either.

“It’s different for me. I have the pack to look after. They’ll always be my priority.”

“And don’t you think sometimes they might want a mother figure—someone at your side to help you take the burden when it gets too hard.” She tried to make her point to her stubborn alpha.

At that moment, Jane walked into the room. She was the mother of Brayden the beta of the pack. Jane’s expression fell when she saw Katia being held by Kas. The woman who was also, in effect, the mother to the pack bowed her head and started to leave.

“I’m sorry. I’ll come back.”

Katia pulled away from Kas.

“It’s ok, you stay.” Katia walked over to Jane and reassured her just as the sounds of sex started above them again. Katia winced, and the older woman looked up to the ceiling.

Katia didn’t know if Jane knew what had happened to her, but Jane was special to Kas—she was one of the only links left to his deceased best friend. So Katia didn’t think it was a secret Kas would keep from her.

“I wouldn’t go in the lounge if I were you,” Jane warned. “I think the twins must be asleep because Emma and Scott are doing something similar to those two up there.” Jane rolled her eyes.

Emma and Scott had become parents to Zahara and Morocco a few months back. The twins took up a lot of their time, but everyone helped out as much as they could. When they got some alone time, the loving lions took the opportunity to ‘start working on more children’ as Scott liked to put it. However, Katia was pretty certain that Emma would chop the randy male lion’s balls off before considering anymore cubs.

“Thank you for the warning. I think I’ll go for a run instead.” She turned and left Jane and Kas alone in the kitchen

Katia made her way out of the house and through the main gates of the mansion. She disappeared into the woodlands and found a spot to remove her clothes before shifting into her animal, a white tigress. Her father had been a beautiful orange and black striped beast, and her mother an almost pure white lion. When Katia shifted she was a mixture of both of them.

She took off running, leaping over the forest floor while listening out for any humans. It was approaching December and there weren’t many of them about at this time of year. It was too cold and many of the roads leading into the higher sections of the park were impassable. It was the one time of year when the shifters were able to truly run free from the back door of the mansion into the glaciers.

She bounded over the snow, kicking it up, and having fun with the white flakes. They tickled her nose, and she sneezed loudly. The sound echoed in the park. This was the time she felt the most uninhibited—when she was wild and running. She could totally understand why a few shifters in the park decided to remain in animal form almost all of the time. Maybe that was what she needed to do.

Eventually she grew tired and found a cave to settle in for a little sleep before heading home. She’d try and pick up a deer for dinner on the way back as well. She knew Tyler, a wolf shifter and the pack’s chef, had been out all day on park duties so wouldn’t have had time to catch any prey. She shut her eyes and allowed the weariness to wash over her and draw her down into a restless slumber.

“Daddy, where are we going?” Katia followed behind her father. He was a strict man and had made sure she’d been brought up to know right from wrong, but at the moment, he seemed especially uptight—much more than normal.

“It’s business,” her father snapped at her. “We need to go and do this. I need to stop them from coming to the house and taking all your mother’s things.”

“Taking all her things?” She didn’t understand what her father was going on about.

She’d turned eighteen the week before, so she was fully aware of the tension in her parents’ marriage at the moment. Her mother had even gone to stay with an aunt for the last few days. Katia knew she cost her parents a lot of money, living with them. She ate a fair bit of food—she always had. Her metabolism was really high. It’s why she’d asked Kas, the alpha of the pack they belonged to, if she could move into the main house to help them out. She didn’t have many qualifications from high school, sitting down doing Math and English just wasn’t her thing. She preferred to be out in the wild, examining creatures, rock formations, and other natural wonders. Kas had welcomed her into the main house and had also given her a job as a park ranger.. “Daddy, please. Talk to me?”

Her father stopped in front of her as they approached a dark warehouse. It looked eerie from the outside, but she’d learned before that looks could be deceiving. Her father’s shoulders slumped, and as he turned to face her, Katia could see his eyes were red-rimmed with unshed tears.

“What’s happening, Daddy?” Her father reached out for her, but she stepped back.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, and grabbing her hand, he turned around, and pulled her toward the building. She tried to dig her heels into the ground, but her father had superior strength. Whatever was about to happen, she no longer had a say in it.

“Daddy, please.” Her father ignored her and stormed through the door of the building.

“Mr. Morgan, it’s good to see you,” a man with shifty looking eyes greeted them. He inspected Katia up and down, and it sent chills along her spine. She turned away from him and tugged harder on her father’s hand, but he gripped her even more firmly. “The boss is in the main room. I believe he’s been expecting you.”

Her father didn’t acknowledge the man—he just strode past him with his head held high.

As she passed, the man winked at her.

“See you later, princess.”

Katia shuddered at the tone of his comment. It was full of a promise she didn’t understand but knew she didn’t like.

When they entered the room, it was dark. A woman screamed off in the distance, and Katia instinctively stuck her claws into her father’s hand, trying to get him to let go of her. She wanted to run as far away from here as possible. He turned and growled at her but didn’t release his hold. She retracted her claws and sunk to the floor.

“It’s good to see she responds well to discipline.”

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