Page 37 of Pack Kasen: Part 1

It’s a bright sunny day out there from the way the sunlight bounces off an unfamiliar guy’s high cheekbones. The brightness gives the impression he’s bald, though he has a short blond buzz. His honey-brown eyes study me curiously as he gives me—and the room—a quick scan. “Ah, I guess Aren isn’t here.”

He lingers in the open doorway instead of actually leaving.

I step up to the cage, careful not to touch it. “Why do I have a feeling you knew that before you opened that door?”

He widens his eyes in surprise. “You think that?”

I study him some more, then I return to sitting on the floor, crossing my legs. Might as well get comfortable and preserve my energy if I’m not going toe-to-toe with the Wolf King.

“I guess you were curious about the caged feral and are here to study me like an animal in a zoo.”

He darts a rapid glance over his shoulder, then enters the room, pulling the door closed before he leans against the wall opposite my cage.

Like the beta, he’s in casual clothes. Black sweatpants and a long-sleeve dark gray T-shirt that he’s pushed up to his elbows, revealing tanned, strong forearms. And bare feet. We really must be in the sticks if no one around here wears shoes.

He’s yet another attractive guy, but since the man responsible for putting me in this cage is a tool, I don’t have high hopes that this one is not.

He crosses his arms. “Maybe a little.”

I eye him curiously. “You could let me out.”

A crooked smile kicks him up from an eight out of a ten to an eleven. The Viking is a twenty, but again, he’s a tool, so that failing knocks him back to a three. Maybe less.

“I could. But I happen to like my head attached to my body, so that’s not going to happen, pretty lady.” His gaze turns speculative. “You’ve been quiet.”

“Ah, you assumed I was crying in a corner?”

He jerks his head in a small motion that could be yes or maybe. “They’re usually screaming or begging by this point.”

“To pass the time? I don’t blame them. There’s not so much as a book in this place for entertainment,” I quip, my tone dry.

He laughs. “I think I like you.”

“Enough to open up that door and let me out?” My tone is hopeful, but I know what the answer will be. No one is letting me out of this cage. That is one task I have to figure out on my own.

He wags one finger at me. “Not quite.”

We study each other in silence. Unless I’m mistaken, he’s as curious about me as I am about him. My interest in him isn’t because he’s attractive. It’s the feral intelligence in his gaze that suggests he’s like me. A werewolf.

I prefer the term the Viking used. Shifter makes me feel less of a wild animal. Though, maybe being in a cage is what’s making me feel like an animal.

I’ve gone from believing I was the only werewolf to suddenly being surrounded by others like me.

It’s bittersweet. Years ago, I would have killed to know more about what I was and why I am the way I am. But learning about it this way makes me wish I was alone in the world.

“I’m Kat,” I introduce myself. “Who are you?”

He seems surprised by my willingness to talk. “Troy.”

“Do you think he’s going to kill me soon?”

He cocks his head, curious. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m supposed to be giving the graduation speech soon, and I’d feel a lot less guilty about missing it if I was dead than if I was here squatting over a bucket, caveman style.”

He laughs. “I definitely like you. Can’t do much about the facilities, sorry. Why are you giving the graduation speech?”

“They asked me to.”

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