Page 76 of Pack Kasen: Part 2

His answer surprises me. I thought he would be out the next day, killing anything that moved. He seems the type to kill first and ask questions later.

After a brief glance at me, he continues. “Hunting was fun. I loved to spend hours in the forest until it was pitch black. You know?”

No. I don’t know, but the pang in my chest tells me I wish I did.

“Then it stopped being fun?”

“It was the only thing I was good at.” Another quick peek in my direction reveals a serious expression. “After I helped bury them, I started hearing about other ferals. Look around.”

I look around.

“What do you see?”

Trees. Leaves. Bushes. All are stirring from the gentle but insistent wind that comes from the east. That’s it. I shake my head. “Nature?”

“This is Burning Wood. Come fall, it is the most beautiful place in the world. Every imaginable shade of red and orange in the leaves. It’s home, but here, I don’t have the power I needed to change things everywhere. It’s why I entered the Wolf King Trials.”

I look at him, more confused than ever.

“It’s held every three years. The Wolf King can enter whatever territory he wants without starting a civil war with the Alpha, whose territory it is. He holds a council every year with all the Wolf Lords in the country and can change more things than an Alpha who likes nothing more than to hunt in his forest in the middle of nowhere. It’s why I needed to win it.”

“You sound like a hermit.”

One corner of his mouth lifts. “Finan says it’s the sole cause of my problems with communication. I converse more with the bunny or deer I’m chasing down than people.”

“That’s no excuse,” I tell him, in case he thinks that gives him a free pass from giving me the apology I deserve.

“I know.” He stops walking and turns fully to face me.

When he says nothing else, I grind my molars together because even now he still cannot say the damn words.

“And I’m guessing you won,” I say, a bite to my voice as I ask myself why I even let him come on this walk. I knew he would do or say something to antagonize me. I knew it.

“That and every single one since then. I’ll continue to win them until the shifters who are ruining humans’ lives by turning them doesn’t happen again.” He holds out a hand. “I want to show you something.”

I don’t move. “You just did.”

Surprisingly, he smiles. “Is there ever a day in your life you’re not stubborn?”

“Yes, when I’m sleeping.”

He grins at me, and it’s so handsome I understand why some women would forgive him. “I’d like to show you something, Kataleya Prairie, and I think you’ll like it.”

As always, I feel a wave of raw emotion wash over me at the name. Pain. Joy. It’s bittersweet that I have my name back. Maybe soon the rest of my memories will come back too.

“It’s not anything involving nudity, is it?”

His grin is boyish. “It might.”

Yeah, that isn’t happening.

“I think I’ll sit here and enjoy nature.” It’s a little boring. A run through the forest, preferably while hunting something would be more fun, but I’m not here to have fun.

“You sound like an old lady,” he tells me.

Ignoring him, I take a seat next to a tree, pull the economics book I brought with me from my canvas bag, and open it. “You are trying to provoke a reaction from me. It won’t work.”

“How about a run?”

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