Page 3 of Pack Kasen, Part 1 (Caught #1)

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KAT

T he next morning, I decide I need to check something out.

Three of my exes are dead. One is still alive. So he’s either going to be the next victim, or he might know who is behind the Gregson College Campus Killer. I know for sure he can’t be a werewolf like I am.

Skipping class makes me feel sick, but some things matter more than graduating with a perfect attendance record.

I head for a dorm that I haven’t been in since last year. I smile at the guys I remember, and nod at those who are vaguely familiar. All are football players.

Doug’s room is on the second floor, and when I reach it, I knock firmly on a familiar door, rocking back and forth on my flat heeled ankle boots as I wait.

Further down the hallway, a door snicks open and a familiar voice calls out.

“Hey, Kat. Long time no see.”

I turn to smile at yet another member of the football team. “Hey, Pat. How are you?”

Patrick is in sweats and a navy varsity hoodie so sweaty he couldn’t have long returned from a workout. He winks at me. “All the better for seeing you.”

The auburn haired linebacker is a flirt, but he’s harmless so I play along. “You find a girlfriend who will handle your bullshit yet?”

“Not yet,” he says as the sound of Doug moving around in his room briefly distracts me. His eyes flick from me to the closed door and his smile fades slightly. “I’m holding out for someone special. See you around.”

With that, he retreats to his room as the door in front of me swings open.

I come face to face with Doug, my ex-boyfriend. He’s half-asleep at 9:30 in the morning, and the room behind him is a mess.

“Hi.”

He blinks bleary blue eyes at me as he scratches light brown hair sticking up in all directions. I itch to smooth the strands down, the way I used to when he pulled his helmet off after practice.

“Kat, hey. What’s up?”

Doug Hart is the star quarterback in the football team. A country boy from Wyoming who, for a short, sweet time, claimed my heart.

If I wasn’t what I am, and he isn’t what he is, I might have built a life with him.

“Do you have a minute?”

He gives me a penetrating look as he shakes off the remnants of sleep and takes a step back, holding the door open for me. “Sure. Come on in. Sorry about the mess. Want a drink?”

I take in the room in one sweep. Takeout containers, an overflowing hamper of dirty laundry, college books, and, surprisingly, a hot pink thong on the floor beside his bed.

His eyes bounce from me to the thong, and his smile is awkward. “Uh, that isn’t?—”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

“I don’t, but I’d like to,” he says, his tone sincere. “Ryan borrowed my room last night. Coffee?”

I believe him. The only lie he ever told me was the one when we first met.

I follow him to the coffee machine he set up on his desk. Next to the small silver machine, there’s all the creature comforts a student might need: a toaster oven, microwave, and an air fryer. We’re actually not supposed to have all that stuff in our rooms, but everyone has them, and the college has shown no interest in punishing anyone for them.

I’m lazy, so I eat almost all my meals in the campus dining rooms. Doug at least tries to be healthy. He keeps microwave grain packets on a shelf above his desk, along with packets of veggies you can steam, and marinated chicken in his tiny refrigerator.

“And you let him?” I’m not sure I’d be happy lending my bed for someone to have sex on. Even if they cleaned up after them, I’d still smell everything.

He shrugs. “His roommate had his girlfriend over, and I had to train late, then study. I didn’t need the room, but he did.”

That’s Doug all over. Generous to a fault.

I shouldn’t have come here.

Doug can’t be the killer. I knew that before I took one step into his room. Yet here I am, being reminded of a life I can’t have.

“Kat?” The corners of Doug’s eyes crease in concern. “You okay?”

I form my lips into a smile. “Yeah.”

He points at the glass jar of coffee pods he has next to his closed laptop. “What flavor do you want?”

I shake my head. “I’m good. Did you hear about the murders on campus?” I hop on the desk, my hands flat on the surface and kicking my feet the way I always liked to when I’d come over to his room.

I don’t even realize I’ve done it until his mouth kicks up in a half smile. Then his smile fades. “I did. You’re taking care of yourself, right? No late night walks on your own?”

I never went for late night walks on my own. I went for runs as a wolf.

“Nope. You?”

He grabs a coffee pod from a glass jar and sticks it in the machine. Doug is not a big drinker, another big surprise for a jock. His vice is fancy coffee with hazelnut syrup and creamer. “I can sack a linebacker. You …” His blue eyes drift over my body and they turn heated. “You are far too tempting.”

I’m 5’5 and slim, though not because I work out. I have a crazy fast metabolism to thank for that. To a 6’2 football player like Doug, I’m probably an easy victim for the Gregson Campus Killer.

I might not look like someone who can handle themselves in a fight, but I have other ways to defend myself from attacks. Doug doesn’t.

I slide off the desk as he takes a step toward me, his coffee apparently forgotten. “I better go. Need to get to class. Take care of yourself, okay?”

And I mean it.

We didn’t break up because he fell out of love with me or I fell out of love with him. He’s going to have a normal life one day. Probably find a nice girl, settle down, get married, have kids. The works.

My version of normal isn’t going to be the same as his, no matter how much I might want it to be. And it has everything to do with the wolf growls in my head.

“Or you could stay,” he softly suggests.

We’re entering dangerous territory here.

Doug is being nice, and he’s shirtless. We’re in his dorm room, and no one is likely to bother us for a while. Possibly the entire day.

“I can’t.”

“So you came here to ask me about something everyone knows all about?”

“No, I, uh, came to make sure the killer hadn’t gotten you.”

He raises an eyebrow, and it’s clear he just saw through what suddenly feels like the thinnest excuse in the world to come see him.

I could have called him. I still have his number. And if I didn’t want to speak to him, a quick trip to the football stadium would have reassured me he was okay.

So why am I here?

“Because you knew all the victims?” Doug asks, watching me closely.

Doug isn’t a jock who chose an easy major and parties often. He’s smart. I don’t know why I’m surprised he’s put all the pieces together. It’s another reminder that we couldn’t have worked. How long would it have been before he figured out I wasn’t human? What would he have done about it? Accepted me?

Most likely he’d have done the smart thing and run, and a rejection like that would have hurt.

“And because I wanted to ask if you were near the library yesterday?”

He looks away, breaking eye contact. “Why would you think that?”

From his evasiveness, I know he’s lying. “Just thought I might have seen you, but I wasn’t sure if it was you or not.”

Lie. I picked up his scent near the bottom of the library stairs.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have picked up on it, but his clean sweat, musk, and cedar scent was strong, like he’d been standing outside there for a while rather than just passing by on his way to somewhere else.

“Doug?” I prompt when he doesn’t respond.

He closes the jar for the coffee pods and gives me a sheepish smile. “Busted.”

“Why would you be busted?”

“I know you sometimes like to study late. I was hoping to speak to you.”

“About?” As if I don’t know what he would want to speak to me about. It’s in his eyes. I’ve seen what he wanted the moment he swung the door open and invited me inside.

Me.

The longer he doesn’t speak, the more I’m aware of the fact we’re alone in his room.

I skirt around him, heading for his door. “I have to go.”

Any other guy would push the issue. Not Doug. Never Doug.

He follows me to the door, reaching around to open it for me.

“My door is always open, Kat,” he says softly, his words stirring the hair on the back of my neck. “I know you can do everything on your own, but if you ever need help, you have it. And I can always rustle the rest of the football team for backup.”

I twist to face him. “Not necessary, but thanks.”

He looks at me, and I see the same thing in his eyes as I did when I broke up with him four months ago.

Pain.

Hurt.

It hurt me too, Doug. I wish I could tell you how much.

I drag out a smile for him. “We wouldn’t have worked out, Doug.”

“Because I’m a brainless jock and you're a smart accountant?”

“You’re going to law school. Not just a law school. The law school. I don’t think that makes you a brainless jock.”

He’s a talented quarterback who could go professional if he wants, but he wants to change the world into a better one if he can. So he walked away from the NFL and is headed to Harvard instead.

His eyes sparkle with amusement. “The admissions team must have been having a good day when they got my application.”

I snort. “And it has nothing to do with that 4.0 GPA and so many extra-curriculars that you filled three sheets?”

He scratches his head, his smile bashful. “I might have gone a little overboard.”

“Maybe a touch.”

His smile fades. “You’re determined to be the one who got away, huh?”

“You’ll find someone else and forget all about me soon enough. I really do have to go.”

He doesn’t return my smile, but he opens the door wider for me. “I’m not sure I agree with that statement.”

The longer he looks at me, the more I wish I was a little more human than I am. “Goodbye, Doug.”

He steps closer, and I hold still as he presses a soft kiss on my cheek. “Bye, Kat. Forever the girl who got away.”

I walk away.

Just before I hit the stairs, I turn around.

He’s standing in the middle of the hallway, watching me go, and his smile is so sad it breaks my heart.