Epilogue

**Kataleya’s POV--Four months later**

The past four months have been a dream come true. Surprisingly, everyone was welcoming of me becoming the next Alpha and those that were not welcoming of it were smart enough to keep their mouths shut. I told know who was meaner if someone had said something negative towards me being Alpha. Justin or Oliver. The pack knew not to cross either one when it came to me.

We were now getting ready to enter the Crimson Sun pack for the annual summit that we had been invited to.

Michael came with us, as did the rest of the ranked pack members. These summits were typically boring from what I remembered from when I went with my parents when I was a child. It had been several years since I have had to attend one.

I was hopeful about this summit, though. Hopefully, we will be able to change some of the laws that I have been wanting to change.

The first being the need to have pack elders. I have felt for the longest that the Alpha does need an advisory council, but one of their choosing…not members of the pack that are like fucking 200 years old, who are not progressive in their ways in the slightest.

We were sitting in the conference room, waiting for the meeting to start, when Michael gripped my hand under the table. I looked at him inquisitively before he spoke through the link.

‘My mate…my mate is here.’ he gripped my hand in a death grip and refused to let go. I looked towards the door to see a beautiful young lady walk through the door as my brother tensed. She had her hand wrapped around the arm of one of the neighboring Alpha’s…Alpha Stavros…

Oh no…she is already mated from the looks of it.

They both locked eyes and I could see the storm of emotions in both of their eyes. My brother got up and quickly left the room as she took a seat next to Alpha Stavros, staring at the door that my brother had left through.

I shared a look with Justin and Oliver. Oliver got up and left the room, assuring me that he would go and check on my brother and make sure that he was okay.

***************

Fifteen minutes later, the meeting was underway. We have now been through several different propositions and requests for changes to several laws before it became my turn to present the law that I so desperately want to change.

Alpha Edwards turned to me, “Alpha Kataleya, it is your turn to present the law that you want to change before we vote on it.”

I stood and walked to the front of the room and made eye contact with Justin. Justin gave me a small smile and a nod, encouraging me to continue.

“Good morning, everyone. I am sure everyone has heard some of the issues that my pack and I have had within the past few years, regarding issues with some of the higher members of the pack.” Everyone nodded their heads at my statement. “I petition that we vote on removing the pack elders and instead choosing to have an advisory council put into place. I want an advisory council of Alpha’s choosing. The council changes each time a new Alpha takes over the pack. It is hard to get anything accomplished when the men that we are solely relying on to help guide each Alpha are not ‘with the current times.’ They are not progressive in their thoughts and ideals. Our world is changing and it is time that the packs start to mirror that change. There would, of course, be requirements that are needed in order to sit on Alpha’s advisory council. It will not just a bunch of the Alpha’s friends, but rather those that the Alpha trusts. It is hard enough to run a pack, but even harder when you feel that the people that have set out to guide you are against you.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Alpha Edwards put it to a vote. Since I was one of the Alphas that had brought forth an issue, I was not allowed to vote on my issue, which left it to be fairer in the eyes of the king. You can’t tip any issues that you want to change if you aren’t voting. The bright side is, not only Alpha’s can vote, but anyone that is in the room is allowed to vote.

After several hours of the Alpha’s in the room debating, they have finally come to a conclusion. They have decided to abolish pack elders and allow the Alpha’s to choose their own advisory councils!

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Night has now fallen and we were getting ready to attend the ball that is thrown on the last night of the summit.

There was a small knock on the door and I told the person to go ahead and come in.

Michael opens the door slowly and walks in. The moment I saw him, my heart broke for him. His eyes were swollen and red-rimmed. Oliver had told me that he was not handling it well, but had requested that I not come and “harass” him. He wanted time alone, which I could respect.

“I spoke to her,” he whispered. He was quiet for a moment and I glanced back at him to see tears streaming down his cheeks…

“What happened, brother?” I asked him quietly. I could tell the conversation hadn’t been good just from his reaction.

“…she rejected me…said she was not ready to leave her ‘boyfriend.’ Am I not good enough?”

My heart slowly broke for him the more he spoke. I walked to him and engulfed him in my arms.

“She is young, brother. Give her time, but don’t give up. If you didn’t accept the rejection, then there is still hope for the bond. Figure out what pack she is from and see if you can spend some time there. Tell her, you just want to get to know her. You are not expecting anything more right now.”

He nodded his head as he started sobbing. I have never seen my brother so broken before. I had offered to stay with him and not attend the ball, but he insisted that I attend and that it would be a waste if I let this beautiful dress go to waste…so I agreed, but told him to link me if he needed anything…

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Everything happens for a reason and that is something that I have to believe in order to keep going sometimes. I was heartbroken by what had happened to my brother, but it reminded me to be grateful that I had never rejected my mate and that I had kept him by my side. I get a sick feeling in my stomach when I think about the pain that I caused Justin in the beginning of our relationship…at the same time, though, I would not change what we have gone through for the world. It only made us stronger, not only as a person, but it has made us stronger as a couple. Our bond is stronger.

I can just feel that everything will eventually work out with my brother…or at least I can hope it will.  The moment I told him to go to her pack and get to know her, I knew that it was the right thing to say. I had a good feeling about him going.

I can’t wait to see what my future will hold, not only for my family, but for Justin and I.

We will always pull through. Love will always win out. No matter what.

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A/N

We have officially reached the end of book 1! I want to thank everyone for joining me along for this journey and I have appreciated all of the reads and comments and the likes. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the comments and some of the theories that my readers have had.

Don't worry! This is not the end of Justin's and Kataleya's story. Book 2: His Alpha's Guardian has already been released, but it will not be on NovelNow. It will exclusively be on GoodNovel...so if you are curious as to what will happen to them, then feel free to hop on over and continue their journey. The first 7 chapters have already been posted. It will have daily updates with at least one chapter, but the intention is to release at the minimum to chapters each day. You can follow my writer instagram at Nani.Akamai. I post when I update and sometimes I post aesthetics, as well as some future releases. I hope you will give book 2 a chance. ❤️❤️ Also, there will be a spin off novel featuring Michael and the path to his mate, which is why Michael was featured in the Epilogue. His story will pick up from his POV at the Alpha Summit. It should release later on this year!