Chapter 25

**Kataleya’s POV**

Six days have passed since my birthday and it is now the day before my “challenge.” I would be lying if I did not say that I was completely nervous. I was worried about failing, but my father keeps assuring me that I am ready. I have spent the last six days doing rigorous training. Justin has joined my training sessions every single day, as if he was invested in me succeeding. The Elders and my father refused to tell me the warriors that I would be fighting during this. I just knew there were at least ten of them.

Today, the visitors that the Elders had invited were arriving, except for the Lycan King, Lucas. Lucas, his mate Jenna, and his guardian were set to arrive mere hours before the fight starts. My father told me to take today off, so that I can be well rested for my fight tomorrow.

I was still struggling with my nerves.

What if I fail?

What if I let my father down?

What if I disappointed everyone?

What if I was not cut out for this?

‘Stop it! Kataleya Frost, you stop that right this instant! We are capable of doing this. We are strong enough to do this! We are fierce! We are a warrior! We are a fighter! Most importantly, we are too stubborn to let anyone defeat us!’ Skye yelled at me. We have been going on like this for the past couple of days. I would think just one thing negatively and she would start yelling at me and reminding me that we are capable and strong.

I was walking in the city square when I received a mind-link from Justin.

‘Hey, Kataleya. Can we meet up for lunch?’

I thought about it for a second. I did promise I would give him a chance and the only times that I have seen him were when he came to training. I would be lying to myself if I did not say that my bond was calling for him, that I missed him.

‘Sure. Where would you like to meet?’

‘Zidelia’s Coffee Shop? Just promise me you will let me pay without arguing with me. Not only do I want to do this, but Zidelia is sort of intimidating and I don’t need her getting mad at me because you are paying for my food.’

I giggled at what Justin said. He is right. Zidelia is intimidating and she can be scary and mean. ‘I guess. I will agree to your terms.’ I heard him laugh through the link before we cut the link. I made my way over to Zidelia’s to wait for him. I was only waiting for about ten minutes before Justin got there.

Justin reached towards me as if he was about to give me a hug, before thinking about it, and pulling away from me. “Hey, Kat.”

“Hey, yourself.” We walked into the café and made our way to place our orders. We ordered the same thing that we ordered last time. After Justin paid and we received our food, we made our way to one of the furthest tables in the back.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow,” he asked me.

Do I answer him honestly?

Will he think less of me?

Gah, why can’t anything in my life ever be simple? I decided to be honest with him.

“I am terrified about tomorrow. Anytime I think about it, I get this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach and I start to feel sick to my stomach. I am not worried about having to fight the warriors. I am worried about disappointing everyone. What if I cannot do it? What if I fail?”

“Kat, love, I promise you will not fail and you will not disappoint anyone. Most of us are rooting for you. I will be there with you and so will your family. We will support you and have your back. Whenever you start to feel nervous or worried, just look at me and I will reassure you. At any point in time during any of the fights, you need to mind-link me for reassurance. Go ahead. I promise I will leave my link open for you.”

He reached over and grabbed my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Even after I constantly push him away. He is still willing to give me a chance. He must have the patience and love of a saint.

“I had a feeling that you would be worried about the fight tomorrow, so I wanted to give you a gift. It was supposed to be a birthday gift, but with everything that happened around your birthday, I just have not had the chance to give it to you. If you are willing, I would like to give it to you now.”

I nodded my head at him. I usually do not do gifts, but I could not turn down the look that was on his face. He seemed pleased with himself. Happy.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gift box. I opened the box and I gasped. It was gorgeous. Inside was a necklace, with the chain looking to be made of pure gold. It had a wolf howling at the moon and in the center of the wolf was a bright blue jewel. I felt a prickling in my eyes and I felt my eyes well up with tears. This was so thoughtful and the necklace was so exquisite.

“The color of the jewel reminds me of the color of your eyes. When I saw the wolf pendant, I knew it was perfect for you, so I asked the jeweler in town if she could modify it to add the aquamarine jewel to it. Not only does it remind me of your eyes, but the aquamarine jewel is, also, your birthstone. She assured me she could. The chain I had specially made, so that you do not have to worry about the chain breaking if you suddenly shift. It will still hang onto your wolf and it is made to withstand damage, so even in battle it should not break. I was hoping that you would be willing to wear them during the fight tomorrow. This way, you have a piece of me with you, reminding you that I will always protect you.”

I sat there stunned. This was the most thoughtful gift I have ever received from anyone. I can only imagine how expensive it was, which made me not want to accept it. Do not get me wrong, it is gorgeous, but I hate accepting gifts, especially ones that cost a lot of money. However, Justin put a lot of thought and effort into this gift. I could tell that it would mean a lot to him if I accepted it and wore it for him.

‘Please Kat…I want to wear it. If you don't do it for yourself, can you please do it for me? I rarely ask you for anything…’ Skye pleaded with me. I guess if it makes her happy too, then I would keep it and wear it.

I nodded my head at him. My throat felt tight. I was trying to prevent the tears from spilling over. I am not weak. He does not need to see my tears. Justin stood up from his seat and came over to me. He gently brushed my hair out of the way and grabbed the necklace out of my hand. He clasped the necklace before lightly kissing the top of my head.

“Thank you,” I whispered. I was still scared to speak. I was worried the words would not come out properly and that the tears would eventually spill over. He smiled at me before grabbing my hand and squeezing it gently.

“Thank you for accepting my gift. It really means a lot to me, Kataleya.”

I felt my face heating into a blush and I turned my head to look the other way, using my hair to my face.

I decided that I needed to change the subject before my face could get any redder.

“Do you know any of the warriors that Christopher has enlisted to fight me?” I asked him.

He looked away for a minute. I could tell he knew, but he did not want to tell me their names.

“I do. We were each made to give an oath to not tell you the names of those that are scheduled to fight you. I can only give myself away.”

I figured Justin would be one of them. He was one of the strongest pack warriors, so it would only make sense for Christopher to have him fight me. I knew that if they had found out Justin was my mate, then they would not have allowed him to go through with it.

“You really think I can do this?”

“I do, love. You underestimate yourself. We each took an oath that we would not give away the other fighters and that we would not go easy on you, since there were several of us that were friends of yours. You have kicked my ass several times in training already. I am positive that you will be able to do it again. This time we will just have a wide audience, love. Just know I am there for you, even if I am one of your challengers.”

It felt good to know that I at least had one person that was at my side and was rooting for me. Even if I am nowhere ready to accept Justin as a mate, I am glad that I have him rooting for me in my corner.

We finished our coffee and pastries and decided to walk around town.

“Thank you for helping me take my mind off of everything that is going on. I really needed this. I am shocked that you were not in training.”

“Well, the Alpha decided that I could have used a break too. So, he decided that I could take the day off from all of my duties for the day. As a matter of fact, all of your competitors were relieved of their duties for the day. The only difference is they still had to attend their daily training today.”

I laughed. Of course, they were all given the day off. Goddess forbid any of them to be too tired to fight me tomorrow. Once we finished walking around town, Justin walked me back to my room at the pack house. We stood outside my door in awkward silence.

As I was about to open my door, Justin lightly placed his arms on mine. The sparks when his hand touched my arm were heavenly. I turned to look at him and it looked like he wanted to say something, but was hesitating.

“I have been thinking about this all day…Can I please kiss you?” Justin asked me.

I froze. Was I ready for that? I will admit that over the past few days, I have been wanting to feel his lips on mine, but I am scared it will trigger something, even though the rogues that raped me never touched my lips…I guess that is one thing they left for me to have when I was ready.

I slowly nodded my head. Justin smiled at me softly, as he slowly lowered his head to mine. The moment his lips touched mine, I was met with the wonderful feeling of sparks. He placed his hand on the side of my face and his thumb gently rubbed my cheek. The kiss barely lasted thirty seconds, but I was already wanting another kiss from him.

“Thank you, love. I will see you in the morning. If you need me, I am just a mind-link away,” he quietly stated as he turned to leave.

I stood there in the doorway of my room and watched him walk away, my fingertips lightly grazing my lips where he had kissed me.