Chapter 35

**Justin’s POV**

I was stuck on what she had said. Her words kept filtering through my head. “They took turns fucking me…” My poor sweet mate. “I screamed until I was hoarse…no one was coming…” I couldn’t believe what she had been through… “They continued to fuck me and torment me…I tried fighting them off in the beginning, but my attempts were futile.” Is this really what she was terrified to tell me about…Her words were playing on an endless loop.

‘Um…Justin…You need to pay attention to what is going on. She is leaving.’

His words snapped me out of my thoughts. Fuck, she wasn’t in bed anymore. She had gone to the bathroom and I heard the lock click.

Fuck…I fucked up.

It shocked me when she told me…I don’t know what I was expecting her to tell me, but it was definitely not that.

I made my way to the bathroom…I could hear her quiet sobs. I quietly knocked on the door.

“Kat, love, can we talk? Will you please open the door?”

“No, go away. I don’t want to talk anymore.”

“I will make it easier for you. You don’t even need to look in my eyes to reject me…I, Kataleya Frost, future Alpha of White Fang, reject—” I don’t let her finish the rest of the sentence. I jammed my shoulder into the door and I heard the hinges groan under the pressure. “you, Justin Carter.” I rammed into the door again. I felt the pain in my chest starting as she continued with the rejection. The fifth time I rammed the door, the hinges gave way and I was able to get him. I rushed into the bathroom. Kataleya’s eyes were red and puffy, she had tears streaming down her face.

I gripped her face in my hands and lifted her face to look at me. “Please, can we talk? Please listen to me before you reject me.” I begged her. I never would have caught myself begging someone. Begging was below the standards I had set for myself, but I would do anything for her. She just does not understand it yet. She didn’t say anything to me. She just sits there, tears streaming down her face, her arms wrapped around her knees.

Goddess, I did not mean to hurt her. I didn’t mean to upset her.

“Can I pick you up?” I hesitantly asked her.

She barely nodded her head, giving me the permission I needed to pick her up. I picked her up and carried her back to her room and sat her on her bed. I sat next to her and we sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Kat, what did I do that caused you to want to reject me?”

She let out a small cry before she responded, “The look in your eyes. The anger. The hatred. I turned and I looked at you and you were angry with me. You looked as if you hated me...I was going to make your life easier. That way, if anyone asked you about your mate, you could say that I rejected you, instead of telling them that you rejected me because of my past…” She trailed off, wrapping her arms back around her knees.

“Kat, look at me. Please?” She continued to sit there, not looking me in the eyes. I reached over and I gripped her chin and lifted her face to look me in the eyes. “Love, I was not angry at you and I do not hate you. Far from it. I was angry, yes, but not at you. I hated what those rogues did to you. I hate them for taking away your innocence. I want their blood. I want to find them and kill them. I want to make them regret ever touching what is mine. I want them to regret ever taking anything from anyone without their consent. I want to torture them. Most of all, though, I want you to be okay. I want to help you heal from your trauma.” I let go of her chin and pulled her towards me, wrapping my arms around her and holding her tightly.

“Y-ooo-uu aren’t l-l-eavin-n-g m-m-me?” She stuttered. I could feel my chest getting wet from her tears. “Never, baby. You are stuck with me.” I responded immediately.

Goddess, I almost lost her because of my anger. I was so lost in my own thoughts I did not feel her pulling away from me. Fuck, I don’t know what I would have done if she actually had gone through with her rejection. I think that was what scared me the most, she was going to reject me and not let me explain what was going on with my head.

“I know it is too early for you and I am not pushing you…I just want you to know that I love you.” She stood quiet, lying on my chest. I kissed her forehead and laid back onto the bed, pulling her with me.

I heard her soft snores pick up. Good, she fell asleep. I suspected that she had fallen asleep when I told her I loved her.

I might as well check in with the Alpha, while I am lying here.

I opened the mind-link, ‘Alpha, you requested I check in with you?’

‘Yes, originally I wanted to make sure you were alright. You didn’t show up to Kataleya’s training, even before we ended up cancelling her training for today, and then you weren’t answering your phone and you had your block up.’

‘Sorry, Kataleya asked me to come by last night as shift change was happening for patrol duty. I promised her I would be here when she woke up and I was worried that if I didn’t block my mind, then someone would contact me and I would have to leave her. Sorry, I know that was probably reckless and quite stupid of me to do, but I didn’t want to disappoint her.’

‘I understand. Next time, at least give someone a heads up if you don’t think you are going to be in training.’

‘Yes, Alpha.’

‘There were also two other things that I wanted to discuss with you. One, Colton, was placed on leave, following his mate going into active labor, so I will need you to cover his patrol shifts this week. The second thing was how things were going with Kataleya. She told me yesterday how she had planned to reject you, but I think I might have convinced her to give you a chance.’

‘She is asleep right now…she almost rejected me…Speaking of it, we will need someone to come to her room in the packhouse and fix the bathroom door. She was in the middle of trying to reject me and I busted the door down to hopefully stop her, which I did. Thank Goddess. She told me. She fucking told me what those fucking bastards did to her. I was angry. I was pissed. She thought that it was directed at her, but she didn’t give me the chance to explain to her what was going through my mind…I got her to listen to me after I busted down the door. Please tell me someone killed the bastards? Tortured them? Something?’

‘I am sorry, son. They got away. Michael had a choice when he found her. He could have either gone after the three rogues or he could have stayed and attended to Kataleya. He chose his sister. He knew that she needed him more at that moment, so he put his need for revenge on hold to protect her and make sure that she was alright. We have been tracking them down. We believe we are following their trails. There have been attacks on the outskirts of varying attacks, matching what they did to Kat and the descriptions that she had given us the days following her attack. Michael and I have been tracking them without her knowledge. We did not want her to know about us tracking them. We worried that she would relapse and go back into how she was prior to the little bits of recovery that she has made.’

“Goddess…how could they harm her like that…she was twelve…no wonder she had changed from that girl I had heard so much about from the warriors that had been sent to train here. I wished someone would have told me sooner, so I wouldn’t have been so shocked. Please, when you find the bastards that hurt my mate, I request that I am the one allowed to deal with them. I will teach them that they should not touch anyone without their consent. Then I will make sure they regret living for touching my mate.’

‘Of course, Justin. I will let Michael know to let you into what we have going on with the bastards that raped her. Thank you for not proving me wrong. I was worried for a second that you would prove me wrong, but I am glad that my instincts about you were right.’

‘Yes, Alpha.’ I cut the link when I felt Kat begin to stir.

She slowly opens her eyes and looks up at me. “I didn’t realize you were still here. I am sorry.”

“No need to apologize, love. You were tired and I was happy to hold you and lie there with you.”

She snuggled deeper into my chest and I continued rubbing up and down her back.

“You really aren’t going to leave me?” she asked me quietly.

“Never baby. You are stuck with me until you decide to cast me away. For right now, you are stuck with me. I meant it when I said I love you.”

She looked up at me and smiled softly at me.

It is okay. You don’t need to tell me right now. One day I will get her to tell me she loves me. I will piece back together what she thinks they broke and I won’t let anyone ever harm her again.