Chapter 39

**Justin’s POV**

I spent the rest of the day preparing for tonight with Kataleya. I wanted everything to be perfect. Once I figured out where we were going to go, I decided to go shopping. Luckily, the Alpha was able to figure out her size for me, without me having to break into her room and figure it out. I was window shopping when I saw the perfect dress for her. I can only imagine how it would look on her. It was stunning, just like her.

Once I bought the dress, I made my way back to the packhouse and I handed the dress to an Omega and asked her to take it to Kataleya’s room and hang it on the back of the door.

I had decided to wear a plain black button-up short sleeve shirt that showed off the tattoo on my arm and a pair of dark jeans with some of my nicer dress shoes.

Now, I am heading up to her room. We planned to tell our families before we went on our date. This way, our families weren’t kept in the dark, even though my mother already knew, even if she did not know that I had told her.

I feel the nerves bundling in my stomach as I make my way to her room. I know I shouldn’t be nervous. I have been on dates before. I have been with other women before. None of them were my mate though, which is what set this apart. I wanted to impress her. Goddess, I hope this does the trick.

With my nerves still bouncing around, I knocked on her door. As soon as the door opened, my breath caught in my throat.

Holy fuck. She was stunning.

I knew the dress would look wondrous on her, but I never imagined it would look this breath-taking. I had chosen a turquoise dress because it reminded me of the color of her eyes. It went to her knees and had a veil that covered the fabric and it was painted with different flowers. She had decided on a pair of turquoise heels, which was shocking that she even had those in her closet. She kept her make-up light and her hair was done in loose curls, with the sides pinned to the back, and she was wearing the necklace that I had gotten her for her birthday.

“You look gorgeous, Kat.” I said to her breathlessly.

“I guess you clean up pretty well yourself.”

I laughed with her, “Yeah, I guess I do. I cannot remember the last time I even remotely dressed up. Usually, I wear what I practise in or anything pretty casual.”

I held my arm out for her. She smiled at me as she took my arm.

We made our way out of the packhouse heading towards her parents’ house.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked her. “Once we do this and we tell them, there is no turning back.”

“I am sure. For right now, I am okay with our parents knowing about it. Since my father knows, it would only be a matter of time before my mother found out too.”

We continued walking in silence until we reached her parents’ house. Once we reached the front door, she opened and walked right in. Elijah was the first to notice us and greeted his sister with a hug. He looked at me and nodded his head. I nodded my head back in acknowledgment.

“Mom! Dad! Kat is here and she has brought a friend with her,” Elijah yelled.

“Elijah, I don’t know why you always insist on announcing when Kataleya brings her friends to our house. The only one that she has ever brought to the house is Oliver. There is no need to announce his presence,” the Luna yelled at him from the kitchen.

Elijah looked at me and chuckled. ‘She is in for a surprise then,’ he mind-linked me.

I looked at him and shook my head while laughing to myself. Kataleya was glaring at Elijah. I heard footsteps on the stairs and turned my head to see the Alpha and Michael making their way down the stairs.

They both went to Kataleya and gave her a hug and then they each shook my hands.

“I guess we had better take you to the kitchen to introduce you to the Luna properly. Are you two staying for dinner?” The Alpha asked us.

“Um, no. I had actually made plans for us in the nearby human city. We were just stopping by to put everything in the open with both of our families before heading out.” I told him.

He nodded his head in acknowledgement. The Alpha walked into the kitchen and went straight for the Luna, giving her a hug and a kiss from behind.

“We have company, my love,” he said to her, “and no, it is not Oliver this time.”

The Luna quickly spun around. “Oh my. I didn’t realize that Kataleya had brought home a different friend. I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to confuse you with Oliver.”

I laughed, “It is fine, Luna. I know it is uncharacteristic for Kat to bring anyone home with her.”

“My love, this is Justin and he is one of the pack warriors. He helps Gamma Sean lead training sessions. He is one of our best warriors,” the Alpha told his Luna.

Kataleya cleared her throat and looked at the ground. I could see the beginnings of a blush forming on her cheeks.

“Um…mom, I have some news for you…I probably should have told you on my birthday, but I didn’t know how to handle it.”

“What is it, sweetie?”

“Well, you see mom, Justin is my fated mate…”

Her mom and Elijah gasped. They both looked over at me. Elijah had a huge grin on his face and his mom pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.

“Geesh, mom, give him some room to breathe. You do not want to suffocate Kataleya’s mate,” Michael said as he walked into the room.

She lets go of me. “I am so sorry, Justin. I was just shocked by the news. I am more unnerved that Kat did not tell me that she had found her fated mate.”

The Luna then eyes Michael and the Alpha suspiciously.

“Wait! You two do not appear shocked to hear this…Why am I just now finding out about this?”

They both rubbed the backs of their necks and looked at the ground.

“Mom.” “My love.” They both began at the same time.

They both pointed to me. “Justin told us and he swore us to secrecy not to tell anyone.”

Woah. Woah. Woah. I cannot believe they both threw me under the bus like it wasn’t anything. The assholes.

“Kataleya, I am happy for you. Justin seems like he is very capable of loving you and being just the man you need,” her mother said.

Kataleya twiddled with her thumbs and looked at the ground in front of her. Her neck was beginning to turn a rosy shade of red and her cheeks were beginning to heat with her blush.

I looked over at Kat before I spoke to the Luna, “Luna, I will do everything in my power to be everything that your daughter needs me to be. I promise I will be whatever she wants me to be.”

“Young man, you do not need to call me Luna. You can call me Isabella or mom. You are my daughter’s mate and that makes you now family.”

“Thank you, Isabella. If you don’t mind, we need to go ahead and head out. We are stopping by my parents’ first and then grabbing my car and going to the nearest human town for the night.”

We bid goodbye and left her house. It was about a 15-minute walk to my parents’ house. We walked in a comfortable silence.

“Thank you for dealing with my mom. I know it made her happy to realize that I had found my mate. She was worried that I never would or that I would reject whoever it was on the spot. I am sorry about the bit about Oliver. They were right, though, the only friend I ever brought to the house was Oliver.”

“It is fine, love. No need to apologize. If you think your mom was bad, wait until you see my parents in action.”

She giggled in response.

I walked up the front steps and opened the door.

“Mom! Dad! I am home!”

“In here, Justin!” My mom yelled from the kitchen.

I walked towards the kitchen with Kataleya in tow. My mom walked towards us and she pulled me in for a hug as my father came down the stairs.

He doesn’t notice Kataleya standing behind me, awkwardly. “Son, I didn’t realize that you would be staying with us tonight. We got used to you staying at the packhouse.”

“I am not staying tonight. I actually have some news for you and then I will be heading out.”

It was at that moment he chose to realize that Kataleya was standing there.

“Future Alpha! It is an honor to have you here! Justin isn’t in any trouble, right?”

“Of course not, Mr. Warner. He is a fine warrior.!” Kataleya responded.

“Mom, Dad…I would like you to meet my mate.” I hesitantly told them. I knew that mom knew already and she had been dying to meet her in person. She had only met Kataleya in passing and they usually didn’t have full conversations with each other.

My mother squealed as she pulled Kataleya in for a hug. My dad looked at me over their shoulders.

‘You okay, son? I have heard rumors about her past and what is speculated that she has gone through. She has baggage. Baggage you may or may not be ready to handle.’ He mind-linked me.

‘I promise, dad. I know exactly what she has gone through and that makes me more determined to claim her as mine.’

“We are keeping it pretty quiet for now while we both come to terms with it and we do not want to be bombarded by everyone.”

“We completely understand, son. If you need anything from us, please don't hesitate to ask us."

“Mr. and Mrs. Warner, thank you for accepting me so openly. You raised a wonderful son, who is so kind and thoughtful,” Kataleya told them.

“Nonsense, Kataleya. No need to call us Mr. and Ms. You can just call us by our first names. No need for the formalities.”

“You have yourself a deal as long as you refrain from calling me Alpha or future Alpha.”

My mom smiled at her graciously, “Of course, sweetie, anything that you ask.”

“Well, mom, dad. We have to head out. We have plans tonight and I need to make it to our destination before our reservations.”

They bid us goodbye and we walked outside to my car.

I opened the passenger door for her and helped her inside.

“I like the car that you have,’ she tells me.

“Do you like cars? This was one of the first cars that I bought myself and boy was it expensive. My friends were envious when I bought this car.”

“I do like cars…I always dreamed of having a Dodge Charger or a Porsche. I never thought my mate would have the Charger that I had dreamed of getting. Do you think maybe I could drive it someday?”

I chuckled at her. “Of course, you are more than welcome to drive it. Just let me know when and where and I will let you take it for a spin.” I paused for a minute. “Only because I like you though. Just don’t tell my friends, I am letting you drive it. My friends would kill if they realized that I am letting you drive my baby. Aziel has been begging for a chance to drive this since the day that I bought it.”

She chuckled, “You got yourself a deal. I won’t tell a single soul about this.”

She was silent as I began backing out of the driveway.

“Where are we going?” she asked me.

“It is a surprise, love. I think you will enjoy what I have planned for us tonight.”

I smiled at her as I sped through the back roads, leading out of the pack, driving towards the human town that was about an hour away from us.