Chapter 52

**Kataleya’s POV**

After I marked him, I looked down and noticed the hand that I had laid upon his chest was glowing.

What is happening?

I moved my hand off of the wound and the glowing stopped. I looked down at his chest and noticed the gash was halfway healed. I laid my hand back onto his chest, over the other half of the mark, and it began to glow again. I waited about ten minutes before removing my hand again. He was healed. There was no longer any sign that he had been injured…Now I just need him to wake up.

Please, wake up.

I linked Emily telling her they could come back in. Emily noticed his cut was gone and that I had marked him. She smiled at me softly and then began to help me get him ready to be moved to another room.

“Kataleya, would you like me to put you in one of the rooms that has a queen size bed for him or would you prefer a cot rolled in?” Emily asked me quietly.

“The queen bed would be fine. I struggle to sleep lately if he isn’t next to me. I get the feeling I am going to need to try and get some sleep, unfortunately.”

“It is the mate bond kicking in. In the beginning, I could not bear to be away from my mate. It killed me. Then, at night, talk about no sleep. I was only able to sleep if I was encased in his scent.”

I laughed, “That just about covers how it is right now. I have no idea how he managed sleep before I called him.”

“No doubt, he probably was not even sleeping. Most of the men have too much pride to admit they need you, so they will go without until it becomes unbearable.”

Leigh came into the operating move just as we finished cleaning all the materials and moving Justin to a regular room.

Once we are in the new room and they finish hooking Justin to the monitors, I mind-linked my dad.

‘Justin is now in a room. I think I am going to stay over here tonight. What happened after I left?’

‘I was just about to link you! I wanted to check on you and Justin. We finished off the rogues and we kept one alive to interrogate. We just finished dosing him full of wolfsbane and magnesium. We tried to get something out of him, but couldn’t, so we dosed him and will come back for him in a few you hours and Damon and I have gotten some sleep. What was Justin’s full diagnoses?’

‘His chance of survival was slim. They tried to kick Skye out of the room, since she refused to let me shift back, and she commanded them until they submitted. She wasn’t leaving Justin’s side. He had lost so much blood and they were not sure how to save him. They came to the conclusion that since he is my mate, it might help him if I could mark him and use the bond as an additional healing tool. Emily told me about the additional gifts that is legend for Alpha Females to have once they have been marked and mated. When I marked him, my hand started glowing and I was able to heal the gash on him. We are now in one of the rooms that they have for mated couples, with the queen size bed. I was actually about to shower, I am covered in a mixture of my blood, Justin’s blood, and rogue blood.’

He was not wrong. I did not even think about the bit on my leg or the multiple scratches on my side or the fact that I think a rib needs to be reset.

‘Yes, dad, I promise.’

I linked Emily and asked her if she could bring me something to change into after my shower and to probably bring a suture kit. I jumped into the shower and I replay the events of the day. I pause and think about how this day should have gone if it wasn’t for the attack. Justin and I would be in my room and we would be cuddling in bed, asleep. Instead, he is lying in a hospital bed, with no idea whether he is going to survive or wake up.

Goddess, I hope that he wakes up. I can’t lose him. Not now.

I finished my shower and I checked my injuries using the full-length mirror in the bathroom. Welp, I guess I do need some stitches. Skye wasn’t able to fully heal some of the injuries. I looked at the bruises littering my ribs, I gently touch them and realize that the rib is indeed broken. The skin is super sensitive and I let out a hiss as I rubbed my fingers over it.

I walked out of the bathroom, with the towel wrapped around me tightly. I take the clothes from Emily and then make my way back to the bathroom and changed.

When I walked out, Emily was ready with the suture kit. “Show me your injuries. You did not tell me that you were injured early. It was nearly impossible to tell if any of the blood was your with as much was covering Skye’s coat.

I took off the shirt, thankful that she had brought me a bra. She first examined the bruising and the tenderness of my ribs. “You really did a number on your ribs. They healed incorrectly. Unfortunately, I am going to have to break them and reset them for them to heal properly.”

I nodded my head and braced myself for the inevitable pain. As soon as she broke my rib and I heard the crack, screaming in pain. Fuck, that hurt. Goddess!

She finished wrapping my ribs and placing some type of healing salve on some of the other cuts that I had before she left Justin and I alone.

I moved towards the bed, so that I could lay next to him. I looked at the time and it was only midnight. I needed to contact his parents.

I pushed the mind-link and I felt both his mom and dad slowly become alert, ‘Mr. and Mrs. Warren, this is Kataleya. There was an incident earlier…I am sure that you heard about the rogue attack that happened earlier, Justin and I were both involved…’ I continued to recap everything that had happened during the fight, including me intervening in the four rogues that were teaming up on Justin. ‘…now we are in the pack hospital. His injuries were severe and they did not think that he was going to make it. In order to save him, I had to do something without his permission. I had to mark him. Before we were called to the battle, he asked about marking, but I was never able to respond to him…I don’t know if he even wanted me to mark him, but I had to in order to save his life…’ my voice broke at the end and I could feel my tears falling down my cheeks. The reality of what I almost lost today had finally sank in.

‘Honey,’ Mrs. Warner started to speak, ‘First off, how many times do we have to tell you that you do not have to call us Mr. and Mrs. You can use our first names…As for Justin, we could tell that our boy is head-over-heels for you. He has been waiting for you to be ready to mark him. We could tell, even if he never said anything about it. He loves you. I can guarantee you that he is going to be over the moon excited that you marked him. As for the guilt, stop feeling guilty about him getting hurt. He would have gone into that fight, no matter what you had said to him. He is a pack warrior, after all. He knew what he signed up for when he wanted to become a warrior. I am glad that he is resting and should make a full recovery, since you marked him. Rest and relax. Stay with him tonight, it will make you feel better, I promise. We will be by in the morning to see how he is doing and to check-up on you. We love you, honey.’

‘Goodnight,’ I mumbled through the link. She was right, I knew she was. It did not stop the guilt from eating at me and consuming my thoughts. I grabbed a wet washcloth and began to slowly clean off some of the blood that was on his face. While, we changed his gown and cleaned his body for the most part before moving in, we did not wash the blood from his face and neck. Once he was cleaned, I laid down next to him and curled into his side and that is where I remained for the rest of the night.

I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t focus. All I could think about was the pain that I was sure that he was feeling and the guilt that was consuming me because he was hurt.

“I love you, Justin. Please come back to me,” I whispered, softly kissing his cheek.