Chapter 75

**Justin’s POV**

I gently pulled out of her and she slumped back onto the bed. I walked to the bathroom and grabbed a warm, wet cloth and began to gently wipe the excess juices from her.

She stirred slightly when the cloth touched her and she mumbled something incoherently. “I am just cleaning you up, my queen,” I spoke to her.

Once I removed my hand from between her legs, she rolled onto her side. When I got up, I leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I love you.”

I walked into the bathroom and started the shower. I stood under the stream and let the water rush over me as I thought about the events of the day.

I was having a hard time believing that this day had turned from Kataleya and I being at odds, to both of us completing the bond.

I felt whole.

Stronger.

I understand that some of it may have been from the feeling of completing the mate bond, but I feel as if some of her power, her Alpha blood, has seeped into me. I felt strong before, but now I can feel the power rushing through my blood. I was not born with an actual rank. However, in my old pack, my father was one of the lead warriors, which earned us a rank that was under the Gamma. My father was strong and I inherited my traits from him. When I first marked Kataleya, before we completed the bond, I felt slightly stronger. I could feel my aura strengthened slightly, which could be explained away by being marked by an Alpha.

From the moment that I remarked her, I could feel my aura wanting to push out. I could feel the strength in my aura. It was wanting to rush out and I had to fight to control it, which had never happened before. The only way I would truly know if my suspicions about my aura were true would be if I used it in front of pack members, which I truly do not want to do.

Once I finished my shower, I hopped out and wrapped a towel around my waist. I walked to the closet and pulled on some boxers, debating whether I should try to dress Kataleya in her sleep. I was worried that she was going to wake up and freak out if she woke up naked next to me in bed.

I decided that I would face her wrath in the morning if she woke up angry. I went to each candle and I blew them out before I laid down next to her in bed. I lay on my side so that I could face her and pulled her into my arms. She cuddled into my neck as she continued to peacefully snore.

As soon as I was comfortable, I closed my eyes, allowing the darkness to take hold.

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

I woke up to the sun shining into the room. I squinted my eyes and cursed myself for not remembering to shut the blinds and close the curtains.

I placed the pillow on my head and tried to go back to sleep, but my effort was futile. I was wide awake today.

‘Justin, Kataleya’s link is blocked. We need both of you to report to conference room A. Something else has come up. We will need to discuss it before Kataleya goes out as bait.’ The Alpha linked me.

‘It will be a moment. Kataleya is still sleeping. She will need to shower after last night. We will be there shortly.’

I gently shook Kat’s shoulder. “Kataleya, my Queen, it is time to wake up. Your father has called a meeting that we need to attend.” Kataleya swatted at my hand and rolled over. “Come on, baby. It is time to wake up.”

She grumbled before pulling the pillow on top of her head. I shook her again and she rolled away from me.

I guess she is going to force me to do this the hard way.

I walked into the bathroom and turned the shower on, making sure the water was heated up. I was at least enough of a gentleman that I was not going to throw her into a cold shower. She should be grateful for that, right?

‘She is going to kill you, man. And by you, I mean us, which is not something that I am cool with.’ Ares grumbled in my head.

Leave it to the wolf to be scared of our mate.

‘Um…sir, I know you have seen our mate fight and she can be kind of scary. I am going to make sure that I 100% throw you under the bus. You will be going down on your own. I am going to be a part of this nightmare!’

I chuckled at him. This wolf has never been scared of anyone before and now he is suddenly scared of his 5’3 mate.

I walked back into the bedroom and picked Kat up. She rolled into me, nuzzling my neck. She was not going to be this content for long. I was going to piss her off in a minute.

I opened the shower door and I set her on foot. The moment the water sprayed her in the face, her eyes flew open and she let out a loud screech.

“You motherfucking bastard!” she screeched. “What the fuck was that for?!”

I took two steps back once I was sure that she had her footing. I did not want her to lash out and deck me in the face.

“Babe, your father called a meeting and said that we needed to be there. I was not able to wake you up so I did the next best thing. You should be lucky I was considerate enough not to put you in a cold shower. The water is at least warm.”

Kataleya glared at me before she flipped me off. “You are a fucking bastard.”

“But I am your fucking bastard,” I responded cheekily as I slipped out of the bathroom, so I could get ready to head to this meeting.

Thirty minutes later, and we were both dressed and ready to head to this meeting.

We walked into the conference and took our seats.

The Alpha looked at and not so subtly sniffed the air. I saw Kataleya flush. I know what his father had been checking. He had been checking to see if we had completed the bond last night. Poor Kataleya is embarrassed about it.

“Now that everyone is present, we can go ahead and begin. Last night, I had sent out some scouters to scout the territory between us and the Crimson Shadow pack, checking for rogues and anything else that might be loitering in the forest. They had stumbled across a small encampment that appeared to be having about a few rogues. In the center of the camp, there were the triplets. They are watching and waiting for us. Kataleya, is this something that you truly want to do? You want to sacrifice yourself in this way? If we choose not to, then we can find some other way. I promise. Do not feel obligated to do this.”

“I have to do this,” she responded. “I cannot et others continue to be placed in danger because I was too scared to do anything about it.”

King Lucas finally spoke up, “What warriors will be traveling with Kataleya for this?”

“We have not decided yet."

When Elder Christopher jumped into the conversation, I was ready to throttle him. “Kataleya will be fine. She does not need any of the extra warriors to work with her. Send the bare minimum. What if they decided to attack the pack while this was going on? If you take the good warriors with you, then there will be no one that will be able to guard the pack.”

By this point, I was seeing red.

Kataleya tried grabbing my hand and using her touch to calm me down, but I was struggling to remain calm. I wanted blood, preferably his blood painting the entire room. The more Christopher was talking, the angrier I was getting. How dare he suggest that we not send warriors with my mate? We have plenty of warriors, plus assistance from the King and Alpha Eric.

“….if she was injured, it would be fine. Kataleya recovers quickly.”

I growled loudly, causing everyone in the room to turn and look at me. I could feel the aura that was wanting to push out earlier, wanting out again, except this time I did not hold back. I released it.

“How fucking dare you sit there and tell me that we should allow Kataleya to go out into the forest alone to fight those bastards and all those fucking rogues on her own, with the bare minimum of warriors?! How dare you say that it will all be fine because my mate fucking heals quickly?”

Christopher tried sputtering in response, but it was futile. I was so angry that I was not going to listen to his words. I wanted blood.

King Lucas glanced at me before he inserted his opinion, “We will not leave the pack unguarded while we are gone. However, we will not send Kataleya by herself, with the bare minimum for warriors, into those woods. Shame on you, Christopher, for even suggesting such a thing.” The king paused before turning to look at me, “Son, I need you to reign in your aura just a smidge. You are making some of the other people in the room uncomfortable.”

I looked around the room and everyone besides the king, Kataleya, and the Alpha had their heads tilted towards me in submission.

I knew I felt stronger. I knew this newfound strength came from my mate bond with Kataleya.