KATOMI - RISE OF THE FAE QUEEN

CHAPTER 16 - LONG DAY

KATOMI’S POV

‘Wyatt Grayson, put me down immediately!’ I growled as I punched his back while he carted me off to his car with me still flung over his body but he ignored me ‘Dam it Wyatt’ I pulled my skirt down again as he leant over to grab my backpack from the bench I’d been sitting on earlier ‘I’m in a skirt, put me down’

He remained silent as he carted me off and I sighed in frustration, he was far too strong for me to get free

‘KAI!’ I called to my other mate for help and I felt Wyatt paused for a second, no doubt fighting Kai for control ‘Make him put me down!’

Wyatt growled and slapped my behind, I squealed, it didn’t hurt, it was more of a surprise that he’d spanked me and shock when I realised it had excited me.

‘DON’T PLAY ME AND KAIMBE AGAINST EACH OTHER!’ Wyatt growled

'Well put me down and I won't have to!'

When we finally reached Wyatt's car he all but ripped open his door and slid me onto my feet, I shoved him in a huff but he didn’t move an inch ‘LOOK AT ME!’

Timidly I peeked up at him through my hair that had fallen around my face, Wyatt reached down and brushed my hair back behind my ears ‘You said you were going to go into the woods, but Remi was to scared’

I nodded and his eyes darkened

‘Don’t you EVER follow some voice into the woods again!’

‘I thought it was you!’ I defended myself ‘Besides, I would have been fine, I can defend myself!’

‘YOU CAN’T BE SO RECKLESS, YOU REALLY HAVE NO IDEA HOW PRECIOUS YOU ARE TO ME DO YOU!’ Wyatt cried out, hurting my ears ‘TO THIS PACK, IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO YOU, I WOULDN’T SURVIVE!’

Wyatt’s whole body shook and his grip on my arms tightened, I felt tears fall down my cheeks but before I could say anything, Wyatt fell to his knees in front of me and pulled me into a hug while he pressed his face against my stomach and I stood there frozen, was my Alpha kneeling before me, I’d never seen an Alpha do that with anyone, not even his mate and a King doing it was unheard of.

‘I’ll keep you safe’ He said, though I thought he was talking to himself and not me ‘I’ve only had you for four days and I’ve failed you so completely, I should have waited to claim you and now because of my selfishness you’ve been hurt so much’

‘SAY SOMETHING!’ Remi growled ‘COMFORT HIM!’

I took a deep breath and ran my fingers through his hair ‘Wyatt’ I said softly ‘None of this is your doing, please, you’ve kept us safe, we're right here and this is new to both of us, there’s bound to be mistakes on both sides but we’ll get through this together and if there is a Fae after me’ I paused, I only knew of one Fae wanting me, though it wasn’t Raemair’s scent on the branch ‘We’ll get through that together too’

Wyatt looked up at me, his face vulnerable ‘Together?’

‘Yes’

Wyatt smiled before pressing his face back into my stomach and holding me tightly ‘I knew you’d start coming around, one day soon you’ll tell me that you’re mine’

'You’re crazy, now get up, what if someone see’s you?’

‘Who cares’ He responded but he stood up and took my face in his hands and looked into my eyes ‘If I ever hear that you followed this voice or some Fae into the woods, I will never let you out of my sight again’

‘You’re to protective, I don’t’

‘Enough’ He said firmly ‘It wasn’t open for negotiation, now, let me take you home’

I nodded and slipped into the seat but as I reached for the seat belt Wyatt knelt down and took it from me and fastened my belt around me before running his fingers down my cheek

‘I’m sorry I scared you’ He looked at me guiltily ‘I haven’t lost control this much in so long, it’s just, whenever I think of you in danger, I can’t breath and everything goes black’

‘I’m sorry’ I looked down, I was messing him up ‘I don’t mean to make things hard for you’

‘It’s not your fault’ He rolled his eyes ‘It’s an Alpha thing, you might have noticed we’re a tad emotional when it comes to our mates’

‘I’ve seen my dad lose control like that’ I remembered when he first met Shay and this werewolf tried to kiss her at a party, he nearly killed him ‘I don’t ever want to lose control and hurt someone’

Wyatt ran his fingers through my hair ‘I’ll make sure you don’t hurt anyone when it happens’

‘When?’

'It’s bound to happen’ He shrugged ‘You’re so young, you’ll lose control eventually, come on, let’s go’

Wyatt stood up and closed my door, once he was in the driver’s side he started driving out of the populated area and I started to look around in confusion

‘Where are we going?’

‘Home’

‘But’ I looked at him, he was completely at ease now, his elbow sitting against his open window, the wind was running through his hair and his shirt, he was so sexy ‘My house is the other way’

‘But mine isn’t’

‘I already told you no, we can’t live together’

‘Of course we can’ He said as if it was no big deal ‘Plus, I’ve already told your father it’s happening so that’s that’

‘What, when?’

‘When you were in the hospital’ He answered casually like we were talking about the weather and not some huge life changing event in a person’s life ‘I want you safe, someone has tried to hurt you twice now, the safest place for you is with us’

‘You can’t just decide that on your own’ I said patiently ‘Besides, I know there’s no way my dad agreed to this’

‘I’m the Alpha of this pack’ He reminded me, his tone clipped ‘I don’t need him to agree to s**t’

‘But you do need me to’ I was losing my patience ‘I’m not ready’

‘What if I agreed to separate rooms?’ He asked though judging by the look on his face, this idea disgusted him ‘Just until you’re comfortable living with us’

‘I haven’t even agreed to us being together’ I pointed out ‘I’m still not sure we should be, you should pick someone else'

Wyatt growled ‘I am not choosing anyone else!’

‘Fine’ I exhaled, why did he have to make this so hard ‘If you won’t let me go, then at least give me more time’ I pleaded and touched his upper arm ‘To get used to everything, my whole life’s been turned upside down, you had 13 years to prepare for our life together, I’ve had a few days, I’m just asking for a little patience’

‘How much time?’ He asked, raising his eyebrow in the sexy way he does

‘I was thinking like a year’

‘One year’ He growled ‘No way in hell!’

‘You’ve waited 13yrs, what’s one more’

‘I said NO!’

‘Ok, okay’ I said reasonably ‘6 months’

‘I’ll give you a month’

‘Wyatt’

‘Fine 3 but that’s my final offer’

I frowned at him as I thought things over, I didn’t know if I’d be ready to live with him in 3 months but at the 3 month dead line I could push for longer.

‘Ok’

‘If you felt the full effects of the mate pull, you’d never make me wait like this’ He grumbled like a little kid ‘You don’t know how hard it is to be away from you’

‘You survived for 13 years’ I repeated and rolled my eyes ‘You’ll be fine’

‘You were just a kid 13 years ago’ He pointed out ‘I didn’t want you like I do now, this past year has been complete torture, why do you think I finally broke and told you the truth before you were 18, I couldn’t be away from you any longer’

‘Last year at the prom, when we danced, you were going to tell me then, weren’t you?’

‘Yes’ He smile 'We wanted to but I chickened out when I realised how much danger you’d be in, I was planning on waiting another two years but I only made it through one more before I cracked’

‘I wish you’d told me that night, it would have been a lot more romantic than shouting it at me in a back room of a hall’

Wyatt laughed and gently picked up my hand and kissed it ‘Sorry’

I smiled and looked out the window, we were still driving towards his house

‘Why are we still going to your house?’

‘Relax’ He laughed ‘I’m not going to lock you up and keep you prisoner, I’ll take you home after dinner, I want you with me until my scouts can do a proper sweep of the woods, I want this Fae bastard caught’

‘What will you do to him once you find him?’

Wyatt gave me a quick glance, his face concerned ‘I’ll kill him’ He said without any emotion

‘He doesn’t deserve to die just because he came onto the territory’

‘Yes he does’ Wyatt answered ‘They’re aware of my laws, no Fae is welcome on my land but regardless that’s not why I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him because he is a threat to you, he tried to lure you to him, he could have killed you’

‘We don’t know that’ I argued ‘Maybe he just wanted to talk’

Wyatt glared at me as if I’d lost my mind ‘Yes, I’m sure a Fae went to all the trouble of sneaking onto my land, dodging my patrol and your guard just to talk to you, he dies, that’s the end of the discussion’

‘I don’t want to be responsible for someone’s death’

‘You’re not responsible, I am’

‘And the Fae that blew up my car’ I said nervously ‘Have you heard anything more about that?’

‘No’ He shook his head, was he lying to me ‘Just put it out of your mind, I’ll handle it’

I frowned and returned to staring out the window for the rest of the drive, once we were pulled up outside of Wyatt's home, I grabbed my bag and climbed out and began to walk up to the driveway

Wyatt reached out his hand for me as we walked up to the front door and I greedily took it and we headed inside

I was once again blown away by how lovely Wyatt's home was, I wondered if he'd done the interior decorating or if he'd paid someone.

‘Just throw your bag anywhere’ He commented as he led us into his huge kitchen ‘Do you want something to drink?’

‘Anything’s fine’ I placed my bag down and began rummaging around in my bag in search for some books

‘What’s this?’ Wyatt asked as he placed a glass of juice down in front of me and pulled out his own chair

‘I’m studying for finals’ I answered, blushing slightly, the now very familiar feeling of being a child around him sprang forth

‘Fun’ Wyatt smirked at me ‘I’ll leave you to it then, I have some things I need to get done and I want to check in with the scouts, if you need anything, my office is just down the hall and up the stairs on the right’ He pointed to a hallways off the kitchen ‘Feel free to wonder around and explore if you get bored, I’ll give you a proper tour later’

‘Ok’ I smiled, Wyatt kissed me gently and stood up, I couldn’t help but sneak a peek at him as he walked away.

I couldn’t help but remember my conversation with Bron where she’d suggested me sleeping with Wyatt, I wanted to, it was hard not to want to, the man was gorgeous and strong and powerful, everything in me wanted to be with him but I held myself back, it wasn’t right, I shouldn’t let myself give in to these desires so I shook my head and let it go.

After linking Shay and letting her know where I was and that I wouldn’t be home for dinner, I started studying but after 5, I closed my book, Wyatt still hadn’t returned, and I found myself wondering if he always worked this much

‘Mate has a lot of responsibilities’ Remi commented proudly ‘Everyone relies on him, we should make things easier on him and stop making him worry’

‘I guess’ I pouted, I missed him

I stood up and stretched ‘Should I make dinner, I’m getting hungry’

‘Yes’ Remi answered

‘I don’t know what Wyatt likes to eat’ I wondered over to the fridge and pulled it open, it was full of take-out boxes and a few vegetables ‘I guess he doesn’t cook’

I searched the walk-in pantry, there was a lot more prospects here, I finally decided on pasta, I pulled out a container of penne pasta and a creamy pesto sauce, a few herb jars, none of them had ever been opened and I returned to the fridge and pulled out the pitiful amount of vegetables, if Wyatt wanted me to move in, things definitely needed to change, I wasn’t a fan of takeout food, Fae preferred fresh meals.

After finding a cutting board and sharpening Wyatt’s blunt knife, I got started, it was another twenty minutes before I heard footsteps, I was in the process of setting the table, the food was ready.

‘What smells so good?’ Wyatt asked as he came into the kitchen

He'd changed his clothes, his feet were bare, and he was in dark grey sweats and a white singlet with a grey jacket on over top but it was only zipped up half way, I felt the sudden urge to run my fingers down his chest, tracing his tattoo and muscles but I quickly shook my head to clear it.

‘Dinner’ I cleared my throat and walked back to the stove ‘Are you finished working?'

'Not yet’ He ran his fingers through his already messed hair ‘But I’ll eat now with you, I didn’t know you could cook’

Wyatt came up behind me and wound his arms around my waist and pressed his face into my hair that I’d pulled up into a messy bun

‘It’s a good thing I can’ I teased ‘Seeing as you clearly can’t’

Wyatt laughed and let me go, I watched him walk over to other cabinet and pull out a wine glass ‘Do you want one?’ He asked, holding up the glass

I shook my head and returned to serving up our meal, I’d tried it at the shifting ceremony and didn’t like it

‘I’ve never had to cook’ Wyatt pointed out ‘The packs chefs cooked all my meals as a child and when I got older, I just ordered out or ate in the dining hall, also my father didn’t think it was proper for an Alpha to learn to cook, he was old fashioned about a lot of s**t, women belonged in the kitchen or the bedroom’

‘I see’ I frowned, I touched my chest where my scar rested, I felt guilty as I was reminded of another secret I was keeping from him, a secret about his dad, the secret that he was the one who’d tried to kill me as a child

‘Are you ok?’

Sh*t, I didn’t realise I was just standing there ‘Yep’ I smiled and turned around, holding two large bowls of food

‘I’m not like him’ He pointed out ‘I don’t see things that way he did’

‘I know’ I assured him ‘So’ I placed his bowl down ‘I hope you don’t mind a vegetable pasta, you didn’t have any meat, plus, I’m… I’m a vegetarian anyway so’

‘What?’ Wyatt froze and stared at me, his wine in one hand and another glass of juice in the other, I assumed was for me ‘You’re a vegetarian?’

‘Yes’ I smiled, trying to look at ease, I understood his reaction, I’d never met a Lycan who didn’t eat meat, it was completely unnatural, very few people new this about me, only my family and Bronwyn who was so used to my odd behaviour that she didn’t think anything of it, I'd wanted to keep this a secret from him but I knew he'd have noticed eventually so I thought it would be better to just tell him and get his reaction over with earlier rather than later

All Fae were vegetarian, it was hard to kill and eat something when you could sense it’s emotions as it died, my dad used to take me hunting as a child, trying to get me to overcome this Fae trait, so I wouldn’t be discovered but I’d cry the whole time I was eating meat and then get sick and throw it up, so finally after a year of trying to force me, he gave up and he instead taught me to hide the meat on my plate rather than refuse it altogether.

I braced myself, Wyatt looked at me as if I was an alien, he was trying to study but finally he came over and sat down

‘I’ve never heard of a Lycan not eating meat’ He commented, as he put my drink in front of me ‘That’s really unnatural, you shouldn’t deny your body what it needs, Remi needs meat to help keep her strong, if you’re a vegetarian for some moral reasons, you need to let it go, you’re not human, you will get sick’

‘I’ll be fine’ I assured him ‘I’ve been a vegetarian since I was little’

‘You weren’t a full Lycan when you were little’ Wyatt was looking at me with fear ‘You’ve shifted now, Remi is a Luna, she will draw a lot of energy from you, you need to stay as strong as possible, you have to start eating meat’

‘If Remi wants to eat meat in her own form to stay strong then she can’ I commented ‘But I’m not doing it, can we please just let it go’

'I don't want to eat meat' Remi commented and I smiled in response

‘I can’t just let this go’ Wyatt was getting worked up ‘You’ll get sick, you can’t just expect me to’

‘To respect my choices’ I interrupted him ‘Yes, actually I can expect you to do that’

‘Katomi’

‘Your foods going to get cold’ I interrupted him again and picked up my fork

Wyatt growled and grabbed my wrist ‘We are not done discussing this’

I growled back and pulled my hand back ‘It seems like you don’t want to discuss it at all’ I pointed out, petulantly, my teenage hormones surfacing ‘It seems like you just want me to do what I’m told’

‘It’s for your own good’ He growled ‘You will get really sick, I can’t believe your i***t father allowed this sh*t, you are a Lycan, not a human, you need the meat’

‘No, I don’t’

‘Wait’ He frowned me ‘The day Shay went into labour and I bought you lunch, you said you didn’t eat junk food but it was because it was meat, wasn’t it?’

‘Actually, it was both’ I admitted ‘I hate junk food but yes, it was because it was meat’

‘So, you’ve been vegetarian for that long?’ He asked ‘How did I never notice this, I’m going to kill your father, I trusted him to take care of you and’

‘Can we please just have dinner’ I interrupted his rant ‘It’s not like you have meat in the house anyway'

Wyatt glared at me ‘Fine’ He let go of my hand and leant back in his chair angrily ‘But I’m not letting this go, I didn’t wait for you to grow up all of these years just to lose you because you don’t eat meat!’

‘You need to worry less’ I commented and stabbed some of the pasta onto my fork ‘Stress isn’t good for someone your age’

‘You’re the oddest Lycan I’ve ever met’

‘Yeah, so I’m told’ I murmured and started eating, Wyatt followed my lead and moaned happily

‘Do you like it?’

‘Love it’ He’s eyes lighting up ‘Cook anytime you want’

I giggled and rolled my eyes ‘Like I’ve got a choice’ I pointed out ‘I can’t have you eating take out all the time, you’ll get fat and I’ll have to reject you after all’

Wyatt laughed and reached over, messing my hair, I growled and shoved him off and fixed up my messy bun on my head

The rest of dinner went by happily, we spent the hour getting to know each other more, I mostly asked Wyatt questions about his life, he’d travelled a lot and had so many wonderful stories, I’d never left America and I only ever left the pack lands once a year to visit my mom’s grave on my birthday and to visit my dad’s family, this was the first year I hadn’t gone because I was required to go to the shifting ceremony.

After dinner Wyatt brought up a lunch offer from his mother, I was completely flustered, lunch with the Queen, I wouldn’t know what to say to her, we’d only ever had brief interactions before but Wyatt promised there was no rush, although he pointed out that he wouldn’t be able to hold her back indefinitely so I reluctantly agreed to have lunch with her this coming Saturday to get it over with, Wyatt looked pleased and told me he’d let her know and have someone pick me up to take me to her home.

We spent another hour together after dinner, he showed me all around his house, pointing out a room that would be my future study and another larger one across from his own room, saying it would be mine once I moved in with him, but he made it clear he’d rather I shared his room from the get-go.

He asked if I wanted to see his room, but I blushed and shook my head, he didn’t try to force the subject, he just smirked at me and continued the tour.

We were currently parked out front of my house, I was laughing at an embarrassing story about Beau but finally I had to get out of the car.

‘I should go’ I exhaled and looked up at my front door, the outside light was on

‘You don’t have to’ Wyatt pointed out ‘You could just go inside and pack a few things and come back home with me where you belong’

‘Nice try’ I laughed, he was pouting at me like a kid

‘Don’t go’ He groaned and pulled my face to his, kissing me gently on the lips ‘We’ll behave, I promise we won’t try to seduce you’

‘Yes we will!’ Kai linked me

‘Good night Alpha’ I smirked and pulled back but he growled and pulled me back in and continued to kiss me passionately until finally I had the strength to push him back.

‘Stop’ I giggled when he tried to pull me back in

He sighed and leant back ‘Fine, leave me’

I went to open my door, but Wyatt gently grabbed my hand ‘I will you get your door’

‘Why?’ I frowned ‘I can do it’

‘Stop arguing with me’ He ordered and got out of the car while I sat back and rolled my eyes, he was so weird.

Wyatt opened my door and held out his hand and pulled me out

‘Thank you’

He didn’t respond, instead he simply pulled me slowly to the front door before he turned back to me.

‘If you hear that voice again, link me straight away, or Beau, he’s right next door and he’ll get to you faster’

‘Or I could just tell my dad’

‘What did I just say about arguing with me?’

‘Fine, I will link you or Beau’

‘I mean it’ He was instantly serious and back in Alpha mode ‘Don’t go anywhere near him’

‘I won’t’ I smiled ‘I promise’

‘If you hear some strange noises around the house, it’s just you’re guards, so don’t worry about it’

‘Guards’ I groaned ‘So I’ve got more than one person watching me at a time now’

‘Clearly one isn’t enough’ He said and I growled in annoyance ‘Stop it, just get used to it, it’s never going to change’

'Easy for you to say' I snapped 'You don't have people following you around all day'

'I've had guards since I was born' He pointed out smugly 'They only stopped following me full time when I became King and ordered them to stop but they still guard my house and any building I'm in so stop complaining'

‘Fine but it's still creepy’ I sighed and Wyatt smiled patiently at me ‘Goodnight’

‘Night baby, I love you’

Wyatt kissed me gently once more before letting me open the door, he waited for me to walk inside before he returned to his car and left.

I tried to sneak upstairs but my dad growled ‘Get in here!’

I exhaled and wondered into the loungeroom where everyone was watching tv.

‘You want to explain to me what you’re doing?’

‘I was going to shower’

‘Don’t get smart with me!’

'We just had dinner, it’s not a big deal’

‘IT IS A BIG DEAL KATOMI!’ He shouted and stood up ‘YOU ARE MEANT TO BE REJECTING HIM NOT MAKING OUT WITH HIM IN A CAR!’

‘I’m trying’ I sadly ‘It’s hard, you know how hard it is to keep away from your mate, you’ve had this feeling twice!’

‘You don’t even feel the mate pull yet so don’t give me that cr*p!’ My dad shouted, though he also sounded a little sad now.

‘Well, I feel something!’ I argued ‘And besides, no matter what I try, he won’t reject me or accept my rejection and besides, you said that if I wanted to stay with him, we can come up with a plan for that’

‘Will’ Shay said gently and touched his arm ‘It’s not fare to ask her to give him up’

‘Fine!’ He threw up his hands ‘We’ll just take it a day at a time, but I want you to spend a few days apart’

‘Why?’

‘Because things have been crazy since your birthday’ He pointed out ‘I just want you to take some time to clear your head and think things through without his influence around you, you might realise that this is a bad idea and once you do, we can get you out’

‘Okay’ I smiled softly ‘I’m going to go shower now’

‘Hold it!’ My dad ordered and I sighed and turned back to him ‘What did the King mean about that voice?’

I bit my lip nervously, but I knew my dad would be furious if I kept this from him, so I told him about the voice at school today.

‘And the Alpha said it was a Fae scent?’

‘Yes’

‘I see’

‘Do you know who it could be?’

‘No but it could be connected with your car exploding’ He shook his head before turning to Shay 'I’m going to shift and see if Jax can sniff out the scent, it might be someone we know’

‘Dad, Wyatt has people searching that area already’

‘Well, I’m joining them!’ He said firmly ‘I don’t know why he didn’t ask me to join the dam search in the first place, no one would protect you more than me!’

‘Fine’ I waved me hand ‘You and daddy Jax have fun, now can I go shower please’

‘Enough with the attitude Katomi’ Jax growled at me as my dad let him take control ‘And don’t make out with your mate in public like that again!’

‘We were in the driveway’

‘Stop arguing with us!’ Jax snapped as he walked past me ‘Now go up stairs and tell us if you hear the voice again!’

I growled ‘Between the two of you and Wyatt and Kai, I’m not allowed to do anything anymore!’ I shouted, ‘I can’t stand any of you!’

I turned angrily and headed up to my room to shower and think angry thoughts about all the idiotic men in my life!