KATOMI - RISE OF THE FAE QUEEN

CHAPTER 31 – FAMILY VISIT

KATOMI’S POV

Run, I had to keep running, my lungs burned in my chest, evaporating all the air I was trying so desperately to breath in

‘RUN!’ My mom’s voice echoed around the woods I was racing through, bouncing off the trees and ringing in my ears.

I tried to push myself faster but my legs felt as though they were made of lead, a loud scream of rage rang out and I turned to the right just in time to see Troy grab me around the throat, he slammed me into the dirt as I screamed and tried desperately to shove him away.

‘BRAYNOSS!’ He screamed and shoved a dagger into my chest

'Braynoss!' My mom’s voice echoed my uncle 'Braynoss!'

‘KAT!’ Wyatt’s dim voice called out to me ‘KAT WAKE UP!’

I felt someone shaking my shoulders and my eyes flew open, I could hear someone screaming as Wyatt’s terrified face came into view in the darkened room, it was a second before I realised that I was the one screaming.

I started crying, I could still feel the pain from the dagger in my chest and it was hard to breath, I rolled onto my side gasping for air while Wyatt’s arms held me tightly

‘It’s ok baby’ He hushed me, running his hand gently down my hair in comfort ‘I’ve got you, you’re safe, it was just a dream, it was just a dream’

I clung onto Wyatt’s shirt for dear life, pressing my face into his chest while I tried to gain control, his scent filled my lungs, helping to sooth me and when I’d finally stopped shaking, I pulled back.

Wyatt was looking at me with pity, I hated that so closed my eyes and took another breath before looking at him again ‘I’m sorry’

‘Don’t’ He growled and rested his forehead against mine ‘Are you ok? Do you want to talk about your dream?’

I shook my head and closed my eyes again, I tried to push the memories away but they only grew clearer.

‘I promise baby, the nightmares will go away’ He’s voice shook with pain

‘I hope so’ I whispered

‘What does Braynoss mean?’

I tensed in his arms ‘What?’

‘You were screaming it in your sleep’

‘Tell mate the truth’ Remi ordered, knowing I was going to lie and say I didn’t know

‘It’s Faeling’ I admitted and took another deep breath ‘It means traitor’

‘You speak Fae?’

‘Yes’ I told him ‘My mom taught me’

'You were three when she passed away' Wyatt commented 'And you still remember how to speak it?

I shrugged in response 'I still speak it with my dad sometimes and I have a good memory'

‘Why were you screaming it?’

‘I don’t know’ I lied, hating myself, Remi growled at me and shut me out ‘Please Wyatt, I don’t want to remember, please don’t make me talk about it’

‘I’m sorry’ He whispered and pulled back tighter into his strong arms ‘Try to sleep, I’m right here with you, you're safe, I’ll keep you safe’

I closed my eyes once more and let myself drift back to sleep but my dreams were not restful, I woke up often, always waking Wyatt along with me but at 4am I gave up sleeping and I just laid awake in Wyatt’s arms, listening to his heavy breathing, wishing desperately that I could sleep soundly like him, was he right, would these nightmares go away in time.

‘Do you really think he was our uncle?’ I asked Remi

‘Daddy told mate he was the prince’ She pointed out ‘I think he was telling the truth’

‘Do you really think he was telling the truth about grandmother as well?’

‘No, she wouldn’t kill our mate’ Remi said firmly ‘If she didn’t try to hurt our dad then why would she hurt Wyatt and Kai, Troy was just trying to scare us’

‘Our dad wasn’t from a line of Lycan’s who tried to wipe out the Fae’ I pointed out ‘And what about what he said about Wyatt killing our grandfather, all I knew was that he’d died in the war, I never knew it was Wyatt who’d killed him, what are we going to do if she comes for us’

‘We should tell mate the truth’ Remi said pleadingly ‘He deserves to know’

‘I know he does’ I sighed ‘And I hate that he's blaming himself, he thinks Troy came after us because of his actions in the war, I just can’t do it, I can’t risk it, we’ll lose them’

‘No we won’t!’

Wyatt’s phone began buzzing at 7am, waking him up for the day, he groaned and started grabbing for the phone without opening his eyes, I smiled at his hand attempting and failing to locate the phone.

I reached over his large form and picked the phone up, after laying back down beside him, I placed the phone into his hand

‘Thanks baby’ He mumbled, his voice thick with sleep, he shut off the phone and threw it behind him onto the bed, before pulling me back into his arms and gently rubbing his hand up and down my back

‘Don’t you have to get up?’

‘Not today’ He yawned ‘Beau and Brae can look after things for a few days, I’m staying with you’

‘But I have school’

‘You’re not going today’ He opened his eyes for the first time ‘And don’t even think about arguing’ He added when I opened my mouth ‘You’re staying here with me, trust me on this, you don't want to be surrounded by other people today’

‘Alright, if you think it's best’

'I do' He said

I smiled and reached out and touched under his eyes, there were dark circles there, no doubt matching my own ‘You need more sleep’

‘So do you’ He said back and began running his fingers through my hair ‘How long have you been awake?’

‘Since 4’

‘Why didn’t you wake me?’

‘There was no point in both of us being sleep deprived’

He sighed and rubbed his face ‘When are you going to understand?'

‘Understand what’

‘I love you’ He said firmly and despite my mood, I felt my heart flutter ‘You aren’t alone anymore, if you’re happy, I’m happy, if you’re struggling then I’m struggling, I want to be there for you, why do you think I insisted on you staying with me for the next few days, if you couldn’t sleep, you should have woken me’

‘Ok’ I said in a small voice, I was always overwhelmed when he expressed the depth of his feelings for me ‘I’ll wake you up next time’

‘Good’ He said happily and rubbed his nose playfully against mine, I giggled and pushed him back ‘I’ve missed that sound’ He purred ‘I always want to hear you laughing’

‘Well let’s go horse riding’ I teased ‘I’m sure I’ll have a good laugh’

‘I’m going to kill my mother’ He growled

I tensed at his words and looked down ‘s**t’ Wyatt whispered ‘I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking’

‘It’s ok’ I hushed him and gave him a quick peck on the lips

‘How are you feeling and don’t lie to me’

‘I don’t know’ I admitted as I looked at my hands on his chest, I'd killed my own uncle with these hands ‘Part of me knows I did what I had to, he killed Natalie and hurt the others, he would have killed me, he could have killed Bron, I know that but I still…. I feel wrong’ I took a shaking breath in as I pushed back tears ‘I feel like something has been taken from me’

‘Your innocence’ Wyatt said sadly ‘That’s what’s gone, I never wanted you to lose it, I never wanted you to have to kill, I promised myself you’d never know this feeling'

'I can't stop going over things in my head' I told him 'Wondering if I'd done things differently then maybe he'd still be alive, I should never have started fighting back, I should have just kept defending myself until you and Kai arrived'

'Stop it' He said firmly 'Of course you should have fought back, you made the right choice but reguardless, there is no point in speculating, things happened the way they happened and besides, even if you had just defended yourself, he'd still be dead right now because Kai and I would have killed him the second we got to you'

'I know' I commented 'I just hate this, I wish I'd just come to see you after school and never gone to the mall'

'I'm so sorry you have to go through this baby' He kissed my forhead 'I keep failing to keep you safe, from day one, I just keep failing you’

‘Stop that’ I placed my hand over his mouth ‘Wyatt we’ve been over this, it’s not your fault, if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine, I’m cursed, you really should reject me and save yourself’

I was trying to joke but as I said the words, I realised how true they were, my mom was killed because of me, my dad lost his mate, his son and his pack because he had to run with me, Wyatt won’t be a dad because he got saddled with me as a mate, now his packs in danger, he’s in danger and all because of me

‘If having you is a curse then bring it on’ He smiled at me

I rolled my eyes and snuggled back into him, pressing my face into the crook of his neck, we stayed together like this for over an hour

‘Do you think you can eat?’

I shook my head, I didn’t think I could stomach anything right now

‘I think you should eat something anyway’ He said firmly and hoped out of bed and pulled on his dressing gown ‘You look to pale and food will help, trust me’

I sighed and went to follow him but he turned around and told me to stay put in his ‘don’t argue with me’ King kind of way so I sighed again and flopped back down on the bed and curled up with his pillow

I listened to Wyatt preparing something downstairs, there was a lot of cluttering and a few times Wyatt swore at the stove, blaming it for something before a burning smell wafted into the room

‘Mates going to burn the house down’ Remi giggled

I got off the bed, planning on going down to help him but he must have heard my footsteps and yelled at me to get my ass back into bed, I giggled and jumped back under the covers.

It was another 10 minutes before Wyatt came back upstairs, holding a tray in his hands and looking very proud of himself

‘You do remember I’m injured, don’t you?’ I asked, smirking

‘Yes’ He frowned at me in confusion

‘So why would you want to poison me on top of that’

Wyatt laughed and shook his head ‘That mouth of yours Kat’ He said with longing, and I blushed ‘Sit up properly’

I exhaled and did as I was told, leaning against the headboard and Wyatt placed the tray slowly onto my lap, there was scrambled eggs, slightly burnt French toast and 2 hash browns that were over cooked, a juice and a water.

‘Eat’ Wyatt ordered and left the room, he returned a few seconds later, holding his own tray, a similar meal on his, with the addition of bacon, sausages and a coffee

He sat down next to me and started digging in while I picked up my toast, taking a small bite, I really didn’t have an appetite, I managed to have a few bites of everything, but my stomach was getting queasy, so I gave the rest of Wyatt, thanking him for cooking for me.

Once Wyatt had finished everything we showered and got dressed, thankfully Shay had thoughtfully brought me a bag of clothes when she visited last night and I dressed in a pair of my own sweats and under wear, I still chose to wear one of Wyatt’s shirts, they had his scent and I wanted it over me, calming me.

Wyatt redressed my wounds and put me back to be and together we curled up after Wyatt put on a movie, I didn’t even know he had a TV in the room until he pressed a button on a remote and one came down from the ceiling.

I didn’t pay attention to what we were watching, I just let the actors voices become white noise while I traced my finger along Wyatt’s tattoo on his chest, it was a huge black wolf howling at the moon, I noticed that the wolf bared a strong resemblance to Kai, he was very handsome, I’m sure to a human, someone finding a wolf attractive would be very disgusting but for a Lycan or werewolf, it was as normal as breathing, I was just as attracted to Kai as I was to Wyatt, the mate pull was just as strong.

Around Lunch time there was a knock on the door and we both looked up.

‘That must be your family’ Wyatt commented, he climbed out of bed and threw on a T-shirt as he left the room.

I sat up and straightened my hair, I must have looked awful enough without adding to it.

‘KAT!’ Mia’s cried out and ran into the room a few seconds later and jumped onto me on the bed, crying and hugging me tightly

‘I’m ok Mia’ I assured her, hugging her tightly ‘Don’t cry baby’

‘Kat’ Jerry looked just as distraught as Mia but he climbed onto the bed a little more controlled then our sister

I reached out one arm and he leant in, hugging me and I squeezed them both hard while Wyatt and our parents walked in

Shay and my dad both looked tired as though they hadn't slept much last night either making me feel guilty for stressing everyone out.

‘How are you feeling bunny?’ My dad asked, his voice rough from lack of sleep

‘I’m ok’ I smiled at him in an attempt to comfort him

‘Don’t lie to me’ My dad growled and Wyatt tensed angrily but I smiled at him and he exhaled and let it go.

‘Really’ I lied again ‘I’m doing okay, Wyatt and Kai are taking great care of us’

‘Daddy said a Fae tried to kill you’ Jerry sat back and looked me over ‘But you killed him’

‘You told them?’ Wyatt asked in surprise

‘I don’t keep things from my children’ My dad commented as he walked over to me and kissed my forhead ‘She feels cold, why aren’t you wearing one of the jumpers Shay brought you?’

‘Dad I’m fine’ I pushed his hand away ‘Don’t baby me’

‘You are my baby’

‘Actually, she’s mine’ Wyatt snapped as he walked into the closet, returning with one of his hoodies and passed it to me ‘Put it on’

I sighed and slipped into the jumper ‘Do you think the two of you could knock it off’ I asked, looking between Wyatt and my dad who frowned at each other ‘I’m too tired to listen to you bickering’

‘Did you have trouble sleeping sweetheart?’ Shay asked as she sat down beside me and rolled up the sleeve so she could and fix the bandage

‘On and off’

‘Did you take the sleeping tablet’

‘No’

‘Of course, you didn’t’ My dad sighed and slumped himself in a chair by the wall ‘What are we going to do with you Katomi’

‘Why aren’t you two at school today?’ I asked, changing the subject

‘Daddy said we could stay home so we could visit you’ Mia answered, her voice low

‘So, you used me as an excuse to get out of school hey’ I tickled her a little

‘No’ Jerome growled ‘We were worried about you’

I looked at him and smiled, he rarely let anyone know his true emotions, we were very alike in that way

‘We’ve been worried about you a lot lately’ My dad snapped and glared at Wyatt ‘Ever since’

‘Ever since when?’ Wyatt turned towards my dad, growling and his eyes darkening ‘Since I told her the truth’

‘I don’t remember her ever being in dan’ My dad started but Shay cut him off

‘Now that’s enough!’ Shay stood up and we all looked at her in shock, she very rarely yelled and she was starting with her Alpha of all people ‘Kat has just gone through something no 17-year-old girl should ever go through, she went through hell and what are you two doing!?’ She hollered, her hands on her hips ‘You’re arguing about whose fault it is, it doesn’t matter who’s to blame, it’s happened, and we can’t change it, all we can do now is be there for Kat so cut out the crap, if I hear either of you arguing and making things harder for her, so help me I’ll ring both your necks!’

I looked at Wyatt in fear, getting ready to get between him and Shay if he lost his temper but he surprised me when he looked down at his feet

‘Sorry’ He said softly, sounding like a child

‘Sorry honey’ My dad followed suit

‘That’s more like it’ She snapped crossly and sat back down ‘Honestly, you two need to act your ages, you’re not in competition for Kat’s affection, she can love you both’

‘I’ll give you some alone time with your family’ Wyatt said, still looking like a child who’d be caught in the cookie jar ‘I want to speak with Beau about some things’

‘Alright’ I smiled as he came over, he kissed me on the head before walking out and shutting the door behind him

‘Shay please give me some warning before you yell at Wyatt again’ I shook my head at her and smiled ‘What if he’d lost control, I'd need time to get in between the two of you’

‘I will remember that for next time’ She smiled back at me

‘So this is the Kings bedroom’ My brother commented and began to look around ‘Can I take a selfie to show my friends’

‘No’ My dad answered before I could respond

'Please' He begged and pulled out his mobile 'No one will believe me'

'Sit down and shut it' My dad growled and Jerome pouted angrily 'We're here for your sister, not so you can impress your i***t friends'

'Fine' He grumbled 'But I'm taking a picture one day'

'Enough' Shay smirked at him 'Come sit down'

My brother sighed grumpily but he went and sat down next to her on one of the chairs.

‘So, did you speak to Uncle Brice?’ I asked my dad to change the subject, thankfully when the door was shut, the room was soundproofed so it was fine to speak freely.

Last night, I’d linked my dad, telling him everything that I’d gone through and everything Troy had told me and he'd told me he’d speak to his twin brother, my uncle Brice who still lived in the Fae territory, he was mated with a Fae women called Nadia, she was a lovely woman who was pregnant with their third child the last time I saw them on my 16th birthday and missed them dearly.

‘He spoke to his contact in the palace’ My father answered, he sat forwards and rested his arms on his legs ‘Troymaran told the truth, your grandmother knows you survived, the fact that she hasn’t come for you, means she knows you're safe from Raemair if you stay here, she was probably waiting for you to come of age but…’ My dad sighed and rubbed his face ‘I doubt she’ll wait much longer now that you’ve found your mate’

‘Do you think she’ll really try to kill Wyatt?’

‘No’ My dad stood up and started pacing around, looking restless ‘Fae take the mate bond just as seriously as Lycan’s do, especially the Queen, it's one of the reason she turned down Alpha Wyatt's father, there’s no way she’ll try to kill the Alpha, even if his father was the one who started the war’

‘Did Wyatt really kill my grandfather?’

My dad looked down for a second before looking back up at me ‘Yes but I don’t know all the details’ He told me 'You're mother found it too difficult to talk about, she never wanted to go into details'

‘Should I ask Wyatt about it?’

‘You will need to decide that for yourself Bunny’ He shrugged ‘But it’s not important right now, we need to figure out what to do if your grandmother comes for you when your turn 18’

‘Is there any way I can get her to leave me alone?’ I asked, my heart was racing ‘I don’t want the throne, Troys son can have it’

‘Troys son is more of a monster then he was’ My dad growled 'If he ever got his hands on the throne, everyone would suffer'

'How old is he?'

'He's four years older than you'

‘I see’ I nodded and looked down at my hands, I could still see the blood despite my hands being clean so I looked away from them ‘And what about Troy’s mate, will she try to come after me now?’

‘No’ My dad answered ‘She died a long time ago in the war’

'Maybe that’s why he didn’t care about dying’ I commented ‘What will grandmother do when she finds out I killed Troy?’

'I'm not sure' My father answered truthfully 'It's against the law to kill a royal family member, even if you're another royal, only the ruling Queen can get away with it but it was in self-defence so hopefully she'll forgive you, not that it matters, I'd never let her punish you for it, he deserved it!'

‘Maybe’ I shrugged and looked at my hands ‘I wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to punish me, I killed both of her children, I deserve’

‘You don’t deserve anything!’ My dad cut me off angrily ‘YOU ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR MOTHERS DEATH!’

‘Yes I am’

‘Katomi’

'What about Troy's son, what will he do?' I asked to change the subject, it wouldn’t matter what he said, it was my fault that she died 'What's his name?'

'His name is Aram after your grandfather' My dad told me 'And he'll probably want revenge, I'll speak to your uncle about trying to find his location, we need to keep an eye on him, luckily he can't get onto the pack lands so don't worry about him for now'

'If Troy can get in undetected then what’s to stop Aram from getting in?’ I asked ‘What if he's already here?'

'We'll worry about it when we have more information, don't worry about it right now' My dad responded 'You're already dealing with enough, killing isn't easy to come back from even without killing a family member'

'Do you know what Wyatt did with Troy's body?' I asked my dad, I doubted that Wyatt had buried him

'He took the body to the morgue' He sighed in frustration 'I think they're doing an autopsy'

'Why?'

'I couldn't find out' He answered in frustration 'But I doubt it's good, you'll have to speak to the Alpha about it'

'I'll ask Wyatt' I nodded, would he tell me the truth or try to protect me by keeping it from me 'Should we return him to grandmother for a proper burial?'

'There's no way the Alpha would return his body after what he tried to do to you' Shay responded 'He'll most likely burn the remains.. um.. his body' She corrected herself

'I guess' I answered sadly

‘He doesn’t deserve a proper burial anyway’ My dad growled

'Everyone deserves a proper burial' I commented

'No they don't, especially not bastards that try to kill my daughter!'

'How do you think he even got onto our land un decected, maybe we should check the secret tunnels'

'I checked a few last night' My dad told me 'But there was no sign of movement and I'm checking the other later during my patrol shift'

‘Ok' I nodded 'Why didn’t you ever tell me about Troy or his son’

‘To keep you safe’ He answered ‘The day your mother… the day she died, it wasn’t Raemair’s forces that were attacking the pack, it was Troys, Raemair just took advantage of it, we had to tell them you died as well, it was the only way to keep you safe’

‘But now everyone knows I’m alive’ I sighed ‘They all know where I am, I have to tell Wyatt and Kai, we have to keep the pack safe’

‘NO’ My dad snapped at me ‘Are you out of your mind, you can’t tell him anything, he would kill you’

‘I don’t think he would’ I said, tears filling my eyes ‘Wyatt and Kai loves us’

‘They love there Lycan mate!’ My dad shouted ‘Do you really think he’ll love a half Fae one, especially a half Fae who is a part of the royal Fae line, the King hates the Queen, you should have heard him at the mall, his considering going back to war because of this attack’

‘Then I won’t tell him I’m Fae’ I took a steadying breath, the thought of Wyatt not loving me anymore was crushing ‘I’ll just tell him the truth about Raemair, that he met you and mom when you lived in the pack, he touched mom and saw me and decided I was going to be his mate and that’s why he killed her and that he could be coming to find me, I’ll say that he sent Troy and that’s why he was here and it wasn’t the Queen, he doesn’t need to know anything else and it’ll stop him from going back to war with my people’

‘I said no!’

‘I wasn’t asking your permission!’ I shouted as the door swung open

Wyatt stood still, looking at me with concern ‘What the hell is going on?’

‘Nothing’ I said quickly ‘Just a small disagreement’

I was breathing hard ‘It didn’t sound small’ Wyatt said in annoyance ‘What weren’t you asking permission for?’

‘Kat’ My father said in warning

‘I’m telling him’ I snapped, my eyes darkening in anger ‘He has the right to know, the pack could be in danger’

‘What is going on?’ Wyatt looked between us ‘What are you talking about?’

‘Come on kids’ Shay stood up ‘Kat needs to talk to Alpha Wyatt so hug your sister goodbye, we’ll come see her again tomorrow’

‘I don’t want to go yet’ Jerome complained

‘Get up’ My dad said firmly, still glaring at me ‘Don’t do this Kat’ He said pleadingly through the link ‘He’ll ask to many questions’

‘Goodbye dad’ I said firmly ‘I’ll see you tomorrow’

He shook his head and stormed out, I looked down, I didn’t want to upset him, I knew how afraid he was that the secret would get out, but Wyatt deserved to know.

‘He deserves to know everything’ Remi pointed out

‘Oh wait’ Jerome said as he was walking to the door, he turned back around and rushed over to me and pulled my rabbit teddy from his pocket ‘I thought you’d want him’

Tears filled my eyes ‘Thank you’ I smiled and hugged my half-burnt bunny to my chest, feeling content, Wyatt frowned at it but didn’t say anything

‘Get some rest sweetheart’ Shay smiled and kissed me before helping Mia up and following everyone out of the room.