“This comes at a horrible time because of the infighting within the Elders.” Hann sighed. “They normally have a handle on things like this, but they’ve been so busy fighting themselves that they haven’t even realized that this rogue situation could be another huge problem.”
“So, what are we going to do?” Kato asked, unsure of what he could offer to help. Lukas was a former rogue, so he had those ties. Kato had nothing but an undying love for Thea, which no one, not even Thea, knew about.
“We’re going to be proactive and make sure another Kaiser doesn’t rise up and create a following,” Hann told him, looking like he’d aged four years in just this conversation. “And then we’re gonna pray like hell that the Elders get their shit together. And we’re gonna protect Thea. We’re a family here, Kato, Thea included. And they’re not gonna change that. We protect our own.”
For the first time since he got to Hann’s office, Kato felt a sense of relief. No matter what, they would protect Thea. No matter what.
Chapter 13
“Did you and Kato make up?” Annie asked as Thea walked downstairs. Kato had left only a few minutes ago, and Thea was incredibly dehydrated. She was nervous that Annie, with her shifter senses, would be able to recognize or tell somehow that Thea and Kato had just had sex. Or what if she heard them? Thea felt her face go red just from that thought.
“So, I’m just gonna come out and tell you what just happened,” Thea said, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge.
“The fact that you guys just had sex?” Annie smiled at her, reclining on the couch and not moving a muscle. “Oh, I heard.”
“Oh, my God,” Thea said, embarrassed. She fell on the couch next to Annie, her head in her hands from complete and total embarrassment.
“You and Kato just had sex!” Annie exclaimed, making Thea look over to see her best friend looking angry.
“Wait, are you mad at me?” Thea exclaimed back at her, confused.
“Yes, I’m mad at you!” Annie yelled back. “How in the world was I the last one to know that something was going on between you two? When Lukas and I walked into the house and sensed that you two were going at it, Lukas wasn’t surprised at all. How did he know before me?”
“I didn’t tell him!” Thea yelled, explaining herself. “I haven’t told anyone! This literally just happened, and if you stopped yelling at me, I would be able to tell you the whole story!”
Annie’s angry face busted out laughing, making Thea giggle alongside her. “Okay, tell me all the juicy details, and don’t forget to rate Kato when you’re done.”
Thea rolled her eyes, even though she was going to rate him, and he was going to be a solid ten in bed. She jumped on the couch a little, folding her legs under herself as she animatedly told Annie everything that she and Kato had been through, starting with the Elders coming to wipe her memory and ending with a few minutes ago as they talked and basically all but confessed their love to each other.
Annie was a good audience, oohing and exclaiming at all the right parts. Finally, when Thea got to the end of her story, she took in a big breath. She felt like she had talked at a mile a minute, taking no breaths in between each sentence.
“So, are you, like, completely over Jake now?” Annie tentatively asked her.
Thea sighed, her own emotions a mixture of confusion. “I’m not sure,” she honestly said. “I know that I don’t want to be in a relationship with him. It hadn’t been good for a while, it just took something drastic for me to figure that out. I miss him, but only because he’s been such a constant part of my life for so long. It’s going to be weird to be without him for a bit. But Kato . . . Kato’s different.”
“Yeah?” Annie asked, a smile lighting up on her face.
“Yeah,” Thea responded, smiling. She felt like her heart was blooming inside of her chest, producing flowers that spread all over her body. She didn’t know she could feel this happy. Jake sure as hell never made her feel this happy. “Kato makes me feel safe. And he already knows all my horrible, dark secrets, and yet, he still wants me. I don’t know, I feel like this . . . us . . . maybe this is different.”
“Well, I hope it is,” Annie told her, squeezing her hand in comfort. “Because if I have my two best friends break up and not get married and have babies, then I’m going to be sorely disappointed.”
“Do you think the pack is going to accept me?” Thea asked, quiet all of a sudden. “I mean, I don’t want to make any rash decisions–but I’m all in. He’s all in. And maybe, one day, I’ll have to interact with the rest of you guys. Do you think that it’ll be an issue?”
Annie paused, trying to find the right words. “I think that it’ll be difficult at first. Even my father had some difficulty with the whole thing when he introduced my mother to the pack. Some won’t care at all, others will. But Kato is a strong shifter, and every single shifter in the pack adores him. No one is mad that he’s going to be the next alpha. And the pack seems to be a bit less angry over things like that since Kaiser came to town. Even Grant has calmed down and shown that he can be a decent person.”
“Really?” Thea laughed, shocked. “I thought Grant was the one that was a total asshole? The one that tried to beat up Lukas when he first came to town?”
“Yeah, I walked into the bar the other day to find him and Lukas laughing together, playing pool,” Annie laughed. “I think that this pack has lost a lot recently, and they’re willing to change for the better. And if Grant can change, then anyone can change.”
“I’m just nervous, I guess,” Thea admitted. “I’m scared I’m going to screw this up. I’m scared Kato’s going to decide to mate with someone like Britta or another shifter.”
“Trust me,” Annie declared, looking Thea dead in the eyes. “Kato doesn’t have eyes for anyone but you.”
Chapter 14
“Hann, if I could talk to you for a second,” Kato said right after Lukas left. Hann was about to leave with Kato and had the office door open, his leather jacket on. Hann stepped back into the room, closing the door behind him, concern on his face.
“Yeah, of course,” Hann told him, inviting him to sit down again while he took a seat himself. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kato said, reassuring him. He didn’t want to concern him after the serious conversation they’d just had, though he didn’t know how Hann was going to take the news. He knew he had to tell him, though. He had to tell someone.
And if anyone was going to understand, it would be Hann. After all, he’d mated with a human himself.
“Alright then, son,” Hann said, patting his knee in a fatherly way. “What’s on your mind?”
“I have something to tell you, and I’m not sure how you’re going to take it. But I hope you’ll put yourself in my shoes and understand that this isn’t something I take lightly. And this wasn’t something I just rushed into.”
Hann’s smiling face slightly fell as Kato knew he became wary. But Kato had to warn him about what he was about to tell him. He needed to tell him about Thea, and he needed Hann to say that everything was going to be okay. Because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to mate with Britta, or anyone for that matter, with how he felt for Thea. And knowing that she reciprocated it made him feel that much more confident on what he was going to do.
“Just get it out, Kato,” Hann chuckled, though Kato could still sense the wariness.
“I’m in love with Thea,” Kato blurted out, and he could see Hann’s eyebrows raise. Kato didn’t know what to think. He’d never surprised his alpha before. “And she’s . . . she’s in love with me. And we want to be together.”
“You do realize–?”
“That’s she’s human,” Kato chuckled, and then instantly felt somewhat relieved when Hann smiled along with him. “Trust me, Hann, I know. I’ve been denying it and trying to ignore the possibility, but I don’t think I can anymore. I love her, and I want to be with her.”
Hann sighed, leaning forward and clasping
Kato’s hands, giving them a squeeze. Kato was surprised when he saw the sadness in Hann’s eyes.
“Son, I want you to listen to me, and I want you to listen clearly,” Hann said, catching Kato’s full attention. “Now, I don’t care who you love. If you and Thea can have a happy, stable, committed relationship, then I’m happy for you. But I’m telling you right now, this isn’t going to be an easy relationship.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kato, I mated with a human woman, too. And I don’t regret that. She is, and will always be, my one true love. But look where I am now. I have no wife, I don’t have my true love anymore. And the only person I have to blame for that is me. Life is . . . well, life is lonely. If I didn’t have Annie, I don’t know what type of person I’d be now. But you and Thea? You need to be strong, and you need to trust each other. You need to be able to fight against the shifters of this world, even the shifters of this pack that think your union is wrong. And Thea is on the Elder’s watch list. This isn’t going to be easy.”
“I know, Hann,” Kato said honestly, fear crushing into his heart as he listened to everything that Hann told him. He didn’t know what would happen if he lost Thea. “But I don’t know what else to do other than love her.”
“That’s all you need to know how to do, Kato,” Hann laughed slightly. “But you just need to remember that in all the hard days that will come ahead. If you were looking for my blessing, you have it. If you were looking for my confidence, you have it. I still want you to be the next alpha when I move on, hands down. And if you were looking for my trust, you have it, Kato. You’ll always have it.”
“Thank you, Hann,” Kato told him, smiling slightly. “I think I needed to hear that.”
“Oh, I’m not finished with you,” Hann told him when Kato stood up to walk to the door with Hann. Both of them were standing now, and Hann pulled Kato by the arm so that he was only inches away from his alpha. The sudden change that came over his alpha almost frightened Kato. Gone was the smile and wise words from the older shifter. In his place stood the strong, fearful warrior that had put many strong shifters in their place, regardless of his old age.
“Yes?” Kato muttered out, trying to act like he wasn’t scared.
“I don’t think I have to tell you this, but I have known Thea since she was a little girl. She has been best friends with Annie since they were tiny kids, and I have watched that little girl grow into a strong, independent woman. If you so much as blink an eye wrong at her, I will make your life a living hell, regardless if you’re the next alpha or not. Are we clear?”
“We’re clear,” Kato mumbled.
“Good,” Hann smiled at him, hitting him on the back and slinging his arm around his neck as they walked out of the office, almost as if nothing had happened at all.
Chapter 15
When Kato came straight back to Thea’s after he met with Hann, she was beyond thrilled. She was outside waiting for him when he got out of his car, a beat-up truck that Thea really wished he would just trade in for a car that actually worked.
“What are you doing out here?” Kato asked as he walked up to her, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her to him. “It’s freezing.”
“I have to ask you something,” she whispered right before he kissed her. When he pulled back he saw that she was smiling, making his heart jump in his chest. “And I have to tell you something.”
“Okay,” he mumbled, nipping at her neck and making her giggle.
“So, first off, I told Annie, but mainly because she heard us with her stupid shifter senses or something,” she told him as he groaned in somewhat embarrassment.
“Did she bitch?”
“Only for a second,” Thea laughed. “But now she’s happy for us and really looking forward to all of the babies we’re going to have.”
Even though Thea rolled her eyes at this, Kato couldn’t help the knife that seemed to slide into his heart. He immediately thought of Thea’s chances, and if she would even be able to keep a child full term. He wouldn’t think about that now, though. He couldn’t, or he’d find himself down in a dark hole of despair.
“Okay, and what’s the thing you were going to ask me?” Kato asked her, continuing to nip at her neck.
“So, you don’t have to do this at all if you feel uncomfortable,” Thea assured him. She didn’t want to pressure him at all. This made Kato leave her neck and stand up straight, a slight smirk on his face and confusion in his eyes. “I don’t want to pressure you or anything, I’m just curious, that’s all.”
“Okay, what are you curious about, Thea?”
“I want to see your wolf,” she told him quickly. “Like, I want to see what you look like when you shift. If it’s not weird or anything.”
Kato smiled at her, and Thea felt herself falling into his brown eyes again. She wondered if they were going to be the same color when he shifted.
Without saying anything, Kato let go of Thea and walked back a few paces, slowly stripping off his clothes as he went. Thea didn’t know what to say, so she simply said nothing. She just stood in the dark, watching as he suddenly became naked. Thank God she didn’t have any neighbors. The house was quite secluded, surrounded by only trees and the forest.
As Kato was finally naked, Thea found herself gazing over his sculpted body. It was like he was made by an artist. She couldn’t believe how handsome he was, and it was almost like he was some god from a long time ago in a faraway land. His light-brown skin seemed to shine in the moonlight, and as he stood naked in front of her, Thea could see why some people said he looked like a king from the Middle East. He looked like pure heaven to her.
And when she saw his lower half and remembered how much pleasure his size had given her, she blushed bright red.
Before she could do anything else, almost like in the blink of an eye, Kato dropped down to his knees in the grass. It was like her human eyes were playing tricks on her, not letting her see the magic or supernatural presence that was happening right in front of her eyes. Because in two seconds, Kato turned into the biggest wolf she had ever laid eyes on.
His coat was a dark brown, with parts of his head a lighter brown that interweaved with the darker. He was absolutely gorgeous, and as he walked closer to Thea, prancing on his four feet, Thea saw that his eyes were the same. It was the same Kato she had always known.
If she hadn’t seen Annie shift before, she definitely would’ve been freaking out right now. And even though she had seen Annie shift, it was still weird watching it all happen. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to just suddenly become a different species, and she found herself so amazed by the process.
Kato walked closer to her, and when he was just a few inches from her feet, he bent down on his legs as if he was bowing to her. Thea couldn’t help the little giggle that escaped her mouth as she reached down to pet his head, his soft fur sliding through her fingertips.
Kato lifted his head slightly, rubbing it against her outstretched hand, making her giggle again and continue petting him. He was the most beautiful wolf she’d ever seen in her life.
And then, almost as if in another blink of an eye, the wolf was gone and the human Kato was back in his rightful place, standing in front of Thea. His brown eyes looked mischievous, and he stepped closer to Thea, grabbing her and pulling her into his arms, into his naked body.
He kissed her deeper than he ever had before, and she felt her body begin to tingle as his tongue slid into her mouth, making her grasp at his chest to keep herself upright. She almost couldn’t believe that he could make her knees so weak just from a kiss.
“I’ve never shown any human my wolf before,” he whispered to her as he broke free from their kiss. His eyes were still mischievous, but there was a sense of excitement and thrill there. Thea smiled at him, hoping he could see how happy she was that he had shown every part of himself to her.
She didn’t know what else to say. She wanted to tell him that she trusted him more than she trusted anyone
else. She wanted to tell him that she would always defend and fight for him, even though her human body maybe wasn’t as intimidating as a shifter was. She wanted to tell him that she loved him. But she couldn’t find the words.
So, instead, she just smiled at him and cocked her head towards the house.
“You wanna go upstairs to my bedroom?”
Kato’s greedy smile was all she needed before she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the house.
Chapter 16
“I need to talk to you,” Kato told Annie as he walked downstairs later on in the night. Thea was fast asleep after their second round, but Kato had tossed and turned. He couldn’t crash like Thea did, though he desperately wanted to hold her in his arms the whole night. Even if he didn’t sleep himself.
But he needed to inform Annie about everything that was going on. She needed to know. Annie was currently reading a book on the couch in the living room, the rest of the house dark. Lukas had gone to sleep earlier, but Kato knew that Annie would still be up. She was a night owl like him. When they were teenagers, they both would sneak out of the house and go running in their wolf forms together, reveling in the moon and the danger of possibly being caught by their parents.
Kato sat next to her on the couch as she closed her book and rested it on the coffee table in front of them.
“Is this about the Elders and all their drama?” Annie asked, a knowing look in her eye.
“You know?” Kato asked surprised. “Did Lukas tell you?”
“Yeah, he told me when he got home today,” Annie sighed. “I wanted to talk with you about it earlier, but you and Thea were a little . . . busy . . . shall we say?”
Annie chuckled, but Kato didn’t have the heart or energy to laugh alongside her. He was stressed. He didn’t want there to be a threat against Thea. He didn’t want any of this to be happening. But now that it was, and now that a section of the Elders refused to let this slide, he felt like he was dying from stress and potential casualties inside. And he really didn’t know what to do.
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