Chapter 565 - THEY SHOULDN'T BE HERE

Kace frowned, he turned his body and stared at the direction where Hope was running to. Only then he realized what a big mistake that he made. 

Cursing under his breath, Kace rushed towards the lushes of trees and bushes, where the centaurs were going last night, the same direction where Hope disappeared. 

Kace didn't think about this before as he indulged himself with remorse and regret, but now another fear shot his body, this was more intense than before. 

If something happened to Hope and it was because of him…

Kace leapt highly and landed on all four, he shifted into his white beast and dashed towards the other side of the forest, ignoring Lana and Ethan, who were calling his name. 

His body didn't feel well, as his beast clawed on the edge of his mind, asking to be released, upset because of what its human side did to their mate. 

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Hope was running towards the dense of the trees, she herself was confused as to why she was actually running into this direction, instead of entering the house.

At first, she was afraid of Kace's sudden outburst, but then she was afraid of getting lost here, yet now, when Hope realized how relaxing it was being lost in this forest, she started to enjoy her surroundings. 

Chirping bird, velvety grass, ray of the sun light that peeked through the leaves and the sound of the wind that brushed against the branches of the trees. 

She had never felt so relaxed like this before. Hope loved being here after the tension between her and Kace.

To think about it, she wouldn't be lost for so long since there were four shapeshifters that were gifted with remarkable sense of smell, and amazing tracking ability, they would find her in a matter of minutes once they realized Hope was not around. 

Especially the certain Lycan.

"Hmph!" Hope crossed her arms in front of her chest as her expression turned sullen. How could he growl at her?!

Hope knew Kace was not in his right mind when he stared at her with hostility, but she was still upset knowing Kace treated her that way.

She walked slowly into the deepest part of the forest while relishing the scenery before her eyes and when her ears caught the sound of a stream, thoughtlessly, Hope followed the source of that sound. 

She hummed a song that she knew when she got closer to the sound of the stream until she found a small river there. 

The sunlight that fell on the surface of the water, sparkling beautifully. A smile was brought onto her lips because of that sight. 

However, before she could walk further to the river, there was a voice that warned her. 

"You will trespass our territory if you take another step towards the river." This female voice spoke in a flat tone. 

Hope turned her head, she was familiar with her voice, and when her eyes caught the sight of her, the smile on her lips broadened. 

"Hi, Carina…" Hope waved her hand and walked towards her without hesitation. 

The way Hope approached her brought a frown on her stoic expression. Shouldn't she be scared or run away? There was no one here who would protect her if she wanted to hurt her. 

"I haven't thanked you for what you did to Kace," Hope stopped walking in front of her and looked at the female centaur, whose height was passed over her head, warmly. "Thank you for what you did to Kace and Lana."

Hope didn't know whether Lana had woken up or not right now, because when she left her room, she was still sleeping, but she looked so much better now. 

Carina nodded her head rigidly. She didn't know how to respond to that or why she engaged a conversation with her when her original intention was to shoo her away from their territory. 

Chiron had been preparing the funeral later, together with the hunters. 

"Go back to Lori's family." Carina spoke as she turned around and was about to leave the girl there, but Hope followed her. 

Honestly, Hope was still fascinated with the centaur's feature, she really wanted to stroke their skin, but wouldn't that be rude?

For a moment, her annoyance towards Kace was forgotten as there was something more interesting for her. 

"Carina, how many centaurs are there in your pack?" Hope asked while following her. 

Carina glanced at Hope direction, contemplating whether to answer her question or not, until she spoke curtly. "Not many," then she added sarcastically. "Thanks to your mate."

Hope grimaced when she heard that. It reminded her with their fight. 

"Why did you help us?" Hope blurted out. She knew what Kace had done was despicable, she would understand if the centaurs were hostile and despise them, but the way they treated them was totally different. "You could have just left us when the hunter tried to kill me the other night."

"We followed our chief���s order and didn't question him." Carina walked a little bit fast and Hope had to run to catch up with her. 

"Can I talk to Chiron?" Hope really wanted to know more about Kace's past since Kace never let her know anything about it, and of course, the true motive of their kindness. Was this all just a trap?

"He is not around," Carina leapt gracefully over a dead trunk on the ground and landed like a cheetah. 

"Can you walk slowly please?" Hope was panting when she had to jump a trunk. 

As the reply, Carina stopped all of a sudden. Hope, who was running behind her, bumped onto her legs and whined. 

"Why are you—"

"Sssh!" Carina hissed, her body tensed as her eyes looked at her surroundings worriedly. 

"What happened?" Swallowed down, she complained, Hope crept closer towards her when she felt there was something amiss with the way Carina acted. 

"They shouldn't be here—" Carina mumbled. "How could they be here?" She glanced at Hope and frowned. 

"What?" Hope looked around her surroundings, but couldn't find anything. "What do you mean?"