Chapter 119

119 Chapter One Hundred Nineteen

Cole finally caught up to the girl at the main gate. With next to no resistance, the gates were opened for her to get out. Cole didn’t like the ease with which she could get out and glared at the wolves that had opened for her before going after her, “Katie, where are you going?” he called to her.

“Cole, I need a tour of the outside,” she went straight to the point.

“Huh, what’s that supposed to mean?” the tapping her feet made against the foothold told him what she wanted, “Well, there is a way,” he said smirking. The girl’s face lit up in excitement, a look the Royal hadn’t noticed he was missing this entire time.

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Nothing beat the feel of air rushing through someone when they were running at speeds that made everything pass by in a blur. There was a freedom that it offered Katie every time she diminished the significance of distance by reaching a speed higher than that of an average human.

The feeling wasn’t any different atop the black wolf that had offered to take her through the forest. She felt at peace as they ran through the forest. Travelling, getting shot, almost dying, losing the ability to walk, shifting into a werewolf and gaining a new family... It was borderline insane what had happened to the girl in the span of one week...

Cole could feel the emotions that were released when she let herself become one with the nature that they ran through. Unbeknownst to him was the ability that was constantly active mapping the entire forest as they went through it. Katie ignored the workings of her gift and let the mapping go on... It was part of what she’d wanted to happen anyway as she was constantly on edge without being able to clearly detect what was happening in the surrounding woods.

The sound of running water hit the girl’s ears and got her out of her reverie, “Cole, is there a river near here?” she asked him.

“Yeah, the River of Sirius...” he hated to say the name, “These specific royals just loved naming everything after themselves. They say Sirius was the humbler of the two of the first Royals, but his descendants are surely made of some other genes.”

.....

Katie couldn’t help, but laugh at the complaints. This very same thing could be seen in the king’s conduct... He loved the attention he got from dressing in white... along with the attention he got from moving around with a wife that he clearly thought of as the most beautiful person in the world. Katie groaned at the memory of the two... ‘Do they really have to be like that in public?’

“You mean your parents... Oh, wouldn’t you like us to be just like them?” Cole, who had received the comment along with visuals through their mind link, inquired from his mate.

“I’ll not comment on that. Where is the river?” she said, however much her wolf went out of her way to send comforting thoughts to the wolf.

Cole chuckled at the difference between the two personalities, “You have an interesting wolf. The river is nearby. We’ll be there very soon...”

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After taking a dip in the river, completely conducted through the help of her mate, Katie was able to finally relax her mind. The male loved tending to his mate despite the roles and responsibilities he’d been trained to handle throughout his life. The creases that threatened to scar her face were now gone and she looked at ease for once... Her clothes were wet, but she didn’t seem to mind that...

“Would you like to tell me what’s going on with you?” he asked her.

The question brought Katie’s mind back to reality, her look of peace leaving her altogether making Cole regret asking. She now looked a little worried instead, “Cole... do you know what I thought would happen after I had shifted?” she asked.

“No, I don’t. What was that?”

Katie chuckled, covering her face in embarrassment, “It’s so silly now that I look at it, but I thought that I’d be going back to school the next day and have to live with the fact that I was a werewolf that was heading the junior hunters and security of the school. In fact, I was getting ready for the big reveal and everything. Everything would eventually settle and my life in Brigadia would continue the way it normally was. With my two best friends... I would have never seen a fraction of any of this coming...”

“I hadn’t realized...”

“Hush, Lycaon... I’m not going to be a pain. I just needed some fresh air to relax my mind. I’ll learn to walk again... then I’ll learn to fight again and we’ll soon be back on our mission to defeat him,” she said to him, looking him straight in the eye.

There was a moment of silence between the two as they stared at each other, “It’s ‘we’ now...”

“You made me promise I wouldn’t do it alone. So that’s what you get,” she replied...

“If it means I get to keep you safe from him, that’s fine with me...” getting severely interested in the colour of her eyes and with how they constantly shone a strong blue. It was almost as though life pulsed out of them. Without thinking, the man found himself kissing her and without objecting, she kissed him back...

“Oh, how sweet...” a voice interrupted them. Cole growled at the man for the rude interruption, “Oh, don’t mind me. I just love watching young couples before I kill them.”

Cole didn’t let much come from him before he’d launched himself into an attack. Trying to get the upper hand before the man could get ready for a fight. Katie was more curious about the way the man was dressed. Dressed in leather armour that left his arms exposed and a kilt for his legs. He looked like an ancient warrior. However, that did nothing to dull the danger he clearly posed them.

Before Cole could get to the man, he’d already been overpowered and knocked unconscious. “Ouch, that looked like it hurt,” the man went again, lifting Cole by his shirt and tossing him the nearest tree from the treeline that bordered the river shore.

“What do you want?” Katie asked. From the years she’d spent training her Prometheus agility gift, she was able to follow the man’s movements while Cole had rushed in blindly and underestimated his opponent.

“Well, if you’re wondering why or how I took him down so fast, it was simply because he was reckless. I’m sure I’ve seen this boy fight in a more formidable manner. Love must be getting to his head these days,” the man continued to ignore Katie’s questions.

Straining her legs, she tried to get to her feet only to fall to the ground as pain rushed through her like electricity. Her knees had buckled under the pain and brought her down almost immediately, “Oh my... You look lame... Should you be straining yourself like that?”

“I asked you what you are doing here...” Katie repeated through gritted teeth.

The man reached for his waist belt and retrieved a dagger, “Nothing much really. I just realised this might be the right moment to save the Rogue King some trouble and kill the weak wolves that are causing him one hell of a headache...” he was playing with the knife tracing the artery on the man’s neck with the shaft of the dagger.

Fear finally set into Katie’s system... Cole was at the mercy of this man and she was immobilised, “Oh, come on, Katie... I don’t want to kill you without having a little fun first. I can slit his throat very easily and you are going to remain seated there and watch when the doctor told you your injuries were only mental... That’s path...”

The man stopped halfway through his speech just in time to dodge a fist aimed at his jaw. Katie’s feet buckled once more and she tumbled past Cole. It had taken every ounce of energy she had to get up and activate her abilities... Her legs screamed from the strain... “That pain you feel... Can you believe it’s all mental? What troubles you?”

“Shut up...”

“Oh you will have to make me shut up, young lady. Other than that, I have the liberty to say everything I want. Are you probably still blaming yourself for not being able to capture Kyle like you promised and letting Ashley’s murderer just go?” the wolf went still at the mention of her name... ‘What?’

“Or maybe are you blaming yourself for losing to Jeremiah and also letting him go. Or is it because you let the Rogue king go...”

The man leapt out of the way just in time again. Katie’s fist this time smashed into a tree, the wood groaning under the pressure of her strength. “I told you to shut up...”

“Oh, that one was close... So you can move after all... I’m afraid you still can’t touch me with those measly gifts of yours,” he boasted, loading him onto his back like luggage. With only thoughts of losing Cole, Katie didn’t have time to care about how much pain or stress her legs and arms were under. Once she found that she could bear it and move... she wasted no time in using that chance to pursue Cole’s assailant...