Chapter 124

124 Chapter One Hundred Twenty Four

King Davin, yet again, found himself feeling impatient for the second time that day. The party was now twenty minutes in and drinks had been served, however, the guest of honour was still to be seen. “Hey, Davin...”

“Mind your tone, Phillip,” Martha cut him off.

“Oh, forgive me, Your Highness. King Davin, are you sure you’re not making a big fuss over this... seemingly too good to be a true discovery. We know this was the month in which she was born and you don’t normally act normal at that time. Isn’t this a bit... much?” the red-eyed man voiced his concern, taking another sip of the drink he’d been served.

“I appreciate your concern, Alpha Phillip, but she will be here soon. What I can’t believe is the fact that none of you has seen her this entire time,” the king sighed.

“I heard that she was seen exiting the premises immediately we arrived. She only needed some time to take everything in,” Martha told his husband, trying her best to keep him in his happy moods. It was rare for the man to get impatient considering all his orders were normally followed to the letter. This girl was doing the entire opposite of that.

“Where is Cole? Maybe he could tell us where she was the entire day...” Davin perked up, standing up swiftly and smoothing his white coat. He scanned the crowd and found him... (by scent). The alpha had his time occupied with a girl dressed to seduce... if only it were possible. However, Cole was not objecting to all the signals she sent his way and it troubled the king’s mind.

He walked up to him only to be stopped by an announcement through the mind link, “King Davin, the princess is on her way. She’s done preparing herself,” Jackson’s voice came through.

Panic set into the King’s mind. He’d known she was getting ready but hadn’t thought too much about it. He walked up to Cole and whispered into his ear, “You might want to keep your eyes peeled,” with this he left the man contemplating the meaning of the short gesture. Something was wrong with the boy... or maybe it was his imagination.

Calling the entire crowd to attention, the King walked up the stairs so that he looked down on all of them from the top of the staircase. He would be the first one to see Katie when she came. The familiar warm presence of his wife by his side settled by him, setting his nerves at ease instantly. Lina was the first one to come through the door, pushing it wider to reveal the girl behind her.

.....

The two parents gasped upon seeing their daughter dressed in a blue sleeveless dress, her hair tied was tied in a neat bun that exposed her fair skin. “Is it a good idea to expose her neck on a day like this one?” the queen asked as their daughter walked up to them.

“That all depends on the two of them. We have nothing to say about that,” he replied before turning around and calling for everyone’s attention. The whole crowd went quiet instantly, “There was a slight delay due to some... Unforeseen circumstances...” this was the first time the king was speaking about tardiness and he didn’t make it look natural at all.

“Is everything okay, your majesty?” Alpha Philip called from his seat.

“Yes, everything is fine now. There are probably rumours moving about on the reasons for this barbecue as well as the reason why we haven’t let the lot of you dig your fangs into the meat before you,” he began, forcing a ripple of laughter through the crowd, “I’ll say what has brought us here and not what the rumours are saying. My daughter didn’t die eighteen years ago. She was rescued that night and taken into hiding to keep her safe from the rogues that tried to kill her. As of today, she has returned to the castle and this is her welcome ceremony.”

“You mean to tell me that we are about to set eyes on the famous, Katie Sirius,” another one of the werewolves spoke out.

“That would be what my husband just said. Try to contain your excitement,” Martha cut in, proudly.

Katie, on the other hand, just felt her nerves double... probably triple upon announcing her arrival. ‘How can you be nervous when you have me as a wolf... Stay confident... I saw a memory of you giving a speech once. You were inspirational.”

“Those people knew me and I knew them. There wasn’t a face there that I couldn’t place and everyone knew who I was. That was nothing like this at all,” she mentally yelled.

“Well, maybe you could focus on something else. Like Co... There is something wrong with his scent,” this was the last thing Katie could have heard with the stress she was under. “Katie, breath in and out twice...”

“Are you trying to get me to do the thing that the hunters used to make me do when I needed to...”

“Yes, that is what I’m talking about, Katie. Now do it now...” it didn’t take a fraction of a second before the hunter had lost all expression from her face, bracing herself with a small smile. This had been harder for her in the past few days, but with Ashley’s support, everything was fine.

She walked out of the large doors, the hints of nervousness completely gone from her composure. Her mother received her with a hug, followed by her father, King Davin, “You guys didn’t have to go through all this trouble, you know...”

“Oh, we had to. It’s only proper that we welcome our daughter back with one of the most anticipated ceremonies for werewolves,” King Davin said mid hug.

“I can smell the love for this event,” Katie chuckled, enjoying the assaulting scent that threatened to make her mouth water. Ashley, who could no longer be felt at the back of the girl’s mind was also waiting for the right moment to join the party... the eating party.

“Katie, might I ask you where your wheelchair is and how the hell you are walking?” Martha asked her, doing her best to mask her surprise.

“That’s not the same girl that you brought earlier today,” a voice broke through from the audience. Katie’s eyes rushed to the source and spotted a man with green eyes, dressed in a suit and staring at the king in rage.

“What makes you say that?” Katie’s voice rang clear, rattling everyone’s nerves. Without Ashley to keep her hunter side intact, her voice came out cold and demanding, yet lacking all the elements of the Royal tone, “Would you rather accuse my father of deceit?” She asked him once more.

An air of awkwardness went through the backyard, “Let’s not make this day any gloomy, alright. Beta Raymond, watch your manners. The person in front of you all is indeed our daughter... and one that I’m proud of,” Martha said, hugging her daughter once more in front of the crowd.

The party was then allowed to commence, Katie luckily dodging whatever speech they would have wanted her to hold. Retrieving her phone, she contacted Sandra and met up with her before she’d look for Cole. Reversing the order of that search only felt impossible, even though she was worried about her mate. If he’d been in imminent danger, she would have felt it, but he seemed to be okay.

“How are you enjoying your evening?” Katie asked the girl who she found partaking in a pool game against a group of males.

“I’m enjoying myself much more than I thought I would. Jason introduced me to a few of the pack warriors. Some male, some female... I don’t know why I didn’t like the female ones, but they are very friendly,” she said, hitting yet another one of the balls into her desired target.

“Well, that’s good to hear. Although it’s not fun watching you play a game that you are too good at,” Katie said to her.

“Well, it was my idea to challenge a pool master. It should be obvious for a hunter to be an expert in this game,” Sandra groaned while getting rid of another one.

“I’ll carry that lesson with me for the rest of my life, Sandra,” the werewolf spoke up, leaning against his cue with no hope of winning the game. “That was quite an entrance, Katie. Do you always speak with such a commanding tone?”

“Oh, come on, Gunther. She’s my mentor. Of course, she knows how to command,” Sandra spoke up.

“I don’t usually speak like that. I just didn’t like the way the beta spoke to my father. It was disrespectful,” she retorted, trying to find the man through the crowd and giving up after a failed attempt.

“Oh, you mean Beta Raymond. He’s always trying to get the king off his game. The rest of us don’t know what his game is, but he’s always trying something. Just earlier there were rumours about the princess... Katie, using the Royal tone on her... Something like that would have caused quite a stir. Beta Raymond chose to overlook it, but it feels like there was more at play. Anyway, those are just my speculations,” Gunther shrugged, “Sandra, would you fancy teaching to play pool as you do?”

“Back off, Gunther. She’s mine... If anyone’s learning pool from this hunter, it will be me,” the voice of an interrupting alpha pitched in from behind Sandra and swept her off her feet, literally.

“Then someone asks where child abuse starts from,” Katie commented, watching the two, “Have you seen Cole?”

“He’s... over there...” dread filled the girl as she turned to follow the direction Jason was pointing. Surrounded by three girls that seemed heavily interested in every word that came from his mouth, Cole’s hand stirred a drink, that Katie was sure was not the first he had had, while he slipped further and further into the grasp of whatever tonic she could tell was in it. However, even after knowing all that, she wasn’t the least bit bothered by the sight in front of her... That was until she recognized Crysta to be the one that wouldn’t keep her hands to herself... despite Cole’s efforts.