Chapter 144

144 Chapter One Hundred Forty Four

Darkness everywhere. Not a single source of light. And yet, the scent of her loved one was still thick in the air. She tried turning about and looking for his body, but he wasn’t there. Confused and alone in the darkness of whatever place she’d found herself in, Katie started to realise the numerous anomalies with this setting.

She wasn’t laying down beside Cole anymore. She wasn’t lying in a bed either. She was standing upright with no energy wasted while doing it. The worst part though was that she could see a thing. Well, that’s what she’d thought would remain the case. Eventually, she began to see shapes and dim light filling the place she was in.

Soon enough she could tell that she was in a room made of stone. Part of the stone wall was covered in moss. If it hadn’t been for her mate’s scent constantly wafting into her nose and calming her senses, she would have been overwhelmed with panic. She checked her mind to be sure of what had happened the day before. She had gotten angry about Trevor and the way he acted toward her. Well, disappointed would have been a better word, but her reaction scratched that off her list of excuses.

She’d flat out cancelled her plans to visit the top floor when she saw the boy climbing the stairs and instead gone out with her mate... to a club. She had many questions as to how she’d even ended up in her bed, dressed up and next to her mate, however, she was sure of the mild memory... ‘I turn eighteen and go straight to a club like a spoilt teenager. Aunt Marie would not have liked that...’

While she tried to reprimand herself, she heard the shifting sound of fabric made by someone when they turned in their sleep. Accompanying these suspicions was the sound of someone breathing out. Katie was now sure that she was not alone. She squinted her eyes in an effort to adjust to the surroundings. Drawing on her wolf’s power so that she could at least use the sight of a werewolf, she was disappointed to find it unavailable to her.

Was she sleeping? Was this a dream that didn’t let her do what she wanted to? She took a step back and came into contact with bars so cold she had to back away from them. The stone walls were only on three sides as she now discovered and the fourth side was an entrance to a prison cell. Her eyes finally cleared and she was able to see that she wasn’t alone in the cell. Once again panic threatened to surge, but the scent of her mate all around her gave her the calm levelheadedness she needed in this situation.

Now that she was comfortable with having a roommate, she took a closer look at the one laying on the ground. A boy who was slightly older than her rested in one corner of the room, dressed in rugs that were familiar to her. At least, the colour of the original clothes was familiar. The boy was bound in cuffs and shifted uncomfortably on the hard stone ground, “K-Kyle, is that you?”

There was no doubt in her mind that she was staring at the boy that betrayed her and had her perforated with arrows. The boy’s breathing came to a stop... He could hear her. He turned around even though he didn’t open his eyes... “I guess the hallucinations have begun. Just leave me alone already.”

“Kyle, what have they done to you? What am I doing here?” both of the cell’s inhabitants had no answer to the last question.

.....

“Have you come to gloat or remind me of the mistakes I made?” the boy asked, “Just leave me alone already. You’ll soon have your wish on the day I die. Just spare me until then. It’s not long.” He curled up into a ball and wept. Shivers shook the boy and caused the last of Katie’s resolve to come tumbling down.

What scared her the most was the fact that she bore no hatred towards the boy whatsoever. He’d betrayed her and killed Ashley in the process, but even now as she stared at him, she wanted nothing to do with him. She didn’t want to kill him... and she didn’t want to see him die either. She came closer to him and placed her hand on his back. He tensed up at the touch... “What happened to you, Kyle?”

“I don’t know who to blame anymore, Katie. I want you to kill me. Just finish the job. There is nowhere left for me to go,” just then, his eyes opened to reveal something that scared Katie right out of her dream of the boy. His eyes, instead of a normal amber were crimson red.

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Katie woke up suddenly having seen her former best friend in a cell with eyes that were only deserving of wolves that served the kings. A thin film of sweat covered her body, probably from what she’d just gone through in the dream.

Katie was deeply curious as to why his eyes had changed to that colour, but also bore no explanation. Cole’s hand tightened around her, bringing down her nerves. It was as if the royal could sense her emotions even when she was asleep. ‘It would be hard to hide my emotions from you...’ the girl sighed. Placing a gentle kiss on his cheek, she stepped out of the bed and went to the shower.

Setting the bathwater to the right temperature, she filled the bathtub and sunk into the water to calm her nerves. It was exactly what she needed after what she’d just witnessed. She didn’t know what she was supposed to feel now that she’d seen Kyle again. Whether it was real or fake did not matter. She bore him no ill will and found that fact threatening. If they were to ever meet and the others didn’t know of her current opinion of the boy, they would probably make a decision they would regret. It wasn’t right to use their emotions to drive their actions.

Well, that’s what she’d learnt with the hunters. Ever since Ashley had awoken, she’d been nothing but emotional and no matter what she did, she couldn’t just turn it off. Looking back to the day of the welcome ceremony, Ashley had tried to pull back from her so that she wouldn’t snap at the girl at the time. However, that wasn’t something the wolf could completely ignore. The girl had been trying to spike their mate’s drink. ‘Ashley, are you there?’ Katie called.

The wolf barely stirred upon hearing her summons. She was completely silent for the first time. It was only now that Katie noticed that her eyes weren’t as sharp as they usually were. Concern leaked into her now relaxing mind. She stepped out of the shower and walked up to the mirror by the sink. Just as she’d suspected, the girl that stared back at her had dark blue eyes. There wasn’t a glow in them like they normally were. ‘I think I’ve heard enough shocks for the night...’ she thought to herself, lowering herself back into the shower to wash off.

Little did she know that Ashley was indeed awake. The wolf wanted nothing to do with the traitor. She’d seen Katie’s memories and knew the anger that had boiled within her when Kyle had betrayed her. She’d experienced it all. It was only then that they saw Kyle that the wolf had figured out how to withdraw from the hunter, cutting off everything that made her a werewolf. Katie, unknowingly, was left with only what she would have called her hunter part.

Sensing the girl’s discomfort from the image that stared back at her in the mirror, Ashley forced her to rest. Katie didn’t know where the sleep came from, but she was fast asleep in the tub before too long. ‘I’m sorry, Katie,’ the wolf whispered.

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Bzzt bzzt... the royal slapped the annoying alarm that woke them up hours before sunrise for pack training. Thankfully, there was always something beside him that would calm him down immediately. Cole turned over to touch his mate and found the sheets beside him empty. His eyes shot open and his wolf surged forward frantically searching for her.

Following her scent, he ran to the bathroom and instantly relaxed. Much of his body hurt from using a particular power the day before even after being warned by Caden. He rubbed his temples when he realised she was fine. Katie lay unconscious in the bathtub with her head resting in the padded crook that had been designed to lean out when one was in the tub; rest. She’d fallen asleep...

He reached into the water and pulled the girl out of the water. She lay limp in his hands, a sight that he was starting to get used to, ‘I am getting tired of seeing you like this, but I will happily continue to do so as long as you promise never to let anyone see you like this...’ the man’s thoughts began to wander as he dried her off in a procedure that he’d grown used to when she was injured. She had fought him at first, but after he’d shown her that he only wanted to help her, she’d accepted him. Thanks to the mate pull, this was easier than it should have been...