Chapter 172

172 Chapter One Hundred Seventy Two

The air was thick with the feeling of defeat as Sandra pinned a royal for the fourth time in a row. Each time she did so with even more ease. Jason stood at the edge of the clearing watching them in silence. He could feel the tension between the two of them. Katie had told them the outcome of her meeting with the head junior hunter at school and Lina was still not speaking to Sandra after organising a fight between her and an alpha she was sure she couldn’t beat.

Sandra stood up, panting from the exertion. Her thoughts were muddled, occasionally straying over to her added responsibility to the school. Every time she felt like she was going to buckle under the pressure of all of her responsibilities, she’d remember the responsibilities of one that had earned the name of the Rogue Killer. Katie had never uttered a word of defiance when she was given a task and she’d climbed through the ranks through sheer hard work.

It was insane and abnormal to think about, but Sandra had watched it all happen. She’d watched the gap between her and her friend grow considerably fast until she was skilled enough to even qualify to be a mentor. It was frustrating to think about, but it also drove her to work harder. The royal had been working hard as well and hadn’t had much time to evaluate her progress. Well, she’d rather put that on hold to help Lina anyway.

Looking back at the royal panting on the ground, “Get up, Lina.”

“It’s pointless. I’ll find myself on the ground exactly the same way I am. There is no point to all this,” Lina snapped, “So, I’ll stay right where I am.”

Sandra hadn’t told Katie of this recent development for fear of what reaction she would be getting. Her job had been to protect the royal and she’d gone and booked her a fight for the weekend, “Are you still mad at me for setting up that fight?”

“Well, naturally...” Lina replied calmly, however, her anger didn’t seem to relay the message. The girl turned her head in the direction of her sister on the other side of the clearing. The hunter was learning something else that day and finally had her hands on a bow. The Mighty Warrior, as usual, was taking her through training that was unlike anything the juniors were taught. Lina’s face was sad and bore a sense of longing.

“What about her?” Sandra asked.

“Every time we make plans, something comes up. I can’t help but wonder if the trip we are having this weekend has something behind it. We had planned to have spent time as a family this weekend, but Uncle Sean had to go and ruin everything. I can’t even begin to imagine where he got a crazy idea like this one,” she said. Sandra was at a loss for words.

.....

“You’ve been thinking of that for some time, haven’t you?” she replied, offering the royal a hand and helping her up.

“Yes, I have been thinking about it a lot. I’m always thinking about things I will never get to be a part of,” her voice got higher.

“Well, look at the bright side. If you can pull off this fight with Liam this weekend, then you won’t have to think that way for much longer,” Sandra tried veering the girl to the point of their coming to the clearing.

Lina thought through what the girl had said. Sandra hadn’t noticed just how true her words were and chose to remain ignorantly pleased with the results, “Very well, we shall continue this painful training of yours. However, I need a way to get better faster. At this rate, I won’t be able to...”

“You might want to stop thinking that way. There is no shortcut to power. Only through discipline can you get where you want to be,” Sandra scowled at the girl who only pouted at her response.

“You’re no fun. There is always a way through to power that doesn’t involve as much work as you are putting in,” the thought was enticing and Sandra found a little trouble shaking it even after nodding in denial.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if someone untalented was thinking that way, but you have got speed that trumps that of any wolf that has ever been known. If there was one as fast as you, I would be surprised we never heard of it. Take pride in that and focus on learning how to use it to your advantage,” Sandra took a stab at a pep talk. This was normally Katie’s job and she found her mind drained from only saying the few words she had.

'

Lina sighed in response. Shaking the thoughts from her mind, “Let’s just get this over with. I won’t lose to Liam this weekend,” Lina replied. To Jason, the girls before him were similar in more ways than one. They’d both been surpassed by their peers and were pushing themselves to catch up. His mind wandered to Caden.

‘How is he?’ he asked Caden through the mind link.

‘He’s going into the sick phase of his healing process. The doctor has him isolated in his room. I asked her to keep this situation under wraps so that the alpha would heal in secrecy, but he isn’t looking good,’ Caden replied.

‘Keep an eye on him, Caden. We just have to wait two more days and he’ll be back to normal,’ the alpha replied, his chest growing tight with worry for his alpha.

‘I know... It doesn’t make it any easier to watch,’ Caden replied, replacing the towel on the alpha’s head. Cole wanted to swap the alpha’s caring gesture, but he barely had the energy to do so. “You don’t have to spend your time here with me, you know. You could go out and look for your mate. You did turn eighteen and you can’t know where and when she might pop up,” the royal spoke. Caden allowed the man’s words to travel through the mind link so that his friend could hear him as well.

“You don’t usually say such things when you are healthy. I’d rather search for my mate once you’re back to full health,” he replied. Cole’s mind was barely conscious by the time Caden was done talking to him. ‘His temperature worries me...’

‘Let’s stay strong for him,’ Jason replied, turning his attention back to the training females before him. It seemed Lina had no interest in getting beaten by him today. Nonetheless, there was more than training to distract the wolf. He could spend his free time watching Sandra... That was more than he could ask for.

...........

“What...” the girl asked once again. It was the second time she was hearing the MIghty Warrior say this, but she hadn’t yet allowed it to sink in. Frank, on the other hand, was glad to repeat it as many times as he needed to.

“I said, I decided you were too strong to use a normal bow and had one made custom made for you. It isn’t as good as mine is considering I’m awesome. More than you can hope to imagine, but it will definitely be an improvement for you. How many arrows can you shoot consecutively?” the man asked her.

It was then that Katie remembered the times when she was determined to beat the Rogue king with her bare hands. As a result of this, she had been very lazy with her archery training. Once she’d been able to shoot two arrows in quick succession, she’d abandoned the art and only focused on getting a better aim, “Oh, can we learn something that’s not archery, I forgot my bow... The one that you just announced to have got for me... yeah, that one...” the girl tried, futility reeking.

The Mighty Warrior stared at the girl with a look she’d never seen before. ‘Is that supposed to be shocking?’ the girl thought. “Well, I guess the all-perfect Katie Chase is not so perfect after all,” was the first thing the man thought.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I am trying to understand what’s making you so happy,” she asked him, letting her shoulders drop in embarrassment.

“No, it’s neither. For a moment there, you were starting to sound like the perfect and model child who never skipped on any assignment and worked themselves to death. What kept you from learning archery?” the man asked her.

“Well, I always claimed I would take down the Rogue King with my bare hands,” Katie looked at her hands and let the memory of Cole fighting Frank flow through her. She could tell how weak she was compared to the two of them. Her speed was an added advantage, but when it came down to it, she was useless if she couldn’t overwhelm her foe. She didn’t want to underestimate the Rogue king, so it was safe to assume she couldn’t lay a finger on him in her current state, “Now that I look back on that wish, I don’t think I am capable of it.”

“Oh, dearie... Why do you look so down? Last time I checked, you have the strength Prometheus gift as well. What makes you lose faith in that?” Frank asked, getting closer to her and pulling up her chin so she looked him in the eye.

“Cole showed me the memories of the fight you had with him. What good was your strength Prometheus gift against him? I’ve spent a lot of time teaching myself to fight... All for what, to just grow up and realise I need to learn how to use a bow and arrow if I’m to ever see my goals realised,” Katie barked. Her voice was bitter and it stung in more ways than one.

“You’re the moon goddess’ Chosen and so is Cole. What you two possess is nothing like the other wolves. You should never compare Cole to anyone else for he is the only wolf of his kind in the whole world. Don’t doubt your strength because of what you... Wait, you can share memories?” Frank asked all of a sudden.

“Yeah. Why do you sound so surprised?” Katie asked.

The man before her thought for a bit before answering, “I was just wondering what it would be like to share memories. Definitely ruins my image in front of my student. Now get up. As soon as you can shoot three arrows in quick succession, we shall not call it a day,” Katie could tell that the man was not joking when he said this. She, therefore, chose to try her best even though he was asking too much of her.