Chapter 222

222 Chapter Two Hundred Twenty Two

“Well, you’ve answered my question, now I’ll answer yours. What’s your question?” the woman asked her.

“Honourable... I might just like you,” Amanda smirked, before looking at the ground and losing her happy expression, “I mentioned earlier that I was undercover. Well, I have someone I have been talking to from the inside, however, I can’t seem to reach him.”

“What’s his name? Maybe I could help you deliver a message for him,” Jackeline replied.

.............

The female hunter could barely think through what she was supposed to tell the others when she returned to their camp. She was a mess of emotions and there was nothing she could do about them. She couldn’t get what the woman had told her out of her head, nor could she get the fact that she trusted every word she’d said without a second thought out of her mind. Why she trusted the woman was lost to her, but she knew everything she’d been told to be true.

Amanda was a werewolf undercover and Jackeline believed every word she’d heard. Unfortunately for the alpha, she didn’t have any information on the person she was seeking. She did know, however, who might know who the person she was talking about was and had every intention of getting the girl’s message to him. Zipping through the trees, her heart was singing only praise for a mission well executed. It had gone far better than she had hoped and now she would do everything in her power to keep the others from carrying out their suicide mission.

When she finally landed in the clearing that held their tents, she found Sera seated at the front of her tent. When she saw the girl return, she looked surprised that she was back, “Have you finally changed your mind or did you forget a souvenir that you just had to return to your darling, Frost?”

“Never make fun of Frost and I most certainly didn’t come here to join your suicide mission. I came for a rather different reason altogether. Do you remember the question I asked you before leaving your tent?” Jackeline asked her.

“A preposterous one, I might add,” the woman commented.

.....

“If you consider it preposterous, then you really don’t expect this whole crew to make it out of this ordeal alive,” Jackeline replied.

“What’s your point, Jackeline?”

“I was able to get the information you need to call this off. The reason the rogues are gathering towards the capital of Lycaon,” the woman replied. After a nod from Sera, Jackeline began to tell her of what she had discovered, making sure to alter the details so that it wasn’t discovered that she spoke to one of the rogues and let them rejoin their pack with their life still intact.

Sera was thinking for a long time before she spoke up, “Would you care to tell me how you got this information so quickly?” the woman asked.

“It wasn’t easy to get it, but I also didn’t want to leave the rest of you here knowing you were going to meet your deaths. I took a very long route to get to the front of the force. They are many... thousands like she said, but alas, the leaders of the rogues were at the front, like I suspected. I don’t what level of luck I had to be able to find them talking about the very plans the rogue king had, but it was convenient for me and I took the chance to pay attention to every detail,” Jackeline responded.

“Did they spot you?”

“No, but they almost did,” she repeated.

“How did you avoid being spotted?”

'

“I silenced the rogue that was about to expose my presence with a swift accurate shot to the throat. He barely had the time to react,” Jackeline reported, keeping her voice firm as she was interrogated.

“Let me see your quiver...” the hunter took the quiver from her back and handed it over to the older woman who then began searching through the arrows. One was missing, as was expected.

“Would you swear on your life that the information you are reporting to me is the absolute truth to the matter?” Sera asked her.

“Yes, I would...”

After a heavy sigh, “Very well then... we shall proceed with what we have been doing and keep our distance from the rogues. I shall report your findings to the hunters and have them inform all concerned parties. I don’t know how this will help us turn the tide, but if they can use this information, then that’s good.”

“You did hear me talk about the reason the rogue king wants the king dead, didn’t you?” Jackeline asked.

“Yes, I did, but come on, what are the odds that the dead mate of the Lycaon prince will suddenly come back to life. I’m seeing the possibilities of an all-out war here,” Sera replied.

“What... So you haven’t heard. The princess was never dead, to begin with,” Jackeline chuckled.

“Those rumours don’t sit right with me. If the two of them had already met, then the princess would have been marked already. This would all be for nothing. The rogue king doesn’t seem bothered about the prince. I heard the boy is safely tucked away in the Sirius empire. Just what is he hoping to achieve by running away to safety?” Sera huffed.

“Just how fractured is your intel, Sera?” Jackeline laughed out.

“Huh, is there something you know that I don’t?” the woman asked her.

“Well, yeah, I practically raised the princess of Sirius. So yeah, there is something I know that you don’t. Katie Sirius is the mate to Cole Lycaon... We should get a message to them so that they know what this is all about,” Jackeline said to her.

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you? And here I thought you were merely a defective hunter. I guess you just think differently from the rest of us,” Sera shrugged, getting up to retrieve her phone. Jackeline was confused on whether to take it as a compliment or an offence. Looking up at the half-moon that gave them the light they used now... she wondered, ‘Is there something else you were trying to tell me that time as well... Frost...’

......

The hotel was quiet that night... the students barely made noise this time, exhausted from the party they had just had. The moon was high in the sky and the emotions of the werewolves that were watching the duel filled the mind link. Cole and Katie found themselves blocking out the excitement from most of them. “Do you think she will win?” Cole asked her.

“Yeah, I think she’ll do just great, however, it’s what happens after that I’m afraid of,” the girl responded.

“Well then, should we get going then?” the man said, reaching out for her hand, however, Katie didn’t budge an inch. She looked to the ground with a look he couldn’t decipher.

“Cole, you’ll have to there on your own and help them. Sandra and Jason have already gone to help. You’re the only one left. I’ll ask one of the hunters to follow ahead, but I can’t leave the hotel... Not yet anyway,” Katie responded.

“What’s wrong, Katie,” Cole asked her, worry seeping into his voice.

“Well, I’m staying behind. I don’t know why just yet, but I am staying behind,” the girl wouldn’t meet his gaze and kept her eyes to the ground, “I’m not alone, Cole. Am I?”

He’d used the words on her once before... However, having them thrown back at him was something else. Katie was the one that took on most of the burden on her own. This was the first time she was letting someone take care of keeping everyone safe. It was against her very nature and yet... she was trying.

“Do you think there will be an attack on the hotel?” he asked her.

“It’s just a feeling. I have always trusted my gut, but having to do the same when you have no proof that the enemy is coming is worse than anything I’ve endured so far,” she replied.

“Your mojo is so confusing...” Cole chuckled. He was running out of time and they both knew it. However, from the direction the girl was facing, he was now sure she wasn’t going to follow him to the beach. The royal walked around her so he was right in front of her. Pulling up her face so she looked him straight in the eye. He wiped away a stray tear with his thumb, smiling down at his mate. ‘So beautiful.’ “Follow your gut, like you always have. However, don’t do anything dangerous without consulting me, as you promised. Is that understood?”

Katie nodded in response to his demands, “And you better come back to me, is that understood?”

“I will nothing less, my love,” he replied before placing a kiss on her lips. Katie watched the black wolf vanish under the cover of the woods. Her senses had flared at the last moment... before they could proceed into the woods. It was faint, but looking back on the hotel, she realized just how many humans she was left unprotected. Each time she thought of leaving, her gut filled up with dread... And yet, she was sure there was something going to happen out in the woods that she had to deal with. ‘She couldn’t be in two places at once... could she?

Her mind worked fast as she made her way back into the hotel. She reached her room and got her bow from the dresser before rushing up to the top floor where she was sure to find the hunter’s rooms. At the top of the floor, she found stairs leading to the roof. She could sense two beings at the roof and that’s where she went as fast as she permitted herself indoors.

She pushed the door to the roof open and stumbled through, misjudging the strength she’d used. At the roof, a man she’d not yet seen and Alice stood on opposite sides of the roof, watching the woods quietly and diligently. They both turned to look at her when she came through the door, “Katie, is something wrong?” Alice was the first to ask.

“Alice, I need your help. The werewolves are at the beach... all of them, and the rogues are going to make their move there soon,” the girl told her in between breaths.

“Well, you’re a hunter, can’t you do that? You have alphas at your beck and call and you ask me to help you,” the woman replied.

“I’ll take your place here, Alice. Help me with this just this once,” the girl asked her, her eyes pleading with the older woman. Alice was becoming more and more curious about the girl’s request...

Looking to the direction in which the beach was, “And you promise that I will find some action in that direction?” the woman smirked while she eyed the ocean in the distance.

Katie smiled at her response... “One more thing though,” Katie told the woman, “Take this...”

Alice looked back to see the hunter before taking off her official hunter leather jacket, “What do I need with this?”

“Oh, it’s not for you. Get it to Sandra for me. The girl will need it,” Katie replied. Alice was curious now more than ever.

“Well, I will be asking a lot of questions when I return,” the woman replied before leaping off the rooftop. Katie looked up into the night sky. The moon was full and clear and the wind was cool on her bare skin. The thin cloth that now covered her exposed the one part of her that she’d kept hidden from the rest of the world for a long time. However, tonight was the one night she didn’t care if it was to be seen. After all, it was the same day she’d planned to show it. Unfurling her bow, she looked on to the see, closing her eyes and letting her other senses take care of aiming the arrow she was to shoot first.