Chapter 236

236 Chapter Two Hundred Thirty Six

Sandra was at a loss for words at first, until she realized she wasn’t going anywhere if she didn’t fight for her chance to go with them, “Katie, you’re kidding, right? Tell me you’re joking. I’m coming with you.”

“No, Sandra. This one is not something you can handle in your current condition. You’re not going anywhere this time. You’ll stay behind and you’ll protect the humans here,” Katie replied sternly.

“No, Katie. I need to come with you. You need my help. You’re always doing everything on your own. You might have made us think we were doing something out there tonight, but you planned to eliminate all the rogues at once with your bow. Admit it, Katie. You want to do it all on your own again even after promising never to do that again,” the girl argued.

“No, that’s not it and you know it. Sandra, you’re not ready for something like this. I’m not putting you in danger. I might not be able to protect you this time,” Katie responded.

“I don’t need your protection, Katie... Ugh, Alice tries to talk some sense into her,” Sandra snapped at her.

“You’re right, Sandra. You don’t need her protection...”–“See, Katie, I’m more than...”-“But I agree with Katie on this one. You should stay behind.” The girl was astounded.

Before she could argue anymore, Alice held her by the shoulder and pulled her away from the group to have a private conversation, “Hey, stop arguing with a Chase hunter. From what I’ve seen, this girl trusts her instincts more than I’ve ever seen anyone do so in my life. You should stay put.”

“No, I’m not staying behind. You don’t even have a valid reason to keep me behind. We asked her a question earlier and she couldn’t answer it. What reason do you have for siding with her after all this?” she asked.

“That group of rogues that attacked us when we were heading to the hotel. I believe they were meant to attack the humans in the hotel, but we happened to be in their way. The rogues didn’t know about the vines back at the beach. They wouldn’t have known where we would be. Katie stayed behind to protect the hotel from that group of rogues. She couldn’t explain it because she hadn’t reasoned any of her instincts out. On another note, I’m surprised she was able to figure out you’re useless in any other battle we are to have,” the woman answered.

.....

The girl calmed down long enough to listen, “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying she doesn’t know about your awakened abilities. You’ve been exerting yourself far more than you should have today. The gift takes time to set in and yet you have been drawing on it this whole time. You need to rest. If we take you with us, you’ll collapse before you know what’s going on with your body. Your body is on fire, Sandra, but you don’t see it yet. Take a break and relax, you’ll thank me later,” Alice tried explaining.

Looking back at the time Katie had got her gifts, Sandra could remember the girl getting weaker during that week that followed, but she’d never associated it with the changes that were happening within her body. Just then, the realization hit her that she was speaking of something she didn’t believe she even heard, “Wait, gift... what gift? I’m normal.”

Alice sighed, “You’re such a confused child. Do you really think you were moving that fast back there because of all the training you’ve had over the years? You might have been fast, Sandra, but the speed you’ve been using tonight is beyond anything a human could ever hope to achieve. Rest, Sandra. You’ll get the time to show off to your mentor when you’re all better. On the other hand, she’s not going to be alone out there. I’ll make sure of it.”

Sandra sighed seeing the sense behind the hunter’s words, “Fine then... I’ll stay behind. However, it will be the first time and hopefully the last. Take care of her for me.”

“And here I thought it was you that needed to be taken care of,” Alice replied.

“Oh, you haven’t met Katie. She would never have agreed to stay behind even if the world depended on it,” Sandra chuckled. The two of them finally made their way back to the group.

“I’ve decided I’ll be staying behind,” Sandra replied, “but it’s not because I...” the girl was stopped when her friend enveloped her in a hug.

“I’m glad, Sandra. Please stay safe... Also,” the girl began to whisper into her ear. A message that was meant for someone else she’d grown to care for dearly, Lina Sirius. Sandra promised to deliver her message to the girl, hugging her friend back.

“Alpha Cole,” Jason spoke up, getting his alpha’s attention. He’d used his title, so there must have been something serious he wanted to ask for, “If you don’t mind, can I stay behind as well?”

Silence took over the group. The hunters felt it was the wolf who was being obnoxious for opting out of what should have been a mission for the strong. Before any of them could raise any complaints, “Yes, you can.”

“Hey, Jason. Make sure Lina doesn’t follow after us. She might think she’s stronger now since she can fight and stand up for herself. She doesn’t realise it yet, but she was never meant for the battlefield,” Caden said to her.

“If there is nothing else that needs to be said, might I ask that we all go?” Katie spoke up, “We don’t have as much time as we might think we do.”

“You have one annoying mojo, Katie Chase,” Cole groaned upon hearing her warning. Katie chuckled in response, the two of them shifting into their black and white forms. The only difference this time was the wolf marks on their shoulders. A white howling wolf in the black fur of Cole’s black wolf and a black howling wolf in the white fur that was Katie’s.

“The two of you could not look more like a match,” Sandra groaned, “Be careful out there, Katie.”

The white wolf nodded... The group was gone only moments after. Caden, Cole, Alice, Gallant and Katie were gone in the direction of the cell tower. If all went well, they would be restoring communications and getting the students out of the reserve before anything bad happened.

.........

The group of five rushed through the woods. The smell of blood was thick in the night from the number of rogues that had been killed that night. “I can’t believe we don’t have a single death on our side tonight. What kind of luck is this?” Katie’s thoughts leaked to the other two alphas.

“I guess the moon goddess is watching over us tonight,” Caden replied with a chuckle. More seriously, “I can’t believe it either. It was worse when you made us realize the rogues were within us. I can’t even tell when it was that it happened. If I’d been more vigilant about that.”

“You couldn’t have known, Caden. I also detected them only when they mixed within you. You handled the situation well. I’m glad you were able to neutralize them. I don’t think I would have done that on my own,” Katie chuckled.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself. I wasn’t on my own back there. If it hadn’t been for the alphas, Crysta, Cole and the animals that, for some reason, kept attacking the rogues, we would have lost a number of them,” Caden replied.

“Yeah, we definitely had our share of help today. Let’s try to make sure we get them all to safety,” Cole said to them. Katie looked to the hunters that ran beside them and noticed Alice’s breath getting rugged.

The white wolf rushed forward and beckoned for the woman to stop running before offering to give her a ride, “Get on... You’ve been pushing yourself a lot tonight. You need to rest for what we are going to face ahead.”

Alice paused for a moment before climbing up onto the white wolf, “You really are a werewolf and hunter at the same time with both Prometheus gifts.”

“Are you still finding it hard to believe?” the white wolf asked with a chuckle catching up to the others easily.

“Yes, it’s hard to believe. Not to mention the fact that you were raised by her of all people,” the woman groaned at the end, “To think she vanished for eighteen years to raise the scariest creature to ever walk the planet.”

“Okay, now you’re making me sound like a creature of an apocalypse,” Katie replied with a chuckle, “I would hardly call myself scary when my mate was able to put a Mighty Warrior in a hospital bed.”

“Oh, so that wasn’t some rumour milling through the hunters,” Alice laughed out loud.

“I was hoping that could remain a secret for a long time,” Cole tried.

“Cupid Shooter is not one to stay quiet. The man lives for the drama and gossip of this world. It’s so bad that none of the hunters believes him when he speaks unless he makes it clear that he’s being serious,” Gallant pitched, laughing as well.

Just then four arrows whizzed past them, forcing the wolves to skid to a stop. Katie, on the other hand, slowed down to a stop as though she’d expected the arrows to miss them. The white wolf got down allowing Alice to climb down while the others immediately went on the defensive looking about for the source of the arrows whilst hiding behind trees in the direction they thought the arrows had come from.

“Katie, can you find some cover already?” Cole tried... “It’s him, isn’t it?”

'

The girl shifted back into her human form and looked back where they came, “You definitely took your time showing yourself,” she yelled into the night.

After a moment of silence, a masculine voice yelled again, “Why would I show myself to the hunter that took down forty rogues in less than three minutes. Seriously, Katie, what kind of training have you been taking with that monster of a Mighty warrior?” the familiarity that spoke back was like a bullet to Cole’s mind. ‘Huh...’ his mind went.