Chapter 271

271 One Step at a Time

Cole chuckled at the older woman’s reaction before engulfing her in a hug.”How are you doing, mother?” he greeted.

“As well as my wolf and I can take. And please, would you tell your mate to drop the formalities?” the woman replied warmly, her blue eyes beaming with pride as she regarded her son.

“She seems to have a mind of her own, mother. You must have overheard our conversation about fireflies. She seems set on investigating everything that makes no human sense to her,” Cole replied, pulling away and letting Katie through. The woman hugged Katie just as heartily holding onto the girl longer than normal etiquette dictated.

“I didn’t say I would make an investigation. I’ll just have someone do that for me. Since I am no longer Sandra’s mentor, this might just be a little harder than it would have been,” Katie groaned.

'

“Huh, I had never thought Sandra was your shortcut to all your useless errands or had I?” Cole whispered, “So you’ve been torturing the girl all this time. I knew there was something fishy...”

“Hey, Cole, don’t get any ideas. I haven’t been giving her any unreasonable orders. It was only that one time that... and that other time... No, forget about it,” Katie’s face turned red once more. The queen laughed at the two of them while a servant brought them refreshments, “I’ll have to apologise and acknowledge her efforts while she was training under me.”

“Mother, I think you should have prepared far more than this,” Cole directed his attention to the queen, avoiding eye contact with his mate.

“Wait, huh... Do you mean?”

“Uh huh, just keep them coming,” Cole nodded as though he was reading the queen’s mind. Katie wasn’t sure what was going on until the queen turned to her with a horrific expression.

.....

“Hey Cole, what did you tell her?” Katie yelled at the alpha.

“I only told her that you, unlike other people I know, have a larger appetite than most,” he replied with a smile. The girl looked between him and the queen and decided against an outburst...

“Tell that to someone else and we’ll be in a whole different situation,” Katie responded with a huff.

“Oh my... I’m glad you’re warming up to me,” the queen replied, “In that case, you won’t mind me having invited someone else.”

“Hello... Am I late?” Sandra’s voice piped in.

“Come on, Sandra. You’re a hunter now. You’ve got to be more like... Why are you all so early?” Jason’s voice abruptly came after hers, mimicking that of a soldier at the end. It was no longer a surprise to find the two of them together. Where there was Sandra, there was Jason, it was that simple.

“I am not going to change overnight, Jason,” the girl returned with a voice even less confident than before.

“I thought you were working, Jason,” Cole narrowed his eyes at the uninvited man.

“Well, I was... No, I am still working. I just took a break to walk this beautiful lady to her destination,” Jason replied, sighing in disappointment.

“Hey, Jason, you’ll work yourself to the ground if you don’t take a break once in a while,” Sandra voiced her worries.

“Well, it’s short walks with you and the fact that you worry for me that keeps me healthy,” Jason replied, placing a peck on her forehead, “I’ll see you later, Sandra.” The girl was speechless as he walked away, her face flushed from his words and actions.

“A hunter with a werewolf,” Katie whistled, “and I thought fish couldn’t fly.”

“Don’t make assumptions, Katie,” Sandra complained, taking a seat at the other side of the table after bowing in acknowledgement of the queen. Cole might have dropped his jaw when Sandra did not acknowledge him. She simply looked at Katie and continued, “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine, Sandra. It’s the tea parties and the fact that you worry that have kept me alive this whole time,” the hunter imitated Jason.

“You play dirty, Sirius,” Sandra covered her face with her palms, throwing the table into a chorus of laughter, “But more seriously though, how are you, Katie?”

Katie thought about her answer this time, having noticed the deep concern behind the girl’s question, “Well, I don’t know honestly. I’ve never been so... tired in my life I guess.”

“You sound like someone that let the rogue king run off and is taking far too long to get back up,” Sandra replied.

“Hmm, I think there is more to it than that, but I can’t be too sure. It’s not like any of my abilities are working right yet. Back then, I could tell there was trouble going on in Lycaon and something else boiling within Sirius.

I accepted I couldn’t do it all on my own and let the hunters in Lycaon take care of everything as well as those I trusted in Sirius as well. It was terrifying and very stressful, to be honest, but everything was going well... until something unforeseen managed to slip past my foresight,” Katie said to her, “Ever since that fight with the rogue king, it all went silent... everything. Like my ears are working... but not.”

“What if the rogue king took a vacation as well?” Sandra tried.

“‘What if’ indeed...” Katie chuckled, raising her fingers in the air to quote her words, “How is life as a hunter treating you?”

“It hasn’t started yet. I haven’t yet got my license which means I’m still a junior. Your uncle promised to help me out with it later. I would like you to...” the girl stopped her question halfway, but Katie had already picked up on her train of thought.

“It would be my honour, Sandra. I will go with you,” she responded. All those about the table were astonished to hear her accept to step out of the safety of the king’s chambers once more, “I’m sorry for making you all worry. I also know that I can’t just do nothing. Step by step, I will get back to my normal self.”

‘Sometimes I wonder if the rogue king really did take a vacation as well,’ she thought to herself.

Cole hugged the unsuspecting girl, excited to see that she was finally showing some positive improvement in her attitude. Even as he was happy to see that, something clawed at the back of her mind. A suspicion that wouldn’t let him be completely happy and he couldn’t shake it. ‘Katie is getting better, isn’t she?’