Chapter 254
“It’s not like there is anything I haven’t seen before. Although I am surprised to see your eyes dark blue again,” the alpha said, pulling her attention away from the question she’d asked him.
“Oh, that... It happens... Every time that my wolf isn’t with me,” she explained, a feeling of loneliness seeping into her voice.
Cole hadn’t heard the phrase before. It was the first time he was hearing of it. Wolves didn’t leave their other half. They were glued to them. Although, now that he looked at his mate, he didn’t even get the scent of her wolf from her. The sweet alluring scent that drew them closer had decreased a lot that he could barely recognize it. What did show that she was still his mate though was the mark on her neck, “I don’t quite understand what you mean.”
“I had a feeling you would say something like that. I’ve never even seen it happen to a wolf before, so why would it be normal at all?” she replied, “There are times when my wolf vanishes completely from my mind. I don’t know why that happens, but she’s usually back within seconds. The first time I noticed it, I only blinked and she was back. But it was soon pretty obvious that my wolf would leave me from time to time. Soon I noticed that just telling her to retreat to the back of her mind and leave everything to me was enough to turn my eyes dim. When that happens though, I lose all the energy I get from her. It feels the same as it did before my eighteenth birthday,” the girl confirmed.
“What are the other times when she disappears?” Cole asked her.
“Well, the other times that happens is when she goes to sleep and leaves me awake. None of us have got any sleep tonight, so I asked that she went to sleep. If we don’t get a chance to sleep later, I might just find myself sleeping while she takes control of my body,” she responded.
A memory flashed through Cole’s mind of the time her wolf had taken control of her body just for the sake of having him pull out of a feral state that would have gotten Silver killed. “Well, in that case, we better get ourselves on the bus fast enough.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that,” the girl responded.
.....
The two of them were gone without another word, taking their belongings out of the door and bidding the hotel farewell. Just as she was about to board the school bus, she heard someone call out to her. “Katie, wait up...” the girl turned around in time to see someone running up to her. The woman was winded and didn’t look too good. Alice was panting by the time she got to Katie, “Hey, you didn’t think you’d leave without saying goodbye... did you?”
“Well, I was hoping not many would see me like this, but no... That was thoughtless of me,” Katie apologized.
Alice took the time to look the girl in the eye. Her eyes had lost their werewolf glow and she looked more like a lethal hunter that would bring a rogue down just from the fierceness of her gaze, “Oh my... You look better with the glow to your eyes.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to think so as well. Although this is more intimidating, don’t you think?” Katie said, putting on the most intimidating face she could manage at the moment.
Alice started laughing at the girl’s acting while she caught her breath, “Well, you aren’t the only one that’s been having trouble with themselves. After a night of running around trying to protect your lot, I’m yet to regain my strength. It’s like I don’t even have my gift anymore.”
“I have heard of something like that. When a hunter gets so tired that they feel the blessing has been completely drained from them.
“Yeah, it has happened to me a few times. Most of us just pass out when we reach that point so we never get to experience what happens to us,” she explained, “Anyway, Morgan and Gallant got bored and decided to survey the forest for... well, they were salvaging for arrows that could still be used. Gallant was impressed by your skill with a bow and got all your red arrows back. Although he said four were missing,” she explained.
“Oh yeah... there are three that I shot far off at the beach. I’m not sure if I hit something though,” Katie laughed nervously.
“You did hit something alright. You were the reason we got out of that fight unscathed,” the hunter praised, before removing the quiver at her back, “Here you go. We replaced your missing arrows with one of my own. It’s for all your help with protecting the kids.”
“No, honestly, you didn’t have to do all this, Aunt Alice. I was in charge of protecting this lot so you didn’t have to go through all the trouble really,” Katie tried.
“Huh... did you just call me ‘Aunt’?” the woman asked.
Katie paused her nervous acting, “Oh, I noticed how close you are with her... Aunt Marie. The two of you were like sisters when I saw you earlier. It only felt right, you know,” she responded.
Alice was quiet for a bit before smiling, “Right... I’m still coming to terms with those two. A werewolf with this much power from the gods... You’re bound to have plenty of anomalies. It’s like you were meant to be the perfect weapon against the rogue king.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that when the man is now in captivity. Besides, without Cole’s help, I don’t think I would have been able to put that beta alpha down,” Katie responded, “The rogue king is said to be on an entirely different level.”
“Yeah... Well, I wish you the best, Katie. Do not forget to invite me to your wedding,” the woman said before bounding off, leaving Katie completely flushed... ‘W-wedding...’
‘Don’t you want one?’ Cole’s voice rushed into her mind as though he’d been paying attention to their entire conversation.
‘Hey, have you been...’
“No, the bus is ready to go, Katie. We’ve been waiting for you,” Cole’s voice came from the door. She turned to the man and saw his outstretched hand inviting her into the vehicle. Taking his hand, she allowed him to lead her into the car and to their seat close to the back.
The bus door closed and the car began moving. Almost as though the motion was meant to rock her to sleep, the girl began to get sleepy, “Don’t waste a single second of it,” Cole pulled her against him so she slept comfortably beside him. The girl fell asleep faster than he thought possible. Watching her sleep, he couldn’t help but sense the constant uneasiness that was going on within her. It was like the news of the rogue king’s apprehension had only kept her on edge than relax her.
.........
Tom and Marie waited at the hotel and watched the girl go while they waited for the Hunter’s Agency to send more vehicles that they were meant to transport their captured rogue in. The beta alpha had already consumed most of their wolfsbane with his insane healing rate. They would have to resort to cutting up his tendons using poisoned blades to keep them from healing. After all, they were harder to heal compared to his paralyzed muscles.
“Did you see her eyes?” Tom asked.
“Yes, I did. It seems she has more anomalies than any wolf to ever be born,” Marie responded.
The man beside her turned to see an armoured vehicle appearing, its engine roaring loud enough to wake the sleeping rogue, “So you brought this much security for me... I’m honoured.” He said in a bored tone.
“You don’t sound that honoured,” Marie said to him.
“I don’t really care about anything presently. You can carry on as you wish,” the man responded, attempting to go to sleep. From the passenger seat of the armoured track, a man dressed in pink leapt out of the truck only to freeze at the angry sight of Marie Chase.
“Oh hey... Marie. What’s up?”
“You let them come this far from Sirius without protection?” the woman yelled at him.
“No... I mean... Come on... You know how I hate bugs. Besides, she needed a life lesson to teach her a bit of archery. From what I’ve heard, I believe I’ve done a good job of training...” the man was stopped when the woman before her flipped him, slamming him onto his back violently.
“This has nothing to do with training. Students were nearly killed in what was meant to be a class trip. What do you have to say about that?” Marie replied.
“Katie was ready. She wouldn’t have let that happen,” he said under the pressure of her foot, “I’m sorry, fourth pillar, Marie Chase.” Marie hadn’t heard anyone call her that in a long time and was shaken by it, “You trained her well. She’s well on her way to becoming like him. Thorrin...”
The woman let go of the man allowing him to stand once more, “I just wonder if she’ll ever make it now that the man has been captured.”
“Well, with the Chase family surrounding him, I don’t think he’ll go anywhere...” Chase mentioned to her, “Hey Tom, will you be chasing after your wife now that you’re both out of retirement.”
“I don’t need some fancy title to prove my worth as a hunter... I know my capabilities,” Tom replied, sighing at the man’s antics.
“Oh, come on, you can’t say you’re not in the least bit jealous. You’re currently in the presence of two of the most powerful hunters in the world. It must make you at least shiver with inferiority,” the man said in a mischievous yet cheerful voice.
“Your level of creepy has only skyrocketed, Silver,” Tom replied, “Now come help me get this delinquent loaded up already...” The ease with which the man dismissed his taunting had Silver sighing heavily with boredom, “Coming... king of boredom...” he cursed, “You’re no fun...”