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A hearty laugh came from the other side of the mind link, “Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you. I also didn’t know how long you were going to stay awake so I...”

“Ugh, stop apologizing. I know you have your duties as the king. I would only be slowing you down,” the Luna replied, wondering when it was that she would be able to help him with those same duties...

However, that also posed another problem. If she ever did get well enough to get back to her responsibilities, that would mean she’d finish the last remaining part of the school before going into the looming chaos on whether she was a hunter of the Chase family or the future queen of the Lycaon empire.

The girl shuddered at the thoughts before bringing her attention back to the alpha talking to her.

“Not at all really. Caden and Jason would be able to pick up the slack if I asked them to. Can we have breakfast together?” he asked her.

Memories of the previous evening flooded her mind. Just like he’d requested, she’d managed to get back to her room before evening hours, thanks to a lift from the eagles that accompanied her.

The king had already prepared a car for them where he took her out into the city for a late evening dinner at one of the most peaceful parks situated on the outskirts of the capital.

The beauty of the park was that it was far from the palace, quiet and surrounded by beautiful greenery. A few other couples used the place and Cole informed Katie of how famous the place was for the same kind of reservations he’d made.

.....

‘That... was a date. No doubt about it... but why do I feel like I want him to say it that way,’ the girl rolled in the bed shivering both at the childish thoughts and the fact that they were coming from her... the Rogue Killer.

“Where are we going this time?” the girl cooed.

“The gardens... You can meet me there in thirty minutes but take your time. Don’t...”

“I won’t push myself, Cole. Although, some things are worth pushing me for,” the girl smirked and thus ended the mind-link conversation.

Katie got up from the bed and sauntered into the shower to get herself ready. Twenty minutes were enough before she came out only to be startled by the humming woman seated by her bed.

The shock quickly turned into warmth and love. This specific woman’s presence brought warmth to Katie’s heart. She bore the one face that Katie had known the longest and had grown very fond of, “Good morning, Aunt Marie.”

The hunter looked up at her adoptive daughter before smiling warmly, “Good morning dear.” Marie got up from her place on the bed and rushed the girl into a warm embrace.

Katie was all for hugging until she realized she was dripping. This realization came later than it should have. Opposition was no longer an option, “Wait... wait, I’m wet. Should you really be...”

“It’s just a little water, dear. Now get over here. Besides, you’ve done much worse than a little water,” Aunt Marie pulled the towelled girl into one of her familiar bear hugs, paying no mind to the girl’s wet body.

The last part of her comment left Katie mortified, ‘What’s that supposed to... Oh...’

“Royals use expensive soap,” the woman muttered while she dragged her adoptive daughter to the dresser and beckoned for her to take a seat. Aunt Marie then started idly working on beautifying her daughter... something she’d done countless times before during their conversations, “We haven’t talked together for a while, Katie... just the two of us.”

“No, no, we haven’t,” the girl shrunk into her seat. A tap on her shoulder notified her to keep her back straight and she quickly adhered to the silent order, ‘Although, I’m also curious as to how you got in here.’

“I can try to understand what’s happening in your mind. How are you holding up?” Marie didn’t sound surprised.

“I try to keep from thinking about it, but it’s so hard. Every time I get dizzy after walking for only a short while. Every time I wake up and feel ten times heavier. I tried powering through it at one point, but...” the girl paused and shook off the memory of her on the day of her best friend’s evaluation test.

“At first, it was frustrating, but now-” the girl stopped speaking and cut the thoughts from her mind, lest she risked leaking her emotions into the pack link. Most of the time, the general positivity of the pack overpowered her depressive mood swings... and when everyone was asleep in the night, Cole’s arms wrapped around her in a safe cocoon.

There was a period of silence while the hunter combed through Katie’s silky hair in smooth comforting strokes. Staring into the mirror, she found that the woman was paying far too much attention to her dark hair.

“Your hair is beautiful, you know. Does he tell you that?” the woman swooned. The mischievous grin that appeared on her adoptive mother’s face sent chills down her spine.

“Huh... what does that have to do with anything??” replied a confused Katie.

Chuckling, the woman explained, “Honestly, I have to say I’m glad you’ve been able to feel what it is to be weak and helpless again.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t want you to become strong again. It’s just that I wanted you to realise what it’s like to rely on others and trust that they will come through for you.” The woman’s words heavily rhymed with those of a certain lion she’d spoken to not so long ago.

“Yeah, I might know what you mean. I don’t really have a choice in the matter now. I can barely do anything without asking for help now,” the girl’s mind began to wander to her latest collection of new helpers.

Finn and Darla were responsible for reporting to her when any of the animals had something to tell her and they also offered her company when she was alone in the king’s chambers.

“On the note of getting all the help that I can take, I can talk to animals now.” Marie stopped combing the giddy girl’s hair. The myriad of thoughts that crossed her mind was lost to Katie.

“How many of your powers have you discovered as one of the goddesses chosen?” she asked with a hint of urgency.

“Oh? Let me see... I haven’t used the first one a lot and I’m not completely sure how it works. That time I used it, Ashley was in control of my body. I’m not really sure what she did, but a few adjustments to my shift boosted my speed by a lot. I was racing Lina that time,” the girl said thoughtfully.

“Oh, did you win?” the woman asked curiously, rubbing her daughter’s shoulders. Her thumbs rubbed over the star-shaped wounds on the girl’s shoulders. The scars from the time she’d been shot by Jeremiah.

“Yes, I did. Although, I realised Lina hasn’t trained herself as much as I have. If she’s already that fast at that age... I don’t know what to make of her potential,” the Luna chuckled, “I don’t know how to control that power, but I do know how to speak to animals. Now that’s something I can control.”

“That’s good to hear. Though you do realise you just happily admitted to being able to speak to animals. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you suddenly become the Luna that negotiates with rogue carnivores,” the woman chuckled.

The girl giggled at the hunter’s comment, “I’m proud of the ability to talk to them. At least, that way, I can help out with the investigation without straining myself.”

The girl raised her head high in pride. Aunt Marie didn’t share her opinion, “Now I know who to call when I have a rat problem.”

Katie’s mouth dropped in horror, “Keep talking like that, and I might just be the cause of your rat problem.”

Aunt Marie exploded into a hearty laugh. Katie didn’t share in this humour and only huffed... her small tantrum was only temporary as the sound of her mother’s contagious laugh swatted all her stubborn attempts.

When the woman was done, she pulled the girl’s hair back and placed it to one side, completely exposing her neck and the most prominent symbol on the Luna, Cole’s mark.

Aunt Marie caressed the sensitive spot and stopped only when Katie started to look uncomfortable, “You have friends, you know... and a mate that loves you very much. Sandra is getting bored training by her lonesome these days. She wishes you could go with her,” the woman continued.

“I know that... I wish I could make the journey,” the girl sighed. She’d thought of going there the day before, but hadn’t regained enough energy to do so. Before she knew it, her date with Cole came and went faster than she could follow, “Speaking of my mate, I have breakfast with Cole in the gardens. Could we do this a little faster?”

“The king will wait for you even if it kills him. I haven’t got to talk to you in so long,” Marie huffed. In a solemn tone, she added, “Why did you have to grow up so big?”

“Now that’s a new one. You were always the one telling me to eat my vegetables so that I can grow big and strong.”

“I asked you to eat your vegetables in case you grew up, but I didn’t ask you to grow up. You could have just stayed the young little girl I could protect. We could have lived in the remote town of Brigadia happily. It would have been nice to have time be frozen in time while we were there,” the amount of sadness in the woman’s voice was impossible to miss.

Something clawed at the back of Katie’s mind as she listened to her adoptive mother, but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. All she could tell was that there was a sadness in her tone that didn’t seem to go away...even when she smiled.

Had she really missed talking to her for that long? Or was something else amiss? She wondered if she was missing something or if her mother was keeping something from her intentionally. It wouldn’t have been the first time.

Seeing her through the mirror again, however, the thoughts melted from the girl’s mind. She stood up from her seat and enveloped her mother in a warm hug. The older woman gave in to her daughter’s display of affection.

“You know I will always be your daughter, right? It doesn’t matter how old I am. You raised me,” the girl tried.

Sighing, Marie spoke, the tinge of sadness Katie had heard before getting heavily suppressed, “Just look at you. We’re practically the same height now. Not to mention my frozen age kept me young that whole time. It’s like we’re sisters.”

“Does it bother you?” the Luna asked.

“Just a little. Thorrin, Alice, Micah, and Evelyn all grew older while the two of us stayed young. It’s like we were plucked from time.”

‘That’s more than a little bothered...’

“I’m sorry about that,” Katie tried.

“It’s not your fault. In any case, I should be asking you how the king is treating you,” the woman pulled away from her daughter with a smirk on her face.

“The look on your face has me confused. Is that a trick question?” Katie narrowed her eyes at the woman.

“Oh, don’t play dumb with me,” Aunt Marie wiggled her eyebrows.

“I guess growing up also means I get to see the shameless side of you,” Katie was mortified, “I thought Uncle Tom was the only one capable of making me cringe. I should have known there was more to it.”

Aunt Marie erupted into peals of laughter, “You’re cute when you’re trying to hide what happens between the two of you,” Katie sighed in disbelief as her adopted mother continued to laugh at her.

“If you don’t mind, I have a breakfast to attend with my dearly beloved,” the girl huffed, turning her attention to the closet.

“Oh, let me get you ready for it,” the woman replied, catching the girl off guard. It had been a long time since the woman had helped her get ready for anything, “I know. This can be practice for when I get to prepare you for your wedding.” The woman piped up.

Katie’s heart leapt into overdrive at the mention of a wedding, “What... what wedding? No, get those ideas out of your head.” The Luna panicked.

“Huh, I thought the two of you are happy. Why wouldn’t you get married?” Aunt Marie sounded genuinely confused and that in itself was enough to scare Katie even more.

“We are happy. We are very happy the way we are right now... A wedding is just another step that I hadn’t thought about. Come on, who gets married at the age of eighteen?” Katie was still freaking out.

“Oh... Oh, you don’t know, do you?” Aunt Marie beamed with a gleam of realisation on her face.

“Don’t know what?” Katie raised a brow.

“Well, a mate is your perfect match. Werewolves don’t really care about the age at which they get married. Even if you find your mate when you’re only eighteen, the wedding is only a short step away. It happens so fast, you barely have the time to notice it. Before you know it, you have little ones running all over...”

“That’s enough out of you,” Katie covered Marie’s mouth. Her face was a deep shade of red and her breath was rugged from the detailed description of the rest of her summed-up life laid out before her. Aunt Marie began to chuckle, prying the girl’s hand away from her mouth.

“Let’s get you ready for your date with Cole,” the woman guided her to the closet and picked out the outfit.

By the time Katie was done dressing up or whenever it was Aunt Marie was done beautifying her daughter, Katie was certain she’d made a mistake to let her handle it. She was dressed to kill for a simple breakfast.

“Is there something I’m missing here?” the girl asked the woman, cringing at the dazzling reflection that stared back at her through the mirror.

“If you can’t see how beautiful you look right now, then you’re missing just about everything,” the woman replied. Katie took one more look into the mirror. It was like she’d been transformed into a different person and yet stayed the same.

The light make-up had allowed her to keep her natural complexion. The dress was a light shade of yellow, sleeveless, flowing into a beautiful eruption of flowery decorations below her waist till it only lightly touched the ground.

“You just decided to design a princess, didn’t you?” the Luna commented bluntly.

“Aren’t you one though?” Marie asked, placing her hands on her shoulders and staring into the mirror. The two ladies stared back at each other through the mirror.

“I guess you have a point there,” Katie replied. Just then, her cheeks turned a shade of pink. Nervously, “Do...Do you think Cole will like it?”

“He’d have to be as dense as a tree to miss this level of beauty,” the woman gave a reassuring smile.

.....