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“She knows how to keep herself well rested at least, but with how this is going, I wake up worried that she might not open her eyes,” the king replied in a sad tone, “I can’t lose someone else.”

“You have the whole Chase family working with you on this. We won’t let anything happen. The world is not ready to lose her just yet,” the hunter lamented, following the king as he took her back to the palace.

“You’ve been watching, haven’t you?”

“Yes, yes, we have...” Thorrin stuttered and rushed to defend himself, “I’m not talking about your date if that’s what you’re trying to say, but yes, I’ve been watching her progress. She was eager to get out when she was fine, but the amount of time she could spend exerting herself kept getting smaller and smaller. The Chase family has been worried as well.”

The man’s change in behaviour went unnoticed by the king. Cole lingered for a moment, weighing his options. Keeping Katie in the dark and oblivious to the worry that surrounded her had become more of an instinct. Sighing, “Speak your mind, Thorrin.”

“We have started searching for reasons for her condition. Why she wasn’t improving and how we could save her... Marie spent a lot of time in the family library, along with Evelyn. Her condition is almost unseen.

Considering she’s been blessed by two gods, burning through that much divine energy as she did that day was bound to have unforeseen consequences. I’m glad you got to her before her body was destroyed.

However, some level of damage had already been done. Katie’s body lost the ability to retain divine energy, so it continues to leak out of her. Without being able to retain it, she’ll keep deteriorating until that day you’re afraid of,” Thorrin explained solemnly.

.....

“Tell me something, Thorrin. What happens when she runs out of time? Will she...” the words got caught in the king’s mouth.

“No, she won’t die. At least, not under the right conditions,” the man replied, “If she’s hospitalised in the right facility, they can keep her alive, but that’s not a life I could wish for anyone.”

Cole’s gaze was set on the beautiful sleeping girl in his arms. He wondered whether his proposal had escalated her emotions and rushed her to her limit. ‘Could she have fainted because...’ Cole forced the thoughts out of his mind lest they slow him down when he needed to be at his best to help her.

In Katie’s current state, she couldn’t do anything to bring her goal closer to fruition, “She wants to end the war in her time.”

“That was the resolution the hunters came up with when the two of you were born,” the man sighed. It felt like they’d taken one step forward and a thousand steps back, “As I speak, teams of hunters have started scouring no man’s land in search of the remaining forces of the rogue army. We will have the remaining rogues rooted out from their very hiding places. Information provided by Tom has proven useful in identifying the subtle signs of their settlements.”

“I wish you the best of luck in that regard. If you need help from the empire, I will be willing to offer you any assistance,” Cole replied, somewhat absentminded.

As they entered the palace, they came face to face with Bella. The delta was shocked to see Cole carrying her unconscious Luna, “What happened to her, Cole?”

“You forget to call me by my title,” the king sighed, “She just ran out of energy is all. At least I got to see her wolf this time.”

Bella stood aside and bowed to the king as he passed by, “She’s taken half the time she did three days ago,” the girl muttered to herself.

The king ignored her worried mutterings and continued on his way to his chambers. By the time he had made it, another hunter had joined the two of them.

Marie, Katie’s adoptive mother, had something to share with them.

“Marie, have you discovered something that could help her?” Thorrin asked.

“Yes, I did. I’m not sure though. It sounds more like a myth from the looks of it,” the woman replied.

“At this point, anything will help. It’s already been established that everything we know in the field of medicine won’t help us treat her condition,” Thorrin lamented. Their progress up until this point was not encouraging, to say the least.

“Well, I found something alright. The gods are the ones that gave the hunters and werewolves their... abilities and from what we know, this girl was blessed by both of them. I know it’s a gamble, but if we can find a way to let her meet with either of them, we could be able to ask them to heal her,” the woman replied.

“When you said myth, I didn’t know how crazy you were thinking,” Cole interrupted. He already felt like giving up before she’d even started.

“I can tell you’re out of ideas as well. You can’t heal her any further, can you?” Marie countered his tone.

“No, there is nothing physically wrong with her. Her injuries are different. Not normal if I might say,” the man replied, “In any case, I know you wouldn’t bring up something this far-fetched unless you had found some sort of evidence. What makes you so confident we can talk to one of the gods? It usually works the other way round.”

“I know Katie has spoken to one before. We just have to find a place where the gods have ever touched the earth. It becomes a nexus that allows them to return to the planet without affecting it drastically,” the woman explained.

“Like a field of moon lotuses locked away by an unnatural growth of moon lotuses,” a feminine voice interrupted them. Cole’s eyes darted to the girl he’d only laid down to rest a moment ago. Katie’s eyes were open and bright blue.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen your eyes that colour,” Marie responded. Cole reached for her hand and held it in his. Her smile was weak and it was clear she wasn’t going to be awake for so long.

“It won’t be long,” she replied, “Talking to the gods, huh? I wonder what good that will do.”

“It’s all we have got right now. We can take you there now,” Marie replied.

“No, not yet. I will go after the coronation,” the girl strained.

“Katie, don’t be stubborn. You’re not looking good as it is. Delaying for four more days will only...”

“My mind’s made up, Uncle Thorrin. I will stay here until the coronation. Once the coronation is done, I will not fight any decision you make,” Katie’s voice was both steeled as well as laced with a subtle plea.

“Will it work though? We are only speculating,” Cole asked. The people in that room, except Thorrin, were well-acquainted with her impervious will and determination. Once her mind was made up, there was simply no way of talking her out of it.

“It has to, Cole,” she replied, “A positive attitude is the first step on the path to recovery.”

“You got that one right,” Aunt Marie gave her a warm smile, “Keep that smile and you will be better in no time. Just so you know, Katie, this is the last selfish request coming from you that I will tolerate. Now rest.”

The girl smiled, an emotion akin to relief crossing her eyes before she closed them to rest.

The two hunters left the room. As they walked off, Thorrin couldn’t help but ask, “Hey, do you think she would stop making selfish requests just because you told her that?”

“If she agrees to it, then yes. She’s not one to break agreements,” the woman replied with a sigh, “I hope this works.”

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

Cole stayed by Katie’s side, unable to let his mind wander to the rest of the things he was supposed to take care of. His thoughts were interfered with by the warm feel of a hand intertwining with his, “Hey, you’re not worried, are you?”

“Of course, I am. That’s obvious,” he replied. The girl laying in the bed before him had not slept as she’d been ordered to do so. With Cole around, that was not going to happen easily. The day was still young and the girl didn’t want to spend it all laying down. Alas, she didn’t have that much of a choice. Lifting her hand alone was proving to be a chore.

“I will be fine, Cole,” she tried.

“You don’t know that Katie and you don’t have to lie about it,” Cole nearly yelled. The tight knot forming in his chest did not help the situation.

Katie took note of the bitterness in his tone. He was doing his best to hide it, but he wasn’t okay with her state, “I can still speak to animals though. So that’s something.”

“When do you get that chance?” If it hadn’t been for sharing memories, Cole wouldn’t have believed the girl’s stories, but now that she was a lot weaker than she had been then, she couldn’t take any more of such trips... and she hadn’t.

“They come to me when I want them to or when they feel like it. There is this pigeon called Finn. I think he has half a brain or maybe he’s just trying to impress the other female, Darla. The two of them get along. I wonder if...”

“Katie,” Cole interrupted her. The girl paid attention to him once more. His pained expression had only gotten worse.

“I guess distracting you won’t work this time,” the girl sighed, “I’ll be fine, Cole. I don’t know why, but I know I’m not done yet. I know how much you worry. Sometimes, I feel like blocking the mind link because of the gloomy thoughts that you harbour. Being your mate means I get to listen to them more than the others, but I will be fine. I can’t prove it, but I know I will.” The girl nearly chuckled, ‘How did I become the one tending to my healthy mate?’

“You haven’t been able to detect danger since you got into...”

“That’s enough gloom from you,” the girl snapped at the king. Cole was shocked by the reaction. Katie pinched the bridge of her nose, “I already have my mind to torture me, Cole and I’ve only recently been able to get past that. You have a kingdom to run. Now more than ever, Lycaon needs you. There are criminals on the loose, so go and do something about that.”

Surprisingly, her words and positive attitude did the trick. While Cole’s gloom dissipated, a bit of shame came along with this newfound clarity, “Right... the escaped prisoners... That’s a whole other mess to deal with. I want you to rest, Katie. I’m sorry for the gloom. I couldn’t help it. Not after...”

“I know, Cole. I can’t blame you, but trust me with this. You’re not going to lose me too, okay?” the girl smiled.

Cole couldn’t put his finger on it, but her tone was similar to one he’d heard once before. She reminded him a lot... about his father in the days he was sent to Brigadia.

The emotion that came from her through the mind link was more positive than he’d ever detected from her. She bore no fear of the condition she was in. If she did have any, he would have detected it. It wasn’t like she was hiding anything from him.

The king reached for the girl and hugged her tightly, “Very well. I will tone down my worry, but you can’t keep me from worrying completely. That would be impossible.”

“I’m not asking you to keep yourself from worrying. I know I wouldn’t be able to keep myself from it either if you were in my place. Just dial it down a notch, and I’ll be fine. I wouldn’t ask you of this unless I was sure of it.”

“Are you sure of it?” he raised one brow in question.

“I’m hopeful, Cole,” she chuckled, “I will be fine.”

It almost felt like the girl in his hands would vanish the moment he let go of her. She had grown so precious to the king that he couldn’t imagine what he would do in a world without her. She hugged him back with the strength she could muster.

‘Will hope be enough?’ Cole thought to himself...