Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Chapter Eight

Katie got up the next morning feeling more exhausted than she usually did and decided to go through the fitness stretches that allowed her body to get moving every time she was faced with this kind of fatigue. Hunters, being nearly regular humans, had ways to overcome many kinds of human weaknesses if only just to help them bridge the gap they had between their strength and that of the werewolves. This, however, only allowed them to survive.

The Chase family of hunters was exceptional compared to other hunters, honing their bodies till they were the perfection of human capabilities. Nonetheless, Katie was still miles from earning the experience that her guardians possessed and yet she was stronger than most of the hunters she had met until this point. Whether or not she was more powerful than her guardians in a duel was debatable to say the least.

Thoughts of the day before ran through her mind while she stretched out her muscles. She shuddered at the thought of having to face Sandra again. Thankfully, now she knew that she had nothing to worry about as long as she took the pills that she was given by her parents. ‘On your birthday, the pills will stop working,’ Aunt Marie’s voice rang in her head or was it just her imagination that told her that it was what she said. Either way, the thought of it was frightening in its own right.

‘What happens after my birthday?’ the question rang in her head as clear as daylight. One thing was certain though... there was going to be chaos after that day. She couldn’t help deny the smile that made its way to her face. Deep down within her, she wanted the thrill of an adventure, but that’s just what was wrong with adventures. No one ever knew what was in store for them when they went for them. School life was already as boring as it could get. The werewolves that attended the school did not offer up a challenge even to Sandra and yet she was weaker than Katie was. Katie looked at her fist, thoughts of the fact that she had almost never had to get violent against a werewolf crossing her mind. Had it made her soft or had it helped Sandra grow stronger? If she was a werewolf herself and yet she stood against them when it came to violence against the humans, did that make her a hypocrite? Random thoughts ran through her mind so much so that some of them were twisted in her motives. Some of the thoughts were more or less just wishful thinking on her part anyway.

In the end, she decided the thoughts were meaningless if she couldn’t get anywhere with that train of thought. Such indecision was now coming to her for the first time in her life. Nonetheless, there was nothing she could do about it at the moment. She continued to get ready for the day now that all feelings of fatigue and exhaustion had left her. Katie got downstairs where they ate breakfast as a family. She found that her appetite today was higher than it normally was and ended up serving twice as much food on her plate as she normally did. Her uncle stared at the plate, eyes wide with shock when she placed it on the table and shrugged it off.

“Hey, Tom, have you seen the brochure that I am supposed to be giving the Edisons today?” Aunt Marie said finally reaching the table whilst tying up her blonde silky hair into a high ponytail.

“I put it into your handbag just in case you forgot about it.”

.....

“Thank you, dear. Katie, your plate certainly looks mountainous,” Aunt Marie said, smirking at her witty remark while she settled down for breakfast as well.

“I am feeling hungrier than usual,” Katie replied, several wolf jokes entering her mind at the moment before she brushed them off for a question that she had always wanted to ask, “Why do you guys pretend to work normal jobs yet you are hunters?”

“Huh, who said anything about pretending?” Aunt Marie asked, “We retired from being hunters.”

“But, you are still in your prime, with a reputation like yours you could have anything and work as...”

“That’s about enough, Katie. You are right, we can do all of that, but what would happen to you if we did?” they asked.

“I don’t understand. What does this have to do with me?” Katie asked.

“We retired to raise you and give you the best childhood suited to you and to keep you safe. Just because of who you are, it will take some time before you have to let your guard down. How about we go through the brief history of the origin of the hunters once again,” Uncle Tom said, placing down his fork. His face depicted just the right amount of seriousness to convey the message that Katie was not getting out of this storytime session.

Katie groaned loudly, “Come on, we have gone through that story so many times. Why do we have to do this again?”

“A long time ago...”

“Jesus Christ...” Katie swore, Aunt Marie, giggling at the gesture.

“The moon goddess got into a quarrel with the god Prometheus and retaliated by turning two of his humans into werewolves, two brothers, Sirius and Lycaon. They were the first Royals to be created. The two brothers had the power to turn a human into a werewolf by just biting them and this was the beginning of a terrible war. Lycaon and Sirius would make an alpha with each bite, the alphas could then grant the power of a Beta to the first person they bit. Anyone from then on would become a normal werewolf without the power to turn another. The werewolves’ added strength and abilities made it impossible for the humans to fight back as they were powerless against them.

Prometheus was forced to watch as his people dwindled in numbers over a mere spat that he had with the moon goddess. Much as the humans were losing, if there was one thing that Prometheus had in mind when he was creating the first human, it was hope. Tired of the oppression and carnage, the humans decided to fight back. They came up with the society of hunters. Werewolves were captured in traps and experimented on to find their weaknesses and at the same time, the most elite of the human race was trained to become warriors worthy of the name.

Despite the pain and bloodshed, the werewolves were still human in mind. The Royals finally conceded after realizing that the war could only lead to the destruction of both races. The hunters and the werewolves had a summit to discuss the rules of the new world. Humans were to live alongside werewolves in peace. A werewolf was never supposed to raise a claw against a human even if the human was the first to cause trouble. The hunters were to deal with any issues the werewolves had and any werewolf that turned a human was to be sentenced to death.

This summit is what led to the founding of Rogue wolves, the ones who did not believe in werewolves and humans being equal. The Royals, as well as the hunters, have been fighting with the Rogues ever since knowing that they were the only thing standing between them and peace for all humans and werewolves alike.”

Katie had heard the story numerous times and it bored her just to hear it. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“The Rogues have one thing that they are fighting for. They want to turn all humans into werewolves or to eradicate all humans from the face of the planet, both outcomes that are unacceptable. They have a king we all refer to as the Rogue King. No one knows if he is an alpha or if he has Royal blood in his veins, just that he too can turn humans into werewolves. He sends his lackeys to find him humans for him to sink his teeth into,” this bit of information was new to Katie and in all honesty... disgusting.

“I feel a point coming out of you soon enough. Why are you telling me this right now? What does any of this have to do with anything for that matter?”

“We don’t know all the details, just that the Rogue King those many years ago, was the one responsible for trying to kill you as an infant. The Sirius Royal family was able to fake it that you died during the attack and that allowed us to hide well without suspicion,” Aunt Marie said.

'

“Continuing your jobs as hunters would have only meant that I would be at the risk of being discovered before I was strong enough to defend myself,” Katie said, the pieces finally fitting within her mind.

“Exactly, now finish your breakfast before you are late for school,” Aunt Marie summed it up lighting up as though she was just talking about some food recipe that was of no consequence whatsoever. Katie did not ask any further questions, having heard them say that they did not know all the details. She knew they would not have missed the important part of why it was that the Rogue King was trying to kill her as an infant.

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

The school building stood tall and magnificent, white covering its walls as though it was repainted on a daily basis. It was a bit brighter than Katie would have wanted it to be, but no one was complaining. She breathed in deep once she was in through the gate. Just the day before, she had left in the middle of the day in a hurry. Now that she was okay, she could at least handle the situation better than she could yesterday.

‘Now that my wolf is well suppressed, I won’t even be able to get a sniff of that scent from yesterday,’ she thought, curiosity getting the better of her, ‘what was that scent anyway?’ Katie walked on until she was at the stairs that led into the building, rushed footsteps catching her attention, “Hey Katie, where have you been?”

Katie looked to her right in time to lock eyes with a somewhat agitated Kyle. “Family meeting, did something go wrong while I was gone?”

“It’s not something you can’t handle,” he said, matching her pace as they got into the building, “Sandra has been acting strange. Shaemus wants to pick a fight with you and there is a new girl in school who Sandra already met which totally ruins the surprise information I had for the two of you yesterday.”

Katie spent a few minutes trying to think over which of the headlines was more important than the other before he decided to go in order. “Start with Sandra acting strange.”

“She came into the cafeteria yesterday looking for you in quite a rush. I didn’t get to know what was bothering her. Anyway, that’s when Shaemus snapped and announced that he will be taking you on at the hunter’s training ground to see who gets to control the hierarchy from today on,” he said, “Amidst his ranting, a guy showed up asking for Sandra...”

“Hey, guys,” the two friends nearly jumped out of their shoes on hearing the female intruder behind them.

“Do not sneak up on us like that,” Kyle stammered, “You want to give me a heart attack. Now I know you hate me.”

“Aww, dramatic much,” she stuck out her tongue to him, “so you were talking about me. What about?”

“I was just getting an update on what happened yesterday while I was...” the sound of the entrance double doors opening forcefully stopped Katie mid-sentence.

“Ah, cat’s out of the bag. Meet Cole Lycaon,” Kyle whispered into a frozen Katie’s ear.