Chapter 75

75 Chapter Seventy Five

“Cole,” she hugged him, forgetting her boundaries, “Wait, you mean him? Can we go for another round?”

“I don’t think I can manage one more round of archery after what I just watched. I knew you were good, but I had no idea you were that good,” he said. He genuinely looked shaken by the bout he’d just watched the two of them have, “That was some demonic level archery.”

Katie couldn’t hold back her laughter. She pulled away from him, “Fine then, let’s check out the rest of the fair then.” A familiar feeling gripped her as they reached the exit, turning her face red as a sound, all too clear for her liking, rumbled. She brought her hands to her stomach and sighed in embarrassment.

“Let’s first get you something to eat. I would get hungry if I had to shoot arrows with that much force,” Cole chuckled, wrapping his arm around the embarrassed beauty and dragging her to the nearest stall that had been set up to look like a restaurant. It was too early for a meal, but a small snack to fill an empty belly couldn’t hurt... or so he thought...

........

Cole did the best he could to try and hide his amusement when he saw Katie eating. She ordered a plate of fries which had to be prepared. He wasn’t sure if she was going to finish that which was no problem for him, but what happened after they arrived was beyond his imagination. One by one, the fries vanished into a bottomless pit that was Katie’s stomach. “It’s bad to stare at Lycaon,” the girl said.

“I was just wondering where the rogue killer gets her energy and now I know,” he tried to save himself.

“Yeah, I guess that’s right. Is it...”

“Totally normal among the werewolves, yes... completely. I was just under the impression that the hunters were more human in that regard. Is your stomach still the same?” he couldn’t help but ask.

.....

Katie chuckled at the man’s silliness, “Yes, it’s normal. This is embarrassing, honestly.”

“It shouldn’t be. You’re different today, though. You care what others think of you. What happened to bring about this change?” he asked.

“Oh, I don’t care what everyone in this room thinks about me. I just care about what a few people think of me. A subject I’ll explain later as I find it quite embarrassing to talk of right now,” she said.

“With that necklace around your neck, it’s hard for me to find anything you do embarrassing. You look amazing,” he said.

“Security guards aren’t supposed to look that good,” she joked.

......

Soon enough they were out of the restaurant to enjoy the rest of the trip through the festival. As they got out of the restaurant, Cole felt a pang of pain through his chest as a howl reached his hypersensitive ears. A howl of loss and loneliness. A howl that mourned the death of a companion. It was coming from none other than Caden and he was very far from them. He couldn’t help the tear that ran down his face.

“What is it, Cole? You seem to be crying,” she asked.

“I just heard a howl of sorrow from a wolf that I know,” he said. She understood it was probably from Caden as he was the only one she knew who was still howling that loudly.

“When will he be back?”

“If I know him well, he will come back when he knows that he can try to move on. For now, he will let himself feel the entirety of the grief. Werewolves can’t move on as easily as humans can. Most especially if they share a deep connection to the one that has died. Caden will need time to get back to himself.

“Aren’t you worried about him? Considering I didn’t hear that howl, isn’t her far?” she asked.

“He is far, but rogues know better than to attack an alpha. He will be fine...” he paused, “No, I am worried, but if I go to him when I don’t know what’s going on, I just might make it worse and send him on a rampage,” he said.

“Is Caden capable of going on a rampage?” she asked bewildered. There was something wrong with that picture since she knew him as a calm person who had a good grip on his emotions.

“Yes, he is capable of doing that,” the two continued the tour. Katie took Cole through it and forced Cole into doing a bunch of other silly things like shooting targets for a prize. He mocked him saying this was what he was supposed to be doing instead of archery. Surprisingly, he was able to win three of the bears without a problem. These they gave to random children that had been let loose to run through the festival and failed to win themselves toys of their own.

Cole found himself having more fun than he’d expected with the games that they went through. This festival was similar to the Royal games in some ways and different in others. It forced memories of the Royal games back into his mind. He’d toured the place that day with none other than Lina Sirius along with her brother. The three were the most esteemed guests of the competition and had become good friends after that.

However, after Drake Sirius had been made Crown Prince to the Sirius throne, he became busier and stopped communicating as much as he used to. Cole didn’t get the reason behind why the palaces of the werewolf Royal families were so far apart.

“Oh my, would you look at the time,” Katie exclaimed, looking at her phone.

“You had a phone this entire time?” Cole groaned.

“Huh, what did you take me for?”

“I know you have one. It’s just that you rarely use it that it slips my mind,” he complained, taking his out to check if he had her number. Surely enough, there it was in his phone labelled with the cutest hearts. He switched the phone off immediately before Katie could get a look at the embarrassing method of saving. It bothered him that something like that had slipped his mind. “What’s supposed to happen now?” he asked taking another spoon of ice cream from the one they’d bought.

“Well, it’s almost lunchtime. The VIPs will be arriving at that time for their introductory meal. Something to welcome them from their long trips and lift their spirits as prepared by the school in the staffroom. The whole thing was already prepared. I, as the Head of Security, am supposed to be there to brief them about the security if necessary and also coordinate their hunters as required of me. I wish I could hand the job to someone else,” she said.

“You handle the job quite well. I would not be safer under anyone else...”

“That warms my heart, thank you,” she blushed a soft pink at the compliment. She was just a rainbow of colours on that day.

“Sorry for stuffing you with food though. You might not want to overdo it during that lunch,” he said, apologetically.

“It’s okay... I appreciate it. I don’t think I was capable of waiting that long anyway,” she assured him. To be honest, there was still the feeling of absence in her stomach, but she wasn’t about to mention that to him. Instead, she pretended the ice cream was filling her up and decided to respectively leave the rest to him, “Thanks for everything though...”

Cole called back to her while she was leaving the table they’d settled at after the trip, “Hey, would one call this a date, given the question?”

“Would one want to call it one, given the opportunity?” she asked him.

“One would like that very much...” ‘What are you doing, Cole? She’d never say yes to something that silly knowing that you are a werewolf that is one day going to...’

“Then one might call it so...” she cut his thoughts off, winking at him before running off. He stayed frozen for a bit. She wasn’t hesitating when he approached her and was letting him in. She was still guarded, but from what he deciphered, she was growing fond of him ‘Maybe she actually likes me... No, the rogue killer wouldn’t do such a thing, would she?’ his thoughts were a mess until someone contacted through the mind link.

“Hey, where are you? Sandra left to go for some meeting,” Jason called out to him. Cole directed him and soon saw his old friend coming about the corner, covered in paint from top to bottom. His face and hair were wet along with his hands showing that he’d washed up, but the rest of his clothes were filthy.

“What happened to you?”

“You have no idea,” the alpha replied, wiping his face once more and grabbing the ice cream on the table, “Mind if I take this?”

“Help yourself,” Cole flipped his request over even though the ice cream had cost quite a sum.