Chapter 92

92 Chapter Ninety Two

The rogues all got to their feet and huddled up, covering each other’s backs in an attempt to protect each other. The sound of paws striking the ground kept getting louder and louder. “Who could it be?” Kyle asked as he hid behind the others. In a battle, the boy was practically useless. He bore no qualities of a werewolf. Werewolves were usually built, but with the years he’d spent suppressing his werewolf, he was skinny and was rather useless in a fight. All his worth lay in the information in his mind. Katie’s weaknesses, likes, dislikes, hobbies and everything that made her who she was. After all, that was the mission that he was sent to take care of.

The footsteps got even louder, “You were right about one thing, Kyle. Demitri wasn’t making it back alive.”

“What... I tried to say that a hundred times. What do you hear? Can we make it if we go right now?” Kyle asked, starting to panic. Every part of him resonated with the single scariest statement in his life, ‘Katie is coming...’

“Oh relax, weakling. This is all on you. We would have gotten out of this if you hadn’t sent that idiot into that territory. Now look what we’ve gotten ourselves into,” the alpha said. Plans were crumbling and despair was seeping in.

“We could try using the woman...” one of the rogues spoke.

“Well, that seems to be the only thing that we have to do left,” the man said, rushing into the cabin and coming out dragging a woman ravaged by the suffering of going several days with next to no food. She was skinny and her lips were dry as she’d been dehydrated. Her dress lay torn at several places and her face was scratched all over.

“Get her up. We’ll use her as a bargaining chip, and a human shield,” Chad barked. The other rogues help her up. Chad stood behind her with a knife pointing to her back. With the stage set, the footsteps finally came to a halt. A large black wolf stood before them, perhaps the largest that Kyle had ever seen. The scary part of it, however, was its eyes. They shone a bright blue that only spelt doom for anyone that was on its bad side.

The wolf had a companion who’d only arrived behind it, a human companion, or so Kyle thought. The rogues watched as footsteps came from behind the Black wolf. Someone was coming, someone dangerous. Their lives lay with the hostage that they had in their hands.

Dressed in simple denim jeans and a black T-shirt, Katie walked into view. The single most threatening feature of her appearance striking fear into the rogues, her eyes shone a bright blue as well. The only difference was that she carried herself like a hunter and not a werewolf. The presence of a powerful hunter was easy to notice if they wanted and this one was one of those that you didn’t want to cross.

.....

“What’s with that one? She’s brimming with the power of a Hunter and yet her eyes...” Chad couldn’t finish his statement.

“That’s her. Today is her birthday. She’s awakened,” his shoulders slumped when he noticed. ‘So that’s how you tracked me down,’ he thought. “I’m afraid we won’t be able to escape her,” he said to them.

“What do you mean? We have a hostage,” Chad said keeping his voice low before turning to them. “One more step and I kill her. You know who this is.” The Black wolf bared his teeth at the rogues when they uttered the threat. “What are two Royals doing here? You told me the Rogue Killer was the only one after you,” Chad was getting anxious in front of the enemy.

Kyle, who knew what was in front of him to be true, was at a loss of words. There was no way a group of four rogues was going to save him from two Royals, not to mention one that had been blessed with Prometheus gifts. For the moment, he felt like they would stand a better chance against one of the Four Mighty Hunters, but this was their predicament and they were going to have to deal with it.

“It took you long to catch up to me, Katie,” Kyle spoke up.

“That is none of your concern, Kyle. Now that you are in my sights, you aren’t getting away from me,” she said, placing her hand on the side of the werewolf that stood with her. ‘Cole, that’s the Director’s wife. Shaemus’ mother. We’ve been looking for her ever since he admitted to causing the riot out of blackmail,’ she said through their mind link.

‘I’ll send the message through so that they can get here faster,’ he said to her.

Katie kept her eyes trained on their enemies. The four rogues before them, Kyle excluded were dead to her. (Shaemus’ mother) seemed to be conscious for the moment, but she needed medical assistance as soon as possible. She started calculating the distance between her and the alpha that held the knife to her back. ‘Can I get to them before he has the time to react?’ she thought, tapping into her Prometheus gifts.

‘Katie, wait a little longer... They are almost here,’ Cole’s voice came through the mind link.

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

Jason was finally caught up on the situation at hand. Sandra explained how the two had found out about Katie’s special situation. There was a lot that fell into place. The arrival of the Sirius family, the dark blue eyes, the name that resembled that of the dead princess of the Sirius family. The fact that Cole had been catching a scent that was appealing to him. “So she’s the missing Royal, huh. Isn’t she a hunter though?”

“Yes, she is. Prometheus granted her Prometheus gifts when she saved me from a werewolf back when we were twelve,” Sandra explained.

“I don’t understand. She’s a werewolf. Didn’t the god know that?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Katie didn’t know either. All we knew was that we were training to become hunters and Katie was getting good at it. She wouldn’t stop training. If I was the god Prometheus, I would have given her a gift as well. I just don’t know why he had to go and give her both of them,” she explained. Samantha and Kenneth ran beside them. The girl was on the back of the coffee brown wolf following Royal’s scents.

“Katie’s scent is intimidating. I can pick it along with Cole’s scent,” he said.

“Is that how it always is? Scents of powerful werewolves can be intimidating,” she asked him.

“Not exactly. Scents sometimes carry the moods of the person that they belong to at the time. Katie caught the scent of someone that she wants to kill. That’s enough to add weight to her scent. We learn all that when we are learning to track. You can tell that an animal is afraid as you track it down. You can tell that it’s just toying with you as it still feels energetic or when it realises you are a lousy hunter,” he said.

“It’s odd to hear a werewolf referring to hunting...” Sandra chuckled.

“Oh, you guys aren’t true hunters. You don’t know the thrill of hunting prey and the pleasure of enjoying the reward. Most especially if your prey gave you the hardest time to hunt them. Now that’s a hunt,” Jason swooned. The two still didn’t know how they were capable of communication. This was what the Director had tried to prevent. Thankfully for them, they’d found a way around it and could relay all the information that was required of them and keep the flow of information efficient.

However, the next message that came through made them feel like incompetent hunters, “Cole says they have a hostage.”

“Who is it?” Sandra asked, her heart beating faster. A hostage situation wasn’t part of the plan. If Kyle was to escape because a hostage, their efforts would have all been for nothing. Sandra turned on her phone and dialled the number of the Director.

“This better be more than the general directions that you’ve been giving me. I told you that we are tracking your cellphone, so we know exactly where you are and are following behind,” the Director yelled into the microphone.

“This something else, Director. It’s a message from Katie. The rogues have been found,” she said.

“That’s good news. Why doesn’t she make quick work of them and return with the traitor then?” he asked.

“They have a hostage, sir...” the Director went silent. His voice came through lower than it normally was, “Is it...”

“Yes, sir. It’s her...” Sandra replied, not allowing him to finish the statement. Seconds later, multiple pings came from her phone as yet another conference call had been initiated. ‘What is it this time? These things are becoming time consu....’

“Shut your traps, hunters,” the Director’s voice came through, “We have a change of plans. Katie was never headed to the festival. The situation has changed. These rogues that are smuggling the traitor seem to have been the same ones behind the disappearance of my wife and the blackmail of my son that nearly cost the lives of our citizens a few days ago. She’s being used as a bargaining chip. Ten hunters are to remain around the festival and the rest, surround the targets. Those rogues do not leave with their lives. The location is to be sent to all of your cell phones.”

“Might we help out?” a new voice came through the phone. Sandra knew exactly who it was although she never noticed when it was that he got included in the communication.

“We appreciate the help, Alpha Haelstrom,” Anthony spoke, the phone went off immediately. Everyone in the conference call went silent, allowing the director to say something else. “Everyone that is being mobilised, make it there quickly. May Prometheus be with you...” with that, the call went silent.

“This just became a whole lot interesting,” Samantha chuckled, speeding up and getting ahead of the werewolf. Humans, keeping up with werewolves, the thought was troubling to the wolf. ‘Samantha is not human, but Sandra is,’ he thought to himself. The difference was clear as she couldn’t even keep up with any of them. He’d offered her a ride on his back for that fact, marvelling at how light she was on his back.

Shaking the irrelevant thoughts from his head, he pushed his legs to carry him faster and match the speed of the hunters. They had to catch up to the Royal before anything stupid happening. The scent got stronger as a breeze pushed against his face. Something was terribly wrong with Katie’s scent though. It was getting more aggressive. “Katie is about to act. We have to hurry...” Jason said, sending the message outwards. This time, the others running next to him heard.

“Didn’t you tell her to stay put?” Kenneth asked.

“I did... We must hurry. They are not too far,” the four reached just in time to see the Rogue killer’s eyes flashing with pure rage. She’d crouched down, ready to attack.

“Katie...” Sandra yelled out, but it was already too late. The girl set off, vanishing right before their eyes leaving behind a violent twister that pushed them back. ‘When an agility gift has been activated completely...’ the sound of a thunderclap rang clear through the air... ‘So that’s where the name comes from...’