Chapter 138

138 Chapter One Hundred Thirty Eight

Katie placed the phone on the table and put her head in her hands while the phone continued to utter the woman’s arguments along with a mixture of profanities that should have not reached Lina’s ears. Lina shrugged them off when Drake eyed her. “Katie, are you even listening to me?”

“Yes, Samantha although I can’t echo some of the words you’ve used. I’m not even sure I understand all of them,” she replied.

“What a delightful lady?” Martha spoke, focusing on her plate as though she had been thinking out loud. The rest of those at the table knew otherwise...

“Katie, was that the queen I just heard? Am I in speaker?” Samantha asked, her voice low this time.

“You asked me to put it in speaker once I reached Katie so that you could give her a ‘piece of your mind,'” Sandra chipped in.

“Oh yeah, I said that. You’re majesties, I am sorry for the noise and more than numerous words that might have slipped out on occasion,” she apologised, regaining her formal tone.

“Not a problem, hunter. Is that all you had to ask Katie? We could send you another katana crafted from the best smiths in Sirius to replace the one that you lost,” King Davin spoke up.

“The king is there too. What kind of audience did I have?” Samantha asked, groaning while she asked.

“The entire royal family...” Lina pitched in happily.

.....

“Oh poor Lina. She’s still so young,” Samantha cried. Katie was holding back a fit of laughter though not as much as the two alphas that had reached the door just in time to hear the conversation. Jason and Jackson were laughing while Caden stood beside them with his mouth open, replays of the insults went through his mind... ‘What did Katie do to make sweet Samantha so mad?’

“Katie, I called with more than just the announcement on my katana and yes, a replacement would be nice. Thank you very much, your majesty,” Samantha was humbled and dead serious all of a sudden.

“Not a problem,” King Davin replied, hoping the hunter would continue to explain what was happening, however, Katie picked up the phone and turned off the loud speaker. She was gone before any of them could stop her, vanishing with a tempest of wind in her wake.

“Hunters can be so secretive,” Martha groaned.

“Well, we don’t exactly allow them to freely walk the royal grounds either,” Lina replied.

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

Katie ran out to the back of the castle, taking the shortest route that her memory could provide and Samantha waited for the girl to get to somewhere more private before they could talk, “I’m clear, Samantha. What seems to be the problem?”

“Frost and Jackeline received new assignments. Since they are ranked highly amongst the hunters, they are called on when something grave is about to happen. They were sent to investigate the movements of the rogues. After what happened with Kyle, the hunters took their chances and decided to track the movements of the rogues that escaped.”

“Can the information they gathered lead us to him?” Katie asked her.

“I can’t be so sure. Her first report made it back to Brigadia. The reports return to the Agency where the hunter comes from for confidentiality. The higher-ups are then the ones that deal with the information based on what’s been gathered. Your parents are still here, so they were able to confirm that we had no traitors in our midst. However, that is not the case with the other agencies.

It’s been established, following Jeremiah’s betrayal, that there might just be hunters out there that are acting as double agents. I don’t know what something like that mean for hunters, but there is chaos in the hunter society. Some of the hunters even think you were lying about the whole thing, after all, you aren’t only a hunter, but a werewolf as well,” she explained.

“I’m sorry for causing all that trouble. What was in the report that returned to Brigadia?” Katie wanted the information that was going to help her to deal with the rogues faster and was curious to know what happened to those that escaped.

“Well, the report stated, that the rogues split on their journey into two groups. After further investigation, she was able to tell that the biggest part of the force of rogues was sent to the Lycaon empire and not the Sirius empire. It was impossible to confirm which of the forces had Kyle with them. We don’t know where the Beta alphas went and we also have no idea where Jeremiah is,” there were too many missing bits of information. It was good to have a bit of intel coming in from someone she trusted, though and that was something in itself.

“What are the rogues looking for in the Lycaon empire? I thought they were after the chosen,” Katie asked.

“I don’t know. We found that a bit suspicious, but without knowing everything, we couldn’t be sure. It’s not easy to carry out an investigation in no man’s land. Rogues can come from anywhere. It’s their playground. We couldn’t even tell where a force of rogues that large came from in such a short time. Many of the hunters are becoming a little... cautious of the missions they take on,”

“You mean they are becoming scared,” Katie corrected.

“Prometheus doesn’t choose wimps, Katie,” the woman retorted, shutting down Katie’s rush of anger, “Otherwise, how are you doing? Is Cole treating you right? How long till the marking? I need details, girl.”

“Umm, I don’t think I’m obligated to discuss such with you, but I can tell you that he’s the sweetest hum-I mean werewolf that I’ve ever met,” she replied.

“Ugh, you’re boring me. I asked for details,” the woman groaned, “Your parents got their gifts back and they are still as fit as they were eighteen years ago. Chase hunters are not human...”

“I’ll call them later on... Somewhere after school. Oh, I’d almost forgotten to tell you. I can walk again,” Katie yelled out the last part, forgetting the entire purpose of finding a place to speak clandestinely. She looked around the backyard and shrugged off the odd looks the wolves were giving her.

“That’s great to hear, Katie. Can you umm... do that thing again?” Samantha asked her.

“What thing?” Katie was now curious.

“You know... the one the thunderclap does. I was just in time to see you do it. I still can’t believe what I saw that day,” Samantha explained, sighing while she did.

“I’m not sure. I was in the heat of the moment that day. I had to save Claire’s life. Anthony had been miserable for the longest time that I’d ever seen him and the woman looked to be in bad shape. How is she?” she asked.

“She’s getting better. She spars with a few of us when she gets the chance. She’s not yet back to her former state, but she’s making good progress. I shall send her your regards, along with everyone else,” Samantha told her.

“Thanks, Samantha,” the girl couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as she talked to one of the people that had raised her.

“Hey, kiddo,” Samantha said, getting serious once again, “Take care of yourself this time. Don’t rush into a fight you can’t win. There are so many people that you can save when you’re alive compared to when you’re dead.”

Samantha was not the first one to make that very same speech. Cole had given her something similar a while back and she’d promised him to stay out of trouble unless he allowed her to. ‘Right before I ran into a river and nearly drowned to death...’ ‘I said I was sorry. How many times will I apologise for that?’ ‘You need swimming lessons, wolfie.’

“I’ll be careful, Samantha. Take care of yourself as well,” she replied. The phone went silent a moment later leaving the girl standing still. Memories of her growing up swarmed her mind, threatening to overwhelm her. ‘Hey, you know Cole will know if you get overwhelmed again...’

‘Did he know when I was about to drown in a river?’

‘No, I had blocked him out?’ Ashley replied.

‘Then that was the last time that you do something like that,’ she scolded the wolf. Ashley sighed as they turned to return to the table that the dining hall. It was a short walk when someone was completely overwhelmed by thoughts. The mind link of the entire pack swarmed her mind. It was now filled with gossip of their newfound princess being a hunter. There wasn’t much doubt about it left. ‘I guess I’ll have to embrace this truth as well...’

As she rounded a corner, she ran into none other than Crysta .... The two girls stared at each other unmoving. Katie wasn’t going to say anything to her as she had nothing to say to her. She didn’t feel sorry for trying to snip her head off her shoulders moments ago.

Crysta took a few steps back and took a short curtsy, stunning the princess, “Will you accept my apology?”

Cole had spoken of the girl’s character from before Katie was in the picture and Katie had wondered what would change a person like that. ‘Don’t cave so quickly, Katie...’

Sighing, the girl replied, “I’ll have to think of it when I do receive it.”

“For what it’s worth, I am sorry,” the girl replied before walking away from Katie without another word, “I won’t pretend to like you though.” Oddly enough, the tone in her last statement brought a smile to her face... ‘Glad you aren’t a suck-up to those in power...’