Chapter 149

149 Chapter One Hundred Forty Nine

Eight years ago...

Katie had been seated cross-legged for three hours now... Nothing she’d done had worked so far. Her adoptive parents had done everything they could to teach her the secret behind Chase’s precognition, but she wasn’t getting the hang of it, “It’s not working... I’ve tried everything I could. It’s just not possible,” the young girl groaned, finally breaking her concentration.

“This is new. Are you giving up already? What happened to that ambitious goal of yours?” Aunt Marie asked the girl.

“Well, I have been working on it for hours. How am I supposed to...?” the girl stopped herself, closing her eyes in frustration. She didn’t want to give up. She couldn’t... Not when she wanted to protect those she cared about, “What am I doing wrong, Aunt Marie?” she asked the woman.

The woman smiled at her adoptive daughter. She admired her inner fire. Every time things seemed impossible, the girl had a way of pulling her mind back and focusing on the task at hand, “Hmm, perhaps you already know. The power of precognition must come from your strongest convictions. You want to protect those closest to you. To make sure they can smile and not have to worry about rogues or danger... Well, how do you feel every time you remember that? Keep your heart pure and focused on your goal and it will never lead you astray,” the woman replied, “Now, how about we try this again.”

...........

‘Why did that return to me now that I am about to be skewered once more by arrows? Keep your heart pure and focused on your goal... I could not be any more focused than I am now... I’m trying to protect Lina, of all people...’ Katie mentally lamented.

Just then, the whistling sound of several other arrows reached her ears... ‘Another archer...’ the loud clanking of metal as arrows collided in the air above her sounded next. She could no longer feel the arrows heading for her. The girl came to a sudden stop just outside the treeline, “Damn it, what is he doing here?” Jeremiah cursed. Another arrow came from the forest, although it was aimed at the ground before the girl and whistled louder than the others. This was the last arrow that was shot by Jeremiah before the rogues showed up.

“Oh my, you definitely know how to get yourself in all sorts of trouble, dearie,” a feminine... wait male voice, caught the girl’s attention. Katie looked behind her and saw a man dressed entirely in pink holding a pink bow. He bore three quivers, two at his hips and one on his back... His hands’ movements were barely noticeable as he unleashed an assault on the wolves that attacked. Katie stayed still as the arrows whizzed past her at blinding speeds.

.....

She could tell the bow he was holding that he wasn’t a normal hunter. The power that poured off him was enough to tell that he was extremely skilled. Although Katie was finding trouble making observations when her nostrils were constantly assaulted by the numerous cosmetic products the man had applied to his body. She decided to trust her senses and let him prove what side he was on through his own actions. That was... if he didn’t attack her when she wasn’t looking.

“Thank you,” she managed, placing her sister against a tree. She began to check her vitals like she was trained. Lina thankfully was unharmed. Her train of thought immediately soared into the nearest questions. Where the rogues had come from? Why they’d tried to abduct a royal and how they’d even managed in the first place? It was hard to think Lina would be overwhelmed by anyone when she was as fast as she was.

“Would you care to fill me in on what happened?” the man broke the girl out of her thoughts.

“I’m not quite sure. I was following her so that she didn’t hurt herself or something, then she got attacked. She must have told someone in the pack through the mind link. I found her pursued by four rogues and a hunter,” she gave the short version of the story.

“Of course, I see...” the man replied, “What’s on your mind, girl?”

“I was hoping I could wake her up so that I don’t have to carry her the whole way,” she suggested. Curiosity sparked within her a bit later than she would have liked. Turning slowly, she took in the man’s appearance. Now that she was used by his oddities, she could look beyond them to recognise the arrows and bow he was using. The arrow tips were shaped like hearts. She nearly cursed herself for missing it. “Would you happen to be...”

“Frank Silver... Yes, darling. That’s me. Frank Silver, at your service,” the man said, gloating as he said his name, “Charmed, I’m sure...”

“I was going to go with Cupid Shooter, but your real name will do as well. What are you doing this far out... in the middle of nowhere?” Katie asked him, lifting her sister. She gestured for the man to help her carry the girl... Silver was appalled at first, only to shrug it off when he realised the person before him didn’t care what title he held.

“I was assigned in Sirius to protect the one and only Katie Sirius. I have been looking for an opening to introduce myself. This was just the right opportunity. I have a question,” the man asked. The two of them walked with the girl between them following the direction they’d followed. When they reached the corpses of the rogues that Frank had killed, the man pulled a flare gun from one of his pockets and shot upwards.

A trail of green smoke went into the air, producing a loud sound as it did. Katie took the time during the distraction to pay attention to the last arrow Jeremiah had shot. The arrow was odd as its shaft seemed too thick for an arrow. She reached out for it and picked it up. It was a rare arrow, but not one she hadn’t heard of, “What’s the message?”

Allowing the Mighty hunter to hold Lina, Katie broke the steel arrow in half and allowed the roll of paper inside to fall into the palm of her hand. Noticing the missive, her heart began to pound faster... ‘What was the meaning of this...?’

“Just what is this supposed to mean?” the words left her mouth as she folded the paper.

“I am not sure. I also don’t know what to tell you. You could just throw away the message and never know what it contains, but you could also read it and decide what to do with whatever is inside it,” Frank tried.

“He shot four arrows through me. How am I supposed to believe the messages someone like that sends me?” she argued through gritted teeth. There wasn’t a fibre in her body that wanted to know what he wanted to say. Was it an apology? Perhaps he was taunting her even more. Maybe it was a promise to kill her the next time they crossed paths. There couldn’t be anything good inside of it and yet, she couldn’t bring herself to destroy the letter.

“Are you going to just stare at it or are you going to see what it says?” Frank asked her, “You could give it to me so that...”

“I’ll read it,” the girl answered. With shaking hands, she unfurled the crumpled paper, careful to keep the paper from tearing. Her mind swarmed with different scenarios of what it could contain and she also had different wishes about how she was going to react. If only she knew where he was so that she could give him a piece of her...

The girl’s thoughts were cut off as Ashley read the note out loud in her mind, “Cole’s mark should look good on you. Can’t wait to see it.” the wolf was speechless at the words before her.

Katie tore the note a moment later and sighed, “Just when I hoped he would say something sensible.”

“You didn’t seem hopeful to find something sensible in the words of the note. What makes you think they are meaningless anyway? You should look nice with that hunk’s mark on your neck,” it was only then that Katie noticed Frank peeping over her shoulder in search of gossip.

“I’m not ready to get marked just yet. Just imagine having the teeth of a wolf go through your shoulder. Of everything the wolves do, that one sounds far too painful,” she groaned, returning to her sister. Just as she was about to get her sister up, the girl began to stir awake... Frank held his tongue when he noticed this took the girl’s attention away from him.

“Hey, Lina, how are you feeling?” Katie asked, sending a message through the mind link informing her of the girl’s condition. She added that she would explain everything once they were back, avoiding the headache she would get from a worried Cole if he knew what had actually happened with the rogues and Jeremiah.

“I feel like I was hit by a raging Katie...” she whined, rubbing her eyes and squinting to adjust to the light.

Katie was stunned by the phrase, “Is that going to be a thing now?”

“Well, it will be if Drake decides to name you Raging Sister or something along those lines,” Lina joked, “What happened?”

“Well, you nearly got abducted by rogues...” Katie helped the girl up and continued to explain everything that happened while the girl was knocked out as they walked on. Frank, this time, however, did not help the girl walk. He continued behind the ladies keeping a very sensitive ear to anything worth of gossip from the girls, “What do you remember?”

“I remember running away after... Whatever... I just kept running until I was tired which is something I rarely do. I shifted to take a break, but everything goes black from there,” she explained.

“They must have snuck up on you when you were resting, but how could they have known where you’d be or that you’d be weak. It doesn’t make much sense,” Katie spiralled off into her imagination.

“Thank you, Katie... For saving me,” Lina replied.

“What is family for?” Katie replied, flashing the girl a wide smile.

“Well, isn’t that sweet?” Frank scoffed. Clearly, this was not the kind of gossip-worthy information he was looking for.