Chapter 150

150 Chapter One Hundred Fifty

After what seemed like ages of walking, the trio took a rest at the river bank. They decided they would follow the river and make a beeline for the castle when they got close enough, completely ignoring the training that obviously continued without them. Lina’s strength was not returning to her and Katie was less than willing to carry both her and muscular Frank back to the castle. The younger girl, reaching her limit, took a rest on one of the exposed buttress roots by the tree line while Katie washed her face in the stream.

“Why do our parents let you wear tights, but not me?” the girl yelled, frustrated.

“Oh my, you’ve been holding that in, haven’t you?” Frank piped in, “My guess would be that your sister is already claimed by her rightful mate and you aren’t. I don’t know why she’s taking longer to get marked though,” the last part the man mumbled more to himself so that Katie would not hear him. Unfortunately for him, the girl’s sharp hearing wouldn’t let that slip by.

“What does that have to do with anything? I can dress the way I want. Crysta does and I don’t see anyone telling her she’s doing the wrong thing,” Lina grumbled.

This struck a chord within Katie, who hadn’t wanted to get into the conversation that would end up involving what was going on between her and Cole, “Speaking of Crysta, what’s the story between you two?”

Lina’s face got sad immediately and she looked away from her sister, “I don’t want to talk about that.”

“Why is that? You’re my sister. I would want to destroy anything that gives cause you to make such a face,” Katie replied. She came up to her sister and pulled her chin up so that she would look at her. Lina yanked her chin out of Katie’s grip...

“You’ll only become like her. I don’t need someone else that I care for to start shunning me like I have the plague,” the girl mumbled more to herself. She half-hoped Katie hadn’t heard anything she’d said, but that was just wishful thinking. The Royals had exceptional supernatural abilities and Katie wasn’t the same retard she was.

“That would never happen and you know it...” Katie consoled her sister. She sat beside her sister who looked away from her once more.

.....

“You say that, but if you knew her back then, you wouldn’t. She wasn’t always such a pain. She cared for people. She was a good friend. I still find her doing it without realising it or when she thinks no one is looking. Many times, but she won’t ever admit it to my face... Just because...”

Katie was lost, but she could tell they were making progress. Frank settled down on a patch of grass in front of them to listen in on the story. However, for once, this was a story that wasn’t going out to his fellow hunters(gossipers). It was far too personal for him to violate.

Lina, finally ready, decided to narrate the story clearly, “Crysta and I, we’re best friends... It was a long time ago though. Before we were even able to shift. I was always faster than her when we were kids and having no real strength, we were evenly matched. Obviously seeing as I was a royal, I was meant to be stronger than her... That’s what we all thought at the time.

When we were eight, she finally went through her first shift. The first shift normally occurs during that time. The latest could be nine or even ten, but even through that time, I was still waiting on my first shift. Crysta began to get stronger and then on the day I shifted, my wolf wasn’t powerful... Not the way a royal was supposed to be anyway... I wasn’t as big as the rest. I barely had any strength, but instead, I was fast.

Werewolves use their strength to protect the pack, but my abnormality wasn’t good for something like that. I was mocked and shunned by the rest of the werewolves of our generation. They would claim my speed was only good for running away when things turned for the worse. I was only lucky that I wasn’t the crown heir to the Sirius throne. The pack wouldn’t have been approved.

With Wyatt and Liam running the rumours, there is nothing I could say to convince anyone of anything other than what they feel is right. They deemed me an abomination and before I knew it, Crysta had turned against me as well, along with all the others. I wasn’t seen as a royal anymore...”

“Children can be cruel,” Frank was the first to comment when Lina was done narrating her story. Katie was at a loss for words. Here she was trying to fight for the freedom of werewolves when the werewolves were already creating their own kind of oppression amongst themselves.

She brought her palm to her sister’s cheek and wiped the tears that rolled out of her eyes, “I don’t see a reason to cry when they don’t see how great you are...” she told her. Lina stopped her sniffles and took a hard look at her sister’s face. Where was the hate and scorn she was used to when she faced her peers? “You’ll soon see it the way the others do...”

“I highly doubt it... To be honest, if I was to choose either one of the gifts, I would have chosen the Agility gift. That way, I’d never be late when my loved ones needed me to come running. Strength can take on many forms. Until you see that, you won’t be able to shine like the bright light I know you are,” Katie continued, pulling her sister into a hug.

“Take it from me, girl,” Frank pitched in, “Being different doesn’t make you an abomination. One would argue that a person like me could never have made it as a hunter, no less a Mighty Warrior. My hands are soft and I hate going through pain, but I made it here anyway. Embrace your strengths and nothing can stop you.”

Coming from someone who knew what the girl was going through, Lina felt even better about herself. In fact, it was the first time she was looking at her speed as more of a blessing than a curse. She loved to run, but had hated it because it made the others shun her, “What an odd trio we make?” Katie joked, taking notice of the odd pattern.

“I was about to say the same thing. The first werewolf to hold Prometheus gifts, the fastest werewolf in history and me, the prettiest man in all the land,” Frank boasted.

“You wouldn’t happen to be...”

“Frank Silver, at your service, madam,” the man interrupted, introducing himself in the process.

“Oh, right... That also works,” Lina replied. ‘What are the odds of meeting him a second time. Although I didn’t get to talk to him the last time. Wait, what is he doing here?’

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

The trio reached the castle than they would have liked, but having been attacked by rogues, they were taken care of and weren’t asked about much. Katie was summoned by the King to give a report of what had happened and she went there with the Mighty Warrior. Handing Lina over into Honour’s hands, she bid the girl farewell and left to meet her father.

The office of the King of Sirius was far more organised than she thought it would be. The man had his handsome face skimming through different papers. His hand constantly darted to the pen by his side when he needed to scribble something down or sign a document. He took some time looking through something at his table before acknowledging their presence, “Good morning, Katie. Good morning, Frank,” the man greeted, barely fazed by the Mighty Warrior’s presence.

“Good morning, Father,” Katie replied, taking a look around. There were portraits of different kings of the past on the walls. The office was wide enough to house a different section that was designed like a living room. As Katie was about to take her eyes off the living room part of the office, she noticed someone she wouldn’t have expected. The queen lay asleep on one of the sofas. It was the first time he was seeing the woman’s hair in a state slightly below perfection... It brought a chuckle out of the girl.

The king noticed what she was looking at, “What is it?”

“I just thought her looks were always perfect like those of Celeste. I’m glad to know she’s human,” the observation brought a momentary smile to the king’s face before he realised a more important note within what she had just said.

“You’ve seen the goddess before?” he asked.

“Yes, I have seen her. She’s... pretty,” Katie confirmed.

“Huh, and that’s what you noticed about her. Interesting. On to more important matters, I need to...” just then, the door burst open with no warning. The sweet scent of her mate invaded her nostrils. Cole rushed into the room and pulled the girl into a hug.

“I was worried. What took you so long. You held out on me. You’re supposed to keep me up,” he paused when he noticed the Mighty Warrior in the room, “dated on everything that happens to you.”

“Umm, Cole, I’m fine. I promised never to do anything I can’t handle ever again and that’s what I plan to do,” she told Royal, pulling out of his embrace.

The king was glad to see this kind of display from his future son-in-law, “Cole Lycaon, you might want to knock the next time you feel like barging into my office.”

“Apologies, your Majesty. Can I stay to hear the report then?”

“Of course, I would be happier if all the Royals were here to hear this. Proceed, Katie. What happened in the forest? It’s good to have you hear, Frank,” he said, recognising the Mighty Warrior’s presence once again and beckoning for the three of them to take their seats.

Drinks were brought to them while Katie went through the story of what happened during her pursuit of her sister up until the moment when they were saved by the Mighty Warrior. The king had many questions, but held them in and let her continue the story until she was done. Katie tried her best to narrate everything and only left out the part where the rogue hunter left her a note. It just didn’t seem important to her. Cole had questions as well and kept putting them aside for the sake of her story. She didn’t even hold back when it came to Lina’s revelation. Here she asked the king if there was a clean solution to her situation. And the king was happy to discuss it as well...