Chapter 173

173 Chapter One Hundred Seventy Three

Finally done and completely drained of all bodily strength, the girl dropped to her knees and hugged the ground, “I could sleep right here,” she told her trainer.

“I know that, but I won’t be letting you do that if I’m to avoid another beating from your boyfriend,” Frank replied, picking the tired girl up like she weighed nothing.

“Are you planning on carrying me all the way back to the palace?” Katie asked him lazily. She hid the excitement of having to get to the castle without using any energy from the man.

“You don’t seem to have the energy to make the trip, so I’m helping,” he replied, starting the walk back to the palace. Lina and the others had already left them and the sun had only recently set. Without even realising it, Katie fell asleep in the man’s arms. “Figures...” Frank sighed. Even when he was trying to keep her from pushing herself too hard, the girl was doing so.

Just when he was about to tell her to rest, she’d succeeded in what they were trying to do. The walk to the palace was a quiet one. The wind was cold against the hunter’s skin. Nightlife in the forest was starting to get active. It wasn’t like the man hadn’t been through forests his whole life. He’d walked through many of them during the hunts they had in neutral territory. However, never had he been forced to take notice of the nature around him.

The trees swayed to and fro in a beautiful rhythm that sapped the man of his exhaustion. The wind blew at the right pace and it made him want to stop and take a rest. He took one more look at Katie and realised just how peaceful she was sleeping in the wild. ‘Could this sudden change be because of you?’ the man thought to himself. He shook his head to clear the thoughts that swarmed his mind, ‘No, that’s crazy. No one has power over nature. These two have got me on my toes that it feels like I’m starting to hallucinate a number of things.’

.........

“Get up, Katie...” Frank nudged the girl once they were at the gates of the palace. Yawning, the royal woke up and took in her surroundings. Once she had her bearings right, she took a step towards the gate only to realise Frank was not going in with her. She looked back at him, “This is where I get off,” he said to her.

“Oh, okay then. Thanks for carrying me home,” the girl replied. The two bid themselves farewell and went their separate ways. Unbeknownst to Katie, she was being watched by a pair of wolves. These werewolves she knew and trusted. This kept her radar from picking up on their spying behaviour.

.....

“What are we going to tell her? Do you think she’ll react well to the Alpha’s state?” one of the spying wolves asked the other.

“You know Caden. You need to let loose once in a while. She’ll be fine. After all, he’ll only be like this for a few more days,” Jason replied. They watched as the girl reached the stairs and started her ascent into the palace.

“Here goes nothing,” Caden replied. The two of them left their spots and waited for their Luna at the top of the stairs that would sooner get her to her room. Katie reached them only moments later and narrowed her eyes at them.

“You’re hiding something,” she guessed immediately.

Jason went to speak and found that his words got caught in his throat. Seeing his friend’s dilemma, Caden stepped in, “We just want to make sure you don’t freak out when you see him.”

Jason looked down in embarrassment, “Yeah, that’s what we are here to do. Alpha Cole is not doing so well and we hoped to cushion the blow before you got to see him.”

Katie was gone from sight before he was done with his sentence. The girl ran towards their room as fast as her exhausted legs could carry her. The alphas remained silent for a bit before turning to follow her. They found her beside her mate, checking his temperature. Cole hadn’t responded to anything in the past hours and the two alphas were starting to worry. Although this wasn’t the first time, they were seeing him in this state, it never got easier.

Sensing his mate’s touch, the royal stirred, his eyes fluttering open to meet her teary ones, “You know I will be better in a few days from now.” Since getting bedridden, the royal hadn’t been able to think clearly, but Katie’s presence made him want to try.

“A few days from now is not now, Cole. You look like you’re on your deathbed,” the girl replied.

The prince chuckled, “I must rock the dead look since you still look like you can’t take your eyes off me.”

Katie couldn’t help but smile at his humour. Even in this state, the man had the audacity to joke, “You’re such a dummy.” she replied before turning to the two alphas before her. “You can leave the rest to me, Caden, Jason...”

“Yes, Luna,” they responded, shutting the door on their way out. Katie sighed and reached for a towel on her mate’s head.

“I’ll just have this changed for you,” she responded. Her instincts kicked in and she began grooming her mate. She ordered food for the two of them brought through the mind link and made sure Cole. When the food was brought to her, she made sure to help him take in what he could at a pace that he could manage.

“You have to eat something you know,” she argued when he finally gave up on eating any more than she’d given him.

“It all tastes like it was made in a sewer,” he complained.

“Well, if you weren’t as ill as you are, you would appreciate it, but since you aren’t, you don’t get to criticise anything with a tongue that dysfunctional,” she replied.

Cole groaned, “I don’t have to eat to survive. I’ll be fine. This is torture.”

“No, what’s torture is me having to worry for you while you arrogantly reject the food that’s supposed to save you,” she snapped at him. The girl sighed upon realising her outburst, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”

“It’s okay. How about this then?” the man suggested, beckoning for the girl to bring her ear closer. He whispered something into her ear that got her cheeks flushed and sent shivers down her spine.

“Okay then... Eat up,” she responded, trying her best to pay no heed to what he’d just said.

Cole wore a look of triumph as he willingly accepted, “Yes, ma’am.”

Katie giggled at his silliness, her mind wandering back to the time she’d been crippled and unable to do much. He’d done anything and everything he could to make sure she was never lacking anything. It was as though he was trying to make her forget her condition at the time. “This takes me back.”

Cole’s mind had been wondering the same thing, “Only difference is that I know I will get better. You were in a bad place back then.”

“Yes, yes I was...” she sighed. Cole finished his meal and was fast asleep before long. Katie replaced the towel on his forehead with another and made the bed beside him before she could get some sleep herself. Her mind wandered to the words he’d only just whispered to her and a smile graced her face... ‘Sneaky...’

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

As time went on, the day for the trip finally arrived. With more training from Sandra and a lot of exhausting sessions with Frank, the two sisters were different. Sandra complained, for what was the umpteenth time since they’d woken up that morning, “But I don’t want to have to do it. Patrol is boring...”

“I know it is, but we have to so that we can keep the peace with Trevor. Just bear with me for now. Besides, you could learn a thing or two from these hunters,” Katie tried.

“I don’t have much to learn from them that you can’t teach me. We both know that Katie,” the girl huffed.

“Well, if you two could stop bickering, I would like my sensei to take me through some last-minute drills before we have to go back to the palace,” Lina interrupted the girl’s conversation.

Katie raised her hands in surrender, “Oh, don’t let me keep her. Break a leg, sister. Not literally though.”

Sandra groaned, dragging Lina from the hunter, “You owe me for this, Katie.” Katie was left to contemplate if she meant training her sister or cooperating with Trevor. Two arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her into an embrace. Cole placed a kiss on the girl’s shoulder.

“Those two are quite lively,” the man’s sudden actions sapped her of her strength once again, a feeling she just couldn’t get used to.

“Yeah, they try their best. I actually like watching them make progress,” she replied, trying her best to ignore the tingles that littered her body.

'

“Well, there is a lot that’s been happening with your presence here,” Cole replied.

“Oh, would you like to enlighten me?” she asked.

“Well, would you look over there?” Cole replied.

Katie turned to see none other than Crysta. However, the person she was training was the last person anyone would have expected. The girl was training Honour, Lina’s best friend. Most of the wolves were still trying to interpret the meaning of this. The information that had reached Katie was that Crysta had stopped associating with Liam and Wyatt and instead taken a liking to the young girl that was Honour. No one knew why and no one opposed her considering there weren’t many that could stand against her. The last one to do so had gotten his face in the dirt.

“Well, I’m not sure that has something to do with me,” Katie said, absentmindedly. It was the day of the trip and excitement filled the air. It was extremely unusual to have a class move out in such a large number and most of them were excited. Katie, on the other hand, was getting the largest danger detection on her radar. The feeling in her gut... It reminded her so much of Brigadia... “Keep on your toes, Cole.”