Chapter 187

187 Chapter One Hundred Eighty Seven

Katie and Cole ran through the forest for a while before the hunter picked up on the exact locations of three of the wolves they were looking for. “You know you could have easily done it using the pack link,” Ashley groaned in the girl’s mind.

‘Maybe next time you can share this information before having me focus on a ridiculously hard technique from a family I only recently found that I am not a part of by blood,’ Katie replied, rambling as she did.

‘No need to yell. I’ll tell you next time. You have bigger things to worry about. I have been trying to reach Lina’s wolf the moment I noticed she wasn’t among the wolves you found. She’s closed herself off from the pack. Something must have happened between the wolves for her to go dark like that.

“Cole, would you deal with those ones while I look for my sister?” Katie asked the black wolf that ran beside her.

“Yeah, I can do that. Be careful. Jeremiah might have followed us here,” the alpha replied.

“Aww, it’s nice when you worry about me,” the girl cooed before veering off their general direction and focusing on an entirely different target. Katie partially wondered what the three wolves were doing in one place and not trying to get back to the hotel, but left those thoughts to the back of her mind. Her sister was still missing and she needed to find her quickly, “You better be careful too, Cole.” She called back.

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Lina Sirius ran with no particular direction in mind. Well, that had been after she realised she was lost. Her obvious destination had been the hotel, but after running about the forest for much longer than she would have expected in a direction she was sure was the hotel, she came to the conclusion that she was completely and utterly lost. Her ears and nose continued to pick up on different smells. Many of them were new, but that wasn’t the part that frightened her.

It was the fact that she could tell the intention behind each scent. The animals of the forest weren’t so kind to intruders and she found that every direction she turned, there was a scent she felt she should stay wary of. The problem of running at such a high speed was that it made tracking difficult. She couldn’t run at top speed and track at the same time.

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After going around in circles, dodging a myriad of different animals that gave her a murderous stare the moment they saw her, she confirmed there was nothing she could do to find her way back to the hotel. Her mind plagued her with constant worries of never being able to fit into the society she was born into. What Liam had said made sense to her... It always did and it always had. After all, that had been her life for as long as she could remember.

Filled with the sense of loneliness she thought she’d gotten rid of, Lina kept herself closed off from the rest of the pack and walked into a cave to find some warmth. Little did the girl know that the cave belonged to a mother bear that had left her cub to rest within the warm confines of the cave. The wolf had left tracks at the very entrance of the cave and all evidence of her invasion. How could she know! This was her first time in the wild and she knew nothing about it.

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Katie ran through the forest in search of her sister. It was starting to feel like she was never going to find her. The voices in the woods were far too many for her to filter and no matter what she tried, her power as well as the voices of the creatures of the woods reached her mind the same way and filtering them out was almost impossible for her.

However, giving up was not an option and she continued to trudge forward. The search was futile and she dashed through the woods like a gust of wind, keeping at the right amount of speed to be barely a disturbance to the wildlife as well as keep an eye out for her sister. Her eyes and ears were peeled for any sign which never came and right when she was about to give up, she heard something... A whisper, no, a growl, or was it a squeak...

It didn’t make sense that the sound wasn’t human, but what was even more bizzare was the fact that she understood what it had said or squeaked, ‘The forest is full of white wolves today. They are just whizzing past like it’s mating season...’

Katie might have been offended by the meaning behind the sounds, but she was now even more curious to know where it was they had seen a white wolf. Skidding to a stop, she searched the woods for the sound of the voice and soon enough came face to face with a pair of squirrels. The two creatures stared at her curiously before squeaking once more... ‘What is she looking at...’

‘I think she’s looking at you...’

‘I have seen many things in my lifetime, but this might just be the weirdest of all of them. Maybe I’m just imagining things,’ Katie thought to herself.

“Maybe she finally ran crazy,” the other squirrel squeaked before bursting into a fit of squeaky laughter.

The girl was even more amused by this. The more she watched the two of them, the more she heard their speech clearly. ‘What would even be the use of being able to understand these woodland creatures?’ the girl thought to herself, ‘However, if they could help me find my sister...’

She cringed at the thought of having to ask squirrels for help. There was simply so much wrong about the situation and yet, there was everything natural about it as well, ‘I might be becoming more animal than I ever thought I’d get,’ the girl thought to herself once more. “Did the other white wolf come through here?” she tried, however, her voice came out as more of a bark. This was, by far, the most ridiculous thing she’d ever tried and felt like the stupidest wolf in the world for even trying it.

“This one is quite rude despite her charming appearances,” one of the squirrels told his friend.

“Yes, yes, very rude indeed. How dare she speak to us in that tone? Although I am curious to know why the wolf wants to know where the other wolf is. Maybe the two of them are fighting for a mate,” the friend responded with a laugh.

‘Let me take the wheel, Katie,’ Ashley whispered into the girl’s mind.

‘Did you know werewolves could understand other creatures?’ Katie asked her.

‘Oh, no. Werewolves can’t understand other creatures. It just so happens to be one of the abilities that have been granted to you as the moon goddess’ chosen. It is an honour to have such an amazing gift. Just think about it. We could find out where Lina is pretty easily with this power. Just let me do the talking,’ the wolf replied.

The hunter complied and let the wolf take control of the body, “This wolf is bipolar...” one of the squirrels observed.

“Oh yeah, I have heard of those. I haven’t gotten the chance to see one though. So you mean she could either be very mean or very nice right now?” the friend asked. It was amusing to both the wolf and the girl to watch these two speak as though they were normal humans.

“May I have your assistance in finding the other white wolf? She’s my sister and I’m afraid I’ve lost her,” Ashley took a stab at communication. She sounded much less fierce compared to her counterpart who internally rolled her eyes at the wolf, ‘Show off...’

“Oh, I like this one. She’s super nice... Tell you what lady. Your white sister might have been a little bit... okay, very lost and she might have sort of walked into a mother bear’s den. I don’t think she’ll make it and even if you go to help her, I don’t think you’ll make it either,” the squirrels announced.

“Can you take me to the den? Maybe I can reason with the mother bear and get her to let my sister go,” Ashley replied.

“No, that won’t work. The mother bear listens to no one. If you go there, she will definitely kill you as well. I say you forget about your...”

“I’m a wolf and wolves don’t leave any of their own behind. Please... I’m begging you. Help me find my sister. You don’t have to get involved with the mother bear. I will handle that on my own,” Ashley replied, cutting the squirrel off on his depressing preconceived conclusion on her situation.

“Well, you ask so nicely it makes it so hard to resist what you are asking me to do for you,” the squirrel replied calmly, “Follow us. We’ll show you to the den and once we’re there, we’ll be on out way. You’ll never hear of us ever again.”

The squirrels, dashing through the trees, began to lead the girl to her destination. It wasn’t long before Katie began to spot a small set of wolf tracks, separated by a large width. Her sister had an impressive stride when she was running. Katie admired the girl’s athletic trail until she found another set of footprints, larger footprints.

The sound of a large growl tore through the forest’s calm atmosphere... “Katie, have you found her?” Cole’s voice came through the mind link.

“Yeah, I found her,” Katie replied. What she didn’t tell him was just how much trouble the girl had gotten herself into.