Chapter 210

210 Chapter Two Hundred Ten

After that last detail concerning the girl’s attention in the matter of security, talks amongst the hunters proceeded smoothly and it was at last decided that the students could not be allowed to have a camping trip with rogues in the reserve. It was a decision Trevor came to hate very much, albeit necessary that they take Katie’s advice into consideration. The two experienced hunters knew more than to go against the warnings of a Chase hunter and Katie was now considered part of that family... as it said on the license Trevor was sure he’d read clearly the first time.

Seeing the license for the second time and taking note that the last name that was used wasn’t Sirius simply blew his mind. The first time he’d seen it, he’d not paid any attention as he already suspected she had a fake one for emergencies. Once the students were well rested and had enjoyed a meal that one of the cars had gone back to bring for them, prepared by the hotel kitchen staff, it was time to set off. The destination was the hotel they were all eager to return to.

On their way back, the students were in a much more cheerful mood. With their bellies full, some fell asleep in the cars and missed the sights they passed by, “It must be nice to be comfortable and always sure of being safe. Not having to worry about rogues or anything that could snuff out your life the moment you made a mistake,” Katie mumbled to herself.

Wyatt looked to his side... the girl was letting her eyes skim through the variety of plant life and the occasional rare animal that zipped past them. The guide was quiet and the ride was silent as they made their way back to the hotel. It was in no way close to the beach and they took a route that Katie soon found to be quite long. From what her mental map said, the roads were made to meander through the reserve and allow the best viewing of what the reserve had to offer.

“It never crossed the mind of whoever built these roads that someone would want to take the short route back to the hotel. I could walk straight through the woods and make it back to the hotel on time,” Katie sighed.

“It’s not all woods you know. Besides, I wouldn’t want the car to get stuck in quicksand,” someone mumbled beside her, having had enough of what she kept saying to herself.

“Oh, was I bothering someone... What do you know about quicksand? And... Oh, that explains the muddy scent from yesterday. Three get caught in quicksand while one gets caught in a mother bear’s den. What were you even planning to do out there?” she wondered. Taking her attention off the alpha and back to the passing trees.

It was as he had said, though... The reserve wasn’t completely covered in forest. As the guide had said to them before, the lions didn’t like living in the woods and spent most of their time in the parts of the woods that were rather filled with scattered trees and plenty of tall grass. Katie noticed the drastic change in vegetation but didn’t pay it much attention. It was all the same to her, anyway... a way for the rogues to hide from them.

“What could they be waiting for?” she wondered to herself. The entire day had offered the rogues a chance to attack the students and cause major damage, but they hadn’t done anything to give away their presence. This form of coordination scared the girl a lot. She thought of asking the boy what he could know about all this, but there was nothing she could think of... Just then, a thought crossed her mind...

.....

“Hey, have you heard from the palace at all?” she asked the wolf beside her.

“Why would I bother calling back there when I’m literally on a vacation. It’s a relief I get to spend some time away from there after all,” Wyatt spat.

“Someone’s in a bad mood. I was only asking to check if you’ve heard anything from them,” she replied before using the mind link to talk to her mate.

“Hey, do you know what they did with my uncle or at least what they are planning to do with him,” she asked Cole.

Cole’s voice came back groggy, “I’m not sure about it all, but I heard something about confirming your suspicions before locking him up.”

“So if he’s currently locked up, then it would mean...”

“I don’t know if he’s locked up just yet...” as though her memory was moving in slow motion, the girl remembered she had a phone whose service had been paid for. She retrieved the device from her pocket and began to fiddle with it until she reached the contacts and dialled her mother. Before she could do anything else, her eyes spotted the most irritating piece of news any teenager would ever want to hear.

“It’s been like that since we got here. There isn’t a bit of signal in this place. If you wanted to call for help, forget about it,” Wyatt said.

“Why wouldn’t a preserve have any kind of signal? What if someone got bitten by a snake. It just doesn’t make sense for a place like this to have this bad signal. Communication is very useful in a place as big as the one they were in at the moment...” the girl said, adding a string of light curses to match her mood.

“Well, if you don’t mind, some of us are trying to sleep here. It’s not like the imaginary rogues you saw will be attacking us at all. Just because one person said there are rogues in the woods doesn’t mean there actually are there,” he said to her, coiling up with his back turned to her. She thought of telling him to wake up and fulfil his assigned duty, but let go of the matter... “Cole, something is terribly wrong...” she said through the mind link.

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

'

The hotel soon came into sight as the evening sun was beginning to set. The students got out of the cars and began to stretch as they left the car, “Don’t forget to summarise everything that you’ve learnt from this trip. I will be asking you all to present your reports on Monday in the morning lesson,” the teacher yelled at the students as they retreated to the gates with loud groans and complaints.

The woman giggled at their childishness and watched them all as they left in clusters. This trip had put a smile on all their faces... “Are you having fun as well?” Katie asked the teacher.

“Oh, this is a fun trip for everyone. Coming to the reserve has always been a dream of mine, but I have never been able to accomplish it until the duke approached me on the matter,” the teacher replied.

“He approached you first before announcing it to all the students?” Katie asked.

“He approached the whole administration at the school and was told to pick out the first classes that he would want to send out on this trip. He came to me and the teacher of the other class. We wondered why he was being very specific but figured he was trying to get his family members to go for the trip first before any other class. None of us opposed him... Besides, we both wanted to see the reserve as well,” she replied cheerfully.

Katie smiled back and climbed off the car. It was only a few moments before the other cars caught up to them. The teacher continued to let the students off with a message concerning a report due Monday. Katie soon began to giggle at the faces the students gave her each time she bombarded them with the information. Before she could approach the other cars, her senses flared up at the same time a loud screech reached her ears, translating to words she could understand almost immediately and seamlessly.

Katie looked up and spotted a large eagle soaring high in the clouds. She’d gotten his call loud and clear. She turned to the hotel and rushed in... paying no mind to the different people that had wanted to talk to her at that moment. Cole looked up and noticed the bird as well... ‘I wonder what the eagle’s doing so far from the ocean,’ he was sure he’d seen the eagle’s nest not so far from the shore as it continued to hunt.

“Hey, what’s up with your mate? She just ran off yet we have to deal with this issue of communication. Without cell phones working, we can’t communicate,” annoying Trevor’s voice reached his ears. He turned to see the boy holding up a walkie for him to receive, “Just get this to her. I know she has a lot of things she deals with. That much is clear to me now.”

Cole’s frustration cooled down. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw a sincere look in Trevor’s eye, “Are you going to just stand there looking at this thing like it’s a bone or are you going to take it to your mate like a good puppy playing fetch?” And it was gone...

“Sometimes I just wonder if you have some kind of death wish,” Cole chuckled and took it from him.

“No witty remark... I guess I’d already given away too much,” Trevor replied.

“Yeah...” Cole said, turning to leave. The look of disgust towards werewolves was gone from Trevor’s face. ‘This place is just full of surprises... One after the other...’ Cole thought as he started to make his way for the hotel.

Jason had already found his way back to the junior hunter that was being let off her job as part of the guard for the vehicles. Sandra allowed herself, for once, to leap into the werewolf’s arms and make peace within his embrace. “It’s been such a long day... How can these werewolves think of brawling at midnight when we’ve already had such a long and tiring day?”

“You should get some rest before dinner. This night is not going to offer you much sleep,” he responded in a calm tone, taking in the scent of Sandra Alastair.

“Did you hear something I don’t know of yet?” she asked him.

“Yes, I did... There are rogues in the reserve. I don’t know what they are doing, but they have been in the reserve the whole day... according to Katie...”

“Katie’s instincts on this kind of thing are sharp. She’s right if she tells you there are hostiles in the reserve. How many of them?” Sandra asked.

“We didn’t think to ask her that. How the hell is she supposed to know how many they are?” his voice went up at the bizarre question.

“Katie can know how many they are... I should have known this earlier and asked her at the beach,” she responded, “I thought she was merely warning her sister to be careful, but now I realise what she meant by saying this night was going to be like the other one... She meant the one in Brigadia. When nearly a thousand rogues descended on the town of Brigadia and nearly cost her life.”

“Hey, hey, calm down. You can think about all that later... After you’ve rested for a while. You’re not as strong as she is and you know that, but you must be at your strongest if it comes to its worst. That’s the only way you can be of help to her. You know how much she counts on you,” Jason tried, “Besides, you know I won’t budge on this... fighting me on it is just useless.”

“You should have led with the last part. Just take me to my room already,” the girl sighed, pulling out of their embrace. Without noticing it, Jason brought his thumb to her face and wiped a tear off her cheek.

“You will catch up to her one day, but there has never been a shortcut to that kind of power and while that is true, you should constantly be aware of your limits,” he continued.

“You’re coaching me like you were hired as a replacement for my mentor,” Sandra chuckled.

“Well, until you decide to go back to being trained by your mentor, I will be standing in for her,” he puffed out his chest. Sandra could only laugh at his confidence... ‘If only you knew how weak you are in comparison to her...’

‘A few months ago, I would have agreed to that, but now... I’m not so sure...’ Jason’s voice rang through her mind. The girl had forgotten that they were still able to communicate through their minds and still had no idea what the answer to them having that ability was...’