Chapter 249

249 Chapter Two Hundred Forty Nine

Tom Chase looked about the woods as the ground came up during his descent from the sky. There wasn’t a sign of life in the woods he was searching through. Pulling the chute out, he slowed his descent, making it into the canopy of the woods. The hunter took off the chute and made his way to the forest floor, following his senses as he walked through the forest.

He was completely oblivious to his surroundings, but it wasn’t the first time he’d gotten himself in a situation like this one. He followed his instincts through the woods. The trees were packed together in a way he couldn’t believe. He followed through, making his way through the woods in an effort to get to the place his senses were leading him, ‘Honestly, Katie, what would you be looking for in a place like this?’

The hunter forced himself through the ever-decreasing spaces until he could feel as though he might never make it to his goal. However, the harder it got to move, the more he felt like his goal was within reach. He reached out before him when he felt his ribs pressed against the two trees on both sides. To his surprise, there was free space only a short distance beyond him even though he wasn’t sure what was beyond the compacted trees.

‘I guess I’ll have to find a way through...’ the man sighed... Expelling most of the air within his lungs, he pushed himself through with all the energy he could muster, having studied the walls and surmised that he had a slim chance of going through. Once he was through the woods, he collapsed on the floor panting heavily.

Looking about the clearing proved to be impossible for the human as there was barely a shred of light let in by the thick canopy from above. ‘If I had no idea how to use my other senses, this would have been quite the problem,’ the man thought to himself whilst getting off the ground. “Who’s there?” a voice rang out in the night.

Tom’s hand instinctively reached into his coat for one of his blades. Before him, was the object of Katie’s downfall. Up until that moment, the man hadn’t known who or what it was Katie would want from such a place. He hadn’t expected someone to live this far in the wild as well. There was barely a sign of a cottage in the woods and yet, his ears told him the owner of the voice he heard before him, “It’s been a long time, Kyle.”

The boy backed up against the door he’d used to access the clearing. His sharp eyes retrieved what he needed to see in the clearing. Before him, stood Katie’s adoptive father. His hand was placed inside his coat in a similar manner to one he’d seen Katie use before in Brigadia. Every time she meant to use a throwing knife, she would reach out to the blades on the opposite side of the hand that retrieved them to allow her the required force to launch the deadly projectiles. Considering this hunter was not a werewolf like his dear alpha, he was sure the blades contained wolfsbane.

“Yeah, it’s been some time. What brings you to my humble abode, Mr Thomas,” the boy asked in a shaky voice. The aura coming from the man also confirmed he had his powers again which was only worse news for him.

“Well, I came here because Katie wants to come here. She was going to come here once she was done dealing with the rogues at the reserve. Although I’m not sure I know what she would be doing coming here. Would she be coming here to kill you or capture you?” the man questioned, “It’s not like you have any idea anyway. I shouldn’t have...”

.....

“No, actually... I’m glad you asked even though you won’t believe the answer that I give you. Katie is far too caring for her own good. Even when she displays how tough she is to everyone, she doesn’t do anything without a reason. I’ve never seen her hit anyone out of pure rage and even when she tried to do it, she made sure those people didn’t get hurt. I found it weird sometimes...”

“Would you get to the point? I came here for a happy reunion with my daughter and for some reason ended up out here looking for the one boy that almost caused her to lose her life,” the man argued.

“That wasn’t me. It was Jeremiah and to be honest with you. Katie is the one who seemed to want to kill me that day. You didn’t see the bite she put in me that night. I was suffering from it for days after that,” the boy complained.

“Wait, Katie bit you?” Tom asked.

“Yeah, she did...”

'

There was silence between the two of them. Tom couldn’t sense any trickery behind the boy’s words, but it only made less sense to him, “How are you still alive if that’s the case?”

“I don’t think she meant to kill me at the time. I was unconscious and woke up without the ability to do anything that could bring her harm. For some reason, that included opening my eyes,” Kyle explained.

Tom sighed, letting his hands fall from his jacket, “This makes things a whole lot more complicated. Are there any other rogues here?”

“I’m not sure. I know there is one that I found cleaning equipment earlier, but other than him, I haven’t seen anyone else in this compound,” he explained as he led the man through the corridors and halls of the bizarre establishment.

As Tom followed the boy, he came to realise that this was all beneath the canopy. As to how the rogues were able to accomplish it was beyond his comprehension. He knew, however, that they would not be able to find it if they hadn’t known what they were looking for. He began to take mental notes of the nature of the establishment. It was soon clear to him that everything was built within the bizarre nature itself.

The forest, at this point, had grown to be impenetrable and the rogues had taken advantage of that to build something that could never be discovered simply because nature made it seem like it was impossible to build within it, “This place must have taken many years to build.”

“There are many others like it. With how the average rogues are treated, I don’t think it took as long as it would have. The rogue king can force his will on those he has bitten and the alphas can also enforce their will on the others. It would only be a matter of time with the rogues working almost nonstop to have this entire place built,” Kyle explained.

His cooperation only astounded the hunter more. As they rounded a corner, Tom sensed another presence and sent two throwing knives flying into the darkness. The rogue before them barely had the time to speak as one of the knives had gone through his throat. Tom rushed forward, glad that light had sprung into his eyes, and grabbed the man, allowing him to fall to the ground calmly and taking the lantern in his hand away from him.

“I was meaning to ask you,” Tom asked the boy, “Why are you being so cooperative?”

Kyle sighed, “I am under the influence of my alpha. I don’t have much of a choice these days. Her will is greater than my own. I wish... no, I wished to have a life of luxury under the rogue king’s rule while she wished to bring him down. She was more than determined to do so. And I went along with it. I didn’t have much of a choice. She’s more superior to me in every way... and yet...”

“And yet what?”

“And yet, she doesn’t want to kill me,” Tom gasped at the revelation. Once again he sensed no trickery behind the boy’s words. Instead, they sounded sad and distant, “That fool... She thinks she can save me even after everything I’ve done. When you showed up here, I was half-hoping you wouldn’t catch on.”

“And why is that?” Tom asked. There was a silence between them, giving Tom the desired time to figure it out, “You know I wouldn’t have done it without a proper reason. Killing a rogue that’s on its own with no backup. Not to mention my daughter’s childhood friend. You don’t really think that’s something I would have done, do you?”

“I don’t have much to say in that regard, but if you had gone through with it, then she wouldn’t have to deal with trash like me. I have betrayed her in the worst way imaginable and she chooses to give me another chance. The rogues were going to figure it out soon enough. I just had to stay here...”

“Then I shall take you to Katie and she will pass her judgement,” Tom said to him before taking down one more rogue. The hunter didn’t detect any danger within the compound and they walked out of it smoothly. It was only after they were far from it and walking in the direction of the reserve that a massive explosion shook the ground. It had come from the direction of the compound.

“Well, there is another way I could have left this world. It’s like the world doesn’t want me to die. That’s got to be a punishment more painful than death,” the boy mumbled to himself.

“Just save your suicidal talk for later. That explosion was meant to take out Katie in case she came to rescue you. And if she didn’t... well, they would be getting rid of a traitor. Either way, you were getting out of the picture,” Tom surmised.

Kyle could barely believe it. When he’d felt his master’s emotions earlier, she’d been coming up with a plan to get him out of the compound. It made sense to him now, but it also made him much sadder than he already was. ‘It doesn’t make sense, Katie. Just give up on me already. You won’t find any good in trying to redeem a lost cause...’