Chapter 265

265 Eutopia

The queen discussed everything she had on her mind with the hunter, bringing the two of them closer as they spoke. She allowed the hunter to call her by her first name and let her skip all the formalities. As someone who was watching the woman hurt, Evelyn allowed herself to be the shoulder she needed.

Once the queen was done freshening up and had donned a fresh lilac gown, the queen finally stepped out of her chambers with Evelyn in tow. Their destination was the emergency room where the future alpha and luna were currently occupying.

Evelyn watched as the queen froze with her knuckles held up to the door before knocking. The moment of tension as she rethought her decision was so excruciating that Evelyn ended up knocking at the door herself, “Come in...” a tired male voice called out from the other side.

The queen pushed open the door and graced the room with her presence. Cole had his head in his hands, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He’d fallen asleep in a chair next to the sleeping girl. “Hello, Cole,” the queen greeted her.

“Queen Margaret...” the man froze at the sound of the queen’s voice, “I hadn’t expected you to come here. Not this late anyway.”

“I also thought you were in Sirius making sure to keep your mate safe and introducing her to the life of a werewolf and soon-to-be Luna before rushing her into the role of being queen of the Lycaon empire, but here we both are,” the queen rushed her words.

“Well, we can never know what will happen in the future. Whether it’s in the distant future or just a few hours away. One moment she’s alright and the next...” he gestured to the sleeping body of the girl, “Well, you can see where I was going with that.”

“What happened to her?” the queen finally gave in to her curiosities.

“She overexerted herself when she was trying to stop the rogue king from fleeing Lycaon. I don’t even know how she was able to tell that the man was going to escape in the first place. If she had known the entire time that we were on that plane, she could have made a call to the hunters that were already here.”

.....

“We cannot always know what our senses are trying to tell us. If I’m guessing correctly, she might have merely felt that something ominously wrong was going to happen in Lycaon and came as fast as she could without knowing what it was in the first place.

The more complex the problem, the harder it is for us to discern what it is. Sometimes, it’s something we are trying to avoid that could cause a problem in the future that we can’t even foresee. We aren’t perfect,” Evelyn explained, noting her moment to clear some of the prince’s confusion. Watching the man as he talked only proved to her that he was worrying himself sick over the girl’s reckless actions.

Cole sighed upon hearing her explanation and looked at the girl in the bed. Reaching out with his hand, he tucked a stray hair behind her ear, “That would be the most logical way to put it. The inevitable way to make it seem as though she’d never intended to put herself in that state.”

“I’m not sure I know anyone who’d want to be in a hospital bed at any one point in their lives. Have a little more faith in her,” Queen Margaret spoke up.

“You came here to ask me about my father’s funeral?” Cole asked her.

“Yes, that I did. Now that you’re here, it can happen the right way. With you as his heir and successor to the Lycaon throne. It’s nice to see that you found your mate as well and even got marked,” the queen congratulated him.

“What was he thinking sending me away in the first place? If I had been there, he would have survived. I wouldn’t have let them get to him,” Cole argued, “So many hunters and he still died.”

“Cole, don’t question the decisions they took. There was a lot that happened. You weren’t here to watch it all,” Queen Margaret argued, “In any case, that’s not the way he would have wanted you to embrace his sacrifice.”

“What sacrifice...” a knock at the door snatched the man’s attention as an ageing doctor entered. The man was known for his healing capabilities and so, Cole was ready to hear what the man had to say.

“You’re right on time, doctor. The prince needs to hear what was happening to the king in his final moments. What the king meant to have him know before he passed,” the Queen asked of him.

Bowing to the queen and prince in greeting, the man began his narration of what was happening to the king, “As you know, your majesty, I was always the first to run tests on the king before deciding on how to treat him. When you came into the picture two years ago with your healing abilities, we were overjoyed. Sure that the king was going to survive the illness that ailed him.

But that wasn’t the case. With time, he was deteriorating even faster and he needed you to heal him a lot more frequently in a month. If he didn’t stop relying on you, it was only a matter of time before he died. I later found out that his cells were starting to get weaker since they were no longer required to fight off his illness. That’s when he came up with the decision that his heir had to meet his mate.

He says it came to him through a dream from the goddess herself. I didn’t believe him at the time, but I was also the only person he told along with the queen that Cole’s mate was indeed located in Brigadia. When he sent you off, he gave you two orders.

One was to finish your education in the safest school on earth while the other was to make sure you only returned home after you’d found your mate and showed her what it was to be one with one another. What he didn’t tell you was that he knew where your mate was and that you would be meeting her in that exact same school. For fear of the information reaching the enemy, he told no one of this, not even you.”

“Why wouldn’t he tell me?” Cole rested his chin on his hands, trying to take in the information he was receiving. A whole part of his father’s plan that he’d never even suspected, ‘I guess it was too much of a coincidence.’

The doctor was shocked by the man’s question that he posed one of his own, “You believe the part about him speaking to the moon goddess?”

“I’ve spoken to the moon goddess myself, so I wouldn’t call the man crazy,” Cole shrugged it off, “Now, if you would answer my question please.”

“Yes, your majesty. He chose not to tell you so that you wouldn’t tell your beta alphas. With how information had leaked eighteen years ago amidst those exchanges, he wouldn’t have wanted to jeorpadise any chance you had at finding her. Furthermore, he wanted you to experience what it was like to have a mate and guide her towards accepting what she was and not forcing her into it,” the man tried to explain.

“In other words, he wanted Katie to be marked of her own free will? I knew that much from how he insisted I not force her into anything over the phone, but I never thought how much he’d thought into it,” Cole replied.

“Yes, the marking only takes place once and if it’s not done right... well, that leaves a scar. If she let you mark her, then I can assume she marked you as well. Forceful marking never goes both ways,” the doctor explained.

“Yes, she did...”

“That’s good to hear,” Margaret sighed, “The two of you will make a lovely royal couple.”

Cole turned red at the woman’s words and turned his attention to the girl in the bed, “I’m pleased to hear that. Is there anything else I need to know?”

“There is one more thing. The king knew of the possibility of being attacked in his weakened state just in case the rogue king would want to take the power of the Lycaon family for himself, but he miscalculated how quickly the rogue king would move.

He didn’t think they would move that quickly which is why he was pleased when he felt the bond form between the two of you the day you marked each other,” the man explained, sending the room into a deep silence. Cole merely rubbed his temples, trying to fathom how much his father had read into the situation.

“For what it’s worth Cole, I’m sorry,” Evelyn spoke, stunning the room and sending into a deep silence. Cole had never known the words to mean so much and yet they freed him of all his frustrations. Of course, the hunters wouldn’t have intentionally let his father be killed by rogues. They had done everything the could to keep the king safe and it hadn’t been enough.

“Two mighty warriors and a whole collection of hunters and they couldn’t do a thing against the rogue king. They might have downed a large number of his forces, but...”

“There was a traitor amongst us that helped the rogue king escape,” Evelyn interjected, “Don’t you wonder why you were only backed up by one hunter?”

Now that Cole thought about it, he had an odd memory of the rogue king talking about a sleeping draught. The whole situation was a mess, “This is the second time the rogue king has been involved in a rogue attack and once more, my mate has ended up in a similar situation.

We’ve clashed with him twice...” he paused, allowing his mind to go through all that he knew, “And I can’t call either one of those times a win for us... No, I can’t. We’ve most definitely been losing.”

.........

Sandra sat in the waiting room outside of Katie’s emergency room, going through a newspaper she wasn’t even interested in. It was the nearest thing she could find to distract her. The details within it were of no concern to her and she wished she had a novel or a book instead, but there was nothing she could do about it. Her mind tried to run away from the painful reality that plagued her.

The newspaper would have been effective if it had involved something interesting... Instead, it only allowed her eyes to glaze over while the flashes of the battle in the woods roared through her mind. She’d been there the entire time. There had never been a time in her life when she’d felt more useless to help Katie than when she stood in that forest watching her fight with so much skill and power that it froze her right to the core.

She didn’t want to think about how useless she’d been. How much more she could have done if she had simply gone with Mr Tom instead, “You know, worrying yourself sick like that will only get you in worse shape. Honestly, what difference is there between you and Katie anyway?” Jason’s voice tore her from her thoughts.

The alpha had returned from an errand. Thinking back, now she remembered what it had been like... for the three of them to watch the fight happen. The rogues on the other side hadn’t dared to cross either while the two titans battled.

Only Cole felt the need to stop what was happening. After all, he was the only one that could peer into the girl’s mind. “He must have felt the pain she did...” she said, looking up from the newspaper. Jason held out a book for her to take. In his other hand, he had a bag filled with yoghurt packs.

“Well, it doesn’t work that way really. If the wolves had a conversation during that time, maybe that could have been how he came to know...” the man explained, taking a seat beside the girl, “You know, you will be able to help her out soon enough.”

“I’ve been hearing that for some time and I’m starting to feel like it will never happen. She’s proceeded to even higher levels. When we talked earlier, I thought she was joking about wanting to become a Mighty Warrior but now I’m not so sure,” Sandra chuckled.

“You know, Sandra... only one person gets to kill the rogue king. If Katie manages to pull it off, what does that make you?” Jason asked.

“The person that helped her get there. I could hold off the beta alphas and provide all the support she needs.”

“Then what does that make Cole and the other hunters with the same goals and dreams?” he asked, holding a metallic can of soda out to her.

The girl took the can from him, “Thanks. What’s your point?” the girl groaned.

“My point is that you’re too focused on trying to emulate your mentor. Things like that will only get you disappointed. She’s trying to achieve her dream while you’re trying to achieve her dream as well. What do you want?” Jason asked her.

“Well, honestly...” Sandra thought back, “I just want to live in the world Katie is trying to create. To truly live a life in it. A world of peace, where we don’t have to worry about rogues trying to kill us. Eutopia.”