318 A Lonely Morning in Katie’s Weakened State
Sandra only had a short time to rest before she was called to help the beta alpha. As it had turned out, the beta alpha was trying to adopt a more flexible way of training that would train the warriors to be better warriors and teach them a little more about martial arts and the use of agility.
Since they were agile in their wolf forms, nothing was keeping them from adapting the same in their human forms as well.
Katie watched it all, her connection to the mind link keeping her from the creeping darkness that threatened to swallow her whole. The impenetrable mental fortitude she’d spent a long time building had started to crumble the moment her wolf-side was allowed to manifest... and it was no more.
However, when she was connected to the mind link, it was impossible for her to feel left out. Her consciousness brushed with that of many other wolves in the pack. Many who she hadn’t known were in the pack. The Lycaon pack that she’d been staying away from... welcomed her presence warmly.
It was also more interesting when she felt the frustration of all the Warriors that found the training to be more gruesome and unnecessary. (This she kept to herself and promised to point out to Jason later on.)
Bella left her after getting a bit of rest and returned to her sparring partner. The two of them were impressive compared to what Katie had originally thought them to be... or was she simply getting softer on the girl.
Nevertheless, they were well within the limits she’d personally set for averagely high-performing deltas. It would take far much more work for them to get in a league capable of facing up against an alpha that had done their training right. It was a predicament that was unfair, but the world was set that way.
When they started stretching at the end of it all, Katie stood up and walked toward her mate, who was working with the alphas that lived within the Lycaon empire.
“Come on, Coville. I’ve heard more from your parents concerning your abilities than what you’re showing me now. Surely you don’t think you can beat me if you gave it your all. Show me what you’re made of,” she found Cole goading another wolf as they faced off.
.....
The young man was already drenched in his own sweat and panting tiredly and Cole still looked like he was only warming up.
“It’s like asking someone to keep going at a steel wall,” the Luna chuckled.
Cole was surprised by her sudden arrival that he took his attention away from the man for a second. Coville took the chance... They say opportunity comes once in a blue moon...
And he seized it, launching into a well-timed attack that Cole had already seen coming. There were several ways that Katie could have seen Cole evading the man’s attack.
'
While the young alpha was still rough around the edges, he was stronger than the betas Katie had been watching and his stance proved he knew how to maximise his body weight to deliver a full-force blow.
If Cole had been a normal werewolf, he would have been in trouble indeed. However, the royal simply turned his back to the alpha and waited for the impact.
There was a small crunch that resounded after the impact. Shortly after, Coville was grunting in pain, clutching his throbbing fist. With a pained expression, he cursed, “What the hell are you made of?”
“Quit complaining, it only means you haven’t strengthened your body enough,” Cole replied smugly. The rest of the alphas that were meant to go up against him inched further away.
“So the rumours about the steel tank are true,” one murmured.
“Well, yeah, they are true. Wait, wasn’t it our pack that came up with those rumours? Why are you in doubt?” Cole argued with them. With Katie present, the alphas were less inclined to speak their minds.
“Are you still going at it?” she asked him.
“I hoped not, but they are so terrible it’s maddening,” the royal replied, placing a kiss on his mate’s forehead, “Don’t get too busy this evening.”
The girl smiled in return to his gesture, “Very well. I’ll just...” exhaustion set into her limbs at that moment, setting a deep frown on her brow, “...just go and lay down for a bit.”
Cole’s expression turned to that of worry. Katie bowed her head slightly and excused herself from the training arena... colossal gym...
She was now convinced it was just the largest gym she’d ever seen. The Luna made her way to the royal chambers with next to no resistance.
The wolves she passed bowed to her in respect and she smiled along, greeting the few she could before proceeding further up the palace.
Katie made it to the king’s chambers and flopped onto the large bed. Just like she’d expected, her body was already requesting rest... Her muscles screamed joyously at the end of her exertion. ‘At this rate, I’ll be as worried as Cole is... No, that king is definitely the king of worry. I’d need the training to defeat him,’ the girl chuckled at her internal joke.
Normally, Ashley would be the one to laugh in response to this, but the wolf was not there to cheer her on. ‘I miss you, Ashley. I hope you’re fine.’ As expected, there wasn’t a reply from the wolf... just like it had been for the past two days.
Katie ordered breakfast to be brought to her room before letting herself relax. Tears stung her eyes as she thought of how useless she was getting with each passing day.
Bound by the promise she made to keep herself from exerting herself beyond her limits, there wasn’t much she could do. A knock at the door later let in a young woman pushing a cart with an assortment of breakfast delicacies for the Luna to enjoy.
“I hope it’s to your liking,” the woman said with an elegant curtsy. Katie sat up and opened her eyes wide in shock. There were at least ten different types of bread on the cart alone.
“It’s honestly... much,” the girl laughed nervously.
The maid shuddered at the comment, “I can... take... Oh no, the head cook will have my head.”
“It’s fine. I’ll eat what I can and force a little down Cole’s throat before sending what’s left back down,” the Luna hurriedly suggested.
The maid giggled, “Very well. Have a nice meal, your majesty,” the woman curtsied once more before heading for the door.
“Oh, one more thing... If there is something on that table that you would like, please take it with you. I know Cole’s tummy is too shallow for what I have in store for him,” the Luna said with a broad smile.
Awkwardly, the maid sauntered back to the cart and picked a lavish loaf of frosted bread. When she was gone, this was Katie’s first choice. Katie picked up the bread and bit into it. A burst of sweet goodness assaulted her tastebuds, spurring her to eat more than she’d initially thought herself capable of.
When she was done, she returned to the bed and dropped into it again, sighing happily, ‘That was good. More than I expected...’ her thoughts were interrupted by a flutter of wings at the balcony.
‘That’s odd...’ She turned to see a pair of pigeons perching by the railing.