Chapter 444 - 444 A sign... Any sign at all

444 A sign... Any sign at all

Lina failed to rest easy for the rest of the night. Her mind wandered to the rogues that had just attacked their camp and more to the mountain lions that had rescued them. There were rogues out in the ranges that had probably brought down the mountain pass.

They had all known that and the rogues had eventually attacked them. ‘What would have happened if the lions weren’t around to help us? What then?’

Lina wanted to think like this but part of her mind kept a constant reminder that Katie was always watching. Her presence was dim but now she was sure the Lost Princess was still watching… and helping in whatever way she could.

‘Seems like only yesterday that my sister didn’t like having the power to speak to animals,’ the girl chuckled.

Looking up at the ledges on which the lions had retreated, she noticed three of the lions casually resting there. She hadn’t even noticed their presence. It was almost like they were doing their best to remain hidden and not bother them.

What’s more, is that the beasts weren’t sleeping either. ‘Last I checked, mountain lions aren’t nocturnal. All the more proof that she’s there… Isn’t it illegal for someone to help me through the Trials?’

But then again, there was the matter of rogues trying to kill them. If Katie could stop that from happening and not interfere with anything else, perhaps she wasn’t breaking any rules.

‘I wonder how far the lions chased those rogues… Hopefully into the ice at the top,’ the princess chuckled internally.

As the hours ticked by, Lina’s curiosity grew more and more. The need to have something clarified was only getting more intense.

.....

Their entire trip had been nothing short of a breeze when it came to dealing with the wild. There wasn’t a single creature that had attacked them and the only one they had crossed paths with was a jaguar. Even that had paid them next to no attention.

Lina searched her mind for the research she’d made on the animals that lived in the Sirius empire. Snakes, lizards, mammals, birds… anything she could remember…

All the indigenous animals seemed a lot more scarce than she assumed they would be. She searched her mind for the memory of the most insignificant creature of them all… The Black Ant…

None…

It was almost like nature was avoiding them intentionally.

It’s not like she wanted to be attacked by the creatures. Their behaviour merely worried her. Wyatt’s words rang through her mind.

‘So you’re protected by nature. I don’t think I would have seen that coming.’

Each time the mountain lions would catch her staring at them, she would avert her eyes and bring them back when she was sure they were not looking. Fearing a staring contest, this game went on for a bit… Until she’d gathered enough courage.

This time, she wanted to look into their eyes. Her heart hoped she could glean a spark of the wolf she idolised.

The mountain lion stared at her finally sending a rush of fear through her veins. The powerful beast was even more imposing when staring directly at her. Lina resisted the urge to look away from the predator.

She wanted to know. Her curiosity once again proved more than her fear.

And she didn’t have to wait long. Staring straight into the catlike pupils of the mountain lion, she was able to see it.

The minuscule almost insignificant and yet strong blue spark burned deep within the lion’s eyes. The power of the royal she looked up to.

‘So close… yet so far.’

Lina wanted to ask the lion so many questions and yet she was sure the lion wouldn’t be able to answer her. The fact that this was the only sign of Katie in her life reminded her of how far the Lost Luna really was.

‘Can’t stop yourself from playing the hero, big sister!’

The princess remembered one of the first interactions she’d ever had with her sister. Katie saw a problem and wanted to fix it immediately. She also wanted to get close to Lina so fast. At least, that’s what Lina had thought at the time.

An outsider… yet she had no trouble fitting in. And yet Lina, who was the insider, had all the trouble fitting in. What an awkward situation it had been!

‘Get a grip, Lina. Katie needs to heal,’ Lina sighed to herself.

“I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m going to do my best as well. I’ll protect them in your absence. Even with you gone, you’re still trying to protect me, but I’ll show you it won’t always be the case. I’ll prove it to you.”

The lion stared back at her with no form of expression. What else could it do? It’s not like it could speak human. But then, Lina thought she imagined the bright blue speck in its eyes shimmering for only a moment.

Whether it had shimmered or not, it was enough. A sign… any sign really, was all she needed.

...

Drake was almost certain the three rogues in front of him were supposed to be on the same side, but then again, logic seemed to fly out the window when the Rogue King was involved.

What he was witnessing had him utterly perplexed. One of them had suddenly shifted into his human form, not caring for his nakedness and plunged his hand deep into the gut of the wolf that Drake had now come to recognise as Victor of the Golden Moon pack.

It was hard to forget the face and scent of the person that he’d demoted during his visit to the pack. From the moment he’d taken the man’s power as a delta, something had stuck to the back of his mind.

Like the extra power he’d taken from the man lingered within his own... alien to his system, constantly keeping him aware of a werewolf he had punished.

A werewolf that was meant to prove their worth to him. The man was also the one that had sold them out to the rogue king and broken him out of the Lycaon palace dungeons. He might have just been the most treacherous person on the planet at the moment.

Despite all that, the prince still regarded the man with pity. If he’d known this was the same person that had collapsed the mountain pass just to kill him, perhaps he would have taken this situation a little bit differently.

'

His body still felt odd from coming down the mountain. While his mind had been trying to figure out what was happening, he was far too distracted to notice what kind of danger he was in. That, however, changed when the rogue that had run Victor through spoke up, “I’m done giving you second chances, runt.”

The rogue’s voice was deep and intimidating, similar in more ways than one to the voice the prince feared and had only heard once before. When the three of them approached him, he hadn’t felt the need to fear this man. Now, something was different.

His answer came when the rogue turned to face him. Instead of the amber eyes that he’d dismissed earlier. This rogue had glowing red eyes. Something was wrong with them. They didn’t glow a clear crimson like those of an alpha.

Instead of a glowing crimson iris, the whole of the man’s eyes was glowing completely, combining both the pupil and the white of his eye. The odd transformation came with a change in his aura.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, your highness,” the man’s deep voice came again.

Drake tried to shake the fear that now coursed through his veins but couldn’t find the resolve to do so. The man before him was supposed to be a weak ordinary wolf and yet, with a sudden change in his demeanour, the prince was already on his toes.

“Who are you?” the prince asked, filling his voice with as much authority and confidence as he could. The strange boost in power he’d felt earlier was still pulsing through him, but even with it, he wasn’t sure why he couldn’t relax.

‘I’m just glad I’m not feeling weak today,’ the prince thought to himself, his mind flashing quick scenes of moments when he’d woken up weaker than he normally was. The erratic change in his power had not yet caused him trouble... yet.

“Oh, don’t disappoint me, Prince Drake. You know who I am. I might look a little bit different, but our wolves always know who they are looking at even when they wear another body,” the deep voice came and this time, everything snapped into focus.

He was speaking with the rogue king which shouldn’t have made any sense. Why would the rogue king be speaking through a body that wasn’t his?

Scratch that... what was the rogue king doing here at all? So many things didn’t make sense at the moment. Drake already had enough to worry about as it was. Adding this to his list of things was asking too much of him. ‘One problem after the other, Drake,’ he thought to himself, ‘You’re the older brother to the Rogue Killer after all. That’s got to count for something.’

Another question rose up, “Then, why are your eyes red?”