Chapter 152: Chapter 152

152 Chapter One Hundred Fifty Two

Katie sat on the bed in their room hugging a pillow while her mate paced about the room. She’d messed up and didn’t know what to tell him, ‘Curse that Mighty Warrior.’

“Don’t pin this on him,” the male before her argued. It was at times like this that Katie wondered if there was any privacy within the mind links. She almost asked, but realised Cole was far too angry to be bothered with something as insensitive as that. Ashley remained silent as well, watching the alpha pacing about the length of the room.

It was the first time Katie was realising she was late for school. After all those times she’d been tardy without having to worry about it, why did she care now? Just when Cole’s pacing became unbearable, she spoke up, “Are you going to keep walking about the room like that or are you going to say something, Cole?”

The werewolf stopped pacing and stared at her so intensely it made her feel like turning invisible. She let herself feel him through the bond they shared. He was a storm of emotions that she couldn’t process all at once, anger towards the rogues that had attacked her, anger towards her for jumping into danger, anguish at the possibility of losing her, “Katie, this is the third time...”

Who would have known that he’d been counting this whole time? Katie could remember what it had felt like when she thought she would lose him. it wasn’t an emotion she wanted to experience again, “This wasn’t the same thing, Cole. I didn’t...”

“Six arrows were aimed at your back. It only spells that you were facing danger once more,” the royal stopped his seemingly endless words and took a seat at the foot of the bed, burying his head in his hands, “What am I going to do, Katie? Every time I get to know that your life was in danger, I just lose it.”

The girl crept closer and placed her hand on his shoulder, “Cole, I’m right here, aren’t I? I’m safe.”

“Yes, you are...” he replied, holding her hand in his, “You were here yesterday as well. And now here you are. Between that time, your life was in danger. It makes having you here with me feel like a fleeting moment. Frank said you were being watched by Jeremiah. I let you out of my sight and he attempts to take your life. You aren’t to get out of my sight from now on,” Cole’s voice sounded more demanding at the end.

Katie was taken aback by the sudden change in his mood. She knew what he was trying to do. He wanted to protect her, but... “Isn’t that taking it a bit too far, Cole?” she asked the royal.

.....

“I don’t see how. I will be able to protect you if you don’t get out of my sight,” he said to her.

“Cole, that won’t work. You need to...” the words were stuck in her throat. They both knew what she was about to say. It was getting harder to come across that kind of thing these days though and now that she had just tried.

“You’re the last person I’d lose trust in Katie. That’s not the problem,” Cole replied.

“Then I’ll make sure you always know where I am and you can decide if you want to come with me or not. You can also send me with Jason or Caden if it ever comes to it. How does that sound?” she tried.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were trying to get rid of me,” Cole replied.

“No, that’s not it,” the girl chuckled, “I just don’t want us to be weird. You’re welcome to be at my side any time and you shouldn’t be surprised if I cling to you every once in a while,” she smiled. His emotions were starting to clear up. ‘Oh, Cole, you’re so sweet...’ this she hoped he didn’t hear and when he didn’t react, she got curious. “How do I know what thought you’ll hear and which one you won’t hear?”

“Huh, oh, that’s as simple as a choice. If you choose to hide something from the rest of the werewolves, then they will never know. Otherwise, every werewolf can know what you’re thinking. And the more enthusiastic the thought is, the louder it gets. That way, the pack can always know what everyone is feeling. It’s easier to know who is in pain in case of an emergency. Werewolves are quite social,” he explained.

“No kidding...”

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

Lina was bewildered when she heard what her friend was trying to tell her. Honour had been given a message to relay to the princess, but she hadn’t known the girl’s reaction would be this explosive, “What does she think she’s doing? She’ll cause a whole storm of problems at the school,” the girl reacted.

“Oh dear, you really have no intention of going back to the den. Ever,” Honour asked.

“No, I swore I would never go back there. Have you already forgotten what it was like the last time I was there,” she asked the girl.

“I work with the cafeteria during my meals, remember,” Honour tried. It was the reason she’d never known about the princess’ status the first time they met. While the princess was mocked and ridiculed, Honour was only hearing rumours from her friends in the cafeteria kitchen and the gossiping werewolves that picked their food from the cafeteria.

“Oh, I’d almost forgotten. You’d never know what it was like. You weren’t there to witness them shame me in front of the whole pack,” Lina shivered at the memories while trying to put distance between herself and her best friend.

“Come on, Lina. It can’t be that bad. You don’t have to run to some restaurant in town every time you’re going to have lunch. It must get exhausting and lonely even for you.

“It’s better than having to walk through that place and have so many eyes on me. Talking behind my back and yet my hearing is good enough to hear each and every one of their conversations. You don’t know what that’s like, Honour,” the girl argued.

“No, I don’t and I don’t want you to have to go through it for the rest of your life. Where did that fire within you go? When you’re running, you don’t let anything faze you. You know who the alpha is. This is no different,” Honour said to her.

“That’s something totally different, Honour. It’s not the same and I won’t go through it...” she was just about to run away when Honour spoke yet again.

“You know, Katie is really looking forward to meeting you there. She even promised to beat every wolf that caused the least bit of trouble,” she said.

“That’s stupid. Royals aren’t allowed to command other wolves using their tone,” she argued.

“She said nothing about using her authority as a royal. That’s something else. Sandra also offered to teach you how to fight using your speed. That way you don’t have to run away all the time. You can be strong in your own way, Lina,” Honour offered her a hand. The girl nearly through the gates of the school, but her friend had stood with her to keep her from her depressing routine. It had been a long time since she’d done anything differently...

“Don’t you have to work in the cafeteria?”

“I told them that I might be a bit late today. You are more important to me, Lina,” she replied. Lina took the girl’s hand and followed her back to the school leading her to the Den. It had been years since she’d been here. ‘Katie, what are you thinking?’

The girl walked into the Den and the place went dead silent. Every nerve in her body asked that she bolted from the place. This was the last place she wanted to be in. What difference was coming here supposed to make to her? Was she supposed to suddenly act tough contrary to what she’d been doing this whole time? Honour led her till she reached the steps that led to the section for the royals, alphas and high ranking werewolves.

Unless she was allowed in by one of them or carrying their food, she wasn’t to proceed beyond that point. It’s just how it was and no one dared to question it. Lina knew this and forced her legs to move forward. For a wolf that was fast on her feet, walking felt very hard at the time, but she had to avoid showing weakness. The very thing that she was known for...

“The long table of high ranking werewolves remained silent. Katie turned to see her sister coming toward them. Her face beamed in happiness. In all honesty, she hadn’t thought Honour would be able to convince her that easily. Not for the first day at least. She’d planned to do this every day until Lina accepted after being nagged for too long. This was better.

Beckoning towards the chair at the end of the chair that had been vacant since their big brother’s graduation, Katie smiled at the girl. Lina was stunned for a moment. Katie was older than her and yet she hadn’t taken the seat. What was this supposed to mean? Looking at the other side of the chair, she noticed Cole Lycaon sitting comfortably with his alphas next to him. None of them was bothered by the fact that the seat was empty.

“You asked that I stay quiet as I watch this runt take a seat in the most important place on this table,” Wyatt was the first to speak, “How am I supposed to stomach such a disgrace at this table?”

Lina took a step back only to bump into someone who she was sure wasn’t there. She turned to see her sister blocking her exit. Looking back to Katie’s seat, it was vacant. ‘When...’

“Wyatt, one more filthy word out of you and you will know just how weak you are in comparison to a royal,” Katie spoke up without sparing him another glance, ‘Take your rightful seat at the table, sister. No one will stop you from taking it,’ her sister’s voice came through her mind.

“It’s about time if you ask me,” Derrick spoke up from his seat at the table.

This was all Lina needed to gain the confidence to take another step forward. Katie was a weirdo, but Derrick having her same opinion was something else. It only meant there were others that were as mean as Wyatt and Liam. Lina walked over to the luxuriously designed chair and took a seat. Honour smiled at her friend and entered, “What may I get you?” she asked her.

Lina was stunned for a moment before she spoke up, “Come on, Honour. You know me more than anyone. I’ll let you decide,” she said with a wink.

Her friend chuckled, “You’re a junkie and I’m not. Do you really want to go with that choice of words?”

“Bring something healthy and you’ll regret it, Honour,” Lina hurriedly threatened.

Honour stared back shocked, “Very well. But just this once. It’s not good for you.” With that, the girl took orders from the rest of the high ranking wolves and walked off.

“And here I thought Honour would be invited here just like Sandra was,” Liam spat.

“Oh cheer up, Liam. You know I wouldn’t turn away the opportunity to serve someone more suitable for my services than you,” Honour replied before anyone else.

The alpha stood up from his seat right only to freeze at the presence behind him. Katie stood behind him with a mischievous smile on her face, “Do you have something you want to say, Liam? I suggest we use our words.”

The alpha’s face went through a myriad of angry contortions before he took his seat, “No, it’s nothing.”