Chapter 154: Chapter 154

154 Chapter One Hundred Fifty Four

Lina Sirius of the Sirius empire found she still had some pride left when the human began to tell her what to do. It was annoying to be tutored by someone her wolf viewed as weak before her. To be honest, though, her wolf hadn’t come off as proud in a long time and Lina didn’t ward off the pompous attitude when it came. It was a breath of fresh air. What was left was to grow stronger through whatever means Katie kept trying to tell her off.

Sandra was shaky at first, but upon noticing the royal’s will to learn more from her, she chose to do her best to teach her everything that she could. She was glad to find that the wolf was as flexible as she was quick. Well, she had to be if she was going to learn the manoeuvres that were going to be taught. At her request, Jason accepted to help them out. He was going to serve as an opponent for them to work with. He would have rejected the offer if it had been anyone else, but Sandra who had asked, but alas, he had a weak spot for the junior hunter.

Much as he showed up much later than he was supposed to, they were glad he was around. Lina found the different tactics she was being taught to be difficult at first, but when she would look to the side where her sister was training against a lunatic who kept shooting her with arrows, she would get motivated to keep working. Once in a while, Jason would get distracted by the training that was taking place in the other group in the clearing. It was just unbelievable to watch someone try to outrun arrows that were fired at a rate that was equally astonishing.

Lina, despite her efforts, was not able to pin the alpha, even though he noticed her improvement, “You know Jason. It would help for you to lower your guard a little bit so that Lina could know she was doing the right thing,” a voice interrupted them. Cole sat in the shade of a tree not far from them.

“Alpha Cole, I’ll try to lower my guard then,” Jason answered immediately.

“No, I don’t want you to lower your guard. You’re an alpha. I want to know I’ll go against an alpha and win,” Lina yelled, dropping to the ground, completely exhausted.

“Would you like me to teach you how to use a weapon instead?” Sandra asked.

“No, I don’t want to hurt an alpha in that way. Just to make them submit and that wouldn’t happen if I used a weapon. We’ll continue this training. If it means I can overpower someone like Wyatt, I’ll keep at it until I get it right,” her voice shone with determination as she spoke.

“Very well,” Cole replied, “Jason can stay the way he was then.”

.....

Sandra demonstrated the moves again and pinned Jason as expertly as she was meant to. However, every time Lina tried, it wasn’t the same result. Cole could tell the royal was making quick progress, but whether it was Jason she was supposed to use as a training dummy or it was her lack of body strength that hindered her success remained to be discovered.

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

Katie had been going at it for longer than she cared to admit. The Mighty Warrior was toying with her. No matter what she tried, the arrows flew straight into her face no matter what she tried. She was trying everything she could. Whenever she chose to go in for Frank, he would quickly predict her next positions and bar her progress. She was simply too slow for his quick bow.

She continued to go at it without holding back, “You know... Jim said something I couldn’t believe. She said you were able to release one of those thunderclaps. You know, when a hunter runs so fast they break the sound barrier and cause that awfully loud noise to erupt.”

Katie knew what he was talking about and she remembered how exhausted the ordeal had left her. Given her tiring state, speaking was not something she could handle. Frank noticed this and closed his bow, “Let’s take five. I need to ask you about that...”

Katie collapsed onto her knees, finally sealing the access of her agility gift. Exhaustion set in quickly and she was immobilised for three minutes while she tried to regain her breath. Frank hadn’t noticed how hard he’d been pushing the girl and now that she was recovering, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her, “Why didn’t you tell me I was pushing you too hard?”

“I have to get stronger. There is no shortcut for that kind of thing,” she replied.

“I didn’t become a Mighty Warrior by drying myself closer to death with each training session,” the man argued.

“I don’t have as much time as you did. I know it. I feel it. The danger that’s creeping closer. I am told of the whereabouts and movements of the rogues, but everywhere I turn, I feel like I’m getting closer and closer to him... The Rogue King. I don’t have much time before I will meet him. I have to get stronger,” she explained.

‘So this is the same fighting spirit that the first hunters had,’ the man thought to himself as he stared at the girl resting on the ground. She was something else. He didn’t think there was someone who would keep pushing themselves with no complaints. It was dangerous and he didn’t like it. The times when hunters had to push limits just to gain power over the werewolves were gone, but... ‘So that’s what it means to be the one to bring this war to its end,’ it was now that he could see what the Thunderclap saw in the girl.

“Do you still remember how you were able to achieve the thunderclap back in Brigadia?” the man asked her, half-hoping she would say no. When she’d come to him for training that evening, he’d known what he was going to do, but now he was just following through the motions.

“Yeah, I still remember. What about it?”

“Well, you are going to have to do that for me once here. After that, we’ll call it a day. I am going to fire an arrow at that tree when you are ready... Your goal for now... is to run faster than it,” Frank said, getting up and unfurling his bow. Tears stung his eyes as he gave her his orders. ‘I’m sorry, Katie. I know this might be asking too much of you, but I know what you are trying to achieve... and you can’t get that the easy way.’

Katie got up from the ground and stretched her limbs. Exhaustion racked her body and she wasn’t sure she could achieve what this man was trying to make her do. However, she knew what she was required to do. It wasn’t easy, but she had to do it if she was going to have any hope of becoming as strong as she needed to in order to put an end to this war. Cole had taken his attention off her and that calmed her. This wasn’t something he would have approved of, but she had to try. Or at least that’s what she told herself.

“Well, are you ready?” Silver asked her.

“I have to gather energy from my gift first. I can’t just go that fast without getting ready for it,” she explained.

“Oh, alright, take all the time you need,” Frank answered, holding the arrow he was about to shoot. To pass the time, he picked arrows that were embedded in the ground around them and returned the ones that were broken back into his quiver.

Katie got into a ready position and took a deep breath, gathering all the power she could from her gift. Frank reached for an arrow when an odd draft of wind blew past. The wind went utterly still. He could feel it caused by the gathering of immense energy. This wasn’t normal in the slightest. He turned to notice Katie crouching, ready to unleash the full power of her gift in one go. ‘So that’s why it’s so draining. You don’t even know that it doesn’t need that much power. That thunderclap you released must have been loud that day,’ the man chuckled to himself.

“I am going to fire my arrow now. Your mission is to go faster than it. If you want to make it more interesting. You can catch the arrow yourself,” the man, letting the arrow he’d nocked in the blink of an eye dart off in a random direction.

There was a moment of silence when he’d just fired his arrow. A moment so short he could call it that it was only Frank who noticed it. After that, a thunderclap boomed through the forest scaring birds out of the trees and shaking the capital. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and yet, the sound of thunder could be heard for miles.

A tempest of wind followed the girl’s success, blinding Frank in the process as it kicked up so much dust. When the dust had cleared. Katie lay by the treeline, holding his arrow. Well, that was before she collapsed and went unconscious. “Well, you did come with a ride,” the man mumbled.

Cole was at her side in an instant. Checking her vitals, he could tell she was fine. Sighing in relief, he allowed anger to follow, “Just what were you thinking? You know that could have killed her,” he yelled at the man.

“It wouldn’t have and you know it...” before the words could get to the alpha’s mind, he had slammed the pink-clad archer against a tree, “I would calm down if I were you. I am training your mate to be stronger so that you don’t have to worry about protecting her.”

“I can protect her just fine,” Cole growled at him, “You can join the list of things I have to protect her against.”

“You will do well to know who you are talking to,” the man spoke, keeping his voice calm. However, the anger in Cole’s mind wouldn’t dissipate. He wanted this man to be put in his right place for pushing his mate too far beyond her limit.

“I don’t give a damn who you are. You don’t get to walk away after doing that to my mate. Or did something happen to your ears when the thunderclap rang too close to you?” the royal’s eyes shone a bright blue. His wolf was angry as well and this wasn’t something he could simply let go of.