Chapter 360: Chapter 360

360 Delugen/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Cole,” she called out to him, taking note of his balled fists. His knuckles were already turning white from how much he was clenching his fists. Katie hadn’t talked to him first for many reasons... and for the storm of emotions, his presence was bound to force out of her.

Out of everyone in this clearing, Cole was the one person she didn’t want to say goodbye to for more reasons than she’d come to realise. It was because of him that she believed she didn’t have to be alone. Even when she was at her worst, Cole was the one person that was bound to stay by her side.

Imagining a world without him... and his world without her... It was a tad too much for this emotion newbie, “Cole, would you look at me?” Katie called out once more.

Cole looked up into the blue eyes of the silhouette. To everyone, this was a ghost that didn’t hold every feature of the girl, appearing slightly transparent and without the right shade of her light skin, but Cole’s wolf altered his vision and gave him the right image.

It was almost unbearable to watch knowing he couldn’t hold her. Katie smiled once she’d taken a look at his face, “Have your eyes always been this captivating?”

“Yes, they have. You’ve just always been too slow to notice,” Cole’s tone was heavy, trying to delay the inevitable conversation they were bound to have. The girl nodded in response. Turning to the moon goddess, she bowed slightly.

“Can I take something with me when I leave?” she asked the goddess.

“That would be better actually. Having something to tie you to the mortal world will be helpful up there,” the goddess replied. Excited, Katie turned back to her mate.

“Cole, there is something in my pocket,” the girl asked him.

.....

Cole did so and from within the pocket, he retrieved a small circular piece of metal with a small diamond set in it, “I... I thought you said...”

“I remember what I said... but I was overwhelmed at that moment and I’ve had enough time to think since then. On the night before the coronation, I realised that the day we made it official is the day that I was actually afraid of. But for as long as that day hadn’t come, there was nothing wrong with me wearing it. In fact, I’m proud to have it on me. I meant to ask you later... I guess the time never came,” she said to him. Events on the day of Cole’s coronation had kept Katie from asking this.

Cole reached for her sleeping body’s hand and slipped the ring through her middle finger. The ring appeared on the silhouette as well and she stared at it with a proud smile. The smile fell and she stared at Cole for a while before wrapping her arms around him. Surprisingly, she didn’t go through him, but he couldn’t feel her either.

It was the perfect image of being hugged by a phantom, ‘I don’t want to make this hard for anyone, but I don’t want to go anywhere. I still had so much to do,’ the girl said through the mind link.

Cole was taken by surprise when she admitted she didn’t want to go. When she had been pushing towards going with the goddess the entire time, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You will come back, Katie,” his words were strained and it had taken him a lot to find his voice, but he forged on, “And when you come back, I’ll be here... waiting for you.”

Knowing someone would be waiting for her had never felt more special than it did when Cole said it. It was like she’d been waiting for him to say those exact words. Tears streamed down her ghostly face and her real body as well. Something had changed, “The requirement for you to leave the mortal realm has now been met. You’ll be able to go and return much easier now,” the moon goddess interrupted.

“Did you tell me that so that...”

“No, Cole. I had no idea there was a requirement. Wait for me... What am I saying? I know you will be waiting. I’ve always known. I just wanted to hear you say it,” the girl sobbed. ‘Maybe when I do return, we could go through with that request you made,’ she said through the mind link.

‘Are you sure? What about taking out the rogue king first?’ Cole asked.

‘I don’t plan on letting him roam much longer if I find him around,’ the girl replied.

“Don’t sulk when I’m gone, you’ll get wrinkles on your forehead,” Katie said out loud.

“I’ll try my best.”

“Take better care of Queen Margaret. She lost him as well, you know,” Katie continued.

“Yeah...”

“Take care of yourself as well...”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t work yourself too hard. That’s what you’ve got Jason and Caden for. Kyle can also help once he’s got the hang of it,” Katie was starting to tear up more.

“Mm-hmm...”

“Don’t drown the world in rain anymore. The sun makes people smile more,” she continued. For some reason, there was always something that popped up in her mind when she thought she was done. Cole didn’t reply this time... Instead, tears just rolled down his face.

“Be the good King I believe you to be...” Cole wasn’t going to answer her, but something was starting to happen. The flowers in the clearing were starting to glow brighter. ‘The requirement had been met.’ Katie was leaving.

“You have my word. So get better, alright?”

Katie nodded, “Yeah...” after a short pause, realising she was finally out of time, she finally said the words she’d hoped she wouldn’t get to say, “Goodbye, Cole.”

As she said it, the unconscious body on the ground began to float, following the retreating goddess. The two continued to ascend illuminated by a giant full moon glowing brightly in the sky.

Cole watched the girl vanish in a burst of blue light that showered the forest in divine energy and with that, his mate along with her scent and everything that assured him of her existence was gone. His mind went dark and his wolf confirmed the absence of her wolf as well.

Katie Sirius was gone from the land of mortals. She was out of reach. There was nothing he could do ever to reach her... nothing but wait for her. It stung... It stung so much that the man couldn’t hold back the emotions he’d held since the girl had gone unconscious. With one final cry, the sky turned cloudy and quickly started drizzling. The light drizzles quickly turned heavy, lightning streaked the sky and thunder boomed loudly as the sky let down a depressing deluge of rain.

For those that hadn’t figured it out yet, it was now clear why it had rained for an entire week when the king of Lycaon had died. Cole Lycaon was grieving...