The cafeteria was in order after the hunters' display that showed they were still under the leadership of Katie before the fight between Shaemus and her. Katie couldn't help but wonder what Shaemus was trying to accomplish. He was one of the more capable junior hunters in the group of hunters-in-training that they had in the school, and yet… She abandoned the train of thought and decided it would be best if the principal had not learned of this himself, 'Something is wrong with Shaemus and there is a big chance that he can't tell what it is,' was what Katie's instincts were trying to tell her.
"All of you get to your respective classes after this," she spoke when she was done with his meal.
"What do you have in mind?"
"I am going to speak to the principal before he finds out about all this. Shaemus could get expelled for the stunt he's pulled. Honestly, what's got into him? He's going to be a pain if he keeps this up," Katie groaned, getting up from her seat in the sofa.
"I don't get it. You are going to say what exactly," Cole asked.
"Improvising is part of the job description."
"I'd have him thrown in a dungeon for insubordination," Katie froze and took a look at his face one more time looking for hints of a joke and coming up with none. 'He's serious, could be the first time I've seen him look the slightest bit scary… well except for the blue eyes…'
"At times, I forget that you are a Royal," she said before walking away.
Cole froze at the statement, conflicted on what reaction to make once again. The statement had an effect that he had not liked, making it sound like royals were clandestine savages. It was true that as a Royal, insubordination was one of the things he disliked to his very core and yet the way Katie treated Shaemus was different from how he would have handled the situation. The more he got to know the hunter, the more complicated she got.
One thing was certain though… he didn't like the effect she had on him. It reminded him too much of something he had long given up on… and buried in the depths of his memory. By Katie questioning just one of his methods, he was already revising them as if there was something wrong with them. There was nothing wrong with punishing someone for getting out of line. It was simply unforgivable, but then, that is just how it had always been done in the Lycaon Royal family. No one had ever let such a crime slide and now that he got to witness something of the sort happening, he was more than curious to know what was going to come of this strategy. Ruling with such soft-heartedness would only make your subjects walk all over you, just like Shaemus was currently doing, and yet, Katie wasn't in the least bit bothered by the pitiful display of insubordination.
Cole watched her walk away, utterly speechless. His mind fought hard looking for some form of retaliation, but nothing escaped his lips. "Cat got your tongue," Jason spoke up, startling him.
"Oh, shut up, Jason," he groaned at the obnoxious alpha that was one of his best friends. Finishing his meal and dismissing the two alphas so that he could stay with Sandra and Kyle. Kyle was on average, a good person. He had noticed that not anyone would sit beside Katie but him which meant he was someone of value to her. It had later become clear that he too was one of her best friends to the hunter, something that did not register well in his mind. Cole hid this emotion for it came across as unusual and out of line. Besides, of all the people in the hunters' section, he posed the least threat to her… he had no reflexes, his guard was down the entire time and was completely at ease when he showed up. Kyle was not a hunter and if it ever came to it, he was not the type to take a life even if it was that of rogue. Cole was still unsure if any of the junior hunters in the school could take a life except for Katie and Sandra. He was yet to evaluate the abilities of the others although they didn't seem as sharp as Katie. She did her best to hide the fact that she was always aware of her surroundings, which made Sandra look more skilled than she was to the untrained eye. This only made Katie an even more intriguing person.
Unlike Katie, who left her table a mess, the rest of the hunters cleaned up after themselves before they left. When Sandra was done, she started picking up after her like it was normal. "Does she always do that?" Cole asked, getting up to help her out.
"Do what?"
"Let you do all the dirty work. To be honest, if I didn't know better, I'd say she acts, in more ways than one, like an alpha than a human or hunter in this case," he pointed out.
"I don't really know what to make of that… I'd probably just say that she is a spoilt brat if I wanted to end the conversation, but the truth isn't that at all… I'm actually being trained by her," Sandra said, the few hunters that were still present froze on hearing that, seizing the opportunity of hearing this information. Sandra didn't look too bothered to let them know anyway, "and that comes along with a complicated student-master relationship. I do not let her do anything that she doesn't need to in my presence and this just happens to be among those things."
"If you were to compare yourself to her, how far in skill would you say she was from you?" Cole asked, trying to get a scope of how powerful the famous Katie Chase was.
"She already received her Prometheus hunter gift," several gasps could be heard from all over the hunters' section including the two alphas at Cole's side. This explained a lot including her confidence towards facing a Royal such as himself. The phrase was well known in the werewolf and hunter communities as it was something that all werewolves had come to fear. Any hunter that possessed Prometheus gift was a danger to any werewolf that dared to cross them... Power that bridged the gap between humans and werewolves and when the hunters used weapons in conjunction with these powers, werewolves barely stood a chance.
"But I thought she's about our same age, what is she doing in school with such
skill?"
"She actually turns eighteen not so far from now," Sandra said, a look of amusement crossed Cole's face. He could barely contain the adrenaline rush he got from hearing what was being said about Katie. This exceeded all his expectations. At the age of seventeen, she was powerful enough to brush off the presence of a royal. Astonishing was an understatement.
Jason shuddered on hearing that before speaking out loud, "The Chase family is even scarier than their reputation."
"So what gift does she have of the two?"
"I haven't seen her use it in a while. She likes training herself without it so that she can push her human capabilities to the limit and in turn strengthen her gift. As a result of this, I have almost never witnessed her using it. There is a high likelihood that she will get to use it today though, just so that she can prove a point to Shaemus. I tried my best to stop Shaemus from being stupid, but he wouldn't listen," Cole had been focused so much on the questions, that he was surprised when he noticed the whole place was already cleared including the things he had been holding himself and Sandra was now wiping the tables and counters in the bar-themed hunter section of the cafeteria. These guys were really living like nobles here.
"Sandra, is what you are saying true, or just trying to make her look like a goddess of combat or something?" one of the hunters that were present spoke out, the shivers that racked him could be seen visibly. It wasn't almost unheard of for a hunter to become a professional before the age of eighteen and gain a license at the same time.
"No, Aiden. To be perfectly honest, the girl is unbelievable. I am doing the opposite of exaggerating right now," the mood of those that were left in the cafeteria was now low. The fight was not even in sight yet, and it was already feeling heavily one-sided.
"Can I ask something else?"
"You are definitely full of questions today, aren't you?" Sandra said, starting the walk to their next classes.
"Yeah, I am. They just keep coming. I can't seem to quench my curiosity."
"What do you hope to gain from all these questions?" Sandra asked… a hint of suspicion in her voice.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I have nothing in mind. I just need to know how this society works, that's all. Katie also seems to intrigue me the more I get to know about her… no offence," Cole was getting cornered fast.
"None taken… You already know that though. The way society works. The briefing should have covered it. You were given all the instructions that you need to know in order to study here with no problem. Keep your fangs to yourself and you'll have no problem. You can even befriend a human if you abide by those rules," Sandra explained.
"Hey, why are you attacking me all of a sudden?"
"Oh, it's quite simple really. I remembered what makes Royals scary regardless of their added speed, strength and heightened senses. With how nice you are, it's quite easy to forget something like that. But not with your constant questions," Sandra couldn't help the scowl that formed on her face while they kept heading up the stairs, their next lesson being held on the third floor.
"If you could just remind me, what is it that makes Royals so damn scary?" Jason asked… a cloudy suspicion of what she was saying forming in his mind. Her tone had changed completely into one of hostility. It was almost like she was someone else.
"Your bite…"
Cole stopped dead in his tracks, his vision going red as his wolf reared forward in rage. It was known by everyone on the planet that the moment the fangs of a Royal penetrated the skin of a human, there could only be two outcomes. Either the human went through the transformation and successfully became an alpha or the human would die. Royals were already strong to begin with, but the fact that they didn't even have to kill you to ruin your life made them much more dangerous.
Anger coursed through his body on hearing the accusation. The feeling of his fangs elongating came to her almost immediately his vision went red. His vision kept shifting between that of a wolf and that of a human whilst he tried to hold himself back. The image of a black wolf was clear in his mind, fighting to get out. Everything slowed down, his eyes looked forward onto Sandra's neck as she walked on from the stairs. "Don't even think about it. We are on the same floor as Katie right now. If Dexter ever flashed his fangs, Katie would simply have me knock him out, but for you… that's another story. If she gets even a sense of your bloodlust right now, you can't imagine the number of ways she will use to restrain you."
"Cole, you have to calm down," the other one of the alphas spoke to him, rubbing his shoulders in an attempt to soothe his rage. Cole got down on his knees, closing his eyes so that he could focus on keeping his wolf in. Rage was one of the triggers that forced a wolf to defend itself… blind rage. It was one thing for someone to be angry or frustrated, but the pure blind rage was something that weakened a werewolf's control on their animal side.
"Two centuries, Caden, that's how long it's been since a Royal last bit a human. Ever since the agreement with the hunters, we have fought for that trust, and all for what? Tell me, Caden," Cole stared into the eyes of his comrade, seeking an answer from him. For all the work they had put into bringing forth peace between the werewolves and the humans, he would not want to hear someone talk of his fangs like he still used them.
"The same has been for most of the alphas that currently exist, but if there is one thing you should put into consideration, it is that you cannot destroy the two centuries that the Royals before you have worked for," Caden was silent compared to Jason, but when needed, he was the first to rush to help, not that Jason wouldn't help though.
"I'm sorry if I offended you in some way. I just… got protective of her," Sandra spoke up, sounding closer than she had a second ago. Cole looked up to see her offering her a hand. The rage seized when she realized the gesture. One look at Sandra's face showed that she was indeed sorry for what she had said to anger him. Cole took her hand and got up on his feet, the wolf within him receding gradually.
"I have never seen you get angry. Are you okay, your highness?" Caden asked him.
"I'm fine now, Caden."
The bell for the end of class rang signalling the end of the school day, a moment that Shaemus should have been dreading in Katie's opinion as well as the hunters that had heard Sandra's talk with Cole. Katie picked up her bag before leaning back into her seat as the students got out of the classroom, impatience playing a key role in her behaviour. Cole, once again, who had taken over Sandra's seat turned to Katie, "Where is this hunters' training ground?"
"It's a clearing in the forest not too far from here where junior hunters from around this area train from most of the time. It is rarely used by hunters because it's known by everyone and doesn't allow any sort of discretion. So the newbie hunters, or should I say hunters-in-training, are the ones who use it," Katie said, looking him in the eye. It was getting easier, in her opinion, to look him in the eye. Scanning those bright blue irises didn't seem to be a bad thing after all.
Katie remained seated even after the class was empty her eyes focused on something outside the window. Cole moved over for a closer look and was able to see the small groups of students that kept sneaking into the forest, probably heading to the clearing that Shaemus had decided to hold the fight. "Sandra speaks highly of your abilities… she says you even have Prometheus' gift," Cole spoke up when the room was left with six people, Kyle included. The boy was so quiet sometimes that he could have done well for an assassin.
"Did she now?" Katie shifted her eyes to Sandra who showed no sign of backing down, "Well it's no secret anyway. No one's ever asked, so I keep it to myself." Katie finally stood up, handing her bag over to Kyle, "would you hold this for me, just in case?"
"Sure," he replied, "but isn't it a bit excessive?"
"It is and I am hoping we won't have to resort to it, however, I can't shake the feeling that we might need it," Cole gave up on figuring out what was in the bag as the level of discretion in the room skyrocketed. The walk to the clearing began from there, everyone staying insanely quiet as Katie, Sandra and Kyle led the way.
Cole's mind began to soar, rushing through his memories to remind him of exactly what a Prometheus gift was. During the war between the werewolves and the humans, well… at that point it was more like a one-sided massacre; humans snapped and decided to train elites for the one task of killing werewolves. For a while, the war had been one-sided as the wolves were superior to the humans in more ways than could be counted, easily thinning their numbers every time they were attacked. At the time, the first hunters were being trained and each time a squad of hunters would be sent to fight the werewolves, they would be murdered or turned into werewolves. Those that did not give in to the transformation would even commit suicide just so that they were not used against their comrades and family.
It was a dark time and nothing was going well for the hunters. Each time there was a failure, the hunters would train more and soar to new heights stretching the limits of their human capabilities. Forging weapons that could help them bridge the gap of power. The first time the hunters managed to kill a werewolf counted as a great victory for them and they continued to train harder until one of them killed a beta.
The alpha of that pack was enraged and mounted an attack on the group of hunters. It was the first time hunters stood against a pack of werewolves and actually struck fear into the wolves that faced them. Fear, hatred, determination… these emotions fueled each and every one of them to fight back against the werewolves in this war. It was said that when the hunters showed this bravery, the patron god of the humans, Prometheus, gave each of them one of two gifts. The gift was either strength or agility.
This newfound power shone the first torch of hope on the human race, something that Prometheus had deemed to be mankind's greatest power. Once humans found hope, there was no stopping them. Everything changed on that day, hunters were trained at a very young age and only allowed into battle when they had been granted a gift by Prometheus and this was humanity's weapon against the werewolf that gave them equal footing in the world.
Combined with the intense training that the hunters went through, a Prometheus gift made them lethal. Agility made them impossible to even land a hit on while strength made them equal sparring partners. This allowed them the power to even capture werewolves and experiment on them, finding out their weaknesses and turning the tide of the war even more in their favour. Introducing poisons such as wolfsbane prevented werewolves from healing and weakened them at the same time. One might have said that this was going to make life better for humans, but alas, bloodshed breeds more bloodshed. The attacks on civilians increased exponentially and in retaliation, the attacks on the werewolf packs also increased. That was until the Royals and hunters called for a summit that set the rules that would then become our world today. The summit that happened two hundred years ago put an end to the pointless bloodshed and brought rise to the barbaric Rogues that still wanted to wreak havoc.
"We are almost there," Katie spoke up snapping Cole out of his thoughts. The rich scent of damp nature hit Cole's nostrils as he took in a deep breath, along with the scents of all the humans who were waiting at the clearing not so far ahead. The turnout was unexpectedly high and there was no kind of rule on conduct, noise came from the on-lookers as though they were in some underground fight club placing bids on fighters. Their numbers littered the sides of the clearing ahead that was the training ground for the junior hunters.
The clearing soon came into view, Shaemus standing in the very centre of it with his hands crossed across his chest and a smirk on his face. His heartbeat was somewhat erratic, going up and down as though he was trying to calm himself and failing miserably at it. Katie took some time to look at the crowd from the shadows. She spotted one of the less involved hunters and called him. "I want you to get all the hunters that still have a sane mind and surround the area," she said.
"What is our assignment?"
"Guard the civilians and if you notice anything out of the ordinary, stop the fight and alert me immediately."
"Are you really going to fight him? This is pointless," he said.
"All the more reason to keep your guard up," everyone finally picked up on Katie's logic at this point. The hunter she had called then quickly left to inform the others that were not caught up in the chaos. "These dummies, they are all slacking off. Their trainers would be disappointed in them… I guess all newbies deserve lessons."
"You say it like you aren't a newbie like them," Cole chuckled, only to stop when Sandra gave him an alarming look to get out of the territory that he was starting to tread in from behind Katie's back.
"Oh well, we might as well get this over with," Katie said, raising her hands up in mock defeat before stepping into the clearing from the shadows. The people who saw her appear immediately gave her way to pass. As she walked through them, she could soon tell that the people in attendance weren't only students. Townspeople as well had come to watch it all with their own eyes.
"If it isn't the soon-to-be-history head hunter," Shaemus spoke up, arousing the portion of the crowd that was on his side.
"Shaemus, this is a waste of time and you know it… anyway, you still have time to back out. If you do, you won't suffer any consequences," Katie said.
"Sandra is not here to save you, you know," Katie couldn't help but facepalm on hearing that. There was no getting through to him. The only way Shaemus was going to snap out of it is if he lost and was brought to the realization that he was indeed out of his league.
Dexter came from the crowd along with two of his wolves flanking him. "Hey, Katie. You ready to get your ass handed to you?" he said, sparking laughter amongst them and earning a disappointing sigh from Katie. "I'll be the referee for this match. Now if you could just begin so we can get this over with."
That seemed to be the signal for the start of the match as Shaemus started circling Katie, keeping his footwork flawless as he did so, always keeping his back foot with more energy than the one at the front to allow him the chance to dart forward given the chance. Katie, on the other hand, put her hand into her pockets and retrieved what appeared to be a stop-clock. She was totally relaxed and even seemed more focused on the clock than Shaemus as she messed with the winding wheel.
"What are you doing?"
"I did say that I will give you five minutes into the fight for you to surrender before I myself take the fight seriously. In the meantime, feel free to attack in whatever way you wish," Katie said. Shaemus face transformed from one of fury to one of rage, the difference being a slight facial distortion that made Shaemus look crazier and much less composed. If there had never been a difference between the two, now there was one and Katie could see it clearly. A vein pumped in Shaemus' forehead and he seethed uncontrollably before lashing out, a fist aimed to connect directly with Katie's jaw. 'Going for the kill already,' Katie thought as she stepped out of Shaemus' way allowing him to pass by, losing his balance in the process.
Shaemus' struggled to find his balance, his back turned to Katie who had sidestepped him without breaking a sweat. "What the hell…"
"Didn't your trainer teach you never to turn your back on an opponent?" Katie said, watching what had become of one of the most promising hunters in the school. He had even been helpful during her climb to the top to earn the title of safest school in the world. From the time Katie had been admitted, there had never been a single human casualty and human-werewolf hostility had plummeted tremendously. Shaemus was in the same year as Katie and at first, when it had been clear that Katie and Sandra were ahead of him, he had looked up to them and even come to them for training tips. 'Oh, Shaemus, how did it get to this?' Katie asked herself. If this had been a life and death battle, he would surely be dead by now. An attack out of pure anger was just the quickest way to get you killed.
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