Chapter Thirty Three

The investigation finally came to a disappointing halt and the hunters that aided Katie left at the end of the school day. The two friends had had to eat their lunch from the classroom that had been transformed into an interrogation room. Katie walked with Sandra to the clearing that had now been labelled 'out of bounds' to civilians due to the incident that had occurred the day before.

"That was a total bust. There was no one in those entire classes that acted the least bit like a killer. And yet I was sure we were going to find that person among them," Katie groaned as they left the school grounds.

"We both knew this was not going to be an easy investigation. Just stay patient, we'll find the person responsible for this crown," she said.

"I just don't understand why the surveillance room would be left unattended for an entire hour. Not to mention it was the same hour that I was not present in the school," Katie complained some more. She was feeling the need to rant a bit more at how many holes the school had allowed getting into the system.

"Do you think it was planned that Shaemus would want to see you at that exact moment? Could it have been a coincidence?" Sandra asked.

"I sent a hunter to check on that hunch. Shaemus knew nothing of the sort… Besides, he has some other things to worry about than that. He called me there strictly to ask my assistance," Katie confirmed.

"Have you seen Kyle?" Sandra asked, looking around for the boy who usually found his way to them when he was free.

"Not really, he said something about diving into more books so that he could pass a test that they were going to be given some time soon. He vanished after that… it was right after we were done interrogating him," she said.

The clearing started coming into view and soon enough the presence of a lone Royal became known to them. Katie stopped to bid Sandra farewell, "I guess this is where I say goodnight," she said.

"Yeah, this is where you do that. Do be careful on your way home. There is no telling if there are more rogues lurking around," Katie said. Sandra gave her friend and master one last hug before jogging away from her and into the woods. A shortcut that would get her home in a straight line rather than the meandering road she loathed to follow.

Cole stood at the edge of the clearing leaning with his back against a tree that bordered the near-circular field that the junior hunters used in their free time. His gaze was fixed to the ground, but his eyes told a different story about where his mind was. "Hey," Katie called when she got close to him.

"I wasn't sure you would make it…."

"Why wouldn't I?" was an odd way to start the conversation.

"Considering you are still a suspect of a murder of my newest pack member," he said.

"That's not something I am worried about. I'll get my name cleared soon enough," Katie said, moving up to him so that she could try to capture his gaze.

"Your confidence is astounding. Sometimes it makes me wonder if at all you take this seriously," his mood was starting to lighten up a bit since she had seen him at the crime scene.

"How are you holding up?" I asked him.

"Not too bad actually… How's your investigation going?"

"It's annoying. Everyone seems to be innocent. I don't understand it. What was the purpose of doing that to the cameras if there is no one in the suspects that is the killer? Was the killer trying to throw us off their trail?" he asked.

"You might be overthinking the situation that you are in… anyway, I do have a question for you. Would you really have been able to catch the culprit if you were still in the building or at least on the premises?" he asked.

"Yes, that is true. I would have caught them without a problem. I probably would have been fast enough to save Ash altogether… they say it's not good to think back on the what-ifs in a situation like this one… they get to you in a bad way," Katie tried.

"Yeah, I know that. I don't know why, but I trust that you will find who is responsible for this as well. So I am not very worried about this. When you do find them, however, do not hesitate to let me know. It was the life of one of my own that they took, so make sure that I am the first one who gets this information," he said.

"I will tell you immediately then… I don't have your number though," Katie said, smiling at the oblivious royal.

"Oh, sorry, let me just put that in there," he said, getting her phone from her hands and typing in the number, "So do you know somewhere we can go for a walk that is more scenic than this plot of barren land that does not seem to have a purpose for the time being."

"That is a monumental insult for the land that the hunters used to train on… I do know a place, however. Just follow me," with the number in her phone, she got the phone from him and led the somewhat short walk that would find them at the tallest hill in the town.

"So where is it you are taking me?" he asked.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you ran most of the town's forested area yesterday, but there is a piece of land in no man's territory that you did not see. A meeting spot, if you may, where hunters and pack leaders meet to discuss issues in private. It's currently unoccupied, so we can go there and relax for a bit.

"You just said, no man's land…"

"Yes, I did. Is the big bad alpha scared?" Katie spoke in a childish voice, taunting the Royal.

"No, I said nothing of the sort. How did you even make such an assumption?" narrowing his eyes at the hunter.

"I was only looking out for one of the werewolves under my protection," she said boastfully, as though it were obvious.

"You're really full of it, Chase," Cole laughed at her.

"Don't call me Chase… Call me Katie," the sudden change in mood got Cole to stop laughing immediately.

"Does it bother you when I do so?" he asked her.

"It's too formal. I'd prefer it if you would just call me Katie," she explained keeping her eyes down to the floor. 'What am I thinking? Since when did I start caring about what name was being used to address me?' thoughts ran through Katie's mind trying to make sense of the odd behaviour that seemed to be taking over her.

"Then Katie it is. From now on, I shall call you so…" something about what he said set her heart at ease along with the weakened wolf within her. This was not to be interpreted by her lest she risked losing time mulling over something that she was not bound to find an answer to. The presence of her wolf had become one she was now good at noticing, no matter how faint the drugs made it, it was now clear as daylight to her that something did in fact live within her and longed to be free.

She looked back at Cole and saw that something had distracted him. The hill had finally come into view. Trees surrounded the summit ending halfway and leaving a clearing of scanty grass that was kept short at the top. At the very top of the hill was a stone table that was capable of housing ten people. Chairs surrounded the table as well. This hill was known as a meeting spot whenever the packs in the surrounding areas wanted to discuss something with the hunters. It was therefore respected by many that knew it.

As far as hills go, this one was not all that big and what made it even more peculiar was that it stood solely alone in the vast forest instead of standing in a group of ranges of hills. This made it a great spot to look down at everything that existed in the forest. The town of Brigadia was located far from where all the action took place on the outskirts of the continent. Forests thrived in the wonderful tropical climate.

It never snowed in this place and was always either rainy or sunny. The place screamed green more than any other city that Cole had ever visited. Werewolves were fond of living in places such as this one and it was indeed what was the case even where the palace of Lycaon was situated, but the one difference was that this place was almost a part of the forest just as the forest was a part of them.

Life here was slow and caused no need for attention to be focused this way. That was until the Brigade High School rose to the rank of safest high school in the world. This was what caused the place to become more recognized and evidently, the coming of the Royals.