Chapter Twenty Three

Cole woke up in the same position as he had slept through the night holding Katie firmly in his arms like they were a couple. Sparks flew through his body once again making the decision of letting go and waking the hunter up even harder than he thought. "Katie," he whispered.

"Your breath is ticklish. I guess alphas are deep sleepers as well," she spoke up, her voice sounding like music to his ears. Cole did not understand what gave this hunter the charm or sway that she had on him and didn't know whether to take it as a good thing or a bad thing.

"What time is it?" he asked on realizing that Katie had been awake longer than he had been. Her voice bore no signs of someone who had recently woken up.

"Thirty minutes to the first lesson," she said.

"I guess I should let go of you now. Hope it wasn't an inconvenience in any way," he said, loosening his grip on her. In a swift rushed movement, Katie held his hands to stop their retreat and pulled them back.

"Just a bit longer… I like it…" she said, silence taking over the two, "Does it bother you?"

"No… It doesn't. Though it does confuse me that you're okay with this," he said before he could stop himself.

"Same here…" she replied.

"Your scent is nice and by that, I don't mean the perfume…"

This was regarded as a compliment in the werewolf community much as it was said that the scent that they found most appealing was the one that belonged to their mates. There was silence before she spoke up, "We should get going…" was all she said to break up the touching moment. Katie removed his hands from around her and walked into the bathroom. No matter how much Cole tried, he couldn't get the feeling that he had done something bad off his chest. He knew she was a hunter and from what he had been told on how one's mate was supposed to be identified, she didn't fit the criteria. Why did he feel this way now?

"Two days to the Founders' festival. You must be excited," Katie said from the bathroom.

"I have no idea what that is about so I am just waiting to see for myself," he replied.

"Well, it's almost like a ball that Sandra forces me to attend every year," she replied to him, raising her voice so that he could hear her well.

"Oh really, and do you enjoy it every time she drags you there?"

"Sometimes, but I get out when things start to get out of hand." 'What does she mean by out of hand?' Cole thought. Thinking back to what Sandra had told her earlier, she could remember that she was not a fan once the dance started getting wild.

"So you don't like having too much fun?" he asked.

"Sounds like someone already knows about my agenda," a hint of suspicion lay in her otherwise calm voice.

"That obvious huh," she had seen through his words almost immediately, probably it was because he hesitated before asking or simply because someone who knew nothing about it would have asked what she had meant by going crazy.

"Sandra won't stop talking about that thing every year it comes about. That's why I had the assumption that she had already told you about it," she said.

"Yeah, that's true. She did tell me, but then, why are you telling me?"

She coughed as though preparing a speech and began speaking like an obnoxious school prefect, "Well, I am the head hunter, aren't I? It's my duty to…"

"Cut the crap," he cut her off, chuckling at her childish tone as she voiced her excuse.

"Never mind… I just remembered something that cancels the reason I had for starting this topic of conversation," she said, stepping out of the bathroom while tying her hair into a high ponytail.

"Did you want to ask me to the dance?" he asked to which she nodded 'yes,' "Then what's wrong with that?"

"I would have liked to take you to the dance honestly… that was my intention when I was starting this conversation, but I'm afraid… that day is the same as my birthday. I will be turning eighteen on that day and my parents made it clear that I am to celebrate it home… something about a hunter initiation with the Chase family… Family traditions can suck." Katie lied between her teeth throwing him off track. Her mind was a mess mulling over why she had gotten her hopes up in the first place. After that day, she probably wouldn't be able to show her face ever again since her eyes would always be glowing blue.

"Oh, that sucks… I did want to ask you about the dance. I guess you could say you beat me to the punch," he said, his voice dropping.

"So how about a counter proposal…"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Yesterday, we were supposed to hang out together after classes, but after everything that happened. There was no way that was going to work out, so I propose this. I am inviting you to a walk in the woods with me today evening," she said, leaning on the threshold of the bathroom door, her hair nicely done and looking ready to leave. She had done the best she could do to tidy up before she could leave.

"What are you trying to do, Katie?" there was silence for a while. The expressionless face he kept pinned to the ground was proof that he was warding off her attempts, somewhat of a one-eighty kind of reaction. Katie had followed her instincts her whole life and never once had they betrayed her, so there was something else that was interfering with this and his sudden change in mood proved it.

"Just think about it for a bit," she said, walking towards the door of his room, "thanks for everything. I owe you one."

"What were you doing so far out of town, Katie?" he called back, freezing her just as she had opened the door to get out of the room.

"I was angry, so I ran and ran and ran and just kept on running…"

"That was reckless… you could have died. You could barely stand when I found you," his voice was getting higher and higher.

"Oh, were you that concerned about me?" she turned back to look him in the eye, her mind going into a trance that very moment as she stared at him. Cole found that he couldn't utter a word for a moment, his anger dissipating as well as he stared back into her deep blue eyes.

"Y-yes, I was… concerned. I was concerned," he stuttered.

"Well, I'm fine now, thanks to you. Take care, Cole and think about my offer," she said before vanishing from sight. Cole stayed still for a while before starting his own share of her morning ablutions. All the time he took as he prepared himself, he couldn't get his mind off the thought of going out with the hunter. It was unlike him to behave like this. It was clear to him that his wolf was attracted to her, but the reason for that eluded him. She was a hunter for crying out loud.

Eventually, he managed to push all his thoughts to the back of his head and continue with what he had to do to get to school. He found Jason, Caden and Ash waiting for him in the living room, already dressed. "Someone slept well," Jason said, smirking at him.

"You need a hobby, Jason." They stood up with Jason laughing his heart out and walked out of the hotel and to the cars. "Did any of you guys see Katie leaving the building?"

"Yeah, apparently she knew her way around. For some reason, licensed hunters are allowed to stay in any hotel since that only means that the hotel will be a lot more secure that way, so she doesn't get to pay for a damn thing. Everything is free for them," Caden said, getting slightly irritated by that fact.

"Does it feel unfair to you?" Cole asked him.

"To some extent, it does, but when I think about it, it doesn't. Humans are powerless in the faces of werewolves and the fear they have for them is only natural. It would not be surprising that hunters would then be valued that much."

Cole was glad he understood that much although she could tell he was not done, "But that also means humans will never fully trust werewolves. It's impossible to them and that doesn't sit right with me. In some places, werewolves are even treated unequally. Not allowing them to participate in sports or even putting up werewolf fight clubs where werewolves are captured and made to earn their keep. It makes me sick thinking about it," he continued.

"That is what the royals have been trying to put an end to in the past two centuries, but something new is always coming up. A way to show the people that werewolves and humans can be truly equal. My union with my dead mate was a plan that would have helped with that," Cole replied to him, "but I guess the Rogue king wouldn't let that just happen, now would he?"

The school finally came into view, Jason driving the car into the parking lot that had been reserved for it… something that, once again that his mother had insisted on when they were coming. The four of them got out of the car only to freeze at the sight of the school. The school had been lightly decorated with banners and balloons in a few places, just enough to announce a coming festival and still say that this was a learning institution. A huge banner at the top of the main front door of the main school building had the words 'Founders' Festival' written in huge bold block letters. "Festival is in two days, but it already looks like they are setting up for it. I guess it is a big event after all."

"The festival is on Sunday and since there is no school over the weekends, the school is designed on Friday to remind everyone to be in attendance on Sunday. That is why the decorations are made so early," Ash explained.

"This isn't your first festival, is it?"

"It is… I just read the brochure carefully, gathering all the information I could about the school before I got in. I had to be ready," he said, reminding us of the days when he was a rouge on a suicidal mission to infiltrate the most secure school in the world. Now that he had actually infiltrated it, Katie was probably angered by the fact that she had not been able to detect them while they walked about in the same school that was at the top just because of her presence.