12. Calming the rogues

Kathleen's POV

"Woah. Woah. Where do you think you are touching?" I said as I slightly pushed him before taking a few steps back.

"Just because you are a King, don't ever think you can get all touchy with me," I said before walking past him when I saw him standing still.

'Did you not feel it, Kathleen? I felt different when he touched me. Like, it didn't feel wrong to me,' Caris asked me, and I rolled my eyes.

'Don't get started, Caris, yeah? Let's not talk about it,' I said in my head, trying my best to suppress her voice and thoughts because I knew exactly what she was talking about.

For a moment, the weird sensation that I felt in my body wasn't something I can ignore. When he held me like that, it felt more than just right. It felt like I belonged there with him, and as much as I hate the thought of it, it felt nice too.

Wait. Where are my thoughts leading me? I can’t feel nice because of some random king. Maybe it’s because he is a king, and like every she-wolf, my wolf craves power? I thought, before sighing.

"Kathleen? Are you coming?" I heard Henry's distant voice, and I took a deep breath.

Kathleen, stop thinking about useless things. Remember your goal. You need to keep offending these rogues and get a hold of the rogue head so that you can gain information about the rogues who killed your parents.

I thought and was about to move ahead when King Alvin walked past me, his hand touching mine, sending shivers down my spine once again.

Seeing how King Alvin didn't even stop or looked bothered, I shrugged. Maybe this was indeed an accident and not an intentional thing.

"Will twenty people be enough for you?" Uncle Christian asked me, and I nodded.

"Let's go. We don't have time to waste," I said to the team, and they looked at me before nodding.

"Kathleen, do you want me to come with you?" I heard Uncle Christian's voice, and I shook my head.

"You just wait and see your children taking care of such measly things," I said while smiling at Henry, who winked back at me, making me smile, and Uncle Christian chuckled at our interaction.

"Team, let's go," I said before walking towards the forest.

"Wait. You are kidding us, right? Are we seriously walking to the Cantele lake?" A guy suddenly spoke, making me pause and look at him.

"And that is a problem? You all are trained wolves, if I am not wrong. It's just fifteen kilometers away from here. Don't tell me you guys can't run till there in your wolf form. Or are you intending on ruining my plans by taking cars there and having their spies know about our arrival?" I asked.

"But won't they see us and get alert if we run in a group of twenty?" Another guy asked, and I nodded.

"That's why not all of you are coming with me. Like spies, you guys are going to deport in multiple locations and will cover this entire forest. Only 3 people, the best among you, will come with me to the prime location. Who is the best and trustworthy, and who is not, I will find it myself, so don't worry about it," I said.

"And one more thing. I know many of you are loyal to the king, and it is no hidden fact that I and your king are against each other in this case. So if any of you thought of ruining my plan, I will kill you without thinking twice. Don't think I am afraid of your King. I ain't afraid of even death or the devil, let alone a mortal," I said before looking at the guys who were looking behind me.

Turning around, I came face to face with none other than the King himself, who had a strange amused look on his face, and I pressed my lips into a thin line.

"So you are not afraid of me?" He asked me as he came closer to me, and I looked him straight in the eyes.

"Of course, not. Didn't you collect that much by now?" I asked, and he smirked.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I caught up more than what you can even think about," he said as he bent and took a whiff of my scent, his darkening eyes, making me gulp for some reason as I looked at him observantly, his lips only a few inches away from mine.

"Anyway, I came here to tell you all, no matter what is the matter between me and Miss Kathy, she is your leader right now. And you must obey her orders like you would've obeyed mine. I don't want to hear that her plan failed because of disloyalty from my people's side. After all, I want her to give it all so that I can see if she really is that great with her information.

Even better than you guys all together," He said before he bent and kissed my ear, making me go stiff as I looked at him, shocked.

"All the best, Kathy. This is the first time I am intrigued by something, and I would like to see the end of it. Maybe I'll even reward you with a position as my main spy if you are that great at finding information," He said in my ear, and I scoffed.

"Who wants your lousy position? I am not here to prove anything to anyone. I am just helping the council because of Henry. Besides, it's fun. Killing rogues and ruining their plans is my new past activity these days, so challenging you is just a cherry on top of ice cream. I hope you understand," I said before turning around and looking at the team.

"Let's go, team," I said as we ran into the forest.

"Hey, leader! Are you not going to change? Everyone is changing in their wolves," One of the guys asked, and I smiled before shaking my head.

"I have trained myself to run long distances. Besides, I am not exactly in a hurry," I said as I saw everyone changing into their wolves one by one.

'You lazy wolf, because of you, I have to lie,' I said to Caris, and she just hummed.

'I don't see how this is a lie. Haven't you trained yourself to run long distances? I mean, you are getting better at combat because I am not transforming. So this is a good thing too, right?' Caris reasoned with a cheerful voice, and I rolled my eyes.

Running along with the guys, I stopped, making them stop along with me.

"You, the two near that tree, and you stop here and spread," I ordered, making them nod, and the wolves ran in other directions.

Simultaneously, I asked the other wolves to stop in random directions before finally stopping.

"Listen to me carefully now. Cantele lake is three kilometers away. It's nighttime. You can brilliantly use it. I know that smell is the wolf's prime power, and they will sense you after some distance, but it is limited to a distance. We can't let them know about us before that, yeah?" I said.

"Leader! Behind you!" One guy shouted, and I dodged just in time as I saw a dagger being thrown my way.

I turned towards the four rogues, who changed into four brown wolves in front of me.

Looking at the four wolves baring their teeth at me, I tilted my head, looking them straight in the eyes, taking a step forward as I kept looking at them.

They don't even know what a mistake they have made by coming at me in their wolf form.

This is another power, or that's what I think it is. If I concentrate hard and look into the wolves of others(especially the weak ones), I can calm down those wolves.

"Are you going to attack me? Why? I didn't even do anything to you," I said as I stepped towards them cautiously.

"Is she mad? What is she doing, walking towards them with no weapons or any defensive stance?" I heard one guy behind me say.

"I don't know, okay? The council trusts her. Maybe she isn't as simple as she looks," the other guy said, and I kept looking at those wolves.

"If you are going to come at me, then I will have to kill you, and let me tell you, I am a nasty killer. Why don't you leave quietly? I promise you no harm if you do nothing and leave in peace. And yeah, don't snitch about us to your other friends. Let's not make a mess, yeah? Forget what happened just now and leave," I said to the rogues as I walked in front of them, and they whimpered before tucking their tails between their legs and leaving.

“Woah! What in the actual hell was that?”

“Did she do what I think she did?”

"What did she do? Did the rogues leave the place just because she asked them to?"

"Wait. Do you think she is one of them and is deliberately decreasing the strength of our team by not letting the entire team go with the King?"

"This can be a possibility. Maybe that's why she let us catch those few rogues and ammunition because she had a bigger motive,"

"Do you think I should inform the king about this?"

I heard them talking behind me, and I stopped in my tracks, not sure anymore.

Wait. Why the hell did I do that? How can I act so impulsively stupid when I am not alone?

I should've fought them rather than doing things like this. Anybody is bound to be suspicious if someone does what I did right now. How am I going to explain this to them if they demand answers? And how will I fight those rogues if they don't trust me? I thought before biting my lips, trying to think of any excuse that I can use right now.

However, is there really an excuse to cover why a bunch of rogues calmly listened to me and left?

Wait. They have stopped talking, haven’t they? What if they are not thinking about it anymore?

It looks like I can stop thinking about an excuse and concentrate on the plan to get over these rogues instead.

"Did you just ask those bunch of jerks to go like they were some puppies? And they actually left?" I heard the familiar deep voice, and this time, the hair on my neck stood as I felt his presence right behind me.

So this was the reason ‌everyone stopped talking just now.

"Well, aren't they just some dirty puppies?" I asked, and he smiled coldly at me before gripping my chin.

"Even I know that, sweetheart. I want to know why those puppies agreed to your words," He said, and I smirked.

"That's because I am really a nasty killer with a reputation, honey," I said with the same intensity, deliberately using the word honey as he called me sweetheart, and he looked at me observantly for some time before releasing my chin and standing straight.

"You keep defying me and challenging my authority. It's been only two hours since I met you, but for some reason, you have intrigued me more than anyone I have ever known," He said, and I scoffed.

"Well, I am honored. Anyway, as far as I remember, we went on different missions. What are you doing here, Mr. Donald?" I asked, and the others who had changed back into their human forms gasped loudly.

"Mr. Donald? I like the sound of it. However, I will like it more if you scream that word for me," He whispered in my ears before winking at me and standing straight while I stood frozen in my spot.

Did he just say what I think he said? I thought, before looking at him accusingly. However, seeing the serious expression back on his face, I sighed angrily, keeping the matter aside for now.

I will talk about this later. This is not important right now. Right now I need to catch that large rogue pack which might take me closer to the rogue head.