Chapter 125

KATHERINE.

I was back to square one with finding my mate… well, not completely square one seeing as one of the candidates had been completely eliminated, leaving two boys as my possible mate. Theo and Hunter. I just wished it hadn't taken this long for me to get to this point, but there was nothing I could do about it.

School felt quite odd now. I didn't have a roommate and the people that had approached me to be friends with me were beginning to distance themselves from me since Lenore, Josie, and Priyanka didn't hang out with me anymore. They hadn't completely cut me off – Josie still said ‘hi’ whenever we ran into each other and Priyanka still acknowledged me – so I assumed Theo had said something to them but our relationship now was vastly different from our relationship pre-fight-with-Lenore.

It had now been five days since she moved out of the room and despite the fact that I spent most of my time in the room, I still hadn't gotten used to not having a roommate.

I walked into the art section and when the stone table came into sight, I paused because Theo wasn't there. I'd first come to check when I got here and he wasn't here, so it was odd that he still wasn't because he was always here at this time on Sundays.

‘Is he at the clubhouse?’ I thought as my phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out to see a message from Theo.

[Theo: Katherine.]

[Me: Yeah?]

[Theo: Have you seen Lenore today?]

I slightly drew my brows together at the message.

[Me: No.]

I was still suspended so I stayed in my dorm till it was time for me to work at the library. And besides, I hadn't seen her since ‘that’ night. After several moments passed without him texting back, I texted him again.

[Me: Is everything okay?]

No response.

I shrugged and returned the phone to my pocket before making my way out of the library and over to the Art Faculty. I ate dinner with Hunter yesterday and I was planning to make it a habit since I had no one else to eat it with. Also because I needed to figure out who my mate was between him and Theo and I was planning to take my time now because I didn't want to make the same mistake. I should be in more of a hurry since my pack's council was waiting for me to find my mate but I took solace in the fact that Silver Bow was no longer on the same standing it was on when I first came to Blackwood.

Another thing that my lashing out at Lenore brought about was now I didn't know if the alliance between Dark Moon and River Ash would happen. Probably not, but I didn't care about it as much as I cared about my lost friendships.

“Hey, Hunt–” I paused after I walked into the art studio to see Theo hovering over Hunter, an intense look in his eyes. He looked like he wanted to kill someone while Hunter who was sitting on a stool, his gaze fixed on the table next to him, looked scared and I quickly resumed walking. “What's going on?”

They both glanced at me and after a moment, they spoke at the same time.

“Everything's fine, Katherine.”

“Lenore's missing.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“Dude!” Theo burst out while Hunter grimaced.

‘Lenore’s missing?!’

“She's Lenore's friend too,” Hunter said but Theo still didn't look pleased that he'd said it and my gaze bounced between them, my mind still racing to comprehend how this could have happened.

“Missing like the missing students or just missing.” Please, let it not be the former.

“Former,” Hunter replied and my heart rate picked up while Theo smacked the back of his head. “What? She could help!”

“Since when?” I asked, my mind still racing, and Hunter turned his attention to Theo, making me do the same.

A muscle in Theo’s jaw twitched and he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “... Last night.”

“What if she just left school or something?” I replied without hesitation because her going missing didn't make sense. Besides, Satomi said students from high-ranking packs don't go missing and Lenore was from the highest-ranking pack so it just didn't make sense. But then, she couldn't have just left school or something like I said because if she had, Theo wouldn't be panicking. “You'd know if she did.”

“Theo, I'm not getting anything,” Hunter said while I glanced at the table to see drawings. The drawings of Chelsea and the students that went missing on the last day of the school's anniversary event… and the drawings of the students that went missing the day the malevolent spirit escaped.

‘Oh…’ My gaze clashed with Theo's the moment I looked up and I gestured at the drawings even though he must have seen them. They were practically laid out on the desk like an offering.

“...What?” Hunter asked when neither of us spoke after a while and even though Theo was worried about Lenore, the corner of his mouth turned up as he glanced down at Hunter.

“She thinks you're the murderer.”

“What?!” Hunter's head jerked in my direction while my eyes went round. I didn't expect Theo to say that out loud and I wasn't even thinking that because Theo was sure it wasn't Hunter. I just found it so fucking weird that he drew people before they went missing, like… extremely fucking weird… Was Theo sure he wasn't working with the culprit or something? “I'm not!” Hunter said in a rush and I tried to give him a reassuring smile but my face wouldn't stop twitching as I slowly began to move away from him, hopefully in a subtle manner. “I'm really not!”

“He’s a seer.”

At that, I stopped while surprise washed over Hunter's face and his head jerked back in Theo's direction.

“His uncle is a seer too.”

“Dude!”

“What? You don't want to share that with her?” he asked snarkily while the words ‘Oh my God’ popped into my mind. That must have been what Professor Helton meant when he said ‘It’s who we are’ during that conversation I eavesdropped on!

“But…” I trailed off. The fact that his ancestors had practiced dark magic and killed Killian Blackwood, and that a Hellaton had always been present in the universities whenever students went missing still remained. “Your last name is Hellaton.”

Hunter's attention returned to me, his brows drawn together. “How the hell did you find out?” he asked in a stiff tone and my mouth snapped together because I'd found out by snooping through his uncle's office and I couldn't exactly tell him that. He must have figured out that was how I found out though because the next moment, he scowled and said, “Really, Katherine?”

“I'm sorry. I just thought–” I cut myself off because what I thought didn't matter. What I did was wrong and that was that. “I'm sorry.”

The scowl didn't leave his face and he got to his feet while Theo moved away from the table, his attention on his phone and the worried expression on his face reminded me that Lenore was missing. I still found it difficult to believe that she was missing. And why was no one talking about it? Shouldn't it be spreading through the school like fire?

“Does anyone else know?” I asked as Hunter walked away from the table and my mind churned at the fact that he was pissed at me but I couldn't fully focus on that right now.

“Priyanka and the dean,” Theo answered. “Do ‘not’ tell Josie and Blake. I don't need them ripping the school apart and letting everyone find out.”

I frowned. “Why don't you want that? Wouldn't it be better if–” Oh, he doesn't want the culprit to do something ‘drastic’. “Got it. What do you need me to do?”

“Nothing,” he replied just as the dark forest came to mind, but before I could mention it to Theo, the sound of objects falling to the ground drew my attention to Hunter. He was frozen to the spot, not bothered by the sound of pens clattering around him, and his eyes were completely white.

“Theo…”

Theo glanced at me before turning to look at Hunter just as Hunter began to tip forward, and we both rushed over to him, catching him before he hit the ground.

“What's happening to him?!” I asked as we turned him over so he lay on his back and Theo gestured for me to keep quiet. Moments later, Hunter jerked upright while blinking rapidly, his eyes back to normal, and breathing heavily.

Before he could catch his breath, Theo shoved his face into his. “What did you see?” he asked, making me draw my brows together. Was that how the seer-thing worked?

“Nothing helpful.”

“Tell me.”

“It's those random strokes drawings,” he replied as he rose to his feet and Theo caught him when he began to sway. “I'm fine, I'm fine. Are you sure you don't want to call your dad?”

“You know how he'll react.”

Not good, I imagined. His daughter was missing.

Hunter nodded before pressing his fingers to the side of his head as he groaned. “We should go to my uncle then.”