Chapter 10: Resurgence

Katie knew her past would eventually come back to haunt her, but it sure picked a shitty time to show its ugly face.

"Jake Slogan?"

She remembered the name.

How could she forget?

His death had a huge impact on her life and was what led to her dropping her gun and seeking to live a normal life.

Taking on the job to kill him was a mission she had regretted taking, and the effect was so dire it had prompted her to want to commit suicide.

But it was also how she met Peter.

She had found him on the street, about to be harassed by a group of extremists who tried to burn him alive because he was a shifter.

But she intervened and saved him.

He was lost, depressed, in pain, and seemed to have gone through a lot, just like her.

It resonated with her, and two lost souls found comfort in each other, becoming siblings.

Though Peter and her weren't blood-related, she loved him like her own.

He was her light when she was walking through the tunnel of darkness.

Her way out, and he still was.

That was why she was going to do whatever it took to save him, past or present, and wasn't going to let anyone or anything stop her.

She looked around, scanning her escape route, but all the exits were covered by the jackals shifter watching her every move like she was prey.

Katie frowned, she was truly surrounded, and there was no way she could escape without engaging in a fight.

"How did you find me?" 

Katie asked distractedly, her eyes darting around searching for any opening to escape.

To her, the figure in front of her barely had any significanceand thus shouldn't be accommodated.

"It wasn't exactly easy," Marcus replied. "I wouldn't have been able to if you hadn't returned back to your filthy ways of hunting your own kind."

Katie frowned, wondering how he knew she had returned, and had taken a job.

"One of my informants suddenly called and told me something interesting. The bitch who killed my father had returned, and it seems she's in dire need of money."

"Yeah, you got a million? It'd mean a lot to me," Katie teased, but Mark didn't appreciate the joke.

"Is that how much you received when you killed my father?"

"No... it was much more than that. I used it to survive until now. But I'm broke, so I decided to return to killing," Katie said without any emotion, and Marcus's expression twisted.

"You crazy bitch!"

"Marcus, let's just kill the loner and get it over with," one of the jackals suggested .

"No, you know that's not how we do things. We take it slow, torture her to the point where she wishes for death, and then capture the bouy close to her, making her watch as we do the same to him."

Katie's eyes widened in shock and panic filled her veins.

From the way Marcus smiled, she could tell they were aware of Peter's existence.

'How?'

"You've gotten rusty, Katie," Marcus mocked. "You think with how massive our pack is, we wouldn't find out about your little pet?"

Katie gritted her teeth. Now she was concerned.

The worst possible situation had occurred.

"Right now, I've sent men to fetch the poor kid, but I can't guarantee they won't lay their claws on him. Most of them are sadist."

Hearing this, Katie lost it and charged at Marcus.

"You son of a bitch!"

But one of the jackals suddenly moved in the way and punched her in the stomach.

Katie fell to the ground, coughing.

"Is that all you've got?" Marcus asked with a frown. "How disappointing."

The jackal that punched her then grabbed her by the hair, picking her up.

Katie groaned and didn't struggle, waiting.

Then the male jackal raised her head and saw she had shut her eyes.

Before he could question her action, a flashbang fell to the ground and everyone turned towards it, and what followed was a sudden flash of bright light, blinding everyone.

"Ah!"

The jackal let go of Katie to cover his eyes.

Katie, now free from the jackal's grasp, took out her silver dagger and stabbed it into the neck of the man who was struggling to see, and he fell to the ground, dead.

She then wasted no time and immediately moved to the next one, who met the same fate as the first.

'One...Two...Three.'

She counted as she sliced their necks, taking them down one by one.

Her silver dagger was effective, as it was one of the few things that could hurt a shifter and prevent them from healing.

Marcus still blinded could hear his pack members falling one by one.

He felt anxious as the noise grew closer, and he realized he could be next.

So he decided to flee.

He could barely see, but he remembered where the door was and took backward steps to escape.

The female assassin was really unpredictable and crafty, just like he'd been warned, and he realized he had made a mistake underestimating her.

His eyes had somewhat recovered, and he could see, though blurry.

He saw the assassin take down the last jackal in the cabin and approach him, her steps swift and silent, killing intent oozing from her.

His heart raced as he backed away.

But she reached him in a flash, slashing her dagger, but he jumped out of the cabin through the entrace, blocking the attack with his arm, the dagger slashes ripping into his skin.

"Aah, it burns!" Marcus groaned at the sizzling pain in his arm.

The female assassin was using a silver blade. Which made the injuries not only sting but also slows down regeneration.

Katie seeing her blade stikes weren't working and Marcus was going out of range, desperately followed up with a claw attck, trying to catch his neck, but Marcus arch his head backward, the claw grazing his skin.

He groaned stepping away and Katie exclaimed.

"Dammit!" 

She was making too many unnecessary movements which was bad.

As an assassin, it was best to finish targets with as few moves as possible, but Marcus kept retreating, making it hard for her to land fatal damage.

Katie then charged once again at Alex but sensed someone approaching from the side.

A little too late though, as a powerful force slammed into her, sending her flying.

Katie tumbled across the ground but quickly rose to her feet, looking around frantically.

The sounds of growls emanated from all over the place.

And she was confused and shocked.

How did I not notice they were so many around?

Marcus was right: she really had gotten sloppy.

Katie knew she had to give him credit for bringing as many jackals as possible. If not she would have escaped rather easily.

From what she could see, there were about thirty, if not more, not counting the ones she'd killed in the cabin.

Katie gripped her dagger firmly, her heart pounding like crazy.

Peter was in danger, and she had to help him, but she had no idea how she was going to escape this. No plan came to mind.

She sensed the one who had body-slammed her walking towards her and raised a brow, surprised by the sight.

It was a female, one as huge as a freaking bear.

She had an ugly scar across her face and a psychotic smile plastered on her lips.

Her hands were huge, and Katie was pretty sure the strength in them could rip her in half.

'This was no lady.'

"So this is the famous bitch I've heard so much about?" the female giant said with a booming voice, cracking her knuckles as she walked toward Katie.

"I'm going to have fun breaking every single bone in your fragile body."