Chapter 26

Cheyenne's POV

I was in the process of waking up when Koa started prancing around in my head.

"Dude, what's got you all giddy this morning? We haven't even had coffee yet. For the love of all things holy, chill for like 5 minutes." I begged her.

"I'm not a dude for starters, and he slept with your shirt last night." If wolves could grin, she was from ear to ear.

"How do you know that? And how did he get my shirt?" I asked.

"I couldn't sleep, so I connected with his wolf and he told me. And you did leave your bag in the locker room when you went running out of the training center." Koa said matter of factly.

My mouth just made the O-shape as I remembered what she was talking about, which brought about another question in my head.

"Wait. You said I had to be strong enough to shift. How are we going to continue training and getting stronger so we can still shift?" I asked as I sat straight up in bed.

"Not to worry sweetie. Already got that worked out. We will train with them here. Play their game against them right? Let them believe we are on their side. Let them get comfortable with us. We go to just one of their training sessions, we can see what kind of numbers they have. I will connect with Maddox, which is Gunner's wolf by the way, and I will let him see through our eyes. If we can get into their training, then maybe we tell Gunner to hold off on the rescue mission and to plan a full-on attack so we don't have this problem again in another 150 years." She was talking 90 miles an hour.

Some of it just fly by me before I could really comprehend. I pretty much got that we were going to gain their trust enough to start training to learn their numbers and techniques, and then relay that back to Gunner and then come up with a plan to end this once and for all.

Just then there was a soft knock on the door but I was so lost in thought that it scared the shit out of me and I jumped enough to almost fall off the bed.

"Come in." I hollered.

"Morning Mistress. I brought you breakfast. We weren't sure what kind of beverage you would prefer so we decided one of everything. I hope that is ok?" It was the same beautiful woman from yesterday that I scared the shit out of.

"What's your name darlin?" I asked. The woman looked my way with a look of shock on her face. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No Mistress. I'm just not used to people asking me questions other than about their food." She said looking back at the cart.

"Well then, that's about the change." I patted the bed beside me. "Come, have a seat. Looks like I'm going to be here for a while so might as well get to know you so you're not tempted to poison my food or something."

She looked at me with a confused looked now. I could tell this was completely out of the norm for her. I wonder how long she's more or less been their slave around here. She slowly started walking towards me, and when she got close enough I reached out and grabbed her hands. She looked up at me with a now worried look on her face. I offered a comforting smile and nodded my head towards the bed.

We sat down and began talking. Her name was Bethanie and she was born into this life. Her mother was the head maid around this place and took care of the King. She was assigned to the warriors until I came along. She's never been outside this place. The only way she gets to "experience" the outside world is through books.

"Koa, we win this, and this girl goes home with us. Not to be our slave, but to actually live her life. Same goes for all the servants around here. They pledge loyalty to me over their King and they come with us. Those who side with my father, die with him." I said sternly. There was no debating this. Koa just nodded her head once in agreement. I could feel her pride radiating through me at my decision. I could've easily said screw everybody and just save myself, but I couldn't do that. Some of these people here didn't choose this life, it was forced on them.

Bethanie and I hit it off pretty fast. I even brought the cart over and offered her some of the food she brought for me. She wasn't kidding when she said that she brought a little of everything especially for the drinks. There was coffee, water, orange juice, apple juice, white milk, chocolate milk, just so much and I knew I wouldn't finish it all and momma always said never to let good food go to waste.

We had to of spent at least an hour sitting there talking and laughing on my bed when she finally stood up. "I should probably get going Mistress…"

I held my hand up to cut her off, "Please, call me Cheyenne."

She had a soft smile and gave me a slight bow and then grabbed the cart and left the room. After she left and I was sure the cost was clear, I decided to start doing some workouts that Ty and Damon had taught me.

I started with my warmup stretches and then the standard push up and sit ups. I had to find a way to push myself so I did a handstand with my feet on the wall and started trying to do pushed ups. I was in the middle of trying pull ups on the bar in the closet when I heard footsteps coming towards my door. I stood up and walked over to the door and opened it before the person even got a chance to knock.

"Hello Mistress. I am here to take you to the King." This person looked like a young boy, maybe 16 if that. He was also dressed in a white toga looking outfit but instead of the gold trim, his was sapphire blue, which made his sky-blue eyes just pop.

"I swear if one more person calls me mistress, I'm going to start cutting tongues out." I muttered. I don't think the boy heard me, but he didn't react if he did. I didn't want to leave this room but at the same time, I needed to try and figure out where I was. Besides I could use the fresh air too.

"Lead the way. Let's go." I said and extended my arm forward.

The boy turned around and started walking back down the corridor and I followed about 8 feet behind him. While we walked, I allowed Koa to come forward and look threw my eyes and lock in images of key points of this place. Having my wolf full force now, was like having a cell phone in my head essentially. She was my camera, voice recorder, hell even my "phone" to make "calls". Her memory was unbelievable. It had me wondering if every wolf persona was like her, but when the thought fluttered through my mind, I could hear Koa chuckling.

We had to of walked down 30 different corridors in this place, twisting and turning. I was so lost that it was bring back the horrible childhood memories of getting lost in the maze of mirrors at the county festival that came to town every year.

We finally came up to these huge double doors. They looked to be made of red oak, with very intricate details carved into them. One door had what looked to be demons and the other door had what looked like angels or goddess on it. Both looking at each other like they were charging at each other, getting ready for a battle.

The boy knocked on the door and I could hear it echo on the other side. That told me that the room on the other side was going to be huge, or empty, one or the other. "Open." Came a voice from the other side that I instantly recognized as my biological fathers. It even had Koa's ears perked up when we heard it.

"Keep your guard up sweetie. He's the master at trickery. He will not play if he cannot win." Koa warned me just before we walked in.

I quickly scanned the room taking in my surrounding just in case I had to make a run for it or defend myself. My eyes did a full scan before landing on the huge man standing and the end of the room with his arms folded tightly across his chest with sideways smirk on his face.

"Shorts, tank top, sneakers, hair pulled back but a mess. If I had to guess, I'd say you were trying to work out?" It sounded more of a statement than a question.

I shifted my weight onto my right leg and crossed my arms over my chest and looked him dead in the eye, "And what if I was?"

He dropped his arms and started laughing. "I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you down here." He said as he turned around and started walking towards the only window in the room. I didn't move from my position.

"I really don't care why you asked me here. All I know and care about is the fact that you interrupted my workout."

He looked back at me over his shoulder and I couldn't tell if he was smirking or glaring but I didn't let any emotion show that he in any way affected me. We had a stare down for a minute or so before he finally broke the eye contact and started walking back towards me.

"I want to take you on a tour. You are the next in line to rule over this place, as my only heir. I think you should see what this place has to offer before you completely write this place off. I'm hoping that you come to love this place as your new home, and the people who live here aren't that bad either." He smirked and I could only assume that he was referring to himself.

"I will agree to take a tour on one condition." I said with a much confidence as I could muster.

He raised a single eyebrow at me and then asked, "And what would that be Princess."

I rolled my eyes at the name, "Ok now 2 conditions. One, never call me that again. Two, you let me train with your warriors."

He was looking at me like he was trying to study me. Like he was trying to find something that I was hiding. After a moment of another stare down, he nodded and smiled, "I can only agree to one of those terms. Like it or not, as my daughter, you are a Princess."

"I also have a name. You can use that. Not my alleged title." I stated as calmly as I could. I knew if I wanted to train here, I was going to have to play nice. Not one of my strong suits either. So this was already going to be difficult.

"For now, Alida." I rolled my eyes again. It wasn't the name I knew but it was my birth name, I'll give him that.

"Ok then. Now can we get this over with so I can get back to training please. I was training every day and now I've gone, hell I don't know how many days it's been without training."

"All work and no play I see." He said tilting his head up while still looking down at me.

"Also keep in mind, you only look down on me because you're taller than me." I said as I spun around on my heel and started to walk away.

I heard him chuckle behind me and mutter something under his breath. He started walking behind and reached around to open the door for me. Our first stop was the kitchen/dining area. He explained to me that I was welcome here anytime I wanted and all I had to do was tell the kitchen staff what I wanted and they would get it for me.

Next stop was the grand ball room. He told me stories about the history of this room. The major events that had taken place in there and also a deadly fight over some drunk hitting on another's mate.

He then showed me a place they called the garden square and it was actually beautiful. All the different colors of flowers just everywhere that were perfectly balanced with just the right amount of foliage.

I don't even remember all the rooms and spaces that he showed me, partially because I didn't care and partially because all I was thinking about was training.

"Ok you took me on a tour. Now when and where do I train?" I asked as we came back to the dining hall.

"All in good time Alida." He patted my shoulder. I had to refrain from punching him straight in the face just for touching me.

"We had a deal." It came out more whiney than I wanted it to and he noticed it.

"Tugging at my heart strings now. Ok, ok. Let's grab some lunch and then I will take you out to the training yard." He said as he offered me a seat.

"Remember, he's all about games." Koa reminded me.

"I eat and then I train. No more stalling. No more excuses. No more bullshit. I let you give me a tour of this place on the condition you let me train. You agreed to it. Break that, and I will tell everyone how unreliable you are, and I'm sure as a King, that's not something you want." I said sternly while staring him down in the eyes.

"You really think that would work? These people don't know you. They've lived with me for their whole lives." He said smirking.

"You willing to test that theory of yours?" I asked. His smirk faltered for just a second.

"Fine. You win. We will go to the training grounds after we eat." He says just as 3 servants come out each carrying a tray.

Two of them each had food, each of them sat a tray their tray in front of the King and I while the third servant was carrying the drinks and sat a cup full of a red liquid in front of each of us. The King must have seen me eyeing the cup awkwardly and asked if I had an issue with wine.

"I don't drink any alcohol. Can I get just a water please?" I asked the servant.

"Of course." He bowed slightly and took off back towards the kitchen. It was only a minute before he came back carrying a glass of ice water.

We sat there in silence while we ate. All I could think about was training and getting info to Gunner. After the last interaction with my biological father and Koa, I didn't want to risk him taking away my chance to train with his warriors, so I told her to stay back and to just observe for the time being and we would talk it out once we were back in our room alone.

I finished eating and pushed my plate away and looked over in his direction. "Ok, let's go." I stated as I stood up.

"You are 100% sure you want to do this?" he asked with pure curiosity.

"You know curiosity killed the cat, right?" I smirked back.

"Good thing I'm not a cat then huh." He stated. Well, at least I know where I get my smartass nature from.

He got up from the table and led me out of the dining hall and before I knew it we were walking past the corridor to my room. I almost snapped thinking he had lied to me and was taking me back to my room, until he kept walking right past it. After a few more twists and turns and I lost count of how many stairs we climbed up, we finally made it to the top of this place and the view was breath taking.

"You should've put the garden up here." Was all I could say at the moment. He just hummed in response.

I looked around and could feel Koa "snapping pictures" for lack of better term at the moment. There had to be at least 100 people up here. We were walking up to one of the warriors who had scars all over his body. For a wolf to have scars, they had to of been wounded horribly to the brink of death, that their wolf couldn't heal them fast enough. I couldn't even begin to imagine what this warrior had been through to be a lycan and have all those scars.

As we got closer, the warrior spotted us and started walking towards us. He offered my father a slight bow and then they shook hands.

"What do I have the pleasure of having the King up on my training grounds today?" He asked.

"Jax, this is my daughter Alida. She wants to train." The king stated smirking.

Jax looked over at me and I could feel his eyes looking me up and down. "How's that saying go? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Is that correct?"

My father laughed and nodded his head. "Is there anyone in particular you are wanting her to train with my lord?" Jax asked.

"I would prefer if you did, Jax." He said and both Jax and I looked at the king. "You are my top warrior and I only want the best for my daughter." He smiled while looking down at me.

"Look if your plan is give me the toughest roughest dude you got to try to scare me out of this, it's not going to work. It's just going to push me harder." I stated, which caused him and Jax to exchange looks.

"I guess only time will tell." He said.

"If I feel you are taking it easy on me, I will tell everybody just how much of a bitch mutt you are. Understood?" I said with as much certainty and confidence as I could.

"Really? You think my men will believe an outsider over their leader?" Jax asked.

"You really want to test that theory sweetheart?" I responded.

My father laughed, knowing I used the same thing against him to get me here. "Jax, she says no holding back, then don't hold back. I will not issue any punishment if she gets hurt, as long as it's by you and you alone. Afterall, injuries are a part of the process right?" He says smirking again.

"That would be correct my lord." Jax said with a grin on his face also. "Ok then. You start tomorrow. We start right after breakfast. Between breakfast and lunch is human form. Between lunch and dinner is wolf form. You do have your wolf right?" Jax asked looking at me.

Oh shit. The one thing I was trying to avoid around my father. I was waiting on some nasty comment from him, but to my surprise he remained silent.

"Yes I do. I had just shifted the first time, and it was only for a short time, right before I was knocked out, abducted, and brought here." I stated with hint of malice in my voice directed towards my father.

"Nice to know you kept your promise of bringing our future Queen home. From what I see now, she's going to be a great leader my lord." Jax said to my father.

I just rolled my eyes and mouthed "oh my goddess" to myself.

"I guess I will be seeing you up here right after breakfast tomorrow morning. Bring your own towel and water. We don't share up here."

"I don't share shit anywhere with anybody." I flipped him off as I turned around started walking away. I could hear him and my father still talking but I didn't care at this point. I got what I wanted out of today. My spot on the training field. I tried to find my own back to my room but there were so many corridors that all looked the damn same! I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to find my father walking towards me.

"Are you lost?" he asked.

"No. Just temporarily misplaced at the moment." I said looking around the corridors trying to figure out where I was.

My father snapped his fingers and there was a puff of smoke and dust and there in his hand was a rolled-up piece of old parchment.

"What the hell…" I said out loud before I could stop myself. He just lightly chuckled.

"You have a lot to learn my young pup." Was all he said before he handed it to me.

I opened it up and it was a map of this place. It reminded me of that map Fred and George gave to Harry Potter in the movies. You could see a red dot with my name next to it, and a purple dot with a crown right next to it.

"Now we're descendants of freaking Harry Potter too or what?" I asked looking back up to him.

"Something like that." Was all he said before walking away.

I opened the map back up and found where my room was and started heading towards it. Once I finally made it there, I stuffed the map in the nightstand next to the bed and grabbed a pair of jeans, t-shirt, underwear, bra, clean socks, and a towel and headed for the showers. That was one place I made sure to remember the location of.

After my shower I went back to my room and sat on my bed and pulled the map back out and started studying it. I had told Koa to relay today's info to Maddox for Gunner so I had some quiet time to study this map. I didn't want to send this to Gunner just yet. Not until I knew it was true, now that I knew magic was more in play that originally thought. I'm not sure how long I had been looking at the map before finally succumbing to the darkness and passing out.