Chapter 34

Cheyenne's POV

I'm not sure how long I sat there staring at the envelope in silence until it finally hit me. The map! I had completely forgotten about the Harry Potter style map that the King gave me. I jumped over to the other side of my bed and pulled it out and unfolded it. I looked all over it and finally found the dot that had Jax's name next to it. I remembered the path to his quarters and then folded it back up and hid it again.

I ran to my closet and I through on a hoodie and tennis shoes and headed out of my room. Luckily there weren't many people out to stop or question me. Once I got to Jax's door, at least I hoped it was his door, I knocked three times. I heard someone walking towards the door before it opened.

"Alida, what are you doing here?" Jax asked surprised.

"I have a problem. I need you like now!" I stated.

"What's wrong?" Jax said with all his attention on me now.

"Just come with me." I grabbed his wrist before he could get out another word.

I drug him back to my room and then just pointed to the bed while I closed the door behind us. Jax walked over towards my bed a little confused until he saw the envelope.

"It was laying there when I got back from the beach. I think I recognize the handwriting but it can't be who I think it is." I said softly.

Jax sniffed around my bed before grabbing the envelope, "Well there's no poison or anything. Did you read it already?"

"No. I haven't touched it." I said now getting the chills and rubbing my arms.

Jax sensed my unease and came over and wrapped his huge arms around me and just completely engulfing me in a hug.

"It's going to be ok. Do you want me to open it?" Jax asked as he rubbed my back.

"No, I'll do. I can't let little things like this get in my way right? Not when I'm trying to save people in here." I took the envelope from him and opened it. I pulled out a folded letter and started reading.

Princess, I know what you're up to. I have studied you for far too long not to know what's going on in that pretty little head of yours. Keep trying to one up the King and it will be your head that I will take as my first act as Queen! If you know what's good for you, you will back the fuck down. Oh, also stay the fuck away from Jax. Him and the crown are mine, not yours!

"What the fuck?" Jax and I both said at the same time and looked at each other. All of a sudden I felt woozy and got extremely lightheaded.

"Alida. Are you ok?" Jax asked.

"I…I…" was all I got out. I saw Jax reach out for me as I felt myself start to fall and then everything went black.

"Sweetie, wake up." I heard echoing in my head. I felt something wet on my face, like someone licking me. Eewww who would lick someone's face.

My eyes fluttered opened before being blinded by a bright light. My eyes fluttered more until they adjusted to the light. Once I could see I sat up on my elbows and looked around and then let out a loud groan and flopped back down on the ground.

"Now is that the way to greet me?" I heard her laugh.

"Why do you keep bringing me here? I am needed down there!" I said not even getting up and pointing to the ground.

"Sweetheart, I do not bring you here for my own entertainment. I can assure you that. I brought you here because of Koa's request to be able to mindlink with one of the lycans." Selene said.

At this I sat straight up. "What? Is it possible?" I asked.

"It is but it could be painful. Trying to forge a link to two people who are not connected by the bond or pack is tricky, but it can be done." She said waving me to come towards her.

I picked myself up off the ground and that's when I noticed Koa behind me.

"Wait, did you lick me?!" I asked looking back at her.

"What else was I supposed to do? Pounce on you?" She smirked.

I rolled my eyes and started walking towards Selene.

"I need you to concentrate sweetheart. Concentrate on the lycan you wish to forge a link with and no one else. Koa she's going to need you around her to help ease her pain." Selene gestured for Koa to come over also.

Selene placed her hands on my head and I closed my eyes and started thinking about Jax. I hoped he wouldn't suffer also. I felt Koa lay down behind me, so at least if I fell I would land on her fluffy ass and not the hard ground.

Selene started mumbling in some language I didn't know. I felt pressure building up in my head and soon enough I thought my head was going to explode. I knew she said it was going to be painful, so I tried to fight through it and just kept thinking about Jax.

Next thing I knew the pain had gotten so bad that I couldn't stop the scream that came out of me. I felt Selene take her hands off my head and my knees gave out from underneath me. Thankfully Koa was still behind me and I was caught by her midsection before she eased both of us down to the ground. I wasn't sure how long I was out but when I woke back up I was in my bed.

I looked around and didn't see anybody at first. I was trying to remember what had happened when I felt Koa stir in my head.

"Koa, what happened?" I asked her.

"Mother pulled you into her realm." She replied but she sounded weak.

That's when it all hit me. The map, the note, Selene, Jax…Shit JAX!

I threw the blankets off me and went to get up.

"Whoa Alida. Calm down. You shouldn't be up yet." It took a second for my eyes to focus. I felt someone holding my shoulders. I blinked a few times until my sight focused and then I realized it was Jax who was holding me up.

"Holy shit. Jax!" I jumped up and bear hugged him around the neck.

"Alida, calm down. Are you ok?" He said calmly.

"I am now." I whispered into his neck.

"What happened?" He asked pulling me off of him to look me in the eyes.

I didn't say anything and just stared at him fighting back the tears. My head was still throbbing but I wanted to see if it was all worth it.

"Selene happened." I said threw the new mindlink.

Jax's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. "How…How is this possible?" he said out loud.

That's when I gestured towards my bed and we both sat down. I rubbed my temples trying to ease some of the throbbing to be able to focus long enough to tell him what happened. After I was done he had a million questions, of course.

"Look nobody knows that I have been to her realm much less talked to her in person. Please don't tell anybody. I can't answer any of your questions unfortunately. All I know is that I'm "the chosen one"." I rolled my eyes.

"I promise I won't tell anybody, but why did you ask her to create a link between us especially after she told you it would be painful?" he asked.

"You're really the only one I truly trust around here. I know you got people here on my side, but I don't know them like I do you. So if something happens I needed a way to be able to contact you. Since I don't have my phone, and I doubt there's any cell service inside a mountain anyways, this was the only way I knew I could talk to you if needed." I said looking down at my hands in my lap.

"Alida, look at me." Jax said softly while grabbing my chin and turning my head towards him, "If they have that shell, you can trust them, because I trust them." I nodded my head, again fighting back tears.

This was all becoming too overwhelming and I was afraid I wasn't as strong as I thought I was. That's when I remembered something that I wanted to talk to him about.

"That reminds me. The shells are nice for inside here, but we need something for my people to know that these people are on our side from afar. A bandana, a certain color shirt, something that's noticeable from afar but not noticeable in here. I know it's confusing and I'm not making sense right now. Sorry, but my head is still throbbing from my apparently realm jumping." I blabbered out.

Jax chuckled, "Made perfect sense. We can still use the shells. Our people can keep them for now. As for markers for your people, I will come up with something. Unknown fact, we have a spy on our side." He winked at me. "I will get with her and see if she has any ideas. If anybody knows how to blend in with one crowd but stand out to another, it's her. Don't worry yourself about it. I'll take care of it."

"Thank you. For everything Jax. I honestly don't think I would've made it this long without you." I said sadly with pleading eyes.

"You don't give yourself enough credit Princess. I haven't done anything but tell you to eat and run faster." Jax leaned over and wrapped one arm around my shoulders and gave me a light kiss on top of my head.

"Ughh really?! Princess? You know…" I started to say but he cut me off.

"There's my girl. Welcome back." He smirked. I just wanted to punch him in the face now. How is it that this man has only known me for a short time, but he knew exactly how to bring me up from the bottom?

"I hate you." I chuckled.

Jax just put his hand over his heart in mock shock like I just hurt his feelings but then smirked again.

"You should probably get some rest. I will be having people stop by to check on you periodically. Especially after receiving this note, we now know there's a female around here that wants your head and I'm not going to let that happen." Jax said fluffing my pillow.

"I am still tired but you don't need to send babysitters Jax. I'm sure I'll be fine." I said bringing my legs back up onto my bed and pulling the blankets back over them.

"I'm not going to take that chance, and they're not babysitters Alida. They will just walk by your door casually and listen for anybody who shouldn't be here. Plus, now that you've done the unthinkable, you can mindlink me anytime you need something." He said as he pulled the blankets up over me. I felt like a child being tucked into bed again.

"There's no getting out of this is there?" I asked.

"Nope. So save your breath." He replied.

"Fine." I rolled my eyes.

Jax chuckled, "Get some rest."

I closed my eyes and heard him walk towards my door but didn't hear him leave. He was probably making sure I was actually going to sleep and not going to try something stupid after he left. So I laid there and it didn't take long before I felt myself drifting off to sleep.

*****

Jax's POV

"Ray, I need to see you. You got a few minutes?" I asked one of my best friends and one of the best investigators around these parts. This guy could track anybody across the world. He was amazing at finding shit out.

"I'm in the dining hall eating lunch dude. What you need?" He responded right away.

"There's been a breach in security. I need you to come to Alida's room like now…please." I tried not to sound desperate.

"On my way." Was all he said before I felt the link close.

I sat there staring at the note until I heard a soft knock on the door. I jumped up and opened it and Ray was on the other side. I opened the door a little further to allow him in but not enough for anybody passing by to see Alida passed out on her bed. Once he was in, I softly closed the door behind him.

"What's the emergency call for sir?" Ray asked and I pointed to the bed where Alida was. "What happened? She seemed fine earlier. Remind me to remember that knee trick also." Ray smirked.

"Yeah that wasn't something I taught her either. Anyways, she showed up to my room and drug me back here to show me this." I handed him the note.

Ray took the note and then read it. I could see his eyebrows furrow in confusion before going wide with shock.

"Sir, what…who…" Ray was still staring at the note, obviously just as lost as Alida and I was.

"We don't know who it's from. Obviously by the verbiage it's another female. I have linked a few others and some maids and nobody saw anybody in this room while we were out." I said looking back over towards Alida.

"Are you two mates or something?" Ray asked.

"No. Why?" I asked looking back at him.

"Well it states that she needs to stay away from you, because you belong to whoever wrote this." Ray said pointing to the note. "Do you have a rejected mate here that just hasn't accepted it?"

"No. I haven't had the luxury of a second chance mate. You know how rare that is for werewolves much less our kind Ray." I said trying to hide my disappointment.

"I'm sorry for prying sir. I just assumed you called me here to figure out who wrote this." Ray said.

"I did. I just wasn't focused on that part. I was more focused on the words about having her head." I said nodding towards a sleeping Alida and Ray lifted an eyebrow at me.

"Just by judging this note, it is a female obviously as you said, but it's got to be someone who's close to the King in order for her to think that the crown belongs to her. Evidently she's believed for who knows how many years, that she was next in line to be Queen, but by what means of becoming Queen is unknown." Ray blabbered on while staring at the note again.

"What do you mean by "means" exactly?" I asked.

"There are 3 different ways this female could get her hands on the crown. That being before the Princess showed up." I automatically cringed at the word Princess. "You ok?"

"Yeah, just an automatic reflex. Just a word of advice Ray, do NOT let her," I said quietly like she could hear us while pointing towards her, "ever hear you call her that. She hates it." I softly chuckled.

"Alida? She hates to be called a Princess?" Ray asked confused.

"It's a long story, and one that is not mine to tell. Just know that she does in fact hate the name. Anyways, you said there are 3 ways for this person to obtain the crown?" I said and Ray nodded his head once.

"Yes. First would be to marry the King. Second would be that the King would have to have it in writing in a last testament that only became effective upon his death. Third would be if she challenged the King and won. Now all of these can still happen even with Alida here, but her presence does throw a wrench into this person's plans, because now not only does she have to worry about the King but now she has to get Alida out of the picture first." Ray rambled on again.

"Fuck my life." I said running my hands down my face. "Ok I'm going to up Alida's security. She does not go anywhere without one of the warriors, ones that are on our side in this fight." I said.

"Copy that Sir. Will you assign the warrior's shifts or would you like me to do it? Also, would you mind if I kept this note? Just to study it a little more." Ray asked.

"That's fine Ray. Do whatever you need to do. Just one thing though. Nobody but the 3 of us here in this room are to know about this. We don't need people freaking out. And I will assign the warriors, you just focus on that note and figure out who wrote it. I will have their head for threatening our future Queen." I said again looking back at Alida's sleeping body.

"Sir, is she going to be ok? She's never slept in the middle of the day like this." Ray asked and I could hear the concern in his voice.

"I hope so Ray. She had just read the note and then just passed out. I'm sure it wasn't the note as I'm still standing, so I'm just keeping an eye on her for the moment. If she doesn't wake up soon, I will be calling the pack doctor in here." I wasn't sure if I was trying to reassure him or myself at that point.

Ray nodded his head in acknowledgment while stuffing the note in his back pocket and then quietly left the room. I went back over and sat on the edge of Alida's bed and I just started begging and pleading for her to be ok. I'm not sure what came over me, I have never acted like this before. Not since I had a mate, and it's very clear that Alida and I were not mates. Maybe it was because we were so close to freedom that I could taste it. Yeah, that had to be it.

Alida started to stir and I jumped up and stood there at the edge of the bed. I wasn't sure how she would react to me sitting on her bed when she woke up. She slowly sat up looking around her room, probably trying to get her bearings again, when the blankets went flying. That's when I stepped closer to try to prevent her from getting up. She seemed so relieved to see me that she actually jumped up and wrapped her arms around my neck.

I couldn't help but hug her back. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was falling for this girl, but she has a mate out there that is looking for her. I knew I didn't have a chance and would end up hurt in the end, but that didn't mean I was going to stop protecting her. I let her sob in my neck for a minute before pulling her back to look at her and asked what happened.

That's when I felt something strange in my head. It was like someone was lost wondering around and then I heard it. I heard her voice in my head. How is that even possible? We're not mates or of the same pack. Alida and I sat down on her bed and she began explaining her trip to see the Moon Goddess herself. I didn't even know that was possible.

After our talk and her shedding some tears and me reassuring her, I made her go back to sleep and tucked her in bed. I knew I had to go get warriors assigned to watch over her and now I needed to go to see Andy, the spy. We always gave her shit for having a guy's name but it made her job easier really. You hear or see the name Andy and you automatically think male not female. It made it easier to fly under the radar.

I mindlinked one of the warriors I knew was trustworthy and told him to come here. Once he showed up I explained the assignment to him and made sure that Alida was not to know he was here, much less anybody else. If we wanted to catch who had left that note, we needed them to think the coast was clear if Alida was not in her room.

After I dealt with him, I caught up to another warrior I knew could do the job. I explained the assignment to him also and told him to relieve the current one at 21:00. The warrior nodded his head slightly and then headed towards the dining hall. I went on to track down Andy. I needed her help in pulling off Alida's plan of helping her people to identify us as friend or foes.