Chapter 32

Cheyenne's POV

I woke up the next morning in a good mood. I stretched my limbs out and could hear Koa yawn in my head. I got out of bed and walked over to my closet and changed my clothes for the day. I put on a pair of mid-calf length leggings and a sports bra with a tank top over it. I hated changing clothes more than I had to, so instead of going to breakfast then coming back to change for training, I just wore my training clothes to the dining hall.

"Why are some people smiling and nodding at us?" Koa asked.

"I'm not sure. It is kind of weird ain't it?" I thought back.

I continued walking while Koa remained on high alert. There was something going on and I couldn't quite place it. Some people were acting very differently around me this morning.

"Maybe they just found out who we are and they're trying to kiss ass now thinking that when you take over, they will get whatever they want?" Koa suggested.

"Maybe. As of right now I do not trust anybody." Koa nodded her large head in agreement.

I made my way to my usual seat at a long table that usually had at least 3 different groups sitting at it with a few seats in between each group. I had just waved the servant over when I saw Jax enter the hall. We locked eyes and I saw the corner of his mouth twitch up and then he made his way over to me and sat down.

"Notice anything different?" Was the first thing he asked me.

"Excuse me? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Look closely." Was all he said as he started to look around the hall at everybody either waiting on their breakfast or already eating. Some people who noticed us looking would give a slight nod and then go back to what they were doing.

"What's going on Jax?" I asked while still scanning the room.

Jax didn't say anything just shifted in his seat and put his elbows on the table and folded his hands. Oh if momma could see him right now, she would throw a conniption fit. I could hear her now "Elbows off the table!" The thought of it made me giggle to myself.

"What's funny?" Jax asked.

"Just something my momma used to say. No biggie. Anyways what's…" That's when I noticed it and my mouth quit working. Jax was wearing a handmade bracelet with a small seashell on it. The shell reminded me of our little adventure on the beach yesterday.

"Sweetie that's it! Look around again!" Koa jumped at the realization and took just enough control to force me to look around the room again.

The people who had nodded at us all had a small seashell in some fashion. Some had them as hair pieces, some as bracelets, and some as necklaces.

"The shells…" I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts.

"I told you I would find a way to show you who you could trust." Jax winked at me. "We can go over the details later, but right now I need you to stop staring at everyone and pick your jaw up off the floor please." He gave a slight chuckle.

I hadn't even realized I had been staring for so long that I didn't notice the kitchen servant standing next to me with my food. While he placed my food and glass in front of me, Jax asked him to retrieve his food also. It was when the servant turned around that I noticed a small shell on the back of his apron too. I looked down at my plate and couldn't help the small smile that crawled across my face.

"Eat up. After the pack run last night, some things happened that we need to talk about, but not here. I will meet you up on the training field." Jax said in a whisper just as the servant brought his food out for him.

I didn't verbally respond but just slightly nodded once and continued to eat.

"Slow down child! You're drawing unwanted attention to us!" Koa barked at me (pun definitely intended).

"Well I am supposed to be this bitchy whiny brat ain't I? Least that's what they all expect me to be. Those who are on the King's side, think I'm too soft now. So watch this…" Koa read my thoughts a split second too late.

I caught someone staring at me who wasn't wearing any shells and just the look alone was enough to cause my anger to rise up.

"Tell MY people what's about to happen is for show." I whispered to Jax.

"You gotta staring problem bitch?!" I stood up looking directly at this full-grown man. I had no idea who he was, much less what he was capable of. I could see Jax out of the corner of eye looking back and forth between me and this man trying to figure out what was going on, when he looked back down realizing what I told him before my outburst, as he made it look like he was hiding a laugh but at the same time he wasn't.

"Calm down Princess. That's not one of the men you want to pick a fight with." Jax said loud enough for all to hear while tugging lightly on my arm.

"You're damn right I'm the mother fucking Princess and this bitch over here has been eyeing me down like some fuckin creep!" I looked at him with a look that I could only hope he understood as to play along.

Just then the man slowly stood up. Shit. This dude was huge. What did I do? Shit. Damn. Fucker nuts!

"I'm itching to let lose. Let's go. Training grounds!" Koa said pacing back and forth. It's in a wolf's nature to want to kill something, especially if it's threatening.

When the man started making his way towards me, Jax stood up also. Jax was bigger than this man but this man was still a damn giant. Ughhh momma was right, my mouth is going to get me killed today.

"Is there a problem here Koda?" Jax asked while crossing his arms over his puffed-out chest and squaring his shoulders.

"Why are you protecting this…this thing! She is a disgrace to the crown! She's not even full blooded lycan! Law states only a full blooded lycan can wear the crown!" Koda shouts.

"Should we get the King down here and have you explain your thoughts to him?" Jax said with a smirk.

"Bring him down here. I do not…" Koda started to say before I cut him off.

"That will not be necessary Jax." I said patting him on his shoulder and then looking back to Koda who was standing across the table from me.

"Koa help me out here." I thought and I felt her nod her head as I filtered my plan to her.

I gave Koa just a little bit of control, just enough for us to jump on top of the table from our standing position, and for my eyes to start glowing. When I jumped on the table Koda did not move, but when he saw my glowing green eyes, I thought I saw a hint of "oh shit" flash in his.

"It is NOT my fault my father, YOUR King, was a man whore! I did not ask for this bullshit but hey if the shoe fits, wear it right? So here I am bitch! If you have a problem with me or my wolf, we will be on the training grounds until lunch." I looked away from Koda who had looked past me to Jax, probably questioning if I could challenge him like that or not. I had everybody's eyes on me, which is exactly what I wanted. "That goes for anybody else here who does not think I'm worthy enough. Rather you like it or not I will be your Queen soon enough and you will all bow to me. Maybe once I rip a few of your throats out, you will learn to tread carefully."

I locked eyes with Koda one last time before raising just one eyebrow and calling him a bitch again and then jumping back off the table next to Jax. I could see a few people, who were already on my side, trying to hide their smirks and it made it hard on me not to laugh myself. So instead of fighting it, I let a devilish smirk appear on my face as I walked out of the dining hall and towards the training grounds.

I could hear a couple of people following behind me but I didn't turn around to see who it was. I knew one of them was Jax.

"I wish I had a way to mindlink Jax. Would make things so much easier around here." I told Koa.

"You know, there might be a way. The whole lycan thing is different than wolves. I will have to ask Selene about it, but we don't have time right now since you opened a challenge." Koa said.

"Oh don't act like you're not about to enjoy yourself!" I rolled my eyes at her.

"Koda would've been just fine, not the whole army!" She said.

"Jax won't let it get that far. Don't worry. If anything, we start a civil war here. Let them kill themselves off. Less we have to worry about when Gunner gets here." I smirked.

I made my way up to the training field and was stretching out when another guy I've never met came up to me. I didn't see any type of shell on him so I was on guard just in case. As he got closer I stood up and brushed myself off, but as he got about 5 feet from me, I saw his eyes faulter and look away and he kept walking passed me.

"Left knee." Was all he said as he passed. I was slightly confused until I saw Koda with a group of his men coming out onto the grounds. I met him in the middle of the field while everybody else formed a circle around us at a distance.

Jax had come pushing through people to get to us before standing between us with both his hands out to keep us apart.

"Apparently instead of training, we're all going to get a free show." Jax said looking between us. "There is only one rule, no killing!"

"Fuck that! This bitch is about to die!" Koda hollered out and the people behind him cheered.

"You want to explain to the King what happened to his daughter and your future Queen you dumb fuck? That will be the death penalty. There's more than 3 people who will watch it happen, so no trial needed." Jax said while rolling his eyes.

Koda just growled at him and Jax growled back louder. I could feel Koa pressing just beneath my skin. She wanted at this fucker now.

"Again, one rule, no killing. Winner will be whoever can get the other to submit or tap out or a knockout. Understood?!"

Koda and I locked eyes and just nodded.

"Everybody back up!" Jax hollered while pushing people back. "On my word then. Ready…set…GO!"

Koda was the first to attack, or at least attempt to. I saw his move coming from a mile away. He came straight for me and I waited until he was about 3 feet in front of me to step off casually to my right. Koda ended up literally eating dirt with a few blades of grass stuck between his teeth. He jumped up and came at me again, expecting me to do the same thing but this time I fell to my knees and laid back completely flat on the ground and he went flying over me. Half the crowd was cheering while the other half was booing, and it just fueled me even more. I knew the more I could piss this guy off the more mistakes he would make.

As he was getting up, I charged at him and kicked him straight in the ribs and sent him flying about 10 feet back. Everyone around could hear the sound of his ribs cracking. I had turned around and was walking back to my side of the field when I heard it. He shifted. I kept my back to him but turned my head so my chin was just in front of my shoulder and looked back at him and grinned.

"Koa, you ready? Time to play." I joked.

At that I felt Koa come forward and my bones started breaking and realigning. I felt my skin itch slightly as white hair started coming out. It all happens so fast that I really didn't feel anything anymore. Within seconds I had completely shifted and was standing there on 4 paws. Koda started charging towards us again and Koa sniffed the air and then just turned around and started flinging dirt in Koda's direction. Everybody started laughing at that point and Koda let out a growl so loud I thought I heard the windows rattle.

Taking that as a challenge in itself, Koa turned back around to face him and slammed her front paw down and let out a growl that was so much louder than his that I felt the earth tremble beneath our paws. You could tell that this shocked Koda at first, but he shook it off and came charging at us again and Koa took off charging at him. We collided and it turned into an all-out brawl. I'm sure we looked like 2 drunken sailors on a ship in the middle of a storm. We were all over the place and the fight was back and forth.

I wasn't sure how we were going to win this fight but I was determined. I had a few seconds of rest to catch my breath while Koda was getting up off the ground when I saw that same guy from earlier who raised an eyebrow at me and then the memory flashed in my head and I yelled at Koa to go for the left knee.

Koa huffed and as soon as Koda was in somewhat of a standing position, Koa took off after him. He had expected us to go high for his chest or head since that's where we had been trying to focus on, so he had his arms up to defend and block us, which left his legs completely opened. Koa dug her paws in the dirt harder and sped up at the last second and locked her teeth around his knee as she flew passed him.

Koda let out a loud howl of pain and when Koa stopped and dropped what was in her mouth, I noticed there wasn't just only clothes there, but she torn his knee cap off. I had to fight the urge to vomit at that moment. I could hear Koa laughing in our head. What the hell is wrong with her!?

She darted back towards Koda as he lay on the ground screaming in pain and slammed her huge, now not so white, paw on his throat. She let out a deafening growl that had everybody on their knees and baring their necks to her. It was so quiet you could hear a feather land on the dirt, when out of nowhere, someone started clapping slowly.

Koa tracked the sound to the front of us, so she backed off of Koda and left him lie there in the dirt still bleeding. She stuck her nose in the air and then got into the defensive position and let out a low warning growl. Everybody had started to stand up to see who was the one clapping.

"Koa, Koa what is it?" I asked trying to figure out what had her on alert after what we just went through.

"It's him." She growled. Before I could ask who 'him' was, the King stepped out from behind his people. Had he been here the whole time?

"That was rather very entertaining." The King said smugly as he took a few more steps towards us. "It's nice to see after all these years, you haven't lost your touch."

"I am better than I was back then." You could hear every person there gasp. Wolves can't talk like lycans can while they're in wolf form. "I have learned from my mistakes. And that…" Koa threw her head towards Koda, "That was just me playing with my food."

The King laughed. "I would expect nothing less from you. But if my memory serves me correctly, isn't that the same finishing move you used on my…was it my father or my older brother?"

At the mention of the previous King and prince everyone around gasped loudly, again, which made Koa roll her eyes.

"Apparently your memory isn't shit if you can't even remember which one it was." She snapped back. The King just glared at her. "Either take your man here and get the fuck out of here so I can continue training or take that pretty little bath robe off and let's finish this once and for all!"

The King just stared at us but I couldn't get a reading on his feelings. He had blocked them out. After a few minutes, the King raised his hand and snapped his fingers and 4 guys came running onto the field towards Koda who was still lying on the ground. They picked him up and hauled him off to wherever they take their wounded. I could only assume they had some type of hospital or something here.

We never broke eye contact with the King until he turned around to leave and follow the others who hauled Koda off the grounds. I could feel Koa shaking with anger. Just as the King vanished, Jax came up to our side and ran his hand down the side of our neck.

"Hey. Calm down. It's over." He must have picked up on her majorly pissed off aura.

Koa just huffed at him in return, but he kept petting the side and back of our neck. After everybody else had filed out to continue with their day, Jax shifted around us so he was standing in front of us now.

"Come with me." Was all he said, and you could see it in his eyes that he meant no harm to us.

Koa lowered her head and he led the way in the opposite direction of where everybody else had just went. We ended up on the beach again when he asked me to shift back. Koa asked him for some clothes and he took the shirt off his own back and held it out for Koa to take in her mouth and we trotted off to the tree line.

I shifted back and threw his shirt on. It was a t-shirt on him but a circus tent on me. The sleeves came down to my elbows and the bottom of the shirt was just above my knees. I walked back out onto the beach to find Jax sitting in the sand looking out over the ocean. I went up and sat down next to him.

"You ok?" he asked. "All your wounds healed?"

"I'm fine. I gotta couple of scratches that are still healing but I'll be fine." I shrugged.

That's when Jax sighed and I looked at him.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"The prophecy. It all makes sense now. Although I did hope it was true, but to actually know that it's really happening. It's like a breath of fresh air honestly."

"What prophecy? What are you talking about?"

"I don't remember it exactly word for word, but basically a blast from the Kings past would come and reunite us all. I'm not exactly sure what it means by 'reunite us' seeing is how lycans have always been united. Hearing your wolf…"

"Koa." I interrupted.

"Hearing Koa and the King talk about his past and how she killed his family, the prophecy has to be about you, or about her at least."

"Why do you seem so upset by this then? I thought you wanted me to take over and to get rid of his ass?" I asked confused.

"I'm not upset by it at all. I do want him gone. It's just after all this time, all these dark years, there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. It just feels so surreal at the moment."

We spent the next couple of hours talking and I let him in on a few details I had gotten from Gunner. The fact that they knew where I was and that they were sending scouts from all over. I left out the witches that they were working with just to be on the safe side.

We headed back to the mountain and I went back to my room to get clothes that fit. I passed a servant in the corridor and asked that my lunch be brought to my room. I got back to my room and went straight to my closet to change and then went to plop down on my bed when I saw an envelope propped up on my pillow with my name on it.

"Koa. I don't smell anybody's scent in here. Do you?" I asked her.

"No I don't either. We could really use that link to Jax right now though. I'm going to try to contact Selene and see if she knows some way to get around the pack/mate link thing. Stay here until I get back sweetie." I nodded as I stared at the envelope on my bed and felt her retreat to the back of my mind before she was gone.