Chapter 43

Cheyenne's POV

"Wake up! WAKE UP!!!!!" Koa was screaming in my head. She was all excited jumping up and down.

"Just 5 more minutes." I groaned as I rolled over.

"NO! Now! Today is the day! How can you sleep on a day like today!" She barked (no pun intended).

"I'm reserving my strength." I mumbled still half asleep.

"That's what you got me for. I have waited to damn long for this day! The day I finally get to sink my teeth into…"She wouldn't stop pacing in my head.

"Ok ok, I'm up. Damn ass-monkey." I cut her off.

"I'll show you ass-monkey if you don't get out of bed. Although I'm not sure what an ass-monkey even is. You kids and your slang terms nowadays." She shook her head at me.

I pulled the blankets back and set my feet on the floor, sitting on the edge of the bed rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Koa was still parading around in my head. Glad she was ready for today because my anxiety was going through the roof with everything that could go wrong. The main thought being if we lost the fight. What would happen to me and all the innocent wolves and witches that came to my aid?

I stood up and made my way to the closet and got dressed for training as usual. I couldn't let anybody else know that today was going to be different than any other day. Then a thought came to mind. Should I request a visit with the King, my father, and pretend to notice that people are missing? No. Surely that would raise a red flag. But then again, he might send his people out looking for them which would leave less here for us to have to fight. But then again, they could spot the incoming boats with my pack and family on it. Ugh, I gotta get a second opinion on this.

"Sweetie, calm down. We have a plan in place, just follow it. It has worked out so far, no reason to detour from it now. Not at the finish line." Koa said in her motherly voice.

"I know, it's just that no plan is ever fool proof. Wait a minute. You know the King better than any of us. If I did tell him that my maid was missing, what do you think he would do?" I asked her.

"He wouldn't care so much about a maid, but if you told him that warriors were missing then he would send out some people but I cannot tell you how many or for how long." She replied.

"What if I told him about a rumor that they were last seen heading west?" I asked as a new plan started forming in my head. "He would send his people in the opposite direction and it would lessen the chance of the incoming boats being spotted and lower his numbers."

"True. It could work. If he really wants you to take over the crown, then this could be a way of 'getting on his good side' so to speak." I could almost hear Koa's gears turning in her head as she mulled over this new portion of the plan.

"Should we inform Jax of this?" I asked.

"Oh most definitely! He is the King's right-hand man. The King might try to send him out to lead the search party and we can't be having that." She said.

"I'll run it by him at breakfast, in the meantime, what do you say to a little run?" I asked.

"Sounds perfect!" Koa responded jumping in the air.

I finished getting ready and mind linked Jax to tell him that I had something to run by him at breakfast. I was heading out to the beach and couldn't help but feel like I was being followed.

"Koa, you feel that? Like we're being followed?" I asked still trying to act normal.

"Keep walking sweetie. Don't do anything until we are on the beach and away from prying eyes." She said on alert.

I continued walking and the feeling never went away. Once we exited the cave and were out on the beach I started stretching and trying to act as normal as possible. I mean it wasn't like I was doing anything wrong, just going for a morning run. After I was done stretching, I started jogging down the beach. I made sure to run right along the water line so when the waves came in they would wash my tracks away.

I'm not sure how far I had ran, far enough I couldn't see the cave anymore, but the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach was growing more and more. So I decided to let Koa out and take us back.

I stepped behind some trees and stripped down and tied my clothes around my ankle and called Koa forward. Once we shifted she actually pranced back out on the beach.

"So much for not calling attention to ourselves." I said rolling my eyes.

"I'm just having fun. This could be our last day on this planet. Got to live it up." She responded.

"Better not be our last day. I would get stuck with the war-hungry wolf. I thought you were supposed to be some old-fashioned wolf anyways?!" I asked sarcastically.

"You mind your manners young lady! You know it's not polite to ask a woman her age!" She sarcastically responded back.

"Oh good grief. I give up. Just get us back will you?" I asked but she didn't respond.

Instead, Koa stopped dead in her tracks and started sniffing all around. I could actually feel her tensing up. She didn't say a word and just took off like a bat outta hell.

"Koa, what's going on?" I shouted in her head.

"Stay down." Was all she said. What the hell does that mean!? Stay down? I'm literally in her head this time. She has control. How does one 'stay down'?

I could feel her picking up speed the more she ran, but I didn't know what or who she sensed that would spook her like this. I'm sure we made it back in record time, and as we got closer I pushed forward just enough to see threw her eyes. The wind blew just enough for us to catch Jax's scent and then we saw him standing just inside the cave and that's when Koa started barking loudly and then suddenly stopped and threw her muzzle to the sky and let out that loud howl again. All of a sudden everybody was coming out of everywhere, both allies and soon to be enemies. It was just a matter of seconds and the King appeared not 10 feet from us.

"What is going on?" He asked.

"Vampires. I swear on everything Holy, if this is your doing I will end you right here and right now!" Koa snapped and bared her pearly whites at the King. I could see Jax running towards us just behind the King so I know he heard Koa too.

"I am not that stupid! You know we don't get along!" The King snapped back.

"Wolves and witches never got along either but here you are, working with them." Koa said matter-of-factly.

Before anybody else could say anything, there was sounds of limbs snapping in the woods. Everybody got in their defense positions and the King's guard all surrounded him. Jax stood between the King and Koa but the look he gave us, was not so reassuring. Just then someone emerged from the tree line, right into the sunlight. If he's a vampire then how is that even possible. Thought they couldn't go into the sunlight?

"Who are you and what are you doing here?! You are trespassing!" The King shouted.

"I am Dimitri. I have come on the orders of my leader with a message." He said as he offered a slight bow.

"And what is this message?" The King asked.

"You have a traitor amongst you." Was all this Dimitri said. Koa and the King looked at each other for a second and then turned their attention back to Dimitri.

"And I should believe you why?" The King asked.

"Don't believe me. What do I care? But my leader thought you'd might say that so I've been ordered to tell you that if you don't heed my warning, we will take our land back." Dimitri had this devilish smirk on his face.

Wait, take THEIR land back? What in bloody hell is going on? I thought the King always lived here.

"Are you threatening me boy?!" The King was mad now. His face turning red from his blood pressure rising.

Dimitri just kept on grinning, "Oh no sire. No threats. Just promises."

Before the King could respond, he launched himself off the ground to the tops of the trees and took off into the woods.

"Now that is a real-life ass-monkey if you ask me." Koa thought and I just rolled my eyes. Before I could retort anything back Koa turned to the King.

"I knew it! All these years have been nothing but lies." She started to walk in front of him and then spoke louder for all to hear. "You have lied to your own people for decades. They have been in danger this whole time! THAT is why you've kept locked away in the bloody mountain!"

Warriors started mumbling to each other, all in shock at what they just heard.

"You have no right to speak like that to me!" The King started but Koa cut him off before he could say anything else.

"You have no right to lock people away! How many of 'your' people have died because of your greed? How many of 'your' people have died mate less because of your fear? It ends now!!!!!" Koa launched herself at the King.

He dodged her attack and then shifted into his Lycan form. He was huge but that didn't seem to bother Koa. All the other warriors that were standing around all moved out of the way just in time.

"Looks like you're finally getting what you've always wanted Nakoa. A chance to kill me." He smirked.

"I haven't been called that in over a century! How dare you use that name!" She tried to hide the hurt in her voice but I heard it, I could feel it. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to catch her off guard, to piss her off because everybody knows nobody can fight when they're pissed. They react on pure emotion and don't think.

"Koa, focus. Don't let him get to you. That's what he wants. Breathe Koa. Just breathe." I had to get her focus back. Normally she's the one guiding me, so this was all new to me. I've never had to guide her, especially during a fight.

"WARRIORS!" Koa boomed while still keeping her eyes on the King. "Now is the time. You must choose a side; the King or mine. This fight is between him and I alone. NO outside interference. If you interfere you will die. NOW CHOOSE!"

The warriors all started mumbling again looking back and forth between the King and Koa. Some of them chose their side almost immediately, standing behind their leader. Others took a little bit longer to make their choice.

"For those of you who chose his side, you will die eventually or forever live your lives at rouges. You want to follow a liar then so be it." Koa said to those who were now standing behind the King.

"How do we know you didn't set all this up!" Someone shouted from the group behind the King.

"How do we know that you didn't!" Someone else shouted back from behind Koa.

"Jax, whatever happens, you get these people out safe. Those behind him, well kill them. Mind link whoever you can on our side and tell them to run also." Koa said lowly so only he heard. Jax just nodded his head in agreement.

"Enough stalling. Time to end this." And with that Koa charged towards the King.

Koa and the King went back and forth while everybody else stood around watching quietly. It seemed like every time Koa would get the upper hand the King came back and caught her off guard. I knew her facing her past was going to be difficult for her but her fighting style was so sloppy right now.

"Koa what is going on with you? You've never been this sloppy before." I asked her worried for our safety at this point.

"Relax sweetie. I'm just playing." She laughed back.

"PLAYING!!!! ARE YOU FUCKIN KIDDING ME!????" I yelled.

Koa just laughed even harder. I'm not sure how long they had been going at it at this point. The King had deep cuts and puncture wounds all over his body. Blood was pouring out of his nose from when Koa, "playing" around had penned him down and then headbutted him and broke it. There was a mixture of laughter and boo's coming from the crowd when it happened. Koa had her share of cuts and puncture wounds also. Pretty sure we had a few broken ribs also but with the adrenaline rush, we didn't feel it but I knew we would later.

Koa charged at the King and speared him to the ground. She had him penned again but I could feel there was something different about this time. She was going to end it all right here and now. All of a sudden there was a loud clap of thunder that shook the ground and lightning strikes all around us. When did the clouds even roll in? It was just sunny I swear. Everybody jumped and when the lightening started getting closer, they all took off for the cave until it was just Koa and the King there on the beach with her still on top of him. She never took her eyes off his.

"Alida get over here!" I heard Jax's voice in our head.

"Get the people to safety!" Was all I heard Koa say before another clap of thunder sounded.