Chapter 31

Cheyenne's POV

The past few days have actually been fun, between training and working in the gym with Jax. Koa has been more relaxed herself with being able to shift more. She was extremely excited for the pack run tonight. It was a full moon and everybody shifts and runs with the King leading them all. The moon helps our wolves to recharge basically. Our wolves get stronger every time we shift and they draw their energy from the moon.

"Good morning Princess." Jax teased me.

"You really do have a death wish don't you?" I asked looking at him from the corner of my eyes while smirking.

"It's true. Why won't you just accept it?" Jax asked.

I looked back down at my plate and the stack of chocolate chip and butterscotch chip pancakes, playing with a few pieces that I had already cut off.

"I don't know. It just doesn't feel right Jax. I grew up as an omega just to find out right before my eighteenth birthday that I'm literally a princess. Princesses only exist in fairytales Jax." I said.

"You're saying this," he waved his hand around, "all of this, is just a fairytale?"

"I don't know what 'this' is." I said waving my own hands around. "I'm actually having fun with training and the gym, and I've met a few good people here. Nothing ever works out for me like this. Something is bound to happen to ruin this."

Jax sat there next to me in silence for a few minutes before getting a slight grin on his face.

"Come on. I want to show you something." He nudged me on my arm.

"Ugh but I haven't finished my slice of heaven!" I groaned.

"Trust me, you won't want much more to eat with what I'm about to show you." He smiled and stood up while holding his hand out to me.

"You do know that I have a mate out there somewhere and you are not it right?" I said while taking his hand and standing up.

"Oh I know. Just been a long time since I've had someone around here who knows how to have fun." He said.

"Speaking of mates. You haven't told me a single thing about yours. What's her name?" I asked trying to get the spotlight off me.

"My mate was killed. She was a hybrid between a wolf and vampire actually. The king found out and he ordered for her head and heart. I begged for her life. Told him to take her fangs instead of her head and heart. I thought without the fangs the bloodlust wouldn't affect her. Thought it would be like when you werewolves lose your canines, you lose your wolf type of thing, but damn I was wrong. Her vampire soul was still there and bled into her wolf. She was killing everything in sight, including women and children. So I had to put her down myself." He said rather calmly.

"Oh shit! I am so sorry you had to do that." I said looking away.

"It's ok. I've come to terms with it. I had no choice and I did the right thing. I have been hoping for a second chance mate but nothing yet." He shrugged and smirked.

"Well I hope you do find her. You seem like a good guy that any woman would be lucky to have." I said playfully punching him in the arm. "Anyways, where are you taking me?"

"We're almost there. Just a little further." He said.

We continued walking while Koa was saving certain landmarks in our memory bank to share with Gunner later. It's also been some time since we've talked last and I was missing the sound of his voice. Koa had connected with Maddox a couple times and would give me updates on their progress but it still wasn't the same.

It was only a few minutes before I noticed the smell of saltwater getting stronger. I started following my nose and took off past Jax and started running towards the source. Within 5 minutes I found myself on a beach. I looked around and it all felt so familiar, like I had been there before.

"You have been here before." Koa sounded like she was thinking really hard.

"What do you mean? We don't even know where we are?" I said, looking around and behind me to get a good view of the mountain we just came out of and the cave opening.

"Oh…my…OF COURSE!" She hollered out of nowhere, enough to make me visibly jump.

"You ok?" Jax said catching up with me.

"Yeah, my wolf is just so excited and she startled me." I said offering a soft smile and hoping he believed me.

"Sweetie, family vacation. This is the same beach you spent days on. That's the mountain that Ty shifted and ran on! We're in Scotland!" She said.

The more I looked around the more I noticed and recognized. She was right.

"Wait a minute. Jax," I slowly turned to him with a questionable look on my face, "I'm going to ask this once and once only. I have been here before haven't I?"

Jax's smile faltered a little before he started chuckling and looked at the ground. "See that cliff right over there?" He pointed towards the mountain. "I would sit up there and watch you down here on the beach, and before you get any ideas, I was on orders from the King. Truth is, one of the warriors smelt your brother and we had to go on total lockdown. But being your brother, we could smell you on him. So the King ordered the search to begin for you. I found you within a half hour."

"If you found me, then why didn't you take me then?" I asked.

"You looked at peace. Happy. I didn't want to be the one that ruined that for you." He shrugged.

"So instead, you just abducted me from my yard a few months later?" I questioned. "This doesn't make any sense." I shook my head.

"That was not my doing. After you guys left and I knew you were gone for sure, I went and told the King that I had saw you guys driving through the town towards the airport. Of course, by the time he got there with his warriors, you guys were already gone. He used his charm on one of the attendant ladies at the airport to get your flight info and then booked the next flight to America along with a few of his inner circle."

"Aren't you part of his inner circle?"

"Yes but being his right-hand man, I had to stay back here to run things while he was gone."

"I know he's working with witches and that's how he got me here. I had just shifted for the first time and was running through the woods and had shifted back to human form and then it felt like I hit a brick wall." I started slowly walking along the beach with Jax walking right beside me. " It was like I was completely drained and I couldn't move. I fell to the ground and before I knew it I passed out. When I woke up, I was here."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm sure they used a low dosage of wolfsbane to subdue you." He said.

"Why did you cover for me to begin with anyways?" I asked genuinely curious.

"Told you, you looked happy. Which looks much better on you than that pouty face you got going on right now." He said as he casually bumped into me.

I went to bump him back when he suddenly stopped and I stumbled in front of him before catching myself before completely face planting and literally eating dirt. I looked back at him with a look that said he was done for when he laughed and lunged at me. Before I knew what was happening, he had scooped me up and was heading for the water. I was squirming as much as I could to get myself free but to no avail. Next thing I knew we were both in the water.

We spent what felt like hours in the ocean splashing each other and just having fun. I don't think I've laughed so much in my life. It was actually very refreshing. Koa and I decided that ocean beach therapy is the best! We had started walking back and there was a question that had started to eat at me that I had to get off my chest.

I jumped in front of Jax and put my hand up to stop him. "Ok I got to get this off my chest. I told you about my problem with being called a princess. You've told me that you straight ignored a direct order from your King. And I really hope I'm not about to ruin whatever is going on here, because the last thing I want is to go back to being a prisoner. But you do know that my pack is looking for me right?"

"Of course they would be. I would be more surprised if they weren't." Jax said.

"Ok. Ugh why is this so hard. I've never had a hard time saying what's on my mind." I groaned while looking back out to the ocean.

Jax softly grabbed my chin and turned my head back towards him. "Just ask Alida. I didn't rat you out before, I won't do it now."

Either he is a very good liar or he's telling the truth, as I did not detect any spike in heartrate or adrenaline and he did keep eye contact with me the whole time.

"Oh boy. Ok. Here it goes. When my people find me, because they will, are you going to fight for the King or for me?" I quickly looked away because I didn't want to see his facial reaction. If there was any hurt or anger or anything, I didn't want to see it.

I know Jax was my biological father's top warrior, his right-hand man. Of course he would fight for him. But I had come to care for him. He had become one of my best friends in the short amount of time I've been here.

"Alida, are you asking if I'm going to betray my King and commit treason? That is the death penalty around here." He said which had me snap my head back up to look at him in shock.

This meant that the few people I had helping me, if caught, would be killed. Holy sweet mother of baby Zeus! What am I going to do? I got to get them out before the King finds out.

Jax must have seen my internal conflict because he softly grabbed both my shoulders and grinned, "Alida, don't worry. There's more than just a few maids on your side." At this my mouth dropped.

"You know about…" I started but he cut me off with a laugh.

"Yes. I know."

"But if you know, then the King must know! They'll be killed because of me!" I started to panic.

"Alida calm down. I am taking care of his royal pain in the ass. This is why I am training you so hard. Anybody else would be stuck with another warrior and going over the same shit over and over until they had it perfect. I know you have people looking for you. That's why I brought you out here. I do not know how you are communicating with them or who they got looking for you, but I knew if I brought you out here you would recognize it and be able to 'rally your forces' basically." He grinned again.

"Wait, you're not just using me and my people to get rid of the King to take his place are you?"

"What!!? No! I just want to be free again." He said rather sadly while dropping his arms and looking out at the ocean.

I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck, "I'm sorry Jax." I could tell he was shocked by the way he tensed up and then slowly wrapped his arms around me and lightly patted my back. "I just can't be too careful. I don't know who I can trust here." I said as I stood back on my own.

"I understand." He paused and I could tell he was thinking about something. "Tell you what, I will come up with a way to 'mark' people or something so you know who is on your side without anyone having to say a word. This way the King won't know otherwise."

"You would do that for me?" I asked.

"Yes. You don't know how long some of us have been waiting for this moment. We have prayed that you would be caring and understanding and not some power-hungry hormonal raging bitch like the King in there." Jax pointed his finger towards the mountain.

I couldn't help but laugh at his statement. "Nice to know. Guess we should be headed back though huh?" I said after catching my breath from laughing so hard.

"I guess so. Come on." Jax said as we both started walking back towards the mountain.

Jax had walked me back to the dining hall since I didn't get a chance to finish breakfast and we missed lunch. It was close enough to dinner time that we could probably get ours early. He got a couple of the servants to bring us food and drinks. I didn't realize just how hungry I was until I smelt the food and my stomach was growling at me loudly. Once we got our food, it didn't take me very long and I had devoured everything. Jax was laughing at me saying I was acting like I hadn't eaten in a decade.

After we were done eating, Jax and I parted ways and I headed to my room to get pajamas and a towel. I needed a shower to get all this salt off me. I could feel it drying my skin out already. While I was in the shower, I opened the connection with Gunner.

"MATE!" Was the first thing I heard. Of course Maddox would be the first to chime in.

I chuckled. "Hello Maddox. I need to speak with Gunner please."

"Hello Baby. Are you ok?" Gunner asked sounding relieved to finally hear from me.

"Yes I'm actually doing good." I went on to tell him everything that I'd been doing and how Jax had been helping me with training and weightlifting for strength training.

"Babe, I swear if he hurts you…"

"Gunner calm down, that's actually why I'm contacting you right now while I'm in the shower."

"Shower? Wait you're in the shower right now?" Maddox butting his fuzzy ass in now.

"Koa, take care of him for me please?" I chuckled.

"It would be my pleasure!" She said seductively.

"NO PICTURES!" I warned her and I heard Maddox whine and I just laughed.

"Gunner, there's some information I learned today that I need to tell you. It changes a lot." I said after I felt Koa distract Maddox.

"What's going on babe?" He asked.

I went on to tell him about everything Jax had told me earlier today. This meant that we would have more numbers on our side and less on the king's side. Only thing was, was that I didn't know what that number was.