The Alpha Queen And Her Chosen Mate

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Thorin and I helped Emmett and Jonas get their tents setup. We each had our own one-person tent to sleep in with a thin sleeping bag, though it was mostly for comfort, not heat. Definitely not heat. I wasn’t overly excited to sleep in the tent, knowing it would feel much warmer than being outside, but it would keep the bugs out at least.

Thorin and Emmett went to go get dinner while Jonas and I tended to the fire and started boiling water. We did all pack a few canteens, but that didn’t last long. Now that we had time to boil the water, we would use it to refill them. The straws we had could work on the fly, but I wasn’t especially excited to put my face so close to the water’s edge. There could be alligators or something equally fierce lurking just under the water’s surface.

“It is really great what you are doing for your mom.” Jonas said, poking at the fire.

“Thanks.” I half smiled. “Hopefully my father will see it that way.”

“I’m sure once he has a healthy mate he will.”

“I really hope so.” I sighed. “Hopefully my bravery and devotion to the queen will help redeem some of my transgressions. Maybe he’ll change his mind about making me queen.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is. I mean, yeah, you had some drug use but you got better. I’m sure he wasn’t all that innocent in his younger years either.” Jonas shrugged.

“It’s more than that, Jonas.”

“What happened that day?”

“Which day?” I asked, hoping to avoid the topic.

“The day I took you to your mates’ pack. Why were you detained for a week afterwards?”

“Goddess you are just filled with questions on this trip, aren’t you?” I laughed nervously.

“I wouldn’t be if you were honest with me.”

“If I were honest with you, you might not be sitting here with me right now.”

“Kelly, you’re my best friend, there is nothing you can say or do that will scare me off.” He said, nudging me reassuringly.

“Famous last words Jonas. Please just let it go.” I said.

Our conversation went dry once Emmett and Thorin came back to camp with an alligator for dinner. It was more gamey than what I would have liked, but it was food, and we weren’t about to waste it. Almost as soon as we were done eating, Thorin practically ordered us all to sleep, except Emmett who was on first watch. We were each going to take about two hour shifts, which would bring us to morning.

Retreating to my tiny tent, I tried to get some sleep but my mind was far too active. Part of me wanted to tell Jonas everything, but if I did that I might break down in the rainforest and we had a mission to focus on. Now wasn’t the time to get mushy and spill my soul…right? I felt like a bad friend though, not telling him when he had told me every detail of his life, good and bad. Though his badness was nothing compared to mine. He wasnt a murderer. His wolf wasn’t feral. He had never been an addict. He didn’t have an affair with his betrothed.

I jumped out of my skin when I heard my tent zipper coming undone, Emmett peaking inside. “Oh, you are up.” He said, relieved.

“My turn?” I asked.

“Only if your up to it,” he nodded.

“Definitly. I could use some air.” I nodded.

“Hey,” Emmett said, grabbing me by the waist. “Are you doing okay?” He asked.

“I’m good.” I nodded. “Promise.”

“Alright…I just added a log to the fire.”

“Thanks Emmett.” I nodded, waiting for him to disappear into his tent before checking on the fire and then setting my gaze upon the stars.

Goddess, I had never seen anything so beautiful. The sky was so clear, I couldnt take my eyes off the moon and stars. I wonder what the moon goddess did up there all day. Probably got lost looking at the stars too. Maybe that’s why my life got so messy. She just forgot about me. I was able to point out a few constellations and even saw a falling star. Before I knew it, Thorin was coming out of his tent to relieve me.

“My turn, Solnyshko,” Thorin said, taking a seat next to me on a log I had pulled over earlier.

“Its fine, I’m enjoying it out here.”

“You need rest, we have big day tomorrow.” He said, taking a sip of water.

“I cant sleep.” I admitted.

Thorin wordlessly pulled me to lay down onto his lap, his fingers gently massaging my scalp. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, loving the feeling. I felt myself drifting to sleep in only a few minutes.

“Don’t fight it.” Thorin said, a small smile creeping up on him. “Get rest.”

I vaguely remember yawning and nodding before sleep finally took over. When I woke up, I was lying on top of my sleeping bag next to the fire, the first few rays of sunshine cutting through the trees.

“Thorin?” I asked, looking around. “Jonas?” The tents were put away, the fire almost dead, and no sight of any of the men I brought along. “Emmett?” Weird.

I had to assume they were all off doing something important. It would be pretty d**k-ish for them to have abandoned me in the middle of the forest. Plus, we agreed on a buddy system. No one was supposed to go out alone. So where the hell was my buddy? I searched the surrounding areas before saying screw it and instead started to get ready for the day. I changed into some clean clothes, put a brush through my hair before throwing it back up into a ponytail, and then brushed my teeth. Lastly, I took a double dose of my Keres-control-pills. Sitting back down on my log, I felt a bit achy from sleeping on the ground last night, but was just happy I was able to get some sleep. It would make today a lot more manageable.

A few minutes later, Jonas came back to camp looking around like he was up to no good.

“Where were you?” I asked, my eyes narrowing. “Where are the other two?”

“Thorin and Emmett went to go scout out the next path and try to make some sense of the map.” He said, an excited look crossing his face. “I think I saw a rare creature, a Mapinguari.” He lit up.

“Okay, first off, you shouldn’t have gone out there by yourself.” I said pointedly. “And secondly, what is a Mapinguari?”

“I know, I know, I just couldn’t help it.” He said, pulling out a small sketch book. “This is a Mapinguari. It was thought to be just a made-up creature from some old folklore, but its here and its real.”

“It looks like an ape,” I said, not overly impressed.

“Well, kind of, but its much larger and has claws for hands. It also smells like you wouldn’t believe. They are supposed to be nocturnal, but I caught a glimpse of them walking.”

“Them? There is more than one out there?” I asked. “Are they friendly?”

“Kinda…as long as they don’t see you.” He shrugged.

“Jonas-“

“It was fine, I was fine, they didn’t see me.” He reassured me.

“Okay, but no more going out like that, or at least take someone with you so they can knock some sense into you.” I said, shoving him.

“We found path.” Thorin announced upon his and Emmett’s, arrival. “But no shifting, too tricky to navigate with wolf.”

“It should only take another day and a half before we reach where the old man said,” Emmett added.

“Alright then, lead the way.” I said, throwing my bag over my shoulder.

We walked for hours, taking only a short rest here or there to grab water or eat something. I settled for protein bars all day, not wanting to take the time to try and build a fire in the middle of the rainforest and cook the raw meat the guys got. I was determined to get to that flower. I was excited to hear that we would hopefully be able to find it sometime tomorrow. The first of the three items, and it wasn’t all that bad after all. Was it hot and humid? Sure. Did the bugs annoy me beyond belief? Absolutely. But nothing has tried to kill us and Keres has stayed dormant thus far, so to me, this was a successful trip. Hopefully, the other two elements will be just as easy to get to.

“We will make camp here tonight,” Thorin said from up ahead.

“Which is where exactly?” I asked, jogging ahead to catch up with him.

I gasped at the beauty before me. We had been walking alongside a waterway for some time. I didn’t think much of it, until now, when I could hear the roaring waters and see the amazing view. We were at the top of a waterfall, overlooking the vast forest. There were vibrant tropical flowers everywhere and it smelled amazing. The sunset turned the sky into beautiful shades of pink, orange, and purple. I don’t think anything could top this.

“Same shifts as yesterday?” Jonas asked.

“Fine with me.” I smiled, my eyes still fixed on the view.