The Alpha Queen And Her Chosen Mate
Chapter 39

Emmett

We had no problems the following morning, although that might partially be because we excluded Jonas from the night watch. He was the new primary reason we were keeping watch. For him and for the apes. I noticed Kelly tossing and turning all night long. Part of me wondered if it was from being anxious about Keres possibly taking control, or if she was actually trying to take control.

“Are we ready?” Kelly asked, looking between the three of us.

“Almost,” Thorin said, grabbing one of her bags. I was on the same page as him and grabbed the other, not wanting her to aggravate her wound.

“I can carry my own bags.” She griped, the dark circles under her eyes more prominent in the light.

“No one said you couldn’t.” I shrugged. “Lets go.”

Kelly led the way, the three of us hanging back a way, not wanting to further aggravate her. Jonas was terribly quiet this morning, and rightfully so. Thorin was on edge, more than usual, his suped-up cattle prod in hand, turned off, but I’m sure he could have it ready at a moment’s notice. The tension was pliable around us and we had only been walking for thirty minutes. I didnt like it. Time to break the ice.

“What is the poorest kind of plant in the forest?” I asked, waiting for a dramatic pause. “A vine, because it can’t support itself.”

Nothing. Alright, let’s try another.

“What do trees do when they forget an important key?” I asked, pausing again. “They call a hemlocksmith. Get it? Hemlock?”

Silence. Okay, last one.

“What do trees use to send emergency messages in the forest?” Drum roll…. “Moss code.”

Kelly finally slowed down and I caught up with her. She gave me a small side hug and we wordlessly continued.

“Were they as cheesy as they sounded?” I whispered.

“Worse actually.” Kelly laughed softly.

“I’ll remember to work on my dad jokes when we get back home.”

“Or maybe just give it up.” Kelly laughed, making a cringing face.

“Shh-” Thorin said, stopping abruptly.

“Thorin?” Kelly asked over mindlink.

“Something is wrong.” He linked all of us, scanning the terrain.

I heard the snap of a twig before all hell broke loose. Out of the thick brush came an angry Mapinguari, coming right for us. I remember us starting to run. Kelly tripped over a root and Thorin was helping her up, until he wasn’t.

“What are you doing?!” I yelled, running back to help her.

“Go, while you still can!” Thorin yelled.

I didn’t understand what he meant until I heard her growl. Keres. The Mapinguari growled back, coming to a skidding stop in front of Kelly, who was painfully shifting. I was taken back when I saw her wolf. It looked sick, feral even.

“Lets go!” Jonas said, yanking me back with him.

“We can’t just leave her with that thing!” I protested.

“Look, normally I’d agree, but if G.I.Joe is running, so am I.” He said, taking off after Thorin.

I growled and followed after them, my ears keenly attuned to what was happening behind me. Lots of snarling, teeth snapping, and a few roars of pain. I slowed down when the fighting stopped, not sure who was the victor. Thorin and Jonas had slowed as well, waiting to see what would come running our way next. Goddess, please let it be Kelly. I feel like a piece of s**t for leaving her behind with that thing.

Relief taking over, I could see Kelly’s wolf booking it our way. Thank goddess.

“Run!!” Thorin yelled.

“It’s Kelly, she won!” I exclaimed.

“Nice!” Jonas agreed, walking my way.

“You fools! Run!” Thorin said, running past us towards Keres.

They collided, Keres pinning him to the ground despite his efforts to shock her into submission. She swiped at him twice, drawing b***d, before he managed to kick her in the ribs and send her flying into a tree a few feet away. She hit hard, but was back on her feet, shaking it off in half a second. Thorin ran with a limp towards, holding his side, growling through the pain. He grabbed each of us by the shirt collar and began dragging us along.

“What do we do?” Jonas asked, looking back towards Keres. “She is coming back.”

“Run. Hide. Pray.” Thorin growled. “Split up. She can only try to kill one of us.” He said before veering to the left, disappearing into the thick brush.

I didn’t hesitate to go to the right, I could hear Keres gaining on me, her paws pounding on the ground. Thankfully, I was met with a body of water and dove in, swimming like my life depended on it, because, frankly, it did. Keres surprised me and jumped in after me, but got distracted by an alligator and started fighting with it. I never thought I would be so thankful to a reptile.

“Hey! Over here!!” Jonas yelled, flailing his arms at the edge of the water, gaining Keres’ attention.

She swam back to the shore, having won her battle with the reptile, her eyes set on Jonas. I splashed in the water and called after her but her mind was made up. Goddess, this diplomat had a death wish.

– – – – – – – –

Jonas

“Hey! Over here!!” I yelled, getting Keres’ attention.

She had fire in her eyes and b***d in her teeth and was coming straight for me. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I thought if she saw me, maybe she would come to her senses. I seem to be horribly wrong. I ran as fast as I could, dropping my bags and shifting midstride, tearing through my clothes.

Keres was hot on my heels, her jaw snapping with each failed attempt to sever my flesh from bone. How the hell was I going to get out of this one? And then it hit me, the familiar rotten stench of the Mapinguari. Would it be awful for me to just drop her off with them? If I didn’t, I might not live to tell. I took a sharp turn in the direction of the Mapinguari and used every bit of strength I had to put some distance between us. I hardly got ahead, maybe only a foot or two more, but it was enough to run through a nest of Mapinguari and stir up trouble before getting out of there.

When I was sure she wasn’t following me, I shifted back and climbed a tree, peering down to see what was going on. Keres was savage as all hell. She seemed to enjoy killing, it was like a sport to her. I guess I’m beginning to understand why this was such a problem for Kelly. Why King Carson pushed so hard for her to get training and take all sorts of experimental medications. Why he wouldn’t just hand over his title to her. This was a much bigger problem than I had imagined.

After Keres finished killing the Mapinguari, she took off in the other direction, continuing on her killing spree. What once was a tranquil forest, was now filled with the sounds of wild animals fighting to the death.

“Everyone okay?” I linked Thorin and Emmett.

“Fine.” Emmett answered back. “Hiding near some rocks.”

“Thorin?” I asked.

“Hiding. But Keres is close.” He answered back, his voice strained even via link.

“We’ll make our way back to you-“

“Nyet. Too dangerous. Stay hidden, we wait until Keres tires out and shifts back to Kelly.”

“And if she doesn’t?” Emmett asked.

“Then we make her.”

It was a long, grim night. Keres seemed to be making up for lost time. I wouldn’t be surprised if she killed half the forest at the rate she was going at. It broke my heart to think how much this was going to affect Kelly. She hated even stepping on a potato bug as a pup, let alone killing all these other animals for sport, even if they were deadly and probably not as popular with the smaller animals. What was that going to do to her when she woke up and found out she had basically killed off several species? Or at least put them at risk of extinction.

I didn’t know what to do to help her. I guess just help pick up the pieces afterwards. We will have to replace her first. I could still hear her in the distance, but she was getting further and further. Maybe one of the other guys was closer to her. I don’t know if that would be a good or bad thing. I wish I had taken Kelly more seriously. I can see why she always made such a big deal about it, it was a big deal. Keres was a big deal. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little hurt inside, she never trusted me enough to tell me the whole truth. She said her wolf was bad, but this was worse than bad. And if she didn’t tell me about this, what else could she be hiding?