Althena

36. River Mud

I wake up and stretch. That was the best dream I've ever had. I didn't know dream s*x was an option. I take a shower and get dressed for training.

Granny sits my breakfast on the table. "I wondered if you were getting up today."

"What do you mean?"

"It's 11. I thought about making lunch instead."

"I missed training." I lay my head down, and I smell Mike on my arms. I breathe deeply. I miss him. How do I smell him? I don't think dreams work like that. I go to my room, and it smells like him too. Then I see his shirt on the dresser. "WHERE IS HE?"

"Park. I think he went to training."

I run as fast as I can. Then I see him standing in the warriors. They're standing around. He has shorts and a T-shirt on. I dive when I get close enough. He catches me and I wrap around him. "I missed you." I lay my head on his shoulder and hug him tightly.

"It's only been a couple of hours, baby. I couldn't sleep anymore after that plane ride."

"I thought I dreamed everything."

He chuckles and pats my butt. "That was one hell of a dream."

I snuggle him. "Yea."

"I missed you too."

We watch a helicopter land and Jax gets out.

Chris comes from the other direction. "That's Jax. We stayed with him last night."

"Again?" Mike tilts me.

"Chris was there."

A minute passes and Chris says, "Jax, this is Mike. Mike, Jax. Everyone else here knows each other I think." I feel Mike move his hand and shake hands with Jax, but I don't like it. I wiggle around until he puts it back.

Monte smiles. "Is that what you're doing today?"

I nod.

"Well, I guess nobody gets to help me with the new wolf training grounds." Beta sits at a table with some papers.

I straighten my back and Mike smiles. "You can help."

I look back and forth between Mike and Beta a few times. Then I point at Beta. "Go over there."

Monte chuckles. "She outsmarted the system, beta."

Chris shakes his head. "No. She has Mike wrapped around her finger."

"But I love those little fingers. I think I'll stay wrapped around it." Mike sits in a chair with me on his lap. "Let's see what he has."

"This is the agility and balance course. It's out there already. We're going to fix it. Add anything people can think of. Then we went to add another course. That's the one I'm working on."

Chris grabs the paper. "Can we go see this?"

Beta and Monte say, "Ugh."

"What?"

"She won't come out. Last time it took us 2 hours; coffee, threats, negotiations..."

Monte nods. "I had to get the warriors to flush her out of the tunnel, so I could capture her."

They crack up laughing.

Chris nods. "But now we have Mike. It'll be his problem."

That must work. Because the 6 of us go to the course.

"It's an agility course. She uses it like a speed course. Stay out of her way." The gate opens.

I wiggle away from Mike and turn into my wolf. I'll show them what to do. I go to the start and move through it so fast. I love this place. I get through the tunnel and jump. I catch the dummy while I'm flying through the air and rip its head off.

They're all standing at the end. "She is ferocious on attack."

"Yea, I wouldn't want to be in her way. The start is this way."

They go through it a few times. Then we go to the water obstacle course.

"This is the warrior water training obstacle course. We would like to add something in for wolves in the water. But even at 3 feet deep, they could drown. We're a little stuck on whether we should attempt it or not."

"I want to attempt it." Conner is standing there.

I get so excited. I wiggle and dive at him. He falls on his back and I plop over on him.

He coughs. "Missed you too."

"About time you wake up. I wondered if you were gonna sleep all day."

"Not all of us could sleep the entire 17-hour flight, asshole." Conner rubs my ears and holds up a bag. "Granny gave me clothes for you. Go change in the trees."

By the time I get back, Conner and Mike are lined up at the start of the obstacle course. They're going to race. I guess that makes sense since there are 2 of everything.

They are hilarious to watch. They are close together through all of it. Mike knocks Conner off the balance beam with a rock. Then, while Mike is trying to get the harness on, Conner jumps off the platform into the water. Mike jumps down, fighting to get the harness off.

Mike comes out of the water first. Conner comes out 2 seconds later. Conner has 2 dummies and Mike has 1.

"I WON."

"I saved 2 people while you were f*****g around with the rope. I won."

"If you would have just..."

"BOYS." I shake my head. "It's a training thing. You both did it."

Monte nods. "Put the dummies back. Anyone else want to try it?"

Jax tosses his shirt off. "Yea, I need to try this."

I jump up and down. "I'll race."

Monte shakes his head at Jax. Then he looks at me. "You are not allowed to race on the monkey bars. You can race after that. And no jumping off the platform. A 20-foot free fall into 3 feet of water is not smart."

"Ok."

Mike nods. "Should have thought about that before she saw us do it."

Me and Jax get to the 2 sets of monkey bars and Monte makes Conner and Mike stand on the tires around the pit.

"She cannot race this. Jax you can go."

"BUT."

"He'll wait and race after this. I don't want you trying to race."

"Fine."

He goes over like normal and stands with Conner.

"Go."

I climb the monkey bars like a ladder and go across the top of it. Then I go down the other side. "It's easy."

"I can see why you didn't want her racing on that."

"Yea. You might think it's easy, but if you slip, that's a 20-foot drop into a wall of mud. And you'll probably knock yourself out on the bars before you even hit it."

"Can I have help on the wall?"

"No. Go."

Me and Jax take off. He goes over the wall. I have to pry myself up. Then I roll off the other side. That thing is hard. He goes through everything fast. It's all a fight for me. Except the balance beam. That's easy. I struggle all the way up the net and think about taking a nap on it. When I get to the top, Jax puts the harness on me and watches me drop. Then he propels down without a harness.

Monte watches me with his watch. "5 MINUTES SAVE HIM."

I shake my head. "Dummies don't need to breathe. I do."

He bursts out laughing. "She got it up last time with 15 seconds to spare. I'll count that."

"She got this out by herself?" Jax is holding one of them.

"It was a fight. But she got it. Then she took a nap over there."

Beta motions us on. "Anyway, this is the warrior obstacle. We do have a platform jump area and a swimming training area. We're not going to have wolves jumping off platforms. Maybe a swim area for wolves would be good though. 50 feet with lanes. Keep it shallow enough so they can put their feet down."

Conner puts his shirt back on. "Hell, running in water is hard as a wolf. Make it a foot deep and tell them to run it. That's a strength builder."

Jax nods. "Foot and a half. They could go back and forth from swimming to running. Lots of resistance either way."

Mike picks me up and I wrap around him. "That wore you out, didn't it, baby? You did well though. I'm proud of you."

I snuggle him. Then I wake up and we're at the table again. Mike puts me in the seat beside him and I eat lunch.

"I need cottage cheese salad."

"Me too. I'll make some later."

Conner rubs his face. "I need your damn cinnamon rolls and coffee."

Then we watch a helicopter land. Beta stares at it. "I'm surprised it fit."

The prince comes over to us. "I'm Prince Clayton. I'm delivering some stuff for my dad. Jax, you are hard to find. The king sends his gratitude for keeping the princess safe." He hands him a bag. No doubt full of money. Then he looks at me. "I know nothing about what happened. I found out my parents weren't soulmates the day before you showed up. Dad was having a meltdown, and they came clean about everything."

"It's not your fault. I'm not mad at you."

"These are the royal events."

"What?"

"Every year, a city hosts an annual party. It's a place for the royals of all 3 cities to get together."

"We know that. Speed up." Chris waves his hand.

"Well, they are here for 2 weeks. The gala everyone gets invited to is 1 day. However, with you being royalty, you are asked to attend more of the events. This is that list. You will be attending as the Dark Princess. You will not be representing Mystical Moon or the Night Stalkers." He hands me 4 tickets. "I got them to give me 4 tickets. So, that's what they gave you. They're all access passes for the event list. All the events, including the dinner. The pass is assigned to 1 person. Each person gets a date."

"So, 1 pass is mine and I get a date?"

"You don't need a pass. You are the princess. Yes, you get a date for every event."

Mike takes the passes. "I get it."

I lean on him. "My date."

He kisses my head. "My forever date. So, I don't need a pass?"

"Correct. You'll be allowed in every event she invites you too. She'll put your name on the list, but that's all."

Chris gets his clipboard. "I'll remember to put your name on every list."

"Thank you. Have a pass." Mike gives one to Chris and tries to give one to Conner.

Chris shakes his head. "He doesn't need 1. He's my date."

"Why?"

"I don't have time to look for a date."

Conner rubs his face. "That's true. I don't have to look for a date this way either."

"You get the idea. I'm leaving. Oh, dad gave you an account. You have to look formal for some of the events. He didn't know if you had enough money." He hands me a card and leaves.

Mike gives Jax and Monte a pass. "Beta?"

"No way in hell."

"Maybe granny."

"Not a good idea."

I nearly jump on the table and flip around. Then I'm stunned stupid again. Nobody speaks. We all stare at the alpha.

He's wearing a neon green poncho with bright yellow pants.

I finally get my mouth to work. "Sorry, alpha. Didn't see you there."

"No problem. But Glinda tries to kill the king every time she sees him. It's been 17 years of attempted murder. Hell, she made the light pole try to kill him at our dinner a few days ago. I think it was Phina that made it explode though." He roams away. "SHE WILL NOT STOP."

Chris rubs his face. "Ok, where does he shop?"

"We don't talk about it."

"You still have 1 ticket, baby. Who do you want with you?"

"This is fine. Maybe someone will want it later."

"I'm surprised they're letting her in." Jax stares at his ticket. "She tried to kill them."

"Maybe they're hoping she'll settle down."

Beta nods. "Peace offering. Trying to be civil and include her. Could be any number of reasons, but I don't think her dad would try to say she doesn't exist. I mean hell. 3 days before the other royals get here, she's being announced as Princess Dark. These events don't last for 2 weeks. Look at the dates. They're starting now. Dinner tonight at the royal house."

"WHAT?" Chris screams and yanks it away. "EVERYONE SHOWER NOW. THEN GET BACK TO THE HELICOPTER. WE CAN'T GO COVERED IN RIVER MUD. MOVE."

Mike scoops me up and carries me.