The Alpha Queen And Her Chosen Mate

Kelly

I woke up the next morning to the sound of Throin talking to someone in a loud tone. I felt slightly hung over, but not terrible overall. Looking around, I noticed a bottle of water and two pills on my nightstand with a note.

“Eat me. Drink me.”

I chuckled and obeyed the note, praying that the tablets were pain killers and not some multivitamin or something similar. On the floor next to my nightstand were my bags from my little shopping trip yesterday. I did buy a backpack to jam everything into, so after getting dressed, I quickly packed everything up and left my room. Wandering around our massive hotel room, I found all three guys in the tiny kitchen. Thorin looked ready to go, Jonas was casually sipping his coffee, and Emmett looked kinda how I felt, hung over.

“Good morning.” I said, making my way over to Jonas and snatching his half-finished coffee. “Everyone sleep okay?”

“I didn’t sleep on a rock last night, so that was a plus.” Jonas said, taking his coffee back, trading it for a full cup just the way I liked it.

“Slept like a rock.” Emmett nodded, nursing his tea.

“Good. We go soon?” Thorin asked.

“Fine with me.” I nodded. “Let me just grab something to eat on the way out. Then all of you can tell me everything you know about our next destination.”

– – – – – – – –

“So where is this Dark Star Cave again?” I asked as I ate my muffin on the way to the plane.

“It’s in Uzbekistan, in a remote corner of the Baiyun Tau mountains,” Emmett answered.

“How long will it take to get there?” I directed my question to Thorin next.

“Twelve to thirteen hours at best,” he said. “We land near path that leads to cave.”

“Okay, not too bad.” I mulled over. “Do we know where in the cave the healing crystal is located?”

“No.” Emmett shook his head. “According to my research, the cave has hardly ever been explored. Only a handful of expeditions have explored the massive cave. It goes for miles, said to have huge waterfalls and frozen lakes within it. Some call it the Underground Everest for its freezing temperatures.”

“Wow…that sounds intense.” I said, hoping I had enough warm clothes.

“Not only that, but just the path to the mouth of the cave is extremely dangerous. It’s a two-day trek up a dangerous path, followed by a rope climb.” Emmett added.

“Shocking,” Jonas snorted.

“Are there any not-so-mythical-mythical-creatures we might need to worry about?” I asked Jonas.

“Quite a few actually. Now knowing that one of my legendary creatures was in fact real, there are hundreds of other species that could also exist.” Jonas sighed.

“Well, I trust that you’ll know it when you see it.” I laughed uncomfortably. I didn’t like the idea that we might run into trouble inside a cave thousands of feet beneath the earth’s surface. Just the thought of it makes me feel claustrophobic.

“I packed rope and winter gear,” Thorin announced. “Should come in handy in cave.”

“Fantastic.” I smiled.

We made it back to the plane and thanked the wolf that let us park it there. We loaded up soon after, this time with Emmett and I in the back and Thorin and Jonas up front. The flight was quiet. I think we were all in our heads about the next part of our mission. We didn’t expect any of it to be easy, but after spending a week in the rainforest, encountering all that we did, a new level of seriousness kicked in. Especially since we were about to be underground. Something about that bothered me more than anything else.

After making one pit stop, which took much longer than normal, we made it to Uzbekistan. It was late, again, which seemed to be our norm. But even despite it being dark outside, I could see the silhouettes of all the undoubtedly breathtaking ancient structures. It felt like something from a postcard.

Emmett found us a hotel for a dirt cheap price, at least in American dollars. I was blown away when I saw the outside of the hotel, but laughed to myself when I saw our room, which had four twin beds all in the same room.

“So who wants what bed?” Jonas asked, chuckling to himself.

“I think you should sleep at the far end of the room. Give us a better chance to stop you if you start sleep walking.” I laughed as I set my things down.

“Great.” Emmet snorted, taking the bed closest to the door, probably still sore about losing Jonas in the rainforest last time he slept walked.

We got up early the next morning and found a place to eat. Jonas spoke with some of the locals and was able to get some helpful information from them. Unfortunately for us, getting to the cave would be a long hot walk where we might likely run into someone who might try to rob us, only to then get to the cave which would be freezing cold. We had to pack for all the seasons for this adventure.

– – – – – – – –

“At least it isn’t so humid,” Jonas said. “At least not rainforest humid anyway.” He sighed as we continued down the Silk path.

“No, but we still cant shift.” Throin grumbled.

We were told by the locals that the path to the Dark Star Cave was filled with steep slopes, rocky cliffs, deep gorges, and narrow valleys. Definitely not meant for shifting. So far, we have been traveling uphill for some time, it was possible for us to shift, if only there weren’t people around. We ran into enough traders to know it wasn’t a good idea for us to try.

“How about a little game then? To make the time go by quicker?” I suggested, hoping to relieve some of the tension. It was no surprise that we were all tired and a bit grumpy.

“Like what?” Emmett asked. He was probably the most lighthearted one of the group so far today.

“Hmm…how about I spy?” I asked.

“Alright.” Emmett nodded.

“I spy with my little eye…something blue.”

“Jonas’s backpack?” Emmett said.

“Yeah.” I half laughed. There wasn’t much blue out here besides the sky.

“I spy something, white.” Emmett moved on.

“Your shirt?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“Thorins socks?” Jonas asked.

“Nope.” Emmett shook his head, bending down to pick a tiny white daisy. He smiled and tucked it in behind my ear, a blush creeping up on me.

“I spy something beautiful.” Jonas said, quickly passing over my moment with Emmett.

“Kelly.”

“Kelly.”

Thorin and Emmett said immediately in unison.

“Yup.” Jonas nodded as we continued along.

I didn’t think it was possible for me to blush so hard. I generally wasn’t a bashful person, except when it came to these three apparently. I kept my head down as we walked, hoping they wouldn’t notice my red face. Of course, I imagined they knew, from the smug looks on their faces and considerably lighter mood. At least I succeeded in lifting the mood.

– – – – – – – – –

It took us the full two days to navigate our way to the entrance of the cave. We were all stripping down along the way, the heat getting to us. How long would that last once we got inside the cave? I have no clue. But for now, the guys were each in just a lightweight shirt and shorts and I switched to my sports bra and shorts.

“Goddess its so hot out.” I complained, again.

“One hour until nightfall. Hang tight.” Thorin encouraged.

“I still think the rainforest was way worse.” Jonas shrugged.

“By this time tomorrow, we’ll be wishing for heat.” Emmett chuckled.

“Lets just get to the base and make camp. I’m so over this heat.”

Just a few minutes later, we came to the part of the path that required us to climb a rope. It was so high up, thank goddess I wasn’t afraid of heights. It was also the last part of our journey to get to the cave. My feet were achy from walking on the uneven, rocky, path for two days. I was so thankful we were almost there. Just one very long rope and we were there.

Thorin led the way, followed by me, then Jonas, and finally Emmett. I wanted to cry in relief when we got to the top. I know I was a werewolf with supernatural strength and all, but this was a long trip with obnoxiously high temperatures. Hopefully, I’ll sleep well tonight and tomorrow we can find the crystal.