Chapter 8: Camping

After a few hours of walking it was starting to get dark. Kai and Nya had finally given up struggling and Nya silently followed behind as Kai slumped on Cole's shoulder, looking bored out of his skull. As they walked, only Jay's random ramblings to Nya filled the otherwise peaceful silence. Feeling his feet ache, Cole decided it was time to take a break by the river to clean the ash and dirt off his face. Kai had stopped struggling an hour ago so it was safe to put him down while Cole used the river to wash up and Jay and Nya rested their feet.

"So what's King Nadakhan like?" Kai suddenly asked Jay as they waiting for Cole to finish up.

Nya was also curious to learn more about the person her brother would be spending the rest of his life with. Jay looked at the two siblings and bit his lip in a slight panic. Truth be told the beta didn't really know any of King Nadakhan's good qualities if he had any. He didn't want to scare Kai off from his future husband, however, so he quickly thought of something he believed every omega wanted to hear about their alphas.

"Well, he is big, strong and he has a big palace?" The beta cat hybrid listed, flinching when Kai looked away. The prince was hoping to learn more about Nadakhan's personality, not his power. As they started making small talk, Cole finally walked over to the trio.

"Relax hair-gel, you'll find out more about your new hubby when you see him tomorrow." the alpha huffed and ushered for the two betas and the omega to follow him. As soon as he said that, however, Nya paled as her brother's eyes widened in horror.

"Tomorrow?" He gulped and looked at the sun, it was almost sunset. "It'll take that long?"

"Shouldn't we stop to make camp?" Nya suggested hopefully.

"No, that'll take longer." Cole sighed in frustration, thinking the prince and princess were just being difficult. "We can keep going."

"But... there are robbers in the woods!" Kai desperately cried.

"Whoa! Time out, Cole!" Jay cried as his eyes darted around in fear. "Camping's starting to sound good!"

"Hey, come on, I'm scarier than anything we're going to see in this forest." The bear hybrid shrugged and started walking again, only for Kai to suddenly run in front of him, blocking the path.

"I NEED TO FIND SOMEWHERE TO CAMP NOW!" He roared, echoing throughout the entire forest and startling Cole and Jay as Nya smirked smugly at their expressions. Without another word, the two hybrids quickly began looking for a safe place to camp for the night. It wasn't long before Cole had found somewhere safe to sleep, a dark cave on the flat top of a rocky cliff. While the two hybrids were making sure the place was stable, Kai kept looking at the setting sun in fear.

"Cole, we can do better than that." Jay frowned as he examined the dark space. "I don't think this is fit for a prince or a princess."

"No, no, it's perfect." Kai quickly said, realizing they were almost out of time.

"Yeah, it just needs a few homey touches," Nya added and speed-walked into the forest.

"Homey touches? Like what?" Cole asked, only for all the males to jump when there was suddenly a crashing sound and Nya came back with a large piece of bark she had taken off a tree.

"Well, gentlemen, good night." Kai smiled as he and Nya went into the cave and covered the entrance with the bark, using it as a door. Cole and Jay shared confused looks before settling down for the night. Night soon arrived, filling the dark sky with stars and a bright full moon and Cole had managed to make a decent-sized campfire. While Jay was putting his hands close to the fire Cole was staring at the starry sky. Neither Kai nor Nya had left the cave all night.

After a few minutes of silence, Jay sighed and went to sit next to Cole, who simply glanced at the beta before going back to stargazing.

"Hey, Cole, what we gonna do when we get our forest anyway?" Jay suddenly asked.

"Our forest?" Cole frowned in confusion.

"When we're through rescuing the prince and Nya."

"We? Jay, there is no 'we', there's no 'our', there's just ME and MY forest." The bear hybrid insisted. "The first thing I'm gonna do is to build a ten-foot wall around my land." He added harshly and turned away from the smaller male, not seeing the hurt in Jay's eyes before the cat hybrid pushed those feeling away.

"You know what I think?" The ginger male asked. "I think this whole wall thing is just a way to keep somebody out."

"No, really?" Cole asked sarcastically and Jay glared at his back.

"Are you hiding something?"

"Never mind, Jay, just drop it and leave it alone."

"Why don't you want to talk about it?"

"Why do you want to talk about it?"

"Why are you blocking?"

"I'm not blocking!"

"Oh, yes, you are!"

"Jay, I'm warning you." The alpha snarled as he stood up and glared at Jay.

"Who you trying to keep out?! Just tell me that, Cole!" He pleaded.

"Everyone! Okay?!" Cole suddenly bellowed in rage, his voice shaking the otherwise silent night. Instead of being terrified as anyone else would be, Jay actually looked relieved.

"Now we're getting somewhere." He smiled.

"JUST SHUT UP!" Cole shouted and walked away from Jay before he did something the beta would regret. Unbeknownst to both of them, the door to the cave cracked open slightly and the royal siblings picked out to see what all the hybrid's shouting was about. They both listened carefully as Cole continued his furious rant towards Jay.

"What's your problem? What you got against the whole world?" Jay asked as Cole sat on the edge of the cliff.

"Look, I'm not the one with the problem, okay? It's the world that seems to have a problem with me! People take one look at me and go, 'Aah! Help! Run! A big, stupid, ugly monster'!" Cole ranted angrily before his shoulders slumped and he let out a heavy sigh. "They judge me before they even know me, that's why I'm better off alone."

Kai and Nya decided they had heard enough and closed the door without either hybrid noticing. Jay stared at his friend with sorrowful eyes for a moment, remembering all the hate and pain he himself had gone through before meeting Cole, before joining the alpha on the edge of the cliff.

"You know what? When we met, I didn't think you were just a big, stupid, ugly monster." He offered softly.

"Yeah, I know," Cole replied, allowing a hint of a smile to grace his lips. The two unlikely friends sat in silence for the remainder of the evening, staring at the stars...