Chapter 9: Breakfast Battles

When Kai and Nya woke up the next morning they saw that the morning sun had only just risen, the camp-fire had completely burned out and Jay and Cole were still asleep. Not wanting to disturb them, the royal siblings quietly walked into the woods to get some air. They soon split up to see if they could find anything to eat for breakfast. Armed with a bow and some arrows, Kai began to look for food. It was usually forbidden for omegas to learn any form of combat.

Kai and Nya's parents thought it would be important for both their children to know how to defend themselves when they were finally rescued.

Kai only hoped his future husband didn't mind that he knew how to fight. It too wasn't long before Kai finally came across a nice peaceful, clear river which not only had clear water in it but there were delicious red salmons swimming around. Kai grinned as his stomach grumbled and aimed his bow and an arrow at one of the fish swimming past him. When he released the arrow it hit the salmon right through the side, killing it swiftly and hopefully painlessly.

The brunette smiled, feeling very proud of himself, and continued this until he had a bag full of six, fat, tasty salmon before heading back to camp.

He met up with Nya on the way back after she had finished collecting a few berries and apples to go with the fishes he had caught. When Cole eventually woke up the first thing he noticed was that something smelt really good. He quickly sat up and saw that the royal siblings had a strong fire going. Kai was humming to himself as he slowly rotating a stick above the flames and there was two salmon roast on the stick. Nya was using a dagger she had found to peel an apple and remove its core.

Kai noticed movement and looked up, smiling at the alpha bear hybrid.

"Jay wake up." Cole hissed as he shook the cat hybrid awake. Jay snorted slightly as he jumped away and his stomach started growling loudly at the smell of cooked fish.

"Morning." Nya smiled as Kai placed the salmons on some cleaner sticks.

"Good morning guys." Jay giggled as he and Cole approached the siblings.

"What's all this about?" Cole asked and pointed at the cooked fish and fresh fruit.

"We kinda got off to a bad start yesterday and we wanted to make it up to you guys," Kai explained and gave the two hybrids the cooked fished to eat. "After all, you did rescue us."

"Um...thanks," Cole said, feeling a little bit awkward at the situation. No one had ever done something nice like this for him before, least of all humans.

"Eat up, we got a long walk ahead of us," Nya said and went to pack up their supplies with Kai. Jay smiled and gobbled down the fish while Cole ate his slowly as he watched Kai, a strange feeling bubbling in his chest...

After they ate the delicious breakfast Kai and Nya had made for them, the group packed away all their stuff away. Cole, Jay, Nya, and Kai began to walk down a path in the woods to King Nadakhan's castle. They walked in silence for almost an hour when a loud burp suddenly shattered the peace. Jay, Nya, and Kai turned to Cole, who smiled sheepishly as a faint blush spread across his face.

"Cole Brookstone!" Jay exclaimed in disgust.

"What?" Cole smirked as Kai chuckled and they continued walking.

"That's no way to behave in front of royalty." The cat hybrid scolded, only for them all to freeze when a second burp followed that was louder than the first.

"Excuse me," Kai said softly and continued walking while Nya laughed at her brother's antics. Cole and Jay could only stare at the royal siblings in shock. When they thought of princes and princesses they always thought of a regal figure who loathed any informal interactions. These two seemed to be the opposite of that assumption.

"You know, you two aren't exactly what I expected." Cole laughed.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't judge someone before you get to know them," Kai smirked and began humming again as he walked ahead of everyone else. Nya just rolled her eyes but said nothing. Cole's eyes narrowed as he felt an uncomfortable feeling began to grow in his chest. He felt terrible for misjudging Kai and Nya, just like he had been misjudged for being a hybrid all of his life. He made an internal promise to get to know the two humans better.

Suddenly something zoomed right past Cole, Nya, and Jay. Kai was gone in an instant.

"Kai!" Nya cried when she saw her brother vanish right before her eyes.

"LET ME GO!" They heard Kai scream and they looked up at a nearby tree and saw Kai struggling in the strong arms of an alpha male human. The man had shoulder-length brown hair, an eye patch, and a large red hat.

"Hey let him go!" Cole called but the man ignored him and began talking to Kai.

"My boss will pay handsomely for a pretty little jewel, like you." He smirked as he began examining the omega. As soon as he heard that Kai began to struggle even more.

"Who are you?" Nya demanded angrily.

"My name is Ronin and my boss has sent me to find him a new omega since he got bored with his last one." He laughed, only to gasp when a dagger suddenly shot past him, just missing his face. He looked down and saw it was Cole who had thrown it. "You'll pay for that freak." He snarled and threw a small but very sharp knife at the bear hybrid. It seemed to have missed the alpha hybrid, however. Ronin snapped his fingers and a dozen tough-looking men jumped from out the bushes, armed to the teeth.

Just as the men surrounded Nya, Cole, and Jay, however, Ronin let out a cry of pain as he was suddenly thrown through the air and into a nearby tree.

Everyone looked up and saw that it was an enraged Kai who had thrown his kidnapper. The brunette then jumped into the circle of thugs. Cole and Jay were frozen on the spot whereas Nya grinned as her brother quickly and easily beat up the gang of thugs. After only three minutes all the men and Ronin were lying on the forest ground unconscious. Kai smiled at his handy work and he and Nya high-fived each other before walking over to a still stunned Cole and Jay.

"Shall we?" He asked and he and Nya began walking away. This seemed to be enough to shock Cole out of his trance.

"Whoa! Whoa! What was that?" The bear hybrid exclaimed when he and Jay caught up with the royal siblings.

"What was what?" Kai asked in confusion

"That! Back there was amazing!" Jay cheered.

"Where did you learn that?" Cole asked with a smile and Kai felt the blush spread across his tanned cheeks. Nya saw this and glared at Cole.

"Our father taught us how to fight in case we ever needed to protect ourselves." She explained, a too bit coldly. Kai glared at his sister's tone and walked further ahead with Cole. As the two continued walking down the path Jay and Nya followed behind them. While walking, Nya kept glaring at Cole's back whereas Jay was feeling a bit left out...