Through the Emerald Forest

Chapter 1 The Begining

            **Several weeks earlier**

    There was a sudden knocking on the office door, startling the large man behind the desk. He sighs and puts down another report. There have been a lot of reports recently about an increasing number of Rogue attacks from other packs as well as on his own boarders.

    "Come in." The man behind the desk calls. Almost immediate the dark wood door of his office slams open to reveal another man, slim with white hair and dark blue eyes. He is clutching a letter in his hand and looks slightly distraught.

    "Alpha, I'm sorry for disturbing you. I need to speak with you." The white haired man said, raking his free hand through his hair, pacing slightly. His action causes the Alpha to raise an eyebrow in confusion. The distressed man in front of him is one of his oldest friends and rarely addresses him by his title, something is wrong.

    "Of course Jaq, You know you can talk to me. Please sit." The Alpha gestures to one of the seats in front of his desk, watching his friend continue to pace. Jaq stops, looks at his Alpha and nods, his eyes glowing violet. he walks to the window, speaking too quiet to hear even with Alpha hearing. Jaq then walks to the door, flipping the latch then repeating the same phrases he did at the window. The Alpha looks a little startled. It was always amazing to watch Jaq do magic but he wasn't sure what was done, Jaq noticed the Alphas concerned look and smiled slightly.

    "It's a privacy spell. What i have to talk to you about cannot be overheard by anyone. While I know your office is soundproof, magic could still be used to eavesdrop. The spell I did created a bubble that starts at the window and ends at the door. You still have your mindlink in case of emergency and we can hear if some should knock...." He was rambling, it caused the Alpha to chuckle slightly, something clearly is bothering his friend to keep him talking like this. He stands and steps toward Jaq, placing his hand on his shoulder to try and break him out of his babbling. Jaq stops and looks at friend, his eyes have returned to the dark blue but full of unshed tears. He sits on the couch and takes a deep breath, holding the letter he had been carrying with both of his hands.

    "Max.." Jaq starts then stops and takes another shuddering breath, before smiling. "Do you remember last year when i had to go to the Shifter Queendom?" Max nod still confused, Jaq had gone to assist on training some Betas. "Well during my time there... I found her." Jaq started strong but ended in barely a whisper, a single tear leaks from his eye as he looks over at his best friend.

    "What do you mean you found her? A YEAR AGO? Why didn't she come home with you then? What..." Jaq silences Max's questions with a chuckle and a sad sigh, he reaches out and grabs Max by the shoulder.

    "If you calm down a second I'll tell you." Max nods and looks slightly impatient, Jaq takes a deep breath and starts in. "When i arrived to the Palace, I had been feeling anxious and nervous like something big was going to happen, I tried to ask Markus but he would just chuckle and say i would find out." Jaq rolled his eyes at the memory of that conversation with his wolf. "You would think after so long he would be a little more helpful. It was two days until i figured it out. The entire time it was like an itch that wouldn't stop itching no matter how much i scratched it. We were all standing outside waiting to be addressed by the Queen. Her Beta had been handling everything up to that point. Out of nowhere the most intoxicating smell drifted towards me, like I had laid down in a field of wildflowers, I searched around the group to see if anyone had joined the group late. I quickly stopped when i realized that the smell wasn't coming from the crowed but the stage, I must have looked a fool for several moments when my eyes locked..." Jaq takes a deep breath and looks over at Max, who is sitting mouth hanging open in disbelief, nodding his head. "yes, I see you have already guessed. My eyes locked with none other then the Queen, and my heart stopped. She shook her head ever so slightly. I doubt, even now, that anyone else noticed. She mind-linked me and told me to meet her in her office after everyone was dismissed. When we were in her office..." Jaq trails off, hes just staring into space a small smile on his lips. Max poked his friend in the arm, breaking him out of the memory he was clearly lost in knowing he couldn't tell the whole truth. Even with the magic blocking the room, thoughts can be left unprotected.

    "Sorry. I'll be brief. We accepted each other, almost as soon as the door was closed behind me. We didn't Mark though. She believed that if we Marked then i would become a target and be used to get to her, so we kept it secret. It killed me, it was agony for both of us to watch each other from afar and make nice with all the other males and females. We met most every night in secret. I learned more about magic during that time so i could always make hidden places to meet. As the end of the training period approached we didn't want to separate but we knew that unless we made it official it would be suspicious. so we agreed i come back to the pack until we figure out the person behind the attacks and threats." Max nods his head, being the Alpha he knows about all the attacks on the Queendom itself and the surrounding packs, his own included. There is now one question burning in Max's mind.

    "Why now? Why after a year are you telling me now?" Max looks at his friend and Beta with confusion. He then glances at the letter that Jaq is still holding in his hands. "Does it have to do with that letter?" Jaq laughs.

    "Perceptive as always, Max. Yes, it has to do with the letter. It appeared in my room by magic. The Letter is enchanted so only I, or if something should happen to me, my Alpha, can read the words. I want to ask if you would keep this locked away in the secret safe, just in case." Jaq looks over at Max, hope shining in his eyes. Max nods quickly.

    "Of course we can put it away from prying eyes. It must be very important if you have to magically silence the room to ask." Max raises a questioning eyebrow as he stands to active the hidden mechanism in the wall, revealing a small but sturdy steel safe. Jaq had enchanted it himself many years prior so only those of Alpha status, or of his own blood, could open it; even if they had the code. Jaq stands and walks to the safe. He places the letter inside and sets his hand on top of it. His eyes start glowing as he mutters a quick spell. Max finds its hard to see the letter where it was placed, he recognizes the spell as an invisibly spell. Before he had a chance to question why, Jaq quickly shuts the safe door and the hidden door before turning to his friend and Alpha with a huge smile.

    "Keep it safe, just in case. The contents of that letter are very important." Jaq gives Max a serious and stern look. The look only lasted a few moments before the look of joy and pure elation replaced it in a heartbeat. "I'm a father!"