Her Reign

Chapter 14

ALENA

Once I got out of the car, I heard Uncle Thomas’ motorcade pulling up. Looking at the entrance, you would think my mother was there. Ten black SUVs came flying in like a bat out of hell, pulling up in front of everyone.
The first one pulled up alongside us and slammed its brakes on, the door came flying open and Uncle Thomas jumped out. He came straight for me, wrapping his arms around my waist and picked me up. He swung me around in a circle before putting me down.

“How’s my princess doing?” He whispered to me.

“I’m doing good. I’m excited to see everyone.” I said.
After letting me go, he walked up to Uncle Jake and gave him a hug.

“Man, it’s good to see you. Looks like I'm missing all the fun.” Uncle Jake said.
Uncle Thomas laughed and shook his head.

“You don’t even know. Things were crazy for a while, but it finally settled down. Hopefully it stays like that.” Uncle Thomas said.

They both walked over to the large group of people waiting for instructions on what to do next.

“OK, so I want everyone to load your bags in the last two cars.” I watched everyone listen to what Uncle Thomas said but Uncle Jake put mine and Courtney’s bags in the first car.
Everyone said their goodbyes. I gave Uncle Jake a big hug and he told me to be safe and that he loved me.

“Before anyone gets in a car, I just want you to know that I'm splitting you all up. You are not going on this trip as an alpha, beta and third. You all will work together; I don’t care what pack you are from. All of you are a team. I know you don’t know exactly what this trip is about but I’m here to tell you, this is not a vacation. This is not to have fun or goof off. This is serious.

Over the last few weeks, the King and Queen have removed two Alpha’s from their packs. They are currently sitting in the Royal Prison where they will be severely punished for their crimes. We are currently helping rebuild a pack from the ground up. Once we complete that, we will be moving on to the next pack.
You will do as you are told. If you don’t, you will be sent home. That is not what you want to happen because when the Royal family returns, you will be harshly dealt with.
This trip is dangerous. We could come under attack at any time. There are people out there that are against the Royal family and want to see them suffer. Stay focused and if you see anything suspicious, let someone know. If an attack happens before we reach our destination, your job is to protect the princess.” Uncle Thomas yelled out.

I was mortified. I felt the blood rush to my face, so I quickly turned around and got into the car that Uncle Thomas was driving. Courtney got in the backseat with me. They were still outside talking but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.

The passenger door opened, and someone got in. When I looked up, Damon was sitting there. WHAT THE HELL! WHY?! All these goddamn cars and he has to get in this one. This can’t be happening to me. Please tell me, this is a mistake.

I have been avoiding him for the last few days since our little meeting in the girl’s bathroom. The only time we saw each other was at lunch but there were so many people around, I knew he wasn’t going to say anything to me. All he does is stare at me while I do everything possible not to look back at him.
I’m still so confused. I don’t know why he’s so worried about what I think of him. My feelings for him are all over the place. One minute, I don’t want anything to do with him because he messed around with Britney. Then the next minute, he gives me butterflies in my stomach and it's driving me crazy.

“What are you doing here?” I built enough courage to ask him.

“This is where I was told to go.” He said.
Ugh, someone hates me. What did I do to deserve this?

“Tell them you want to switch cars.” I said.
“Alena, I can’t do that, and you know it. You heard what they said. If I ask that, you know damn well they are going to give me hell.” He said.

He was right. Uncle Thomas would have his ass if he did. Regardless of how I felt, I couldn’t do that to him. He would get into trouble.

I was broken from my thoughts when Uncle Thomas got in the driver's seat. He’s never been one who likes others to drive him around, so I'm not surprised that he has his own car. 

“Damon, you're in the car with me because your dad threw a fit about you coming when the queen called him earlier. He was afraid that you would get hurt so I guess I'm stuck babysitting you.” Uncle Thomas said.

I burst out laughing. The look on his face, he was so embarrassed. I couldn’t help myself. I looked over and Courtney was giggling too. Damon turned around and glared at me.

“I have alpha blood in me. I don’t need a babysitter. I can fight and take care of myself.  My father is just being an asshole.” Damon said. You can clearly tell he was irritated by what was said.

“I’m just telling you what was said to me, kid.” Uncle Thomas said.

Damon jumped out of the car and ran over toward his dad who was still standing with everyone else.

“I can’t believe you would try to stop me from going! How could you say that stuff about me?!” Damon yelled at his dad.

“Boy, you better watch your tone when you talk to me! Until you have proved to me otherwise, you shouldn’t be going on this trip. I don’t even know why the queen wants you there. You're weak.” Damon’s dad said.

Before anyone could say anything else, Damon punched his dad in the face. His dad fell back a little before lunging at him. All hell broke loose after that. Several of the warriors jumped out of their cars to intervene. They both fought to get to each other. 

Damon was screaming at his dad while still trying to attack him. His dad wasn’t saying anything but was also going after his son.

“STAND DOWN!” Uncle Jake commanded and both finally stopped. They couldn’t go against his command since he was a higher rank.

“If you both are finished, that would be great. Damon, get in the damn car.” Jake said.
Damon turned around and started walking back to the car. As he was getting in, his father spoke.

“Son, I honestly didn’t think you had it in you to do that.” He had a smirk on his face before turning and walking away.

Everyone got back in their cars, and we started driving. This is going to be a very long drive. Maybe I can go to sleep, wake up and be there. Yeah, that's what I'm going to do.
Well, that's what I thought I was going to do but everyone else had other plans. My parents kept calling me. Aryanna kept texting. Courtney wouldn’t shut up and Damon was not the best copilot according to my not so favorite uncle so when we stopped for gas, Uncle Thomas had Courtney sit in the front seat so they could converse and told Damon to sit in the back next to me.

The car stopped again. I sat there with my eyes closed but I wasn't sleeping.

“Damon, we are running inside to get some food, watch her.” Uncle Thomas said. He sounded dead serious and was in work mode. 

“Yes sir.” Damon said.
Once the door closed, I felt Damon lean towards me.

“I know you're not sleeping.” He said.
“So, what. Why are you bothering me?” I asked.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” He asked.
I opened my eyes and just looked at him. He was staring back at me waiting for me to answer his question.

“Why does it matter? Why is this bothering you so much? I don’t understand.” I said.
“It matters because I like you and I know that what I did with Britney hurt you.” He said.

“I told you that I don't need your pity. So, what if I saw you with Britney, you're not mine so it's none of my business. It just happened to catch me off guard at the moment.

“So, you don’t like me anymore?” He asked.

I felt the blood rush to my face. How am I supposed to answer that? I’ve had the biggest crush on him since the first time I saw him, and he wants me to openly admit that I like him. Is he trying to kill me?

Before I could answer, Damon moved closer to me. All I could do was watch because it happened so fast.