Their Pride

Their Pride Part 53

Chapter 52

My eyes stayed open, staring at his with concentration.  This was it; I was going to win.  He blinked, causing me to jump up from my seat.  “Hah!”

“Very mature,” he mumbled with a smile before glancing down at the watch on his wrist.  “An hour, we have been here for an hour.”

“You said they were on their way?”

He nodded before tilting his head to the side.  “I hear Ned, and Sebastian is not far behind him.  Zeke is staying behind.  Wait, Barron is coming back to the cabin too.  For some reason, he doesn’t trust they fact that you are okay.  He thinks that the dark magic is stronger than we think.  He needs to make sure that his Queen is safe as she should be.”

“You got all that from the sound of his footsteps?” I asked sarcastically. 

He rolled his eyes at me, the smile still on his face, before he jumped off his stool and stepped towards the door.  Pulling it open, I watched as the smile slipped from his face and it turned to the serious guard expression they all wore around one another.  Ned slipped in, as soon as his eyes landed on me, he let out a sigh.  “Didn’t know if you got away fast enough.”

“What happened?” I asked, about to stand from my seat.  Suddenly, a hand landed on my shoulder and carefully pushed me back down.  “I can stand,” I mumbled at Seb.

He smiled down on me.  “You can do more than stand, but I want you to save your energy, just in case.”

“Just in case what?” I asked with a suggestive smile.

Seb opened his mouth to reply when someone cleared their throat.  Glancing towards the door, Barron stood there with an eyebrow raised.  I mimicked his expression, causing him to let out a laugh.  “Wait until you’re alone for that.  You’ve making Ned see the green monster.”

My eyes snapped behind me, expecting to see some large green animal.  Laughter echoed through the cabin.  “I’m just going to guess that this is another one of those things?”

An arm wrapped around my shoulders.  “Yes, Alex.  It means he’s jealous.”

I sent Ned a questioning glance.  He shot a glare towards Barron before looking back at me.  “He’s joking.”

“That’s good,” I said with a smile.  “Wouldn’t want Seb to kill you just yet.”

Unease crossed his face, and he shot a calculating look to Seb.  Seb just shrugged with a large, slightly evil smile on his face. 

“Enough of that,” Barron said from the doorway.  “We need orders.  Zeke wants to stay behind.  It’s Kris.”

I nodded.  “He needs to be there; she was his sister.  I don’t know what I would do if I were in his situation.”

“You were,” Barron reminded.  “Remember Stacey?”

“I remember,” I whispered.  “It is hard to forget, but it was not the same.  I cared for her, but she needed to die.  Kris, she was doing nothing to cause harm.  Believe me, Barron.  If the thought even crossed my mind that you were going to harm me or any of the others, you’d be dead too.”

“I would fight back,” he said with a serious expression. 

I shrugged. “But you would not win.  I have more power in my left arm than you do in your entire body, Barron.”

He took a step towards me.  Seb attempted to step in front of me, but I shook my head.  Barron came closer with a dead expression on his face.  His eyes were cold, and I knew this was his killer expression.   Everyone had one in them, and this happened to be his.  He came closer to me.  Bending down until he was eye level, he looked directly into my eyes.  “You want to know why you would win?”

“Why?”

He smiled at me.  “Because I would never hurt you.  You are what I want for my people.  Why would I cause harm to someone I wish to keep in power as long as I can. Not only that, Alexandria Holt, but I also like you.”

“You’re in luck,” I drawled, leaning forward so our faces were closer.  He didn’t back off, making my respect for him heighten.  “I happen to like you too.”

Barron was pulled away from me.  Glancing up, Seb sent me a sheepish expression.  “He was just a little too close.”

“It isn’t me you need to worry about,” Barron said from his spot on the ground.  “I have no designs on your mate.  Now, if she weren’t already called for…”

Seb glanced over his shoulder with a smile.  “It wasn’t that.  Ally wouldn’t go for you.  It just felt like you were threatening her.  You’re lucky I stopped there.  What I really wanted to do was rip your throat out for even pretending like you were going to threaten her.”

“Point taken,” Barron said while jumping to his feet.

“It is a proven fact that male shifters with pregnant mates are more aggressive when it comes to protecting said mate.”  Everyone looked towards Andrew.  The others had shocked expressions on their face, while I beamed at him.  He shifted under our scrutiny.  “What?  It’s true.”

“Just never thought I would hear you say it,” Ned mumbled before shaking his head.  “Now, what are your orders?”

I glanced towards Ned.  “You’ll be in the vehicle with us.  You’re my new head guard for the moment.  Everyone will report to you.”

“What about me?” Andrew asked.  His tone was merely curious.  One thing I was thankful for was the fact that my guards were willing to follow any of our select group. 

“You’ll be in the Jeep with Adam, Anthony, Isaac, and Sydney.  If you need to get in contact with us, you can.  You have the best long range mental capacity.”

“Valid point,” Barron said, “but you left out someone.”

“Now, who would that be?” I asked with a smile.

His eyes narrowed in mock anger.  “Me, of course.”

“You,” I said with a dramatic pause, “will be staying here.  I want you to look after Blake and Zeke.  Don’t let the two of them out of your sight.  They’re going to do something stupid, and without me there to stop them, you’re my only chance to keep them in line.”

“Well, since you said it like that,” he replied with a smile.  Turning, he went to walk out of the cabin before stopping.  “Do you want me to stir up a little emotion?”

“Hmm, I like the way your mind thinks.  Enough emotion to make Blake realize what he will be missing, not enough to push him away from Amaya.”

“Got it!” he called out as he ran from the room.

I glanced over at the other three with a smile.  “Ready to find Evelyn?”

“Let’s do this,” Seb said.

Andrew nodded.  “We’ll follow behind you in the Jeep.”

“I’ll drive the SUV,” Ned said.

“Okay,” I said, rising from my seat with Seb’s hand in mind.  “It’s time to end this for good.”