Chapter 5

Slator bounced on his feet in front of the training room door, listening to the movements on the other side.  Standing in the hall, he knew he had one of two choices, go in, see Amaya, or stay out here, be a coward and miss out on the argument Ally and Barron were about to get into.  He chuckled, knowing what he would choose.  The door opened in front of him without him having to move a muscle, but as he entered the room, none of them turned towards him.  He stared at the door with a frown on his face, took a step forward, imagined it closing, and when it did, he froze.

"Not you," Adam said with a laugh, making Slator finally look at the people in the room.  "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

Slator narrowed his eyes at his sister, but Sloan simply raised her hands in surrender.  "I told him you were going through all of the basics to see which one you could and couldn't do.  I didn't tell him to mess with you."

He turned his narrowed gaze to Adam, but before he could say a word, a low command cut though the air.  "Quiet."

Every eye in the room turned towards Ally.  She stood there, staring at the person in front of her, and Slator was surprised to see that it wasn't Barron she was facing off with.  No, Barron stood in the corner of the room, studying everything, taking everything in with those cold eyes that Slator couldn't look into for too long.  Instead, in front of her stood the man who had literally popped into their lives only hours earlier, a man none of them knew anything about.

Ally took a step towards him; her hand hovered over his chest, but didn't touch.  "What is this?"

Namir lowered his head slightly, showing respect to their queen.  "A leopard."

"Yes, but who is it?"

"We all know," Barron said as he pushed away from his corner.  Circling Namir much like a large cat would with its prey, Barron sent the man a smile that chilled Slator to the bone.  "The only question is why?"

Ally kept her eyes on Namir as Barron circled them, and it wasn't long before Sebastian stood just out of the ring, staring at them all, making sure that his mate wasn't in any danger.

Namir lifted his head, watched Barron for a moment before looking towards Sebastian.  "You have nothing to fear from me.  You're mate and your children are my only priorities."

"But not Sebastian," Ally finished.

"Do you have a Bond Mate?" When Ally nodded, so did Namir.  "Not Sebastian."

Ally growled low in her throat, causing Namir to take a step away from her.  "I do not wish to start a fight with you, but I also will not lie.  If it came down to your life or his, I'd choose yours.  If it came down to your children's life or his, I'd choose them.  Do you understand, Alexandria Holt?  It is only your line that I care to protect.  Without him, we will live.  Without you, we will die."

Sebastian chuckled, making the shifters in the large room turn to look at him in confusion.  Taking a step back, the Leopard King shook his head.  "I like him."

"Of course you do," Ned said with a snort.  "You and him have common goals.  I just want to know why.  Why now when this thing is taunting us?  Why now when we're so weak?  Why not before all of this began?  If you ask me, it's a little too convenient."

"We agree," Tony said, speaking for both himself and his brother.

Amaya cleared her throat, finally forcing Slator to look towards the one person he was trying to avoid.  "He doesn't feel evil."

"We're not saying that he does," Adam whispered.  "We're saying that we've trusted too many people who've done nothing but betray us.  We don't trust as easily as before."

Namir studied them all with his head tilted to the side, taking in the words and the people who spoke them.  When he turned his eyes towards Slator, Slator froze.  Glancing to the man's right, he noticed that Ally had been staring at him too.  "You're part of this now," she said with a small smile.  "What do you think?"

"You've seen what he wants in life?"  She paused for a moment before nodding her head.  "Do you think he is here to hurt us?"

"No," she whispered, looking back towards the man in question.  "But I don't think he is necessarily here to help either.  That tattoo, do you know who it is?"

Slator stared at her, images flashing through his mind, and he knew that she was sending them.  "You."

"Do you find that odd?"

He shook his head with a frown.  "For some reason, no."

Namir watched the exchange, his eyes widening slightly the more they spoke to one another.  The man turned towards Slator, with questioning eyes.  "She often takes your counsel?"

"She is right there," he said pointing towards Ally, "and I've learned that she can speak for herself."

Ally smiled at him before turning towards Namir.  "For some reason, I find that he is often the voice of reason.  Sebastian thinks it's because he can view things objectively and not emotionally.  Barron believes it's because he's a kiss-ass, and Zeke says I'll find out why soon enough."

Barron stopped his circling to shoot Slator a grin and Slator almost wished the man wouldn't have bothered. 

"Interesting," Namir mumbled.  "Those are the only three you ask questions to?"

"No," she said with a frown.  "There are different types of questions that I ask the others."

Ned stepped forward.  "Sebastian, Barron, and Zeke all have something in common with you.  They believe that the only way that we can have that world we all dream of is to keep Ally alive.  The rest of us," he said while motioning towards Tony, Drew, and Adam, "know that she wouldn't be the same without her family.  We protect them, including Sebastian, because we know, without them, she wouldn't have a reason to fight."

They all nodded in agreement, and even Slator had to admit that the description was true one.  The big scary shifters that hovered around Ally believed that she was the token to the future.  For them, nothing mattered as much as keeping her alive, but the others, they knew that Ally wouldn't be the same without her family.  So, they fought.  They fought to keep them out of harm's way.

Slator shifted his gaze to Namir. "It's the way that we function.  Ally tries her hardest to make sure that we're not only safe but happy.  It's the least we can do to return the favor."

"Catch," Namir whispered, holding out his hands and throwing something towards Slator.

Taken by surprise, he froze, not know what to do, and by instinct, his hands jerked out, ready to stop what was coming.  Slator watched as the spiraling of the object slowed and felt a frown pulling down his eyebrows.  Glancing at the others, he watched as each of them turned towards him slowly, all looking to push him out of the way.

"Interesting," Namir whispered as he stepped around Barron and began walking towards Slator.  While the others were turning slowly, Namir walked on normally.

"What the hell did you do?" Ally growled as she stomped after the man.  "Whatever you did to them, undo it."

"It wasn't me."

Namir, Ally, Sebastian, and all of her children looked at Slator.  Slator fidgeted on his feet.  "I have no idea what's going on."

"Reverse it."

"What?" Slator asked, but Namir simply motioned towards the ball still slowly heading his way.

"Concentrate on it and push it back through time."

Slator dropped his arms and took a step back.  When he did, everything sped up.  Amaya slammed into his side, dropping him to the floor before jumping back up.  Slator pushed himself up, but didn't bother to stand again, instead, he watched as Amaya turned in the direction that Namir should have been and glared.  "What in the hell did you throw at him?"

Namir cleared his throat, causing Amaya to snap her head in his direction and blink.  "It wouldn't have hurt him."

Ally pushed the man's shoulder, causing Namir to stumble.  "I'm tired of you throwing things at the people I love."

"It wouldn't have hurt them."

"Really?" Ally asked as she rolled her shoulders and took a step away from Namir.  "Then prove it."  Namir simply stared at her with a blank expression on his face.  She motioned towards herself.  "Come on, throw it at me."

"I can't."

"Do it," Ally growled, "or leave.  You say that it wouldn't hurt them, and you say that you're here to protect me.  So prove it.  Throw the same thing at me, and I'll know if you change it.  I felt the energy from the others, I'll know if it's the same."

Namir held his hands out as Sebastian growled.  Her children followed their father, but Ally shook her head at them.  With a deep breath, Namir began to slowly form the ball in his hands, letting them see the action.  "It's like molecule shifting," he explained.  "I'm just taking the humidity from the air and forming it into a ball."  He launched it towards her, and like before, it went slow, but this time, Slator knew that it wasn't him making it so, but Namir.

"The slight glow that you see in it is just a spark that I picked up from the room, nothing more.  So," he said as it hit Ally and burst.  "The worse that happens is the person gets a little wet."

Ally stood there, the front of her shirt soaked, and sighed.  "Why couldn't you tell me that to begin with?"

"You didn't ask."

She opened her mouth, but paused.  "You're right."  She titled her head to the side, studying the man.  "How about this question, what are you?"

"That, little cat, is something that you have to wait to find out."

A low growl escaped her, but soon, the growl turned into a small smile.  "Is there anything that you can tell me?"

"This time," Namir whispered, "I will not leave you.  No matter who comes after you or where you have to go, I promise you, Alexandria Holt, Queen of the Leopards, that I will be there."

"Still creepy as hell," Ned whispered, making them all chuckle and the tension leave the room.

Slator stared at the shifters surrounding him and smiled.  Here was his family.  What he had said to Sara earlier, what she seemed not to understand, was true.  They were a team, a unit, and nothing could push them apart.  This thing that was coming towards them wouldn't make them run.  If anything, it would bring them closer together, make them stronger.  It had a fighting chance, he'd admit to that, but when faced with their misfit family of shifters, Slator knew that they had a fighting chance also, because a group as close as theirs was hard to come by, and when this evil finally arrived, it'd learn quickly that nothing could break them apart, not even it.