As Raph gave her an ‘I told you so’ speech, Elwin and Alexandra pushed to their feet. Following their motion, I straightened up to my full height before reaching for her hand.
“Hey,” she said, shooting me a look full of compassion before swinging her gaze to Lucien and doing the same. “I love you both so much, and I know you’re only trying to protect me. However, it’s time I forced myself out of my comfort zone. I finally got some concrete answers today, and now is the time I need to lean into training more than ever.”
I offered her a nod, knowing I was unable to deny her anything she insisted on. The truth was, I wanted her to be as strong as she could be, but when she left us to train today, it hit me that there was a possibility she might not come back to us one day. I wasn’t coping well with that epiphany.
I didn’t understand why Ariel didn’t take us to train alongside Alexandra. We all needed the instruction to ensure we were at our very best for her. Plus, we needed to be able to hold our own in a battle. If we could just go with them, maybe some of this anxiety clawing at my chest and up my throat would go away.
“I love you too,” Lucien answered after a long moment of silence passed between us all. “I trust you to know your limits, but don’t you dare push yourself into a dangerous situation with your power. You can’t even stand without Elwin’s support right now. What if that happened in a battle?”
I saw the very moment his words pissed her off, and heat emanated from her eyes as they narrowed in his direction. He wasn’t wrong, though. She was susceptible right now, and pushing herself this hard during a battle potentially meant death.
Zurie intervened, coming over to look Alexandra over as she rested her hands on her arms. “Oh, sweet girl, we were so worried about you. I’m sorry that we didn’t prepare you mentally to go through training before Ariel swept you away. I’m sure it was jarring and unsettling to be in an unknown place with a new person like that.”
Alexandra took a deep breath, seeming to swallow some of her anger at Lucien as she forced a smile to her face for Zurie’s sake. “It worked out the way it needed to,” she reassured her. “Ariel really knew what I needed, even if it may have been nothing like I was expecting. I’m excited to continue training with her and see what I can achieve.”
Her eyes turned to Raph in the kitchen, and she gave him a small nod. “Thank you for thinking of her and reaching out. At first, I doubted that she was a good fit for me, but it turns out she was exactly what I needed.”
He gave her a nod back before looking at his mate, who was still checking Alexandra for marks. “Honey, give the girl some room to breathe. I’m going to go get the guys and Ris from the safe house now that we know everything is okay and we’re not facing an unknown attack. Let’s get dinner going and give our guests some room to freshen up and rest, yeah?”
Zurie’s lips pinched as she nodded and dropped her hands to her side. “Sorry, Alexandra. It’s just the mom in me. You’re in my care now, and I don’t want to see a single hair on your head hurt.”
Her words softened my mate up as she took a shaky step forward. Shocking me, she pulled Zurie in for a hug, squeezing her lightly before stepping back into Elwin’s waiting arms to support her.
“Thank you, Zurie, but you don’t need to be sorry about a single thing. We’re in your debt for everything you’ve done for us so far.”
As we split up with the promise to return for dinner if Alexandra was feeling up to coming, I swept her up into my arms as she tried to walk to the side door.
She huffed and turned an adorable scowl my way. “I can walk, Ky.”
I wasn’t even going to dignify that with a response. We all knew she couldn’t, and I’d be a liar if I said it wasn’t nice to feel like I could be of use to her right now. Selfishly, I was beginning to see why Lucien was so quick to always grab her when his emotions were frazzled. Just feeling her soft body and warmth curling into me slowly as she relaxed in my grip soothed my soul.
For demanding that she could walk, she sure did give up that fight quickly.
By the time we entered the guesthouse, she was asleep in my arms, and I softly gave orders for Lucien to prepare the bath for her. Elwin went to the kitchen without me needing to tell him to, already understanding that we needed to get some water and a snack for her in case she needed it. Restoring her energy levels and ensuring her body was able to rest properly were our top priorities right now.
After laying her gently on the bed, I began to undress her, trying to not disturb her as I heard the water from the bath running. Gathering her in my arms after undressing myself, a smile tugged at my lips at the thought of how far we’d come since the last time I had to get in a bathroom with her.
By the time I padded into the bathroom, it was to see Lucien was pouring bubble bath into the steaming bath. The tub was filled about three quarters of the way up, and I gave him a nod, indicating that level was good. Although it was a massive square bath–mirroring more of what I would think a hot tub looked like–I didn’t want to risk overflowing the tub with both of us in it. And I hadn’t ignored the possibility that Lucien might join us, with his need to hold her in high-emotion situations.
I couldn’t be selfish in this. I had to respect all of our needs.
After testing the heat, he pulled his hand out and stood, wiping the water away on a nearby towel. I made quick work of settling us into one of the corner seats, shocked at how steady Alexandra’s breath remained. For a moment, I was terrified she might have slipped back to wherever she’d gone to in the past few hours. However, as she seemed to sigh with contentment and turn on her side to rest her head into the crook of my neck, my fears ebbed.
When she was in that unconscious state, she hadn’t uttered a sound or moved an inch.
As Lucien started for the door, my brows slammed together in confusion. Trying not to wake her, I whisper-yelled, “Are you not staying? I assumed you’d want to hold her now.”
I glanced down to make sure I hadn’t woken her up, but her eyes were still closed and her steady breath puffed across my neck.
As I looked back at Lucien, he leaned in the doorway for a moment, glancing at her and smiling before meeting my gaze. He shook his head as he responded, “I think I need to learn how to share, and you seem to need it more than I do right now. Just call for me if you need anything.”
I was shocked into silence, unable to respond before he turned and left.
This was the same monster who needed to hold her at the slightest irritation.
The man who screamed into the sky outside of the house to get his fury out before coming back into the house to monitor her with us just hours ago.
Maybe Elwin was right…We really could change.
