Barron's Prey

Sara

Chapter 4

Sara stared at the door in front of her and felt like a complete idiot.  She knew they were aware of her presences.  Hell, a couple of them had followed her up the long driveway, not even trying to be discrete, but now that she was here, now that she was about to be face to face with the person she had ran from not that long ago, she couldn't make her hand knock on the door.  All the preparation she had, all the training she went through, everything was for nothing.  She could never have really prepared for this situation, never could have thought she'd be here again.

"He's in his room."

She jumped, her claws coming out, but when she turned towards the voice, she instantly backed down.  Ally, standing there looking more amused than threatened, held a little girl in her arms.  The gold hair on the girl was a shock, but what Sara couldn't even begin to understand was the knowledge in the baby's brown eyes, a shade that only one other leopard shifter had.  "She looks like her dad."

Ally beamed at her proudly.  "Doesn't she?"  The smile dropped a little as Ally let out a sigh and stared at the door in front of them.  "I was out walking in the woods when they told me you were standing here."  When Sara raised an eyebrow, Ally chuckled.  "Zoë loves it in there."

"Odd child."

"Special child," Ally corrected as an expression of concern flashed across her face.  "A child that many people need to protect, whether they realize it or not."  She shook her head, and the worry disappeared.  "He's in his room though.  I think he's just as afraid to see you as you are to see him."

"I'm not afraid."

Another chuckle left the Leopard Queen's mouth as she pulled open the cabin door.  "You can say that if you want to, but I can feel the fear flowing off you."  She paused, studying Sara a little too closely for her liking.  "You can hate me for what I'm about to say, but it doesn't change a thing.  In my opinion, you should be the one on your knees begging for his forgiveness.  You are the one who hurt him."  Sara opened her mouth, but quickly snapped it shut when Ally shook her head.  "He may have kept things from you, may have scared you at one point, but that was who he was, not who he is, and for you to treat him as if he is the same person..." She shook her head, not finishing her words.  "Namir will show you to your room."

Ally disappeared into the cabin, leaving Sara standing in the same place she was moments before.  There was nothing she could do to change the woman's opinion.  For one, it was obvious how protective Ally was towards the ones closest to her.  For another, she was right.  Sara had run all those years ago, she still viewed Barron as she did all those years ago, but she had been there.  She had seen the things that man could do, and no matter how many times she tried to forget, she couldn't.

"I have a feeling that standing here all day long wasn't what you planned to do when you agreed to come."

Sara narrowed her eyes at the man who had once been her sparring partner.  "You never told me your name."

Namir shrugged, not looking slightly apologetic.  "You never asked."

She opened her mouth, ready to argue, before realizing something.  "I never did, did I?"  A sigh left her mouth as she rubbed her free hand across her eyes.  "God this is going to be the worse time of my life.  I show up, bag in hand, and the first person that I see is Ally."  She dropped her hand away from her face and saw the warm smile on Namir's face.  "Not you too," she mumbled with a groan.  "What is it about her that everyone loves so much?  The woman forced me to kneel in front of her the first time I met her."

"Someone already told me what you were thinking when she did so."

Sara couldn't stop a small laugh from escaping her lips.  "Okay, maybe I deserved that one, but what about that wild goose chase to find Marcus, huh?  That was just ridiculous."