Pyte Training

Part I

An R.L. Mathewson Chronicle

“I really can’t get over just how good this tea is,” Ashley murmured as she took a sip of her delicious imaginary tea while she shot the two large men watching her every move a nervous glance, regretting her decision to come down here.

In her defense, she’d thought the two men watching her with a predatory gleam in their eyes were still out on patrol because there was no way that she would have willingly left her room without Kale or her brother somewhere in the house to hear her pleads for mercy. She should have waited until tonight when Kale came home, but she wanted to make this perfect, Ashley thought as her gaze shifted to the chocolate cake on the cooling rack on the kitchen island.

She should probably make a run for it and come back later to ice the cake, but since that would require her to leave her room again, she should probably just cut her losses and go with Plan B. Decision made, Ashely finished her imaginary tea, forced a small smile for the little girl that snuck out of the nursery when she realized that her father was home and-

“This is delicious tea, sweetheart,” Ephraim said with a fond smile for the little girl gesturing for her father to eat the plate of imaginary cookies that she’d shoved in front of him.

“Thank you,” Jessica said with a pleased smile as she refilled their plastic teacups.

“You know who would probably really enjoy a cup of tea right now?” Ephraim said while Ashley sat there, shifting nervously as she sat there, trying to remember how to breathe again as she watched the adorable little girl that was the only thing standing between her and getting her ass kicked frown adorably as her gaze shifted to the kitchen door and-

Nodded as she mumbled, “Marc,” with a heavy sigh as she finished pouring her father’s tea before placing the plastic tea kettle down and climbed off the chair, leaving Ashley struggling not to panic.

“No, wait!” Ashley said, never taking her eyes off the two men as their lips pulled up into anticipatory smiles as she finished off her imaginary tea so that she could hold out her cup and said, “I need more tea.”

“No worries, you can have my tea,” Chris drawled as he pushed his cup of tea towards her.

“I wouldn’t want to deprive you of this delicious tea,” Ashley said in a rush, only to feel her stomach drop when Jessica simply shrugged it off and headed for the door, determined to go get the teenage boy that she lived to torment and-

“Oh, this is going to be so much fun,” Chris said, his eyes never leaving her as he grabbed hold of the small kitchen table between them and shoved it aside as his father stood up and-

“Oh, god…” Ashley mumbled weakly as she sat there, watching them stand up.

“This is for your own good,” Ephraim said as he finished shoving the table out of the way.

Swallowing hard, she weakly gestured towards the kitchen island. “My cake?”

“Will be fine,” Chris assured her as he gestured for her to stand up.

“I’d really like to frost it before the cake has a chance to dry out,” Ashley mumbled as her grip tightened around her plastic teacup.

“And I’d really like you to stop trying to put this off,” Ephraim said as he folded his large arms over his chest and-

“Mo ghrá,” came the softly whispered words in her ear as she felt a pair of large arms wrap around her and pull her back against the man that had Ephraim and Chris narrowing their eyes on her.

“I really missed you,” Ashley stressed with a solemn nod, never taking her eyes off the large Pyte and Sentinel debating their next move as she placed her hands over Kale’s hands and slid them over the soft swell of her belly where their little girl was sleeping.

She watched as Ephraim and Chris followed the move with their eyes and-

“Damn it!” Chris bit out as he shoved his fingers through is hair in frustration as Ephraim’s eyes turned red.

“You need to learn how to protect yourself,” Ephraim said with a look that told her that he wasn’t going to give up, which was a bit concerning since she was adamantly opposed to going into the training room with them, mostly because she really wasn’t into getting her ass kicked.

“I prefer to run away,” Ashley reminded them as her mate kissed the side of her neck.

Slowly exhaling, Ephraim reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose as he pointed out, “You trip over your own two feet.”

“Because it’s part of my plan to lure my enemies into a false sense of security,” she assured them, loving the way that it felt when Kale’s lips pulled up into a smile against her neck.

“And the crying?” Chris asked, looking more determined than ever to do this.

“Makes it easier to curl up into the fetal position without shame,” Ashley explained.

“And screaming your brother’s name every time we so much as look in your direction?” Ephraim asked as he dropped his hand away so that he could go back to glaring at her.

“Makes you think twice about dragging me to the training room,” she pointed out with a satisfied sigh as she leaned back against her mate, knowing that as long as he was here that she was safe.

They couldn’t touch her.

Not with Kale protecting her.

Then again, she didn’t have to worry with her brother here to watch over her either, Ashley thought with a relieved sigh as she watched Christofer walk into the kitchen and-

“You ready?” Christofer asked as she felt Kale press another kiss against her neck before she felt him reluctantly pull his arms away, leaving her with no other choice but to panic.

“Let’s go,” Kale said, kissing the top of her head as she stood there, struggling to remember how to breathe as she watched her brother head for the backdoor before turning that panicked gaze back to her mate and-

“I’ll be back tonight,” Kale promised as he kissed her forehead before moving to join her brother.

“No, wait, let’s talk about this!” Ashley said, trying not to panic, but it was a quickly losing battle as she watched helplessly as that terrifying gleam came back in Ephraim’s eye and-

“This is going to be so much fun.”

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