A Wolf's Duty Page 15

  Yes, Tobias answered simply, slipping between the sheets and pulling Alex into the warmth of his arms. Her back against his chest, Alex pulled his arms closer around her, determined to be as close to him as possible, instantly feeling at ease within his embrace.

  I think I’m falling in love with you Tobias, so don’t leave me, or I swear to God I’ll hunt your ass down. The words floated through his mind with such clarity that he knew she had meant them, the emotions behind them strong and true.

  I know I love you dearest and one day I’m sure you’ll feel brave enough to tell me out loud.

  Chapter Twenty

  Sitting across from Tobias on his large bed eating breakfast, Alex felt her heart fall a little deeper into his keeping. She had woken to the delicious smells of hot, cooked food and fresh fruit to find Tobias waving a tray of food under her nose. The bed was now covered in an assortment of foods, because having apparently taken her desire to have choices to heart, he had asked the chef to cook a little of everything in the kitchen before bringing them up to her.

  “Open,” he commanded, bringing a ripe peach slice to her lips. She did as he asked and allowed the fruit to enter her mouth, licking her lips to remove all traces of the sweet juice.

  “Tobias?”

  “Yes?”

  “I have a question.” She began; he nodded, urging her to continue. “Exactly how old are you?”

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “I’ve heard people throw around things like decades and centuries when talking about you and it got me thinking. I mean I don’t think you ever told me how old you are, the first time I asked all I got was an ‘older than I look’. Will you tell me?”

  “That depends,” he responded cryptically.

  “On what?”

  “Will you think less of me if I tell you? Will you try and run from me?”

  She looked at the serious expression on his face and instantly decided he wasn’t joking. “No Tobias, I’ve decided to stay so I won’t run and I won’t think any less of you either.”

  He sighed, “I’m three hundred and sixteen years old.”

  “Three hundred and what?” she spluttered clearly shocked.

  “I’m three hundred and sixteen years old and will be three hundred and seventeen in a few months.”

  “You’re kidding right?”

  “No. What did you expect? People have after all been speaking of centuries when talking about me haven’t they? Open.” She responded automatically, allowing him to slip another piece of fruit into her mouth although she wasn’t sure what it was.

  Chewing rapidly, she swallowed the unknown fruit before pressing on with her former line of inquiry. “Talk about robbing the cradle, I’m a baby compared to you.”

  “I’m aware of that, but I haven’t been this old all that time. I spent my first ninety odd years maturing.”

  “So how long exactly have you been looking for me then?” she asked, reaching blindly forward to grab something from a plate and bring it to her mouth.

  “About two hundred years.”

  “That long?”

  “Yes.”

  “I suppose your possessiveness makes sense when you put it like that.”

  “I’m glad to see that you’re finally coming around and seeing things from my point of view.”

  “Tobias I have another question.”

  “What is it?”

  “I just realised that if you’re three hundred plus years old then you’re parents have got to be even older.”

  “That’s a logical conclusion; parents are always older than their children,” he chuckled.

  “So how old exactly are they?”

  “My father is about seven hundred years old and my mother is about six hundred and fifty.”

  She stayed quiet for a moment absorbing the information. “This might sound odd Tobias, but if they’re that old then why are you an only child? I mean, at first I thought that you guys could only give birth once. You’re an only child and Ryan and Sebastian are twins so one birth for each of your parents but after meeting Ilyanna, I know that can’t be right. Ilyanna has the triplets and baby Alice so she’s given birth at least twice, so I just wondered why you didn’t have any brothers or sisters.”

  The hand that had been reaching for another item of food suddenly stopped as a sad expression came over his features. “That isn’t quite true; wolves like us are never born into this world alone. They always have siblings from birth. I had both a brother and a sister.”

  “What happened to them Tobias?”

  “They died,” he said starkly, before proceeding to explain the entire story. “My mother had trouble conceiving and when she did, she miscarried. It broke her heart but she wasn’t strong enough to carry them to term despite appearances. My father didn’t want to keep putting her through it but his father and the Council of advisors demanded an heir and they were relentless so they kept trying and she kept losing the children. This went on for over a century but then she conceived again and didn’t miscarry in the first term and went on to the second. They were really hopeful that she’d manage to carry to full term but she just couldn’t and so we were all born premature, my brother, my sister and me.

  “From what my father told me all the clans celebrated that day, but things were different back then, they didn’t have the technology that exists today for premature babies and my sister died not long after she was born. My brother and I grew up together though, we both made it past the early stages. There was an incident when we were approaching maturity, people hunted us relentlessly back then and they killed him. My father moved us here to protect me until I reached maturity and once I did he told his advisors that he refused to put my mother through that again, they had an heir and that was the only one they would get. So here I am, the last one left.”

  Disregarding the plates of food that were between them, Alex launched herself into his arms, managing to avoid spilling any food onto herself, the sheets around them however weren’t so fortunate. “I never should have asked,” she muttered, holding him tighter.

  “You have every right to want to know these things dearest, it all happened a long time ago. Don’t beat yourself up about it, ok?” She nodded sniffling. “Promise?”

  “I swear.”

  “Good, anymore questions?” he inquired, lightly caressing the side of her face, reassuring her that it was fine to continue and appease her inquisitive nature.

  “Is it that hard for all wolves to get pregnant?”

  “No, it’s just like it is for normal humans, some people can have babies really easily and others can’t.”

  “If we mated –”

  “When we mate,” he interrupted, kissing her lightly on the nose.

  “Fine, when we mate, I hear that I’ll be Queen.”

  “That’s true.”

  “Will you expect an heir like that Council expected of your mum?”

  “I expect nothing more than for you to stay with me. The council and my parents on the other hand, will be expecting children; the council because they want an heir, and my parents because they want grandchildren, especially my mother. She absolutely dotes on children probably because she had so much trouble having them and she will be egging you on in that department.”

  A shadow came over her face as a thought occurred to her. “Tobias you said it took you ninety years to reach maturity, what did you mean?”

  “It takes wolf children a longer time to grow up because they have to learn to control their inner wolf. If we grew at the rate humans did we’d probably go mad from our instinct and be a menace to everyone. The time it takes for a child to reach maturity does differ from child to child but it takes on average a hundred years. Take Ilyanna’s children as an example, baby Alice is probably 2 years old now and Ilyanna’s triplets are probably about 15 in human years.”

  “So what you’re saying is that if we had children I wouldn’t live long enough to watch them grow up.”

  “
What are you talking about Xandria?”

  “I’m human Tobias, if I made it to a hundred it would be a miracle.”

  “Xandria, I only get one mate in my lifetime, do you think I’d a let a little thing like dying of old age take you away from me?”

  “It seems like a pretty big thing from where I’m sitting.”

  “You worry too much Xandria,” he chuckled. “It’s all part of the claiming ceremony. I give a little bit of myself into your keeping and that links us so that you only leave this earth when I do and trust me Xandria, I have no intention of letting that be anytime soon.” Smiling, he bent his head and brushed his lips against hers in a gentle kiss. She felt the tension she had unknowingly built up disappear as she held him closer to her.

  A knock on the door forced them to spring apart. “Your highness?”

  “Yes,” Tobias growled.

  “May I come in?”

  Tobias allowed his eyes to wander the length of Alex’s frame, taking in the large amount of bared flesh before turning to scowl at the closed door, the extent of his possessiveness frightening even him. “If you want me to end your life then by all means come in.”

  “Tobias!” Alex scolded.

  “What?” he inquired innocently.

  “Go and see what he wants.”

  Grumbling, he stood and headed towards the door. Opening the door a crack, he allowed his head to peep round the corner, sheltering Alex from the man’s gaze. “What do you want?” he snapped.

  A hand against his back told him of Alex’s proximity and he closed the door a little, trapping his head outside. “Be nicer to him Tobias, he hasn’t done anything wrong,” she whispered.

  “What do you want?” he reiterated.

  “Your highness, your presence is requested in the audience chamber.”

  “Fine,” he snapped, moving to close the door. A hand in the frame prevented the completion of the move. “Is there something else?”

  “Yes, her majesty would like to speak to Princess Alexandria in her quarters.”

  “Fine. Now I assume I can close the door?” The messenger nodded and Tobias shut the door, with more force than was necessary.

  “You really need to learn to be nicer to people Tobias.”

  “There’s only one person I need to be nice to and she’s right here.” He grinned, pulling her close into the warmth of his embrace and kissing her lightly.

  “Now I hear that we have things to do today,” she reminded him lightly.

  “Well there goes my plan of lying with you in here all day.”

  “Yes, there it goes, I suggest you wave goodbye to it now.” She laughed, stepping out of his arms and headed back to her room.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Are you sure I look alright?” Alex questioned again, smoothing her hands down the skirt of her blue dress.

  “You look fine dearest.” He sighed, “I don’t know what you’re so worried about, it’s not like you haven’t met her before.”

  “Yes, but then I didn’t really care if she liked me or not.”

  “You have absolutely nothing to be worried about.” Trying to calm her, he reached out to her and pulled her close.

  “She’s royalty Tobias and I’m not. What if I do something wrong? What if I mess up?” she wheezed, beginning to panic.

  “In case you forgot Xandria, I’m royalty as well and soon enough you’ll be Queen,” he reminded her.

  “Are you trying to make my nerves worse Tobias?” she scolded, lightly slapping his chest.

  “No.”

  “It’s not just that she’s a queen Tobias, she’s your mother and I want to make a good impression.”

  “You made the best possible impression on her just by being born dearest. Trust me you have nothing to worry about. If it gets that bad just leave and come and find me.”

  “I thought you were meant to be meeting someone in the audience chamber.”

  “If you need me then I’ll just leave, simple as that. Ask any of the guards and they’ll bring you to me.”

  She smiled at the offer. “Thanks Tobias, but I’m sure I’ll be fine, don’t try and use me as an excuse to get out of doing your work.”

  “Damn, how did you see through me?”

  “You’re pretty transparent to me now Tobias. I know how your mind works.” She grinned, tapping his forehead lightly before stepping out of his embrace. “I’m off to meet the queen so I’ll see you later Tobias.”

  He grabbed her arm. “What, no kiss goodbye?” he questioned, clearly affronted by her action.

  “Ok, but only a little one.” Smiling, she reached up and brought his face closer to hers, placing a chaste kiss on his lips. “Good enough?”

  Not nearly enough, but later, later… His mind purred allowing her to leave the room.

  “Your highness.” Maria smiled from beside the door.

  “Maria.”

  “I’ll show you to her majesty’s rooms.”

  “Thanks, I had a vague idea where they were but this place is so big I’m sure I’d get lost in no time.”

  “It does take a while to learn the layout of the estate but you have years to get it right.” Maria responded, standing away from the wall.

  Alex nodded silently allowing Maria to lead the way to Yvonne's rooms. They soon reached the large wooden door that led into Yvonne's suite.

  “She’s inside.” Maria indicated, stepping away from the entrance.

  “Aren’t you coming inside as well?” Alex squeaked nervously grabbing hold of Maria’s forearm and preventing her from leaving.

  “No, I have other things that I have to attend to. You have nothing to be concerned about; Yvonne is a nice person, as you should remember from your last meeting. She said she wanted to talk to you privately, I can do no other than obey my queen’s wishes.” Gently prying Alex’s fingers from her arm with her free hand, Maria opened the door and shepherded her inside.

  “Ah, Alexandria,” Yvonne beamed, standing from her chaise and moving towards her. Despite the richness of her own clothing, Alex still felt decidedly uncomfortable in Yvonne’s elegant presence and began to wring her hands together nervously. “Come in and take a seat so we can have a little talk.” A firm arm around her shoulders forced her further into the room before placing her in front of a chair. “Please take a seat Alexandria.”

  “You can call me Alex,” she corrected.

  Yvonne tutted. “Alexandria, everyone is given a name and it’s my philosophy to use that name in full. Now please take a seat.”

  Following Yvonne’s instructions, Alex sat down, folding her hands tightly in her lap to prevent herself from fidgeting. She eyed Yvonne as she took her seat, taking in the warm smile that graced her lips and allowing herself to relax slightly.

  “Well Alexandria, I hear that things are going well between you and my son.” Alex nodded in agreement and Yvonne continued. “I also hear that he gave you the Garden of Jubilation.”

  “The what?” Alex questioned, confused.

  “The Garden of Jubilation, it’s the name of the garden you two were in yesterday.”

  “News sure travels fast around here,” she muttered under her breath. Yvonne smiled but gave no other outward sign that her sensitive hearing had picked up on what Alex had just said. “Yes he did.”

  “News like that travels fast around here.” Yvonne chuckled, causing Alex to blush. Grateful for once to have Fred as a father, she thanked the darker skin she had inherited from him for hiding the blush that enflamed her cheeks. “He used to love that garden as a child, he would spend hours in there.”

  “I can’t really imagine that,” Alex murmured, remembering Tobias’ sneezes whenever he entered a place with a large amount of floral life.

  “Yes, well he doesn’t really use it anymore, his nose became much more sensitive after he matured and the scent of so many different things in one place disagrees with him now. Do you have any plans for it?”

  Seeing genuine curiosity in the de
pths of Yvonne's gaze Alex felt herself becoming more relaxed. “Well actually I do have a few ideas, nothing major because the garden is beautiful as it is, but I thought I might ask Tobias if I could buy some flowers that usually grow in England so I can have a little bit of my home here.”

  “That’s a wonderful idea Alexandria,” Yvonne praised. “We want you to settle in here as soon as possible.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Alexandria?”

  “Yes.” She responded instantly.

  “I also heard about your reaction to Ilyanna’s situation yesterday.”

  Alex groaned, beginning to despair as to how fast news travelled within the estate. You would think that with so many people living here it would take longer for news to make it to the queen.

  “I was actually pleasantly surprised. It’s good to know that you feel so strongly about children.”

  Tobias’ warning about Yvonne’s desire for grandchildren floated through her mind and she had to resist the urge to stand up and leave, tightening her grip on her knees to keep them in place.

  “You know I think it’s good to have some little ones around the estate, it’s been a while since we’ve heard the sound of children’s laughter. A place as large as this should be filled with children, don’t you agree Alexandria?”

  A knock on the door saved her from having to answer and Alex breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Come in,” Yvonne commanded.

  Maria rushed in, the stricken expression on her face making both Alexandria and Yvonne instantly concerned, only something very serious could make the unflappable Maria worry. “Your majesty, your presence is needed in the audience chamber.”

  Yvonne stood instantly moving towards the door. “I’m sorry about this Alexandria, we will have to continue this at another time.”

  “I think it’s probably best if her highness comes as well, I fear that this will have a great impact on her as well.”

  “Very well Maria, Alexandria will you come?”

  It wasn’t a question but Alex nodded her head as though her opinion was needed, standing from the chair and following Yvonne and Maria from the room. They traced the familiar path that she had walked with Tobias only yesterday and she found herself smiling at the memory of him walking bare-chested through the halls. As they approached the large doors that led to the audience chamber she made eye contact with the generous guard who had given Tobias his shirt yesterday, smiling and offering a small wave. The guard smiled, though it didn’t reach his deep brown eyes before he quickly turned away from her.