A Wolf's Duty Read online

  “Now?” he exclaimed, surprised that he had lost track of time to such an extent.

  “Lord Sebastian is with them now, but he’s becoming very anxious without you there my lord.”

  “Sebastian's very shy,” he whispered conspiratorially to Alex. “I’d better go and help him.”

  “I think he would greatly appreciate that Lord Ryan.”

  Gripping Ryan’s arm tightly, Alex prevented him from leaving as her former worries returned. “You won’t say anything to him, will you Ryan?”

  All former mirth evaporated as the harsh realities of the next day once again made themselves known. “Alex…” he groaned.

  “I can do it Ryan, I swear. Just give me a chance, don’t tell him please.”

  “I’m not going to out and out lie to him Alex, he’s my cousin and he deserves better than that.”

  “I’m not asking you to,” she pleaded. “All I’m asking is that you don’t mention what I can’t do. I’ll sort everything else out myself.”

  “Fine,” he conceded. “But I’m not taking any of the blame for this if things don’t go as well as you hope.”

  “Like I said Ryan, have a little faith.” She beamed, smiling widely at him and the newcomer.

  Ryan groaned, baffled by the boundless optimism she seemed to possess in the face of overwhelming odds. “Let’s go William, Sebastian is probably becoming frantic now.”

  “Bye Ryan, I’ll see you later.” She waved until they were out of sight.

  Exhaustion suddenly swamped her and she fell to the soft ground, cushioned by the layer of vines hiding within the grass. The whispers still filled her mind and the constant chatter wore on her nerves, but as the rich foliage sprouted around her to cover the grazed and bruised parts of her body she felt a sense of relief overcome her. The plant life that had wrapped itself around her, soothed the aches and pains and she was dimly aware of, the shredded skin on her elbows knitting itself together under the floral ministrations. How long she stayed within her green cocoon she wasn’t sure but by the time she rose and pushed the whispers to the back of her mind it was dark and her worn body felt a measure of relief. Her eyes turned upwards taking in the increasingly large moon.

  Another non-existent night’s sleep, she sighed before turning and heading toward the estate.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Walking into the estate, the first thing she became aware of was the loud sound of voices shouting. Following the noise blindly, she soon came upon a long corridor, where two figures stood in a heated argument. A scowl appeared on her face at the sight of Lucinda, frantically tugging at Tobias’ sleeve to garner his attention.

  Hands off bitch, she snarled, instantly feeling the whispers that had been relegated to the back of her mind clambering for freedom.

  “Let go of me Lucinda,” Tobias snapped, shrugging loose of her grip.

  “Tobias, are you really going to go through with this?”

  “It’s not like I have a choice now, do I Lucinda?” he informed her calmly, his voice surprisingly composed as he moved away from her, increasing the distance between them with his long stride.

  Rushing forward, she blocked his path, demanding his attention. “It’s not too late to acknowledge me Tobias, if you do then I’ll call off the Challenge.”

  “I’ve already told you, that’s never going to happen.”

  “I’m not going to go easy on her Tobias. She’ll die,” she told him casually.

  “She’s already made up her mind about this Lucinda and she’s not going to change it now.”

  “Does she even know the risks involved?”

  “She’s well aware of them Lucinda, but there are some things that are worth dying for, you might not understand that but I do. I’m prepared to lay down my life for the sake of hers just like she’s willing to take this risk for me. But I need to make one thing abundantly clear to you Lucinda, you will never have me.”

  “I’ll win the Challenge Tobias and you’ll have to take me as a mate,” she replied confidently.

  “Even if you win you won’t have me. If you kill her I’ll find a way to join her,” he growled, stepping towards her menacingly, the cracks in his calm façade beginning to appear.

  So intense. Alex grinned to herself, pleased with the fleeting expression of fear that had appeared on Lucinda’s features, before she decided to make her presence known. “Tobias,” she called out, strolling from her hiding place into the exposed corridor. His amber flecked gaze swung around to face her, instantly calming the moment she was in his sights, a small smile appearing on his face as he looked her over.

  I made a good choice when I picked her as our mate didn’t I? His inner wolf inquired, its voice smug but Tobias felt no need to correct it, in full agreement with his wolf’s claim.

  “Xandria,” he breathed, his body automatically moving towards her. Lucinda's hand on his forearm prevented him from reaching her and he growled at the offending ligament, struggling against his inner wolf’s desire to simply kill Lucinda and save Alex from any potential harm.

  I made a perfect choice and yet you insist on allowing her to be put in harm’s way. Are you stupid? What will we do if she gets hurt or worse – dies? Kill her now because when I get out, I’ll do it for you!

  “Get your hand off me Lucinda,” he snarled.

  “You aren’t allowed to harm me before the Challenge Tobias,” she reminded him, her grip refusing to loosen.

  Stepping towards the pair, Alex forced the whispers to remain at the back of her mind despite her rising anger. “He might not be allowed to hurt you Lucinda, but I’m not sure the same rules apply to me. Now listen to what he said, he obviously doesn’t want you near him so hands off!”

  Lucinda reluctantly released Tobias, stepping around him to stand in front of Alex, preventing the two from touching. “You think you can take me human?”

  “I know I can.” She grinned confidently before tilting her head to better regard the two. “Now correct me if I’m wrong but I could have sworn we weren’t allowed to have any contact with Tobias before the challenge, so it strikes me as a little odd why you’re following him around like a lost puppy. An unwanted puppy at that,” she sneered.

  “Do you think you know the rules of the clans human?”

  “Now that wasn’t an answer to my question, was it Lucinda? But don’t worry, I won’t be so rude to you, my mother taught me manners. Of course I don’t know the laws or rules of the clans. I wasn’t raised among them, but I made sure to learn enough to get by and just that little bit extra to make things difficult for you. For instance, I’m sure that if I screamed loud enough I could get a guard to show up and take in this whole scene. I’m sure it would put a damper on your plans if you got disqualified before the Challenge even started.”

  Lucinda froze at the statement before quickly regaining her ground. “And how exactly would you explain to the guard just what you were doing here? It would be your word against mine and I have a lot more pull within the clans that you do human.”

  Exactly why I’m not screaming at the top of my lungs right now.

  “Not exactly Lucinda, it would be your word against ours,” Tobias moved around Lucinda, to stand beside Alex inhaling deeply and relishing her scent. “I’d stand by whatever my mate said.”

  “Tobias, you have to stop doing this,” Lucinda pouted, stamping her foot in a move reminiscent of a child’s tantrum. “She’s human. There’s no way that she’s your mate.”

  “A mate is a mate regardless of what they are Lucinda, and Alexandria is most certainly mine. Even if she weren’t, my mate would most certainly not be you, fate just couldn’t be that cruel. Now go away before my mate’s very strong pair of lungs have to be put to work.”

  “They wouldn’t believe you Tobias, they would simply see it as another attempt to get out of mating me.”

  He stood taller at the claim, his eyes narrowing to slits as he glared at her. “I’m the Prince of our people, if I say something
happened in a particular way then people will believe what I say. Are you really willing to take the risk?”

  Her eyes darted from the thunderous expression etched on Tobias’ face to the satisfied look plastered onto Alex’s, quickly accepting defeat. “This will all be over tomorrow anyway and then you will have to accept that we’re meant to be together.” Spinning on her heel she stormed off, soon moving out of their line of vision.

  The breath left Alex’s body in one large sigh as the confident act she had put on for Lucinda vanished. “Good riddance to bad rubbish.” Smiling, she turned to look at Tobias, her hands automatically seeking the warmth of his body. Running her palms over the hard muscles of his stomach she moved closer, leaning against him to savour the sensation of being so close. His arms soon wrapped themselves around her, pulling her even closer against him, awareness of their surroundings fading.

  “I’ve missed you Xandria.” He groaned, nuzzling his face into her neck. He allowed her warmth to seep into him for a moment longer before pushing her away from his body to look her over. His eyes immediately zeroed in on the deep bags under her eyes and concern rushed through him. “Xandria?” he questioned, bringing a hand up to her face and running his thumb lightly over the darkened skin.

  “I haven’t been sleeping well.”

  “I can see that dearest, what’s the matter? Are you worried about the Challenge tomorrow? Is that it? I felt that you were anxious about something. I don’t want you worrying over this. You have a bag packed?”

  “Yes Tobias,” she sighed. “I’ve done it but I don’t see why I even bothered. I’m not running away from Lucinda, I’m going to win.”

  “We’ll see what Ryan has to say about that before any decisions are made.”

  “That’s not why I’m not sleeping,” she rushed, desperately trying to distract his attention from finding Ryan.

  “Then what’s the matter?”

  “The nightmares,” she mumbled, her body beginning to tremble as the images from her nightly sessions came to the front of her mind. “They’ve gotten worse. I know you were only there for one night, but I’m beginning to find that once something bad doesn’t happen even once, it seems all that much worse when it happens again.”

  “Tell me about them,” he encouraged, rubbing his hands up and down her shaking arms in a comforting gesture.

  “He’s there every night; I can’t seem to get away from him. It always starts with him hitting me, which is fine, I mean I’m used to it by now.” Tobias growled at the statement and she rushed on, hoping to get it all out before he became too mad. “But then after he’s beaten me so badly that I can’t move, my mum comes in and he starts on her. I try to get up, I try to help her but I can’t move. All I can do is watch him as he keeps on hitting her again and again and again. Then he stops; the first night I was so relieved when he did, but now I know what happens next and I don’t want him to stop anymore.” She hiccupped, her body wracked by sobs. “She stands up, she’s bruised all over and how she even manages to get to her feet baffles me but she looks at me. She looks me straight in the eyes and then starts to cut open her wrists. I can’t move and I can’t seem to look away and she just keeps going and there’s so much blood…” She trailed off, unable to continue, tears now streaming down her face.

  Wiping away her tears as they continued on, seemingly endless, he brought her closer to his body. “Has this happened both nights I haven’t been with you?” he questioned, becoming increasingly concerned by her tale of her disturbing nightmares.

  “Every night,” she confirmed, nodding into his chest. “I wake up and don’t want to go back to sleep, so I just stay up all night.”

  “You can’t fight Lucinda like this dearest, your body is exhausted, Ryan’s been working you too hard. How can he not have seen this? He should’ve said something to me.”

  “Don’t be mad at Ryan, Tobias. He was only doing what I asked him to. I didn’t want you to worry.”

  “How can I not worry? You’re going to be fighting Lucinda tomorrow in her wolf form. She’s more experienced than you, more vicious, and she won’t be dead on her feet from fatigue either.” He groaned, increasingly worried about the outcome of the Challenge.

  Her tears subsided as she became aware of Tobias’ distress and sought to help him. “She might have all of those things in her favour but I’ve got more of a reason to win.” She smiled at him as she stroked the side of his face. “I’m going to win Tobias, don’t worry about me, okay?”

  The distant sound of footsteps approaching gained his attention and he was quickly reminded of their situation. “People are coming Xandria,” he whispered in her ear. “Go to your room and lock the door behind you, tell Maria that you’re going to sleep. Can you do that for me?”

  She nodded her agreement, reaching up to place a quick kiss to his cheek before running from him on what she hoped were silent feet. Quickly reaching an area of the estate she hoped was far away enough from Tobias, she stopped to catch her breath, leaning against one of the many hard stone walls that made up the corridors. Sighing deeply, she pushed off the wall and walked back to her room, spotting Maria waiting for her at the entrance.

  “Your highness.” Maria smiled in welcome.

  “That could very well be Lucinda tomorrow,” Alex remarked as she walked past Maria into her bedroom.

  “I have no reason to doubt Tobias’ judgment, if he says you’re his mate then you deserve to be called your highness. Besides, I dread to think how horrid life around here would be if Lucinda was the Princess and can you even imagine what would happen if she managed to be crowned queen? I can’t even bear thinking about it. It would just give me nightmares.” Maria shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself for effect, drawing a small chuckle from Alex.

  “I’m going to go to sleep Maria, big day tomorrow.”

  “You’re sure that you want to go through with this?”

  “I want to stay with Tobias, there isn’t another choice. Besides I have every confidence that I can win.” Maria remained silent and Alex could practically feel how unconvinced she was by her claim. “Trust me Maria, I can win.”

  Maria smiled, but they both knew it wasn’t genuine. “Good night your highness, I’ll see you in the morning.” The door closed with a quiet click and she was alone once more. Breathing deeply to calm her ragged nerves, she dressed quickly in one of Tobias’ shirts, revelling in his rich smell. Crossing the room, she opened the door that linked their two rooms, moving into his and shutting it behind her as she made her way to his bed. Diving into his sheets, she wrapped them around her, hoping that the shadow of his presence would be enough to keep the nightmares at bay. Her eyelids closed but soon opened as an insistent knocking prevented her from succumbing to the lure of sleep.

  What on earth is that?

  Rising from the bed she tried to focus on where the sound was coming from. The sound contained the distinct noise of something hitting glass and so she quickly ruled out the doors. She strained her ears to focus on the sound, shuffling slowly towards it. Standing in front of the balcony window, she pulled back the curtain a smile instantly appearing on her face at the sight of Tobias standing outside. Rushing forward, she turned the lock and opened the window, inviting him inside and closing it firmly behind him.

  “What are you doing here, Tobias?”

  “I could ask you the same question. You aren’t in your bedroom, why? I went there first but didn’t get a response, which worried me. It would have been disastrous if someone else heard me and we were caught. Moving from there to here was risky.”

  She turned her head, determined not to meet his gaze, mumbling a response to his question. “I thought that I might be able to sleep better in your room.”

  He smiled, amused by her embarrassment, bringing her closer to himself. “You don’t have to worry about nightmares tonight, that’s why I’m here.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He lifted her into his arms, easily carrying h
er over to his bed and laying her down. “I’m going to spend the night here so that you get a good night’s sleep.”

  “Isn’t that against the rules?”

  “Of course it is, but my mate needs me, how can I stand by and do nothing? No one knows I’m here and no one will know unless you tell them.” He shrugged off his shoes and lay down besides her, gathering her close.

  “Well, I’m not going to say a word Tobias.” She grinned, gripping his shirt to hold him closer.

  “Go to sleep dearest and have peaceful dreams.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice low as her mind began to fade into the realm of sleep.”

  “For what Xandria?”

  “For staying with me.”

  “I love you dearest, how could I possibly stay away?” He held her tighter, lightly kissing her hair.

  “I’m not ready to lose you Tobias, I’m going to win and I’m going to keep you.”

  “Forever?” he questioned lightly.

  “Forever,” she responded easily before her mind went blank and exhaustion caught up with her, sending her into a deep sleep.

  Chapter Twenty Six

  The loud sound of banging woke Alex, making her jolt upright as the noise intruded on her peaceful night’s sleep.

  “Your highness?”

  Recognising the voice, she answered the summons from bed, shouting in the direction of the door. “Yes Maria?”

  “You’re awake?”

  She found herself chuckling at the pointless question, her sense of humour apparently having returned after a good night’s sleep. “Yes Maria, I’m awake.”

  “Your highness, the Challenge will soon be taking place. You need to prepare yourself.”

  “Do I have long?”

  “A little while, your highness.” She leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, “His highness told me to let you sleep for as long as I could. So I would advise you to be quick in your preparations. I’ll wait out here for you.” Tobias’s scent hung heavy in the room and around Alex’s body but as Tobias had marked her none would think that they had stayed the night together and clearly flouted clan rules.