A Wolf's Duty Read online

  “I told you I came here for my daughter.”

  “How old is your daughter?”

  The odd question side-swiped Fred and he answered automatically. “She’s twenty.”

  “That means she’s old enough to know where she can get in touch with you and how to use a phone.” Fred nodded. “If she’s old enough to know all of that and if your daughter were here then why hasn’t she tried to contact you? Why hasn’t she tried to leave? If she were here then maybe she doesn’t want to go back with you, maybe she wants to stay.”

  “You people kidnapped her, that’s why she hasn’t been able to get in touch with me otherwise she’d have called, she’d have asked me to come and get her to take her home. I’m going to have you arrested.”

  “I’d love to see you try.” Tobias laughed revelling in the scent of the man’s discomfort.

  “Just because you have money, it doesn’t mean that you can do whatever you like and get away with it. The law applies to everyone.”

  “Yes, it does.” And here bastard, I can make whatever law I like.

  “I’ve had enough of this!” Fred thundered. “I’m going to get my daughter back if I have to search every room here. I know you’ve got her and I’m taking her back.” He moved towards the door, but it swung outwards as it opened, forcing him behind the thick wood. Hidden behind the now open door, Fred watched as Alex walked into the room dressed in a man’s shirt with a joyous expression on her face.

  “Tobias?” She smiled rushing towards him. “Is something wrong?”

  “What are you doing here Xandria? Better yet, what are you doing here dressed like that?”

  “Oh,” she flushed apparently just becoming aware of her state of dress. “Well, Owen,” She tilted her head to indicate the guard that had ushered her into the room, “made it sound like it was important and I got your note as well and I’m beginning to think that when your family members get together something important is going on. I guess I just forgot to get dressed properly. Sorry, I’ll go and change and then you can tell me what’s going on, ok?” He nodded dumbly, unsure of exactly what to say.

  She looked over his shoulder, frowning. “Ryan? Sebastian? Are you two ok? You look a little stressed.”

  Following Tobias’s lead, Ryan smiled widely. “We’re fine Alex, why don’t you take Tobias’ advice and go get changed. I’d hate for my cousin to have to tear my eyes out just so that we didn’t look at you.”

  “Ok,” she mumbled, confused at the odd atmosphere that filled the room. Turning back towards the door she began to move towards it, tugging frantically at the hem of the shirt to cover herself. Her eyes focused on her clothing, she failed to notice Fred move out from behind the door until he was standing directly in front of her and she walked into him. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” she murmured, her eyes glued to the floor as she flushed with embarrassment. A moment of silence passed where she didn’t receive a response from the person she had bumped into and her eyes lifted.

  “Fred,” she gasped, shocked at his appearance in her sanctuary.

  He grasped her wrist pulling her up sharply. “How many times do I have to tell you? I’m your father and I expect you to call me dad,” he snarled, his spittle flying into her face.

  Her body froze as fear overwhelmed her; a slight breeze was the only warning she had that Tobias had moved before he appeared at her side, prying Fred’s fingers from her wrist before throwing him halfway across the hall. “Xandria, are you ok?”

  Her eyes wide she turned to him. “What’s he doing here Tobias?”

  “Go back to the bedroom Alexandria, I’ll take care of this.”

  “I knew you had her!” Fred screamed, lifting himself from the ground. “Give me my daughter.”

  “Xandria, go back to our rooms. I’m going to take care of this so don’t worry.” Tobias rubbed his hands reassuringly along her arms but he could feel her body trembling in fear which only served to make him angrier, his emotions and desires becoming increasingly feral and aligned with his wolf’s.

  Fred moved quickly, covering the distance he had been thrown to return to Alex’s side, tugging on her arm hard to draw her attention. “Why didn’t you call me? I’m your father, you can’t just go running off and from what it looks like, you aren’t exactly being kept here against your will.” His gaze scanned her frame. “Following in your mother’s footsteps,” he sneered.

  “I, I,” she stuttered, unable to form a coherent argument in the face of her worst nightmare.

  “We’re going home Alex.”

  Pulling Alex into his embrace, Tobias clutched her shivering body against his before moving towards Ryan and Sebastian. Though it loathed him to do so, he handed his trembling mate over to his cousin. “Hold her for me.” Ryan nodded, extending his arms to receive her slight weight.

  His mate now in trusted hands he returned to Fred, his calm façade falling away with every step until he stood directly in front of her father. “Xandria isn’t going anywhere with you, she stays with me from now on.”

  “Xandria?” Fred mused.

  “You on the other hand…” Tobias’ hand shot forth, grabbing Fred by the neck before he put on a burst of speed to slam the man against a stone wall, forcing the breath out of him. “You’re going to pay for what you’ve done.” He allowed his eyes to turn amber, inhaling deeply as the scent of fear rolled off his captive in waves. “And you came to the wrong place if you’re hoping for sympathy. You won’t be getting any from me and here my word is law.”

  Chapter Thirty One

  “What are you doing?” Fred spluttered, clutching at the hand at his throat as he struggled for air. “Let go of me.”

  “Why exactly would I do that? I said you were going to pay and I meant it.”

  “I haven’t done anything wrong!”

  “No? I think physically abusing my mate for two years is wrong and I’m sorry if you don’t agree, but your opinion on the matter doesn’t really concern me. Look at what you’ve done to her,” he snarled, forcing Fred to watch Alex’s reaction to his presence. “Don’t worry, by the time I’m finished with you, you’ll be in a far worse condition when you see me. I can assure you of that.”

  “Why are you doing this? Please let me go.”

  “She’s my mate, that’s reason enough for me to kill you.”

  “Mate? I don’t understand.”

  “There’s no need for you to understand, you’ll be dead soon enough.”

  “Dead?” Fred gulped as fear began to overwhelm him.

  “You’d be dead already if things were up to me but I promised Xandria that I wouldn’t hurt you when we left England. Now, however, things are different. You walked into this, you couldn’t just accept that she was gone and now her attempt to save you has been wasted because you’re not getting out of here alive.”

  The door opened and Thomas and Yvonne walked into the room. Yvonne’s eyes widened in shock as she observed the wild look on her son’s face and she moved tentatively towards him. “Tobias dearest, what’s going on?”

  “We have a guest.”

  “I can see that, it doesn’t explain why you look like you want to kill the man.”

  Turning his head as much as he was able in Yvonne’s direction, Fred began to beg. “Please help me, I haven’t done anything. He’s crazy, you can’t let him kill me.”

  “Don’t even speak to her,” Tobias snarled, shaking his captive. “And I thought we had already gone over this, you aren’t innocent, you’re guilty of the worst possible crime. Intentionally harming another’s mate is a criminal offence and doing it repeatedly for two years is equal to a capital punishment in my eyes.”

  “This is Alexandria’s father?” Thomas inquired, his eyes wandering sceptically over the man’s large frame.

  “Yes.”

  “Then this is exactly the right course of action son, death is the only way for him to pay for his crimes. Do you want some help?”

  Fred sque
aked at Thomas’ offhanded offer of assistance, drawing Tobias’ attention back to him. “I told you not to expect any sympathy here.”

  The trembling of her body began to slow and Alex became increasingly aware of the conversation that was floating around her, her head turning to look at Tobias and Fred. She gulped at the predatory look that had overcome Tobias, unused to seeing him angry. Her eyes locked with Fred’s and he turned to her for help.

  “Alex, you can’t let them do this to me. I’m your father! Help me!”

  “If you couldn’t talk to my mother what exactly makes you think you have any right to address my mate?” His head tilted to the side as though he were examining an odd specimen of insect. “If I rip out your throat then I doubt you’d be able to do any more talking. I think I might just do that.” The nails on his free hand lengthened into sharp claws and he dragged then slowly up Fred’s exposed throat, barely touching the skin in some places but still touching him enough that he knew the threat his claws possessed.

  Alex watched as her father’s face paled beneath Tobias’ grip increasingly shocked by the level of violence her usually calm Tobias was capable of. This isn’t my Tobias. Her body began to tremble with renewed vigour as fear of her father transformed itself into a fear of Tobias’ actions. My Tobias is gentle, a little intense sometimes but he’s not like this. My Tobias isn’t a killer. “Tobias?” Alex called. He turned at the sound of his name, unnerved by the scent of fear that was rolling off of her. “Don’t,” she implored, her voice barely audible. “Don’t do this.” Don’t become a killer; I don’t want to be afraid of you.

  He discarded Fred, tossing the man aside sure that the guards at the door and his father wouldn’t allow him to escape. “Why dearest? He hurt you for years, this is the least I can do.”

  “Please Tobias, I don’t want you to kill him.”

  He groaned, dismayed by her decision. “Is it because of that promise I made in England?”

  “No Tobias, I don’t want you to become a killer, he’s not worth it.”

  “Then what do you expect me to do with him? I’m not letting him go this time Alex, he doesn’t deserve it.” Just like he doesn’t deserve your sympathy.

  How can she not want him dead after all he’s done to her? his wolf demanded, perplexed by her actions.

  She’s too kind for her own good. She’d let him walk, go free even though he’s the cause of all her nightmares.

  She’s our mate; I don’t want to change her.

  I know, I love her exactly how she is, kind heart and all, but this… Tobias groaned, his eyes flickering to Fred’s fallen form, as he lay sprawled across the floor. I’m not sure I can just accept her compassion in a case like this.

  We love her, that means we’ll accept her as she is, his wolf counselled, you and I on the other hand, will need to be twice as vicious if necessary so that we can protect her from the weaknesses of a kind heart.

  If the situation calls for it, then yes that’s what we’ll do, Tobias agreed before turning his attention back to his mate. “Alexandria, I can’t just let him go free, even in the human world he would be punished for what he did to you and the same applies here. What do you want me to do?”

  “I don’t know Tobias, I don’t know.”

  “He has to pay for what he did to you Xandria. If you won’t let me kill him then you choose what should happen to him. He’s your father and all his crimes have been committed against you, so you decide what will be done with him dearest, but absolute freedom isn’t an option, he has to pay somehow. Sebastian?”

  “Yes Tobias.”

  “Take her back to our rooms so she has time to think about it.”

  Ryan lowered her to the ground. Although her legs were still a little unsteady, she managed to remain upright. While her natural impulse was to run and embrace him, she noted that the knuckles of his fisted hands were white from strain. His entire body seemed tense and on the verge of snapping because of what she had said and so she chose to keep her distance. It’s not like I’m afraid he’ll do anything to hurt me, I’m sure he wouldn’t even when angry. I just want to give him some time to calm down. I know he’s mad and it’s my fault, but I don’t want Tobias to become a killer. I don’t want him to have anything in common with Fred at all.

  “What about you Tobias?” she questioned.

  “I’m going to take care of him.” He jerked his head in the direction of where he had thrown Fred, his lips curling in anger revealing increasingly prominent fangs.

  “You’re not going to kill him?”

  “No dearest, I won’t kill him.” But I’m going to make him wish I could. His eyes locked with Ryan’s a silent agreement made.

  “Thank you Tobias.” Holding tightly onto Sebastian’s arm for support she stumbled out of the room, glad beyond belief when she was sitting once more at the edge of Tobias’ bed. She gazed unseeing into space trying to gather her thoughts and failing before turning to Sebastian.

  “Why is he here?”

  “Your father?” She nodded. “He came looking for you.”

  “Why?” She turned to face him, disbelief written all over her face. “He never seemed to care if I lived or died. Why would he come looking for me? How did he find me?”

  “I can’t answer that Alex. I’m not your father and I wouldn’t want to be given his circumstances,” he responded, his voice monotone.

  “What circumstances?”

  “Alex, you’re getting your first true glimpse into the inner workings of a wolf’s mind and I’m not sure you’re going to like what comes of it.”

  “I don’t understand what you mean.”

  “Alex, we’re not human, yes we may seem similar enough but that’s only on the surface. Our rules and laws aren’t the same as the ones you’re used to.”

  “I know that,” she snorted. “I had to do that Challenge thing remember?”

  “And you didn’t think it was the least bit strange that almost no one batted an eye at the idea that you might die?”

  “I wasn’t really thinking about it at the time,” she confessed. “I was more worried about winning and Ryan distracted me from any thoughts that weren’t centred around on training.”

  “The laws about mates can have horrid consequences for those who break them. We take the bonds that form between mates very seriously.” He began, his voice rising in pitch as he became increasingly agitated. “I can’t explain just what it feels like, I mean you’re human for one thing, which means you don’t really know what being mated means.” Alex’s jaw tightened at Sebastian's human comment but she let him continue, allowing him to get whatever was really bothering him out in the open. “And for another you’re female,” he scoffed. “Women have it lucky, they don’t feel this growing emptiness inside of them if they don’t have a mate. No, they’re quite content to live life however they want,” he ranted. “They aren’t driven to find their mate and even if they come across them, they can choose to be stubborn about it, they can reject their mate.”

  “Sebastian?” she whispered, hesitant to interrupt him.

  “What?” he snapped.

  Her eyes widened at his sharp response, unaccustomed to him being sharp with her. “Sebastian, has something happened? You seem a little upset, especially when you started talking about mates. Are you mad because you haven’t found her yet? I’m sure you’ll find her soon enough, just have a little faith.” His jaw tightened and when he made no move to respond to her questions, she began to look at his agitation in a different light. Her mind flashed back to the previous night and she remembered the brunette he had followed from the hall. “Or is it the opposite? You found your mate but things aren’t going how you want them to?”

  A vein began to tick at the side of his forehead, increasingly frustrated with his situation. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he spat through gritted teeth.

  “I’m right then? You found your mate?”

  “Like I said, I don’t want to talk about this.” />
  “Fine,” she pouted. “Have it your way. Let’s not talk about that anymore. You were giving me an in-depth tour through the mind a wolf,” she prompted.

  “Yes, let’s get back to the point. Because we only ever get one mate, there are very strict laws about the harming of another’s mate. They don’t all result in death, but the punishments are very harsh. Your father’s case is made worse by what you are.”

  “What I am?”

  “Yes. You’re Tobias’ mate, the Princess of our people and one day you’ll be Queen. Even if we put your position aside, everyone in all the clans knows how long Tobias has had to wait for you. No one in our entire history has had to wait so long. Two hundred years? It’s a wonder he’s still sane after all that time alone. But then he found you, so it’s reasonable that he would be protective. But others are going to want to protect you not just because of your title but because they would see it as a responsibility to a fellow clansman. Throw in your title and it just becomes a thousand times worse for your father. Alex, the honest truth is that no matter what you do to try and save him, your father is going to die.” She gasped at this revelation but he continued.

  “You’ve lived here long enough to know how fast news travels around the estate, by now everyone here knows who your father is and exactly what he’s done and they won’t be as merciful as you. Even if he manages to get out of the estate, which is doubtful, news spreads almost as quickly through the clans and they’ll want blood. Even if you made Tobias promise not to kill him, I’ve made no such promise, neither has Ryan or anyone else within the clans. And Alex, even if you asked them all individually, they wouldn’t agree to it. Your father is the walking dead, it’s only a matter of time before someone kills him. Here or out there and I suggest you get used to the idea.”

  “There’s nothing I can do?”

  “No Alex, there isn’t, and to be quite honest I can’t see why you would even want to protect him.”

  “I don’t want Tobias to kill him; I don’t want him to become a murderer.”