A Wolf's Duty Read online

  “Alex, there’s something I have to tell you.”

  His serious tone prevented her from continuing her tirade and she noticed the slight frown on his face. I’ve never seen him frown; he just doesn't seem the type. Then again I haven't known him for all that long for all I know he could frown all the time. Noting the deep laughter lines around his grey eyes she concluded that her earlier statement was more appropriate. He just doesn't seem the type. “What is it?” Her tone cautious, she waited for him to continue.

  “I know this is going to sound a bit strange, but just bear with me and trust me when I say I’ m not crazy. Ok?”

  “Ok,” she agreed quietly.

  He sighed again, quickly taking in her face and trying to commit it to memory in case she declared him crazy and made him have to chase her to win her heart. “Four years ago, I was sleeping in my bed, very comfortably I might add, when all of a sudden I hear this voice in my head screaming for my help. I don’t mean the kind of screaming you do if you see a spider, I mean the kind of screams you associate with when someone is about to die. The screaming woke me up, it wouldn’t stop and I could feel this person’s pain as though it were my own. They were in so much pain that I though my heart was going to explode. I did the only thing I could think of, I tried to calm them and it worked; the screaming stopped.”

  Alex said nothing to his statement, but her face had blanched, her throat working convulsively as she swallowed. Choosing to finish what he had come to say he continued.

  “But it couldn’t mean nothing, the fact I could feel someone else’s pain and they’d asked for my help so I decided to track them down. Someone clearly needed me. It took me four long years, where I dedicated myself to finding them and over that time I came to realise that it wasn’t a once in a lifetime occurrence. I kept feeling their emotions, which only served to confirm that I was needed, so I kept looking and my search is finally at an end. Alexandria?” Her face turned to him and their eyes met. “What happened four years ago? Why did you call for me?”

  She stared at him in amazement before her mouth automatically went on the defensive. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

  “Don’t lie to me Xandria,” he growled, “I don’t like it.”

  “Why exactly should I believe you? Do you realise how unrealistic your story sounds?”

  “I know it sounds unbelievable but I can prove it.”

  “How?”

  He frowned at her tone but proceeded regardless. “Yesterday morning, you were upset. You cried. I felt your tears. Didn’t you feel anything trying to warm you, trying to make you feel better?”

  Choosing to ignore the speech she had given herself yesterday morning regarding her apparent madness, she continued to remain silent.

  “After that, you were angry. I almost punched my waiter,” he chuckled. “And when you went to sleep last night, you were thinking about me. You said my name when you went to sleep. I must have made a big impression, I can only hear your voice when the emotions are really strong.”

  Her eyes widened at his last statement and her jaw dropped. “I didn’t say that!” she spluttered, her hands reaching for tissue to shred in an attempt to relieve her anxiety.

  “You did,” he responded, laughing. “I heard you say it, it put a smile on my face last night and tided me over this morning when I thought you were going to stand me up. I just kept thinking that no one who said my name like that last night was likely to stand me up today.”

  “If you really can do all of that then what am I feeling now?”

  “It doesn’t work like that,” he sighed. “I can’t feel every little one of your emotions. I feel the strong ones best although sometimes they do spill over at the worst times. Like I remember about two years ago I was meant to be hosting a party for my father’s birthday and playing the part as warm host when…nothing. It was like an emotional vacuum, there was no laughter, no tears, nothing.” If he had though her face white before, it had become almost impossibly pale at his last admission. “Xandria, what’s wrong sweetie?” Taking her hand in his own he was shocked to feel her emotions flow through him, further stunned by the presence of the nothingness that he had just described. Wrapping her mind in the warmth of his own, he felt her become aware of his presence in her head before becoming conscious of her surroundings.

  “It really is you doing that, isn’t it?” He nodded. “You know I did wonder for a while if I had just made you up as a coping mechanism. But I didn’t, did I?” He shook his head in response.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Turning her head away and covering her face behind a curtain of curls she sniffed holding back tears “Why? You already know what happened.”

  “That’s just it, I have no idea what went on. I can only feel your emotions when they’re strong. I have no idea what’s causing them. Talk to me.”

  The warmth of his hand gradually spread through her and she turned her gaze to his. He was the one that kept me going. It’s because of him that I haven’t gone crazy, he gave me hope and helped me keep moving onwards when Fred was at his worst, the least I can do is answer some of his questions.

  “Where do you want to start?”

  He smiled at her, gently rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand in a reassuring motion. “Let start at the beginning, what happened four years ago?”

  “My mum nearly died. I can still remember her blood on my hands. She hit her head, I couldn’t move and I was certain that she was going to die in my arms. And then you,” she smiled at him as his face became connected to the strength that occasionally filled her. “You helped me. I couldn’t move and then you were there in my head and I knew it wasn’t too late. My arms and legs didn’t feel so heavy when you came in. I got up, called the ambulance and they helped her. I don’t think I would have been able to do it without you.” She gripped his hand back.

  “How’s your mother now?”

  At his question, her hand went limp within his grip, her smile faded and her eyes glazed over. He could feel the nothingness pressing in on her and struggled to keep it at bay. When she spoke again her voice had lost all feeling. “My mum is dead.”

  “I thought you said she survived.”

  “She did. My mum killed herself two years ago. She abandoned me and left me in a world where I had to fend for myself.”

  “Your mother committed suicide?”

  “Yes.”

  The nothingness now made perfect sense. She had cut herself off from the world when her mother died, the emotions probably proving too much for her to handle. “Are you an orphan then? Did your mother leave you with no one to look after you?” His grip on her hand tightened slightly as he became angry with a woman he would never meet.

  If only…being an orphan would be a dream compared to what I’ve right now. I can’t believe I’m actually envious of orphans, she scoffed. “No, my father is still alive and well.”

  His grip eased as relief flooded him. “Well at least you weren’t alone, I can take comfort in that. You had me worried for a second.”

  Life would have been so much easier if I were. There wouldn’t be any beatings because I have mum’s eyes. There wouldn’t be any beatings because he’s drunk. There wouldn’t be any beatings full stop. There wouldn’t be any drunken friends with circumspect intentions. Her mind conjured up the image of Sean, complete with the uncomfortable sensation of his arm around her. I could keep my own pay cheque. I could do what I wanted to do. In short life would be perfect. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” she sighed, tearing her mind away from the horrors of her past and forcing it into the present.

  Flooding her mind with the warmth and strength of his own, he forced himself to smile at her, squashing his protective instincts and pushing his desire for the complete truth to the back of his mind. She’s not telling me something, but one thing at a time. There’s no need to create problems. She can keep this secret for now, it isn’t as though I’m telling her the wh
ole truth. He concluded, running his tongue over his larger than normal canines. “I think we’ve talked enough about the past, it’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, it’s not raining which is a rarity in itself in this country and a beautiful girl has promised to spend the day with me. Life is good,” he laughed. Finding his loud laugh infectious, she couldn’t help but chuckled a little with him, her memories fading to the back of her mind.

  “When you put it like that, life does seem a lot better.”

  “What other way is there to put it?” He smiled, reaching across the table to clasp her hand. "Now you've promised to spend the day with me and I'm going to hold you to your word."

  “I don't recall agreeing to an entire day.”

  He shrugged at her comment. “I've been told that I only hear what I want to hear,” he informed her chuckling. “Now according to what I remember you definitely agreed to the day.”

  She smiled, amused by his antics. “Fine, let's say that I agreed to a day, the day ends at six, I have to get home ok?”

  “I can deal with that, now where is our food? I'd like to get on with the day.”

  The waitress returned two large steaming plates in hand; she placed them on the table before turning on her heel, leaving them to eat their meal.

  “Eat up sweetheart, we've got a long day ahead of us.”

  “A day of doing what exactly?”

  “Not sure exactly.” His eyes wandered over her frame, his brows creasing in dissatisfaction. But there will definitely be an element of shopping in there somewhere.

  Chapter Five

  “Xandria, this is getting ridiculous,” Tobias groaned running his hands through his thick hair. “We’ve been at this all day and I’ve bought you nothing,” he sighed as she continued walking down the street, dismissing yet another store.

  “I think you’ll find that was part of the plan. I told you this morning, you can’t just throw money at people and expect them to do whatever it is you want.”

  Gripping her shoulders, he forced her to stop and turn to face him. “That isn’t what I’ve been trying to do. I just want you to have nice things, is that so wrong?”

  There’s nothing wrong with that, but I won’t be able to keep anything he buys me. Fred will destroy them just to spite me and then I’d have to explain to him that I’d lied to him this morning and that would just earn me a beating. She shivered as she remembered the look of anger on Tobias’ face when he had seen the bruises on her wrists when they had first met. If he doesn’t know about that then I’m not going to tell him. I have a feeling he’d do something stupid, like try and give Fred a beating. Examining the muscles of his arms and the tight fit of his shirt she had no concerns for his safety, but didn’t want Fred to try and involve the authorities.

  “It’s a nice sentiment but I really don’t want anything, okay? Can’t we just leave it at that?” she sighed, extricating herself from his firm grip and walking on ahead.

  Her voice told him to let it go and simply enjoy being around her but the wolf in him demanded that he provide for her and he struggled to decide which one to listen to, before deciding to let Alexandria win.

  Look, he told the wolf inside him, trying to exert his dominance so it didn't try to take over and resolve the situation in its own way. We’ll let her have this for now, but once we claim her we can buy her anything we want and she’ll just have to get used to it. His wolf growled but otherwise remained silent and Tobias decided to take it as a sign of agreement. “Fine, I’ll stop trying to persuade you to pick something for me to buy you. Ok?” His statement was met by silence, walking up to her he found that she was statue still and immediately became concerned. “Alexandria? Is something wrong?” She still failed to respond, but his sensitive ears told him that her heart had sped up and his brow furrowed in confusion before he simply placed his hand on the exposed skin of her forearm.

  She’s excited and happy? His frown deepened. What’s there to be so happy about? Crouching slightly so that he was about as tall as she, he turned his face in the direction she was staring at, noticing only a small store called Petal Power, with what appeared to be a small jungle growing in the display window.

  “My mum used to grow flowers.”

  The sound of her voice drew his gaze away from the shop and he stood to his full height once again towering over her. She continued to speak, though he was no longer sure if she was even aware of his presence, but he decided to listen rather than interrupt.

  “We had the most beautiful garden you could ever imagine, there was nothing that she couldn’t grow if she put her mind to it. I remember the garden in the spring; it had the most amazing smell. This might sound strange but I always thought it smelled of life. And mum, mum was always there, it was our special place. I practically lived in that garden when I was growing up. But when she died, the garden died with her,” she choked, blinking and coming out of her daze.

  “Xandria? I know you don’t want me to buy you things, but one plant can’t hurt. Come with me.” He smiled, taking her hand and pulling her across the street and into the store.

  The smell of soil filled his nose as soon as he opened the door causing him to sneeze repeatedly but he forced the uncomfortable sensation aside and continued inside as the door closed behind them. The store was even smaller inside than it appeared on the outside, filled with rows of tables that were crammed with flowers of almost every kind. There was very little room to move and despite the unpleasant sensation that filled his nose, he smiled, as Alexandria was forced closer to his body.

  “Can I help you?” Turning their heads, they saw a small old woman easily navigating the small space to make her way towards them, her gloved hands covered in soil. Her red hair was tied away from her face while her pale skin was covered in dirty smudges.

  “Yes, I want to buy something for my girlfriend, preferably something potted so she could take care of it. I want it to last a while.”

  Girlfriend! We’ve barely known each other a day…I suppose that we’ve actually known each other for years and just not realised it. Choosing not to correct his statement, Alex simply smiled at the woman’s kind face before allowing her eyes to wander the length and breadth of the store breathing in the potent but familiar scent of the different flowers.

  “Is there anything in particular you’d like?” The woman asked.

  Noticing that Alex had allowed her mind to wander, Tobias pointed to the tall flower that had captured his gaze since he had entered the store.

  “This one?” Picking up the fragile plant, the woman brought its small white petals to her nose, breathing in deeply. “Orchids are difficult to take care of, are you sure this is the one you want?”

  Pulling her into his body, he guessed that his proximity would focus her mind on her surroundings. “Alexandria what do you think of that one?”

  The warmth of his chest began to penetrate the fog of her mind and she couldn’t prevent a shiver running through her body. She felt hot and her face flushed in response while she rubbed her legs together as the sensation that had flooded her body chose to settle itself at the juncture of her thighs. Reaching out for the delicate red and white petals, she managed to move out of his grasp and the sensation began to fade. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered, her voice so low that if his ears hadn’t been so sharp he would have missed it.

  “We’ll take that one.”

  “Ok, if you’d just like to follow me to the counter.”

  Following the woman as directed, he left Alex behind allowing her to simply absorb the smells and associate them with the garden her mother had loved so much. He quickly returned with the plant in hand and guided her to the door, hating the expression of loss that had appeared on her face as they departed.

  They walked in silence for a few moments, continuing their journey down the darkening street before sitting down on a nearby bench, content to let the minutes slip by. Sliding across the small bench space, he draped an arm over her shoulders before placi
ng the flower in her lap. She gently stroked the silk like petals before turning to smile at him. “Thank you Tobias, this means a lot to me.” He grinned in response, while she took a deep breath before reaching up to grab his neck and bring his head closer to her own, quickly placing a chaste kiss to his cheek.

  Tobias growled in the back of his throat at the fleeting sensation of her smooth lips on his cheek and the corresponding feeling it elicited in his lower regions. More! his inner wolf demanded, before breaking free of his mental constraints to take action, having apparently finished biding its time. He pulled her towards himself draping her legs over his own. Breathing deeply he allowed the scent of vanilla to fill his nostrils, ensnaring his senses and goading him into further action.

  His head quickly descended, his lips capturing hers, claiming them ruthlessly and stealing her breath while leaving her gasping for more. The first meeting of their lips wasn’t gentle, fuelled as it was by animal instinct and aggression but the jolt of electricity that had sizzled through her when his lips touched her had caused her body to react. She could feel her nipples tightening to painful peaks with every subtle movement of his lips and the previous aching between her thighs had returned and magnified.

  This is a bad idea. Her chain of thought vanished as she felt Tobias bite at her lower lip causing her to gasp in shock. His warm tongue was surprisingly gentle as it laved at his bite, but his aggressive dominance soon returned as he slipped his tongue past her parted lips.

  More! I’ve got to claim her. She’s mine. Dwelling at the back of his mind, Tobias found he couldn’t and didn’t want to disagree with his wolfish side, content to simply enjoy the pleasure a simple kiss brought. His body began to harden beneath her and he held her tighter against him determined not to let her escape. His tongue clashed with hers and she moaned in pleasure in response to his actions, rubbing her nipples against his chest in an attempt to ease the ache. Her hands lifted themselves to his head, diving in to the thick strands while keeping him in place.