A Wolf's Oath (4 page)
“
I’m welcome here, I’m not sure the same can be said of you.
What do you want here?”
“
I’m here for my daughter.”
“
Your daughter?”
“
Yes my daughter and I’m not leaving until you give her back to
me, I know she’s here.”
“
You think we have your daughter here?”
The stranger prodded Sebastian in the chest with a thick
finger to emphasis his point. “I know that you have her here and I
want you to bring her to me otherwise I’m going to call the
police.”
“
Do you think we’ve kidnapped her or something? We’re not
criminals.”
“
I don’t care how she came to be here all I know is that she’s
here and I want her back.”
“
What’s your daughter’s name?”
“
Her name is Alexandria. Now that you know, you can just run
off and get her.”
This man is Alex’s father?
His tone
was distinctly disbelieving, his mind unable to connect the large,
loud and rude man to his cousin’s small and gentle mate.
How is that even possible?
A thought occurred to him and he groaned.
Tobias is going to go wild over this. This isn’t going to go
smoothly.
He took another longing look at
the door.
Damn it, there’s no way I’m
going to be able to see Erica today. Stupid abusive bastard getting
in the way of my plans.
Get rid of him,
his wolf demanded,
becoming angry at the idea that they wouldn’t be spending time with
their mate after a night without her.
No, that’s Tobias’ right. Damn it!
he
cursed. “Come with me,” he ordered.
“
Where are we going? Are you going to give my daughter back to
me?”
You’ll be getting something alright. It probably won’t be in
your best interests though.
A loud banging at her door startled Erica into wakefulness and
she jolted up from where she lay curled at the edge of her sister’s
bed to glare at the door.
Go away,
she groaned desperately striving to return to
sleep. The insistent banging refused to fade and her brother
groaned at the sound, turning restlessly in his sleep.
I’d better go and see who the hell that is before
they wake up.
Forcing her body to rise from
the bed, she stretched raising her arms high over her head to ease
the knotted muscles she had acquired from sleeping in such an
uncomfortable position. The knocking at the door continued and she
stumbled towards the door cursing her visitor before she had even
seen them.
It had better be damn
important.
Unlocking the door she staggered
backwards as Anna rushed into her home.
“
Eric, I can’t believe you!” Her friend gushed, arms gesturing
wildly as she threw herself back against the well used sofa in her
living room.
“
Well good morning to you too Anna.” She smiled, taking a seat
on the table directly in front of her friend. “I hope you had a
restful night’s sleep. Now where are my manners? How are you this
morning? Me? I was doing very well, getting some well earned rest
when I was rudely awoken by this loud banging on my door. Someone
had better be dying or something Anna for you to wake me up like
that,” she muttered, her tone distinctly bitter.
Her friend’s eyes roved her tall frame frowning. “What are
you still doing in that dress? Don’t tell me you wore it to sleep,”
she chided. “I can’t believe you Eric, there are wrinkles in it
now. You should be more careful. Always take a dress like this one
off before you go to sleep.”
Running her hands over the now crumpled material, Erica felt
her own anger being chipped away. “Sorry Anna, I didn’t mean to
sleep in it, I was just so tired from last night. Is it
ruined?”
“
Don’t be silly,” she sighed, “I wouldn’t give you a dress that
couldn’t withstand a little rough handling especially when I know
exactly who is going to be wearing it. You might try your best not
to damage it but knowing you you’d slip or something and get it a
little dirty and maybe even a bit torn, in this case you just slept
in it. It’s actually in a lot better a condition than I would have
thought with you as the wearer.”
“
Thanks,” she scoffed. “You have so much faith in
me.”
“
Of course I do Eric, what sort of a friend would I be if I
didn’t.”
“
A poor one I suppose.”
“
Exactly.” Anna’s brow furrowed as she realised that she had
yet to confront her friend on the important issue that had drawn
her here so early in the morning and she shot from the chair to her
feet. “Eric! I can’t believe you. I really just don’t understand
how your mind works. I thought I was your best friend but I’m not
sure I’ll ever be able to get my head around what you
did.”
Grasping her friend’s hand, Erica guided her back to the
chair. “What are you talking about Anna, you’re my best friend,
you’re the one that understands me best. Now take some deep breaths
and calm down enough that you can explain what you’re ranting about
coherently.”
“
I’m talking about last night. You just ran off.”
She winced. “I’m sorry about the shoes Anna, I swear I’ll try
and buy you a new pair as soon as I can.”
“
I’m not worried about the shoes, besides I found them exactly
where you left them.”
“
Are they alright?”
“
Would you listen to yourself Eric? You’re worried about a pair
of shoes. That just isn’t you. The shoes are fine, that isn’t the
problem.”
“
Then what is?”
“
Eric, when a guy expresses interest in you, the one thing that
you mustn’t do under any circumstances is to run off as though you
were being chased by the hounds of hell.”
Her heart stuttered at Anna’s rant, her treacherous body
longing for the feel of his warm fingers against her skin once more
while her wolf resumed its pleas.
Want
him. Want him.
Shut up,
she snapped, looking at Anna
with disbelief in her gaze.
She wouldn’t
have said anything to him. Anna wouldn’t betray me like
that.
“Anna what exactly happened? Don’t
leave anything out.”
“
I spoke to the man you were talking to last night, Sebastian,
do you remember him?” She continued, not allowing her friend to
answer the question. “Now he was a cutie, what the hell was wrong
with you? When a man that looks like that says he’s interested in
you, don’t run.”
“
What did he say to you Anna?”
“
He told me that he said he was interested in you.”
That he was,
she confirmed.
Interested in keeping me with him for
life.
“What else?”
“
He said you were beautiful and that he enjoyed spending time
with you.”
Beautiful?
She tossed the word around
in her mind, struggling to ignore her body’s reaction to his
compliment as heat spread through her.
Nobody ever calls me beautiful,
she
mused, revelling in the idea of appearing beautiful to someone
before remembering who had delivered the compliment.
Stupid hair.
Cursing she
draped her hair over her shoulder gathering the long strands within
her grasp.
Should just cut the damn thing.
I’m not going to though,
she conceded
before she began twisting the strands into a single rope wrapping
it severely in a tight bun.
“
He also said that he’d like to apologise for whatever he said
to upset you. He seemed genuinely apologetic. What the hell did he
do wrong? Probably nothing right? Eric, you’ve got to relax a
little more. Taking care of Dylan and Wyatt must take it out of
you. It’s not a bad thing to want to spend time with someone. No
one would see it as a weakness I swear.”
“
Is that all he said?”
“
Yes. Oh wait, there was one other thing. He asked which clan
you were in so he could deliver his apology in person.”
Shock filled her and she was momentarily stunned into
silence. “Did you tell him Anna? Did you tell him?”
“
Well of course I did.” She smiled. “He’s a nice guy Eric,
you’ve just got to give him a chance.”
Her head fell into her waiting palms. “What have you done
Anna? Why did you tell him?”
“
Eric what’s wrong? It’s not as though it’s the end of the
world. He just wants to get to know you better and be
friends.”
Her head shot up at Anna’s failed attempt to reassure her.
“Do you have any idea who he is?”
“
Don’t be silly,” she giggled, “I already told you who he is,
his name is Sebastian.”
“
Yes that’s his name. Lord Sebastian of the Southern clan, my
supposed mate.”
Anna’s eyes widened at the revelation of his true identity a
sinking feeling rising in her stomach. “What? Are you
serious?”
“
Of course I am. I went to the stupid party at your request and
the first man I meet immediately says that I’m his mate. I knew I
should never have gone to that stupid thing. I told you I had a bad
feeling about it but you just told me to stop trying to get out of
it.”
“
I’m not psychic Eric, there’s no way I could have known he was
going to be there.”
“
Well he was and he claims that I’m his mate.”
“
What did you tell him?”
“
I told him to get lost, said I wanted nothing to do with him
and that he should leave me alone.”
“
Did he get the message?”
“
I thought maybe he had, I ran and he didn’t follow. I spent
most of the night awake just waiting for the second that he would
come barging in here demanding that I accept him.”
“
But he didn’t?”
“
No. Apparently he decided to use a different tactic and went
to you, asking you questions about where he could come and find me
and you told him didn’t you?”
“
Eric, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. He never said a word about
him being your mate.”
“
He isn’t my mate!” she hissed aware that her siblings still
slept in the next room and unwilling to wake them with news that
could have such a drastic impact on their lives.
“
Ok, so he’s not your mate. But the fact is he didn’t say
anything about the possibility of you being mates, all he said was
what I’ve already told you. I didn’t know.”
Silence reigned as Erica tried to gather her thoughts and
Anna waited for her to calm down. “I’m surprised that you’re not
suggesting that I just accept his claim,” Erica mused
aloud.
“
I’m your friend Eric, I know about you and if you don’t want a
mate then I’m not going to suggest you take one.”
Especially if your potential mate is
him.
“
Aren’t you happy with your mate?”
“
Of course I am, Michael is wonderful to me.”
“
Then why aren’t you saying I should go off with Sebastian?
Don’t you think I would be happy?”
“
Eric, you’ve never wanted a mate,” she breathed, remembering
her friend’s intense dislike of the idea of being mated to
anyone.
Not true Anna, not true. There was a time once that I really
wanted one, but now….Never. I’m never going down that route.
“What do you think I should do?”
“
Run,” Anna answered simply. “He’s going to be coming after you
and if I were you then that’s what I’d do. I would run so far and
so fast that he’d never be able to catch me.”
“
I can’t do that Anna. What about Wyatt and Dylan? I can’t just
leave them here alone.”
“
You’ve got a point Eric, but so do I. We both know that he’s
coming for you, it’s in their nature. He’s not going to want to let
you go. Now that I know who he is to you I’m actually surprised
that he’s not here already.”
“
So am I. I thought that he would have given me an hour at most
before he began to chase me.”
“
He’s an odd one.”
Remembering his nervous actions, so at odd with the cocky
young males that she had grown up with she had to agree with Anna’s
assessment.
Yes he’s a little bit odd
compared to the wolves I’ve known. But odd doesn’t mean
bad.
No it doesn’t,
her wolf
concurred.
He may be different from the
wolves here, but he’s ours.
He has nothing to do with us.
Ours,
it purred before it disappeared
from her thoughts.
“
So what are you thinking about doing then?”
“
I’m not going anywhere, this is my home and I belong
here.”
“
And Sebastian? The full moon is coming soon, he will follow
you here.”
“
Then let him, it doesn’t mean that the message will be any
different. I want nothing to do with him.”
